Moisture Sensitive easel paintings: A Practical Application of filling and texturing of losses with Aquazol

Abstract

The filling of losses in easel paintings must provide the level and texture of the original pictorial layers. Synthetic poly-2-ethyl-2-oxazoline based stucco (Aquazol®) has been one of the latest additions with good results in the filling of paintings on canvas. The main objective of this research is to determine the properties of Aquazol® 200 based filler as a texturing filling with respect to its workability and its mechanical behaviour in relation to the structural stability of different textile substrates. To this end, two case studies have been used as a starting point, both of which share the need to find a stucco that does not add moisture to the canvas and that can reproduce the texture of the painting layer. In the experimental part, 18 mock-ups were made reproducing the pictorial surface of each work, as well as the restoration treatments of their supports. These were subjected to accelerated ageing to qualitatively analyse the stability of the filling before and after. After testing, it was found that Aquazol® 200 has excellent qualities for levelling and texturing gaps on moisture-sensitive substrates. The good ability to reproduce brush grooves, small impasti and smooth surfaces is noteworthy. On the other hand, a satisfactory result was not achieved on very pronounced impasto, requiring further study.