Montefiascone Project

Montefiascone 2003

Montefiascone <URL:http://utenti.lycos.it/montefiascone/> is a
medieval walled city situated on a huge lake, about half way between
Rome and Siena. Each summer, conservators, librarians, archivists,
art historians and others interested in the history and the
structure of the book, meet to participate in classes, which are
held within the city walls. The programme for summer 2003 is as
follows:

July 21-25, 2003. Recreating medieval colours

     The course will focus on the use of inks and pigments during
     the medieval period. Using original recipes, participants will
     create and work with these colours - with particular reference
     to manuscript illumination. The course is academic as well as
     practical. Lectures will describe the working practises of the
     medieval artist, and the history and usage of the materials
     available. The course is designed for conservators, art
     historians and artists wishing to be introduced to the
     materials and working practices of the medieval artist.

     Course tutor: Cheryl Porter

July 28-August 1, 2003.  Gold Tooling on Leather

    The course offers an opportunity to work with a professional who
    has complete control over the materials. Participants should aim
    to master the skills required to accomplish mastery and
    precision in applying gold to leather. The emphasis will be on
    historic methods, investigating different types of organic glair
    and showing respect to historic design. In terms of
    "restoration" it will emphasise the appropriateness of "blind"
    work where parts of the original have been lost. The use of egg
    glair and its particular properties will be explained in an
    historic context, whilst some consideration will be given to the
    use of modern synthetic alternatives.

    Course tutor: Terry Buckley

August 4-8, 2003.  Maximising Minimum Intervention

    This course will examine various techniques developed for use in
    the Long Room at Trinity College Dublin (and elsewhere), where
    Tony Cains worked for thirty years. These are methods developed
    to deal with an historic collection in an important
    architectural setting: for books that must present an imposing
    appearance, whilst being part of a working collection. Tony
    Cains has been instrumental in highlighting the importance of
    minimal intervention methods, and in this course students will
    be encouraged to work with artefacts (and some older books will
    be available for repair) using his approach. Time permitting,
    the following areas will be addressed:

        Leather Consolidation
        Board attachment systems: joint tackets/endbands etc.
        Cover repairs: caps and joints, board cover repairs:
        lacunae, corners
        In-situ paper repair
        Preparation and modification of materials: cosmetic/repair
        treatments

    Participants may bring their own (problematic) books for
    consideration

    Course tutor: Tony Cains

August 11-15, 2003.  Girdles, Books and Prayers

    This course will enable participants to make a girdle book based
    upon an English fifteenth century breviary. The model will have
    a full girdle book style binding incorporating a Turk's head
    knot. It will derive features from the small number of surviving
    girdle books in public collections. Participants should contact
    the project as soon as possible after acceptance, with their
    email or other contact address. The tutors will contact them
    with details of what is needed for the tuition week. It is
    intended that every participant will leave with a girdle book
    worthy of the project. If participants wish to include metal
    fittings, advice will be offered on where to procure bosses,
    clasps etc. It is also possible to supply sufficient tawed skin
    for the covering of the books and for making the chemise, but
    this must be accepted as an independent order of the course
    itself. The course will include slide presentations of some
    existing 'girdle books' and will discuss the history of these
    remarkable and scarce artefacts.

    Course tutors: Dr. Nicholas Hadgraft, James Bloxam

Costs: The cost of the course is UKP345.00 ($520.00) per week. This
includes all materials (save week 4) and tuition, which is in
English. The programme is non-profit making and any extra moneys is
used to buy materials for the library, archives and their
collections.

Accommodation: Participants may stay in a house within the city
walls, close to the main square at the centre of town. Bedrooms are
shared (maximum 4 to a room) and accommodation costs UKP10.00
($15.00) per person per night. If preferred, accommodation can be
arranged at a local hotel.

Classes are from 9am to 1:30 pm. Afternoons can be used for private
study or for finishing work, though many prefer to take advantage of
the spectacular setting to swim in the local, clean, huge, volcanic
lake, or to explore the town, with its Romanesque and late medieval
architecture and friendly inhabitants.

For further information contact:

    Cheryl Porter
    8 Ashen Green
    Great Shelford
    Cambridge, CB2 5EY, England
    chezzaporter [at] yahoo__com

Cheryl Porter


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 16:45
                 Distributed: Friday, January 24, 2003
                       Message Id: cdl-16-45-008
                                  ***