The sundial painted on the wall of the first courtyard of the Augustinian monastery dates back to the year 1773. It was originally painted in the buon fresco technique. Because it is situated on the side of the courtyard most exposed to the elements, it was in poor condition: extensive blistering and flaking of the paint layer. The entire façade had recently received a new coat of plaster, and where the plaster and the wall painting merged were many cracks resulting from multiple layers of plaster on the bare façade. The painting, too, had been redone several times already ¬– this ranged from slight retouching to the painting over of large areas using oil and emulsion paints. Our restoration work in 2008 focused on consolidating the existing work. This was done by backfilling or injecting the hollow spots with lime-sand slurry, filling cracks with lime mortar, and stabilizing heavily crumbling plaster. Old layers of painting applied over the original were removed mechanically. Afterwards, retouching was done using the tratteggio technique. Finally, the entire surface was treated to ensure water repellency.

Project Data:

Address: 1010 Vienna, Hofburg Augustinerkloster

Service: Wall painting restoration

Service period: July to August 2008

Photo Gallery: