Architectural Conservation of Monuments & Sites

Abstract

The immovable heritage of a country represents the abilities of its citizens and mirrors the artistic and architectural topographies of that nation. Painting conservation is one of the most thoughtful and important processes to enhance the longevity of paintings. The aim of this research is to identify and inspect the validity of reintegration techniques within the Sri Lankan context, specifically regarding the re-integrated paintings in the Kelaniya New Chamber. The painting styles in Sri Lanka can be studied under many distinctive categories. Among them, Kandyan era paintings are known for using colours without mixing, while Modern Transitional era paintings are renown for using graded shading palates, which introduces significant struggle in conserving the latter. Therefore, the research question was based on identifying and inspecting whether the use of reintegration techniques protect the validity of paintings with graded shading. Responses were obtained from both public and field experts to gather various perspectives on these reintegrated paintings. Additionally, personal observations and reintegrated painting plates were used to collect data. These plates were distributed among experts in the field to obtain their unique professional insights. A coding system was then utilized to analyse the authentic responses gathered from the participants. The responses of the general community were typically focused on visual perfection, whereas field experts considered materials and subjective historical evidence more deeply. While analysing the data, priority was given to the experts’ opinions for educational dedications. In Sri Lanka, only few reintegration techniques have been utilized. Findings have revealed that Tratteggio, Dotteggio and two-tone glazing with proper colours are the most effective methods that can be applied for reintegration on paintings with graded shading surfaces. Professionalism, skilled artistry, precise colour matching, and careful layering helps to restore depth and continuity, while tackling colour fading and texture loss, and uphold historical authenticity in painting conservation. Further studies on original materials and technologies are essential for increasing conservation techniques in reintegration challenges.