The façade of the house no. 545 in B. Němcová street in Slavonice have been restored between 2016 and 2017. The “Conservation procedure” was certified by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic in 2019, documentation was completed in 2020.
It represents the fragment of a huge renaissance composition of the Landsknechts Procession, covered with plaster and found during the investigation process. The origin of this sgraffito is dated to the half of the 16th century (before 1550), and it represents one of the oldest examples of a set of exceptionally preserved renaissance townsmen façades in the Czech Republic. The Trowel Shading technique of the sgraffito was recognized on the surface of five figures fragment. A white layer (Bianco) is applied as a lime wash coat. The sgraffito is executed by scratching, shaded by hatching in combination with the trowel shading technique.
After thorough lime nanosuspension conservation and hydraulic lime injection of the original parts and multidisciplinary investigation (art-historian and technological), we decided to reply missing parts of this special sgraffito as the material and technological copy. Detailed material surveys were carried out in cooperation with the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Czech Academy of Science.
Following the investigation, material analysis, and historical recipes we have designed mortars and craft process of the “trowel-shaded technique” to repair the missing parts. In general, the Renaissance mortar in Slavonice was prepared with a high portion of binder – lime. These “super fat mortars” are very plastic and they are good for scratching fine lines and trowel shading.
Detailed art-historical research in German databases of libraries and graphic collections revealed graphic sheets by Erhard Schön, which follows original fragments of Landsknechts very precisely. The authentic procedure also included the use of replicas of the raw materials prepared in a historical process (lime burning, slaking lime,…) as well as artistic stylization following an original scratch of tools.
Fine retouching of fragments and filled parts makes the contrast between both parts recognizable, but not disturbing for the observer. The façade thus represents a sensitive combination of approaches in the range of synthetic (reconstruction) and analytical (minimal intervention) methods.
The technological copy of the trowel-shaded sgraffito follows the composition of the plaster, the crafting process, and artistic expression is the first world premiere reconstruction of this kind, presented in a public space.
The restoration method was certified as an official restoration procedure b
