At L’Aigle, meeting with an art restorer, a profession where science comes to the aid of heritage

To be able to practice this profession in L’Aigle (Orne), Mathilde Scholler studied for 5 years at theSchool of Condé in Paris. “From the first year, you start learning the trade”. An exciting job, but one she didn’t always want to do.

Inspired by art, she was looking for a job related to this field and met by chance a restorer, “It was a revelation”. This job is however difficult, “most of the students who enter these studies do not do this job afterwards”. The hardest part is getting a clientele. Most of the time, “these are opportunities”.

Be the least interventionist possible

It has been now 7 ans that Mathilde Scholler exercises this profession in the Orne. “I settled in the Orne as a freelancer, first in Mortagne then in L’Aigle”.

Contrary to what one might think, curator is one job at a time artisanalbut also scientific. The restoration process takes time and research.

I start by making a diagnosis to know the materials, the history and the alterations of the painting. Then, I make a treatment protocol and depending on the time, the damage and the place of conservation, I will change my products.

After that, she establishes the had to. Of course, the restoration time depends on the size and the damage.

Conservator-restorer is a profession in two parts. First, the conservative part where she “recovers tears and holes if there are losses of material”. After there is the aesthetic part, “it is the revalorization of the visual aspect”. It consists of removing dust, removing varnish and touching up material losses.

Although exciting, it is also a profession with criteria to be met.

We never use the same paint as the one used in the original. Most of the time I work with oil paint and prepared paints. These are pigments with a synthetic binder.

This technique allows it to hold up better over time and that the products used are reversible. The reversibility is an important notion in this job. “Everything I do can be removed at any time without degrading the work”.

Nevertheless, it is a job where you have to be the least interventionist possible, “we must do the minimum required”. In terms of materials, it must be stable and reversible.

We need materials that age best over time and that can be easily removed when it deteriorates.

It remains a profession constant progression, “the study of conservation/restoration really began in the 1980s”. It’s a profession that existed long before, but often it was “artists who patched up the paintings”.

A preference for the 17th century

Currently, there is extensive research into the materials that restorers can use. In the training, there is a large part of physics and chemistry to understand chemical products and reactions.

I work in a field where there are no materials created specifically for restoration. All of our products are used in other areas of industry.

They are always looking for products more efficient, not hesitating to go to the four corners of the world for products such as Japanese seaweed which is increasingly used. “We are a small sector of activity, and our products are immediately very expensive”.

As for clients, Mathilde Scholler works with everyone. “There is no predominance between individuals, antique dealers and anything that is public like churches”.

She has, for example, carried out restorations at the church of Saint-Nicolas-de-Sommaire, Villers-en-Ouche and is currently working on the painting of Saint-Barthélemy of the Eagle. “So far, I’ve just intervened in the church to protect him.”

She works a lot on paintings ranging from XVII^e century now. To be a curator, there is no need to be a specialist in an era, but she has a slight preference for paintings from the 17th century.^e century.

We feel that the painters had a master’s degree, that they exercised the profession of painter with a real training which began very young in the workshops.

As for fears of damaging a painting, “there is none”, thanks to reversible products. You just have to be careful with the solvents when cleaning so that they are not too strong, “there are colors that are a little more sensitive like red and brown which come off more easily”.

It is a job where there is a lot of work“you just have to make yourself known”

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