Miona Miliša

Analyses of polychromy on stone from previous decades were largely based on the evaluation of pigments analysed with the naked eye or the microscope, with no chemical analyses to substantiate them. Nowadays, analytical chemistry can greatly help in identifying residues of the original colours, i.e. the pigments used.
It is known that polychromy has been applied onto stone in all time periods, but well-preserved polychromy on stone is a rarity indeed. The greatest issue concerns antique sculptures, whose polychromy is often invisible to the naked eye and can only be seen with the help of a microscope. The reason for such poor preservation of polychromy lies in the weathering that causes chemical changes in the stone and colour. The application of chemical analyses as used by restoration professionals can help in preserving rare examples of polychromy, preparing credible reconstructions of polychromy on objects and selecting suitable methods of restoration and conservation. The constant development of new methods and techniques, as well as computer and digital technologies and technology in general help to preserve very rare and valuable information, useful for understanding our past.
For the purpose of the research, polychromy samples from stone sculptures from several museums in Croatia were analysed. This paper presents the results of the analyses of four antique objects from the Archaeological Museum in Split. The purpose of the research was to make an instrumental analysis of pigments from stone sculptures, and to determine the composition of pigments, the origin and frequency of use of respective materials. There is much one can learn about the time, place and circumstances in which a work of art was produced through analyses and interpretations of often very subtle differences in the composition of pigments.

The book presents the results of an interdisciplinary research in the shipwrecks discovered near the island of Žirje. Contents: Irena Radić Rossi's chapter on underwater excavations and materials, amphorae and kitchen ware, the chapter about provenance studies of amphorae with ceramic petrography and geochemical analysis and interpretation of the port of departure by Maja Miše, and Miona Miliša and Filip Rogošić chapter on the preservation and restoration of amphorae and kitchen utensils and the impact of marine organisms on ceramics. The book edited by Miona Miliša, and Maja Miše was presented with a detailed catalogue of discovered amphorae and kitchen ware.

Those few traces of the original polychromy that remain on the medieval stone sculpture to the present day are very important for picturing its possible original appearance. Over the past cen- tury, most of the paint was lost when layers of plaster, soil and other sediments were improperly removed. When medieval sculptures with the relief interlaced-ribbon pattern were made, the final layer of paint was used to underline this motif. There- fore, when observing this artifact, we should keep in mind that we cannot see it in its original painted condition anymore. Al- though traces of the original Pre-Romanesque polychromy are indeed rarely found on the fragments of liturgical furnishings in the Eastern Adriatic, the analyses that were carried out did yield some crucial pigments that helped us reconstruct the supposed original appearance of Gregory’s ciborium from Zadar. During the research, the following methods were used to document the samples analyzed: photographing the traces of the original poly- chromy (micro and macro photographs), carrying out chemical analyses (FTIR and SEM/EDS) and uploading their results into a sample database, and computer reconstruction of the supposed original appearance.
Key words: Ciborium, Proconsul Gregory’s ciborium, FTIR, stone polychromy, pigments, Archaeological Museum Zadar

Skromni ostatci izvorne polikromije na srednjovjekovnoj kame- noj skulpturi, sačuvani do današnjih dana, dragocjeni su za moguću imaginaciju originalnog izgleda. U prošlom stoljeću dosta je bojenog sloja stradalo pri „čišćenjima“ kamenih eksponata od slojeva žbuke, zemlje i ostalih nečistoća. Završnom fazom boje- nja, pri izradi srednjovjekovne pleterne skulpture, dodatno se naglašavao sam motiv u reljefu. Iz svega navedenoga, treba imati na umu da gledamo artefakt koji nije u svom originalnom oboje- nom izdanju. Iako su uistinu rijetki ostatci izvorne predromanič- ke polikromije na ulomcima liturgijskog namještaja na istočnoj obali Jadrana, analizama se uspjelo izdvojiti nekoliko ključnih pigmenata te rekonstruirati pretpostavljeni originalni izgled Gr- gurova ciborija iz Zadra. Prilikom istraživanja upotrijebljene su sljedeće metode dokumentacije analiziranih uzoraka: fotograf- ska dokumentacija ostataka izvorne polikromije (mikrofotogra- fije i makrofotografije), izrada kemijskih analiza (FTIR i SEM/EDS) i uvrštavanje rezultata u bazu analiziranih uzoraka te računalna rekonstrukcija pretpostavljenog izvornog izgleda.

Centuries after the creation od Pre-Romanesque stone sculptures, we've tried to revive the proces that is necessary for creating this pluteus from Dubrovnik, which was initialy a part of the representative whole of the liturgical furniture from the church of St. Peter the Great in Dubrovnik. There are very few written sources from this period which would inform us about the conditions, knowledge, skill, education and tools from which each sculpture had been produced. Studying Pre-Romanesque heritage, researchers, scientist, experts and theorists are often directed only to the silent stone fragment of a monument. Each fragment has characteristics of a whole and the time period in which it was created, as well as the sacral structure to which it belonged. The reason for creating a stone replica of a Pre-Romanesque pluteus, thereby using the traditional technique and original tools for stone modelling arose due to the possibility of calculating the amount of time necessary for the creation of this and other similar interlace reliefs. During the actual stone carving process, getting closer to the original craftsman - the carver, the beliefs and liturgical rules of the historical Pre-Romanesque age is inevitable. Following the stone carving process during the making of the Pre-Romanesque relief, we are witnesses of the creation of a new perception of the stone sculpture from the mentioned time period. Adding this perception to the archaeological knowledge and viewpoints that we have had in regard to art history to date, we are one step closer to understanding the actual time period in which the Pre-Romanesque  interlace sculpture was created.
          With the creation of the pluteus replica, we attempted to discover the functioning of its own language, to recognize the system of signs so that we may get even closer to the mindset and process which was used by the Pre-Romanesque craftsman. As a conclusion to the creation of the replica, we got an approximate time frame which the early medieval craftsman needed to create the central field of the Pre-Romanesque pluteus. Using this information it is easy to calculate the ideal time necessary for one stone workshop to furnish a Pre-Romanesque church with adequate liturgical furniture.

Owing to its position at the heart of Dalmatia the island of Brač has always been settled, but also lacked a bigger town centre of any strategic and commercial importance that could match other island centres in the eastern Adriatic. Still, while there is no evidence of an ancient town ever existing on it, the stone of Brač was used, paradoxically enough, in the construction of many ancient buildings in the larger centres of the Empire. Such is the case with the Late-Antique Diocletian’s Palace, built almost entirely with stone from the Brač quarries.
Stonecutting and stone dressing  in the eastern Adriatic are a deeply rooted tradition ever since prehistoric times. Carving in stone has played a special role in the art and architecture of Brač and Dalmatia. On Brač, there are nearly a hundred known quarries today, be it in operation or abandoned.
The aim of this exhibition is to give a methodical and multimedia insight into how stone was quarried in the Antiquity and to show how the notion of stone has changed over time. Even if stone exploitation and the method of work in Antique quarries have been discussed thoroughly, there are still many uncertainties surrounding the matter. It is our firm belief that the solution to these quandaries lie in these little-researched Antique quarries (Plate, Stražišće and Rasohe). Systematic research, or at least a field survey, would surely lead to new discoveries about the artefacts or fragments of carved stone from Late Antiquity, or signatures of quarry workers – which would complement what is already known about the life of stonemasons in the past.

Povoljan položaj otoka Brača uvjetovao je njegov naseobinski kontinuitet, iako na njemu nikada nije postojao veći grad strateškog i trgovačkog značaja kao na nekim drugim istočno jadranskim otocima. Paradoks je da, iako na njemu zasada nema dokaza o postojanju antičkog grada, njegovim kamenom izgrađene su mnoge antičke građevine u većim centrima. Kasnoantička palača cara Dioklecijana u Splitu, tako je gotovo u cijelosti izgrađena od kamena koji se vadio iz bračkih kamenoloma.
Tradicija obrade kamena prisutna je na području čitavog istočnog Jadrana od prapovijesnih vremena do današnjih dana. Oblikovanje u kamenu bitno je obilježje kako bračke, tako i čitave dalmatinske umjetnosti i graditeljstva. Na cijelom području bračkog kopna danas ima skoro stotinjak živih i ugaslih kamenoloma.
Cilj ove izložbe je multimedijalno i didaktički predočiti način vađenja kamena u antici, kao i kontinuitet putovanja jedne kamene ideje kroz vrijeme. Premda je mnogo toga rečeno o eksploataciji kamena i načinu rada antičkih kamenoloma, mnogo toga je još uvijek  nepoznanica. Odgovore na nedoumice, vjerujemo, kriju antički kamenolomi (Plate, Stražišće i Rasohe), nažalosti i do danas neistraženi. Sustavnim istraživanjima ili bar rekognosciranjem terena sigurno bi se pronašao poneki artefakt ili barem ulomak kasnoantičkih klesanaca, poneki potpis radnika u kamenolomima, koji bi upotpunili saznanja o životu majstora klesara u prošlosti.

The conference book and exhibition cataloque, whose material and content is designed to present new insights and information acquired over the four years of multidisciplinary research, which included conservation and restoration of the wooden doors of Split  (lead by Žana Matulić Bilač in Croatian Conservation Institute). One of the most important and intriguing pieces of Croatian and European medieval heritage, these have, surprisingly, not been a subject of scientific and technical study until recently. The latest conservation was carried out in situ, with the research focusing on original portions of the doors, which were sawn off and replaced with replicas during a major restoration in 1908. The originals lay forgotten in the Split City Museum’s depot and the Archaeological Museum, having been left untreated in the mentioned restoration, and thus offering us precious opportunity for contemporary “forensic” analyses.
Andrija Buvina’s doors are a kind of icon that we all know well at first glance. For over 800 years they have stood in their original location. Only recently, however, have we been able to reconstruct their long lost appearance, based on the information obtained from their structure and the parts that were sawn off. These proved to be a veritable historical treasury of medieval sculpting and painting materials, a complete glossary of traces left by the tools used in the doors’ making. A series of experts of various specialties, from Croatia and abroad, took part in the effort. Scientifically, this brought about the discovery of, e.g., numerous new insights into the chemical composition of the doors; in technical terms – the ways they were constructed and painted, as well as the complete range of tools used in their making. We established some strong and diverse links that demonstrate the deep rootedness of this ancient piece in the rich artistic history of Split, in its spatial and historical identity, with influences that can be traced along the coast of medieval Dalmatia. On the other hand, by comparing them to similar works, primarily the celebrated doors from Cologne and those of Santa Sabina in Rome, we were able to find many technical and iconographic similarities, again confirming that Buvina’s masterpiece belongs to the same cultural circle of medieval and present-day Europe.
The exhibition will interpret the doors as a portal of exceptional symbolism, an entrance into the cathedral for the townsfolk to whom it had been the only parish for centuries. In addition, the exhibition will highlight the meaning of the doors for the people of today, through the work of a contemporary multimedia artist. Her work will be based on a reflection on the centuries-old dust and patina, a sedimentation of invisible particles of the generations that have passed through this space. The fusion of two quests, the historical and the contemporary, would discretely permeate the entire exhibition, even if the exhibition space would present each individually.
The exhibition would feature an international conference, where participants, renowned Croatian and international scientists and experts, conservators and art historians, would present their research into various aspects of the subject. The plan is to compile their contributions in a book of proceedings featured by a comprehensive exhibition catalogue.
30 posters are envisioned, authored by the head of research and conservation in collaboration with other participants in the project. A virtual reconstruction of the original polychrome appearance of Buvina’s doors, made according to the latest research insights and in a 1:2 ratio, is bound to generate much attention.
Equally interesting to the public would be a recently compiled interactive base of materials on Romanesque art in Dalmatia.
Apart from the original parts of the doors, with beautifully preserved traces of carving that enable a reconstruction of the medieval set of woodworking and carving tools, a single preserved set of such tools uncovered so far would be presented, unearthed from an intact grave of a Roman woodcarver in Zadar. A tombstone from Rab, with the depiction of a shipbuilding tool from the 15th or the 16th century, brings us closer to our time, which will be represented by a selection of tools from the collection of a late-19th-century woodcarver from Split. Also exhibited would be the Matricula of Dubrovnik woodworkers, which illustrate the town’s long woodworking tradition, a continuity of use of various tools from the 14th to the 18th century: visitors will be able to leaf through the registry pages illustrated with miniature drawings.
Along with an overview of blacksmithing tools and a depiction of a blacksmith on Buvina’s doors (the Romanesque choir stalls of Split Cathedral only show the carver’s “self-portrait”), five original nails will also be on display, showing only minimum change over the almost two millennia of the craft, and clearly illustrating an inter-dependence of form and function.
The last exhibit will be the oldest surviving carved and painted wooden artefact in Dalmatia: a wooden beam from St. Donatus’ Church in Zadar, dating from the 9th century. It introduces us to a database of wooden artefacts (following the construction wood of the doors: oak and walnut), from prehistory to modern age, showing us the way into the forests of historical Dalmatia, and over to the islands and their long shipbuilding tradition, the legacy of which are some unique examples of large saws, hammers, files, augers, awls, which would be illustrated by photographs of shipbuilders from the late 19th century – most suggestive images from a long history of woodworking, a craft that has, like so many others, all but vanished before our very eyes.
Finally, paintings on wooden ground will also be on view. We will present a database of medieval painting pigments and materials used on Romanesque doors and choir stalls, and on three icons and three painted crucifixes of the so-called Split School of Romanesque Painting. Viewers will be acquainted with polychrome sculpture, an art almost forgotten today. The unity of sculpture and painting can only be understood through a virtual reconstruction of the original polychromy, in our case, that on the figurative reliefs on Buvina’s doors. These, we are at liberty to announce, will be “presented exclusively” at the end of the painstaking process of research and analysis of their tiny remains, preserved only on several of the 28 figurative reliefs, and demonstrating their former luxuriant and suggestive colouristic shine.

Conservation of the vessel began in November 2018, as part of the education and teaching process at the 5th year of conservation-restoration studies. After receiving the items in the workshop for conservation and restoration of archaeological heritage at the Split Art Academy, a long process of desalination started. Various analysis were also carried out: tests for the presence of harmful salts in the material, ph, FTIR analysis of glaze, pigment and ceramics. Prior to the conservation procedure, various methods of cleaning and removing the calcite layer, that were covering the whole surface of the object were made.

The issues that emerged during the conservation of this object relate to previously inadequate restorative treatments. How to consolidate a powdering layer, how to preserve as much as possible the original decoration of a vessel, how to stop material degradation?
During the conservation process, some of the modern methods and materials for cleaning underwater ceramics (such as gels, various baths, etc.) have been examined.

Fragments of blue glass were found during the archaeological excavations in Sisak held in 2012. The conservation of the glass fragments began in September 2018, as part of the educational and training process in the 5'th year of conservation-restoration studies. The glass dates back to the 1 st century and it was made in one of the workshops for making glass objects in the Roman Empire. It was made of blue, white and yellow glass, with the free blowing technique. First, we carried out a digital reconstruction of the vessel. We decided to fill in the missing parts with araldite toned with a blue pigment as similar as possible to the original. In addition to this vessel, we found one at the Getty Institute in the USA and another one at the National Museum of Slovenia.

Institut za arheologiju ima čast pozvati Vas na tematski doktorski seminar U potrazi za bojom koji će se održati u ponedjeljak, 28. siječnja 2019. u 11 sati u knižnici Instituta za arheologiju, Ljudevita Gaja 32, Zagreb. Na seminaru sudjeluju Katarina Batur (mag. archeol.
Odjel za arheologiju, Sveučilište u Zadru) s predavanjem U potrazi za bojom u teretu broda potonulog kod Gnalića 1583. te dr. sc. Miona Miliša, doc. art. (Odsjek za konzervaciju-restauraciju, Umjetnička akademija Split) s predavanjem Posljednji tragovi nekadašnjeg kolorita.