Tajemnicze losy joannickich tablic herbowych ze Słońska oraz ich problematyka konserwatorska

Abstract

Representative heraldic shields executed on wooden boards, have been devoted the knights of the Order of St. John of the Bailiwick of Brandenburg. The capital of the bailiwick since the year 1426 was Słońsk, which neighbourhood since 1249 belonged to the margraviate.The oldest among the shields date back to the 17th and 18th centuries, however the majority of them – and there was altogether ca. 1300 located in the castle and in the church – dates back to the mid- and late 19th century, the period of very vivid activity of Balley Sonnenburg. The set of shields has been complemented still in the fi rst half of 20th century, even up to 1942. Heraldic shields, on average 70 cm high and 50 cm wide, has been made in oil technique on oak, fi r or pine boards, sporadically on canvas. They were divided into two groups. Bigger ones, more splendid and placed higher on the walls, were commemorating the grand masters.In 1945 the shields, together with Słońsk archives have been acquired by the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, located in Pałac pod Blachą and later transferred to the Royal Castle in Warsaw. Presently there are 123 shields preserved in Poland, stored in the Delegacy of the Regional Conservation Offi ce in Gorzow Wielkopolski.In November 2004 four of the described shields, mostly in a wrack condition have been handed over to the Department of Conservation of Paintings and Polychrome Sculpture NCU in order to perform conservation and restoration within the framework of didactic activities. The paper contains description of technique of the original and the analysis of technique of the making, further on the state of preservation is being characterised. The destruction, mostly of mechanical character, consisting on the loss of large fragments of shields, occurred most probably at the end of World War II. Earlier the shields do not undergo any conservation treatment. The course of present conservation and restoration works has been discussed in detail, concentrating on the necessity of executing reconstruction of missing parts of the supports and paint layers. Conservation and restoration treatment of two shields – one dedicated to August Heinrich Graff von Wartensleben, the other dedicated to Georg Albrecht von Brandenburg – have already been completed and the artefacts have been returned to the owner. The works on two remaining shields – one with the crest of Friedrich Ludwig Wilhelm Philipp von Vincke and the other one with the crest of Wilhelm Christian Gottlob von Pollnitz will soon be completed.