Mural Removal, Restoration, Reinstallation as part of Historic Preservation

Mural Removal, Restoration, Reinstallation as part of Historic Preservation. Saving Minerva Teichert. Lombardy regional art conservation center: a modern scientific lab in a 800 year old monastery complex The first week of Italian art conservation school, I climbed up the scaffolding and sat nose to nose with a mural dated 1365 on a wall of an 800+ year old monastery.Overlooking an ancient marble quarry, I was in the pre-Alpine Dolomite mountains west of Garda Lake. Sitting next to me was Paolo Bacchin, a legend in international art conservation circles for the life threatening mural restoration projects he had done for UNESCO in temples in the jungles of Burma (now Myanmar). He was my instructor and introduced me to mural conservation. Since that time in 1975, I have had mural restoration projects come to me from all over the United States. It seems that I have earned a reputation for solving difficult problems and as one committee for the City of San Francisco put it, “We needed someone whose workwas beyond reproach.” Even further afield geographically are the consultation jobs I am asked to undertake. Some of the projects have been high profile and others, like this project, were highly meaningful for a small rural community. These murals are by Minerva Teichert a fire th ball of 19 century activity, attitude and talent!