Odkrycie i konserwacja XVI-wiecznej polichromii w kościele parafialnym w Płazie

Within his p re s e n t p u b lic a tio n th e a u th o r deals with th e discovery and co n se rv a tio n of an an c ie n t p o ly chromy in th e s a n c tu a ry of th e p a rish ch u rch a t Płaza, Chrzanów d is tric t. The discovery in q u e stio n was made in 1969 in connection w ith p re p a ra tio n s u n d e r tak en with th e p u rp o se to ex e cu te a .series of new m u ra l p a in tin g s. As a re su lt of p re lim in a ry co n se rv a tin g tre a tm e n ts the 16th c e n tu ry p o lychromy has been found u n d e r th e layers of p la s te rs an d p rim e rs on th e whole su rfa c e of b a rre l v au ltin g an d p a rtly on walls fo rmin g ex - ten tio n s of th e v a u ltin g su rfaces. The an a ly sis of a rtistic value, th e sta te of p re s e rv a tio n , th e time of its execution an d co n seq u en tly th e co n se rv a tio n of th e said po ly ch romy w e re o rd e red by th e Voivodship Cons e rv a to r’s Office, Cracow to a Group of A rtistic Ateliers “ARA” , Cracow. The co n se rv a tin g tr e a tm e n t p ro p e r has been divided into two stages. The fir s t of th em inc lu d ed th e r e vealing of p o lychromy from b en e a th of p la s te r and p rim e r lay e rs, and th e p re p a ra tio n of a d e ta iled d r a wing an d p h o to g rap h ic d o cumentation. Within th a t second th e co n se rv a tio n tr e a tm e n t was begun s ta rtin g w ith th e su b -p la s te r in jectio n s, mech an ical an d p a rtly chemical cleaning of th e rev e a led p a in ted lay e r, filling of losses in m o r ta r by th e use of silic a -lim e p u tty an d also w ith re to u ch in g stip p lin g of th e polychromy itself. D u rin g th e co n se rv a tio n a series of la b o ra to ry te s ts h a s b e en c a rried out with th e aim to d e te rm in e th e composition of p la s te rs and paints. I t has been fou n d th a t th e polychromy was laid upon th e lime p rim e r an d on th e s in g le -lay e r, orig in al san d -lim e finings. Within a su rfa c e covering some 70 sq. m of p a in tin g th e rem o v in g of p la s te r and p rim e r lay e rs did not e n co u n te r an y serious d ifficu ltie s wh en comp a re d w ith its o th e r portions. In th e m a in n av e an d side chapels w h e re no tra c e s of th e Ren a issan c e polychromy have been p re s e rv ed (th e ir fo u n d e r in 1576 was a local rector) th e gro u p of co n se rv a to rs h a s ex e cu ted th e en tire ly new m u ra l p a in tin g s.