An overview of work now in progress

1. The Conservation of Outdoor Sculpture at Vizcaya 2010 Lunch & Learn Series 3/10/10

2. Outdoor sculpture is a major component of Vizcaya Around 150 works of statuary, not counting architectural elements Installations cover the entire range of environments, including maritime, hammock, garden, plaza and architecture

3. Range of materials Primarily stone (limestone, marble, some others), terra cotta, and lead

4. Limestones Calcareous sedimentary stone, often fossiliferous and usually very soft but can be partially crystallized. Quarried in Florida, Istria, France, Vicenza, England.

5. Marbles Calcareous metamorphic stone, crystalline, hard, durable. Quarried in Carrara, Italy and Turkey.

6. Terra Cotta Low temperature fired clay, usually constructed by pressing slabs into molds and reworking surfaces. Always hollow.

7. Lead Soft gray metal, very low melting point. Fabricated much like terra cottas, with thin skins cast in sections and assembled hollow. Many were created in England.

8. Most sculptures were restored before they arrived at Vizcaya Restorations were common on outdoor statuary and antiquities. Only relatively recently was the practice of reconstruction, even to the point of falsification, seen as wrong.

9. History and authenticity

10. Installation at Vizcaya as an added layer of history

11. Vizcaya’s environmental conditions

12. Assessment: understanding what the needs are before acting

13. Complex structures can have multiple and complex conditions

14. Available treatments Typical treatments can include cleaning, removal of failed previous treatments, structural stabilization, patching, and replication of lost elements.

15. Standards that govern treatments Generally, guidelines are to do no harm, perform the lowest level of possible to achieve the goal, follow the creator’s original intentions, make the treatment reversible if possible and thoroughly document all work. http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/standguide/ http://www.conservation-us.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewPage&pageID=858&nodeID=1

16. History of the object includes the history of treatments

17. Series of treatment campaigns

18. Treatment campaigns may extend very far back in time

19. Improving treatment standards

20. Case Study: Merboys

21. Case Study: Contadina

22. Case Study: Baptistery Font

23. Case Study: Herm

24. Case Study: Sphinx

25. Disaster Planning & Mitigation

26. Project in Context of Conservation Today The quality, and quantity of the Vizcaya collection and the museum’s commitment to establishing and maintaining the highest standards of care will serve as a model for conservation in challenging environments throughout the world.

27. Acknowledgments Joel Hoffman, Lynn Summers, Dennis Fruitt, Remko Jansonius, Flaminia Gennari, the staff of Vizcaya, Rosa Lowinger, George Wheeler, Joseph Sembrat, Patty Miller, J Laurie Ossman.