September the 13th, 2024 – Two hard-working Split students are diligently working to restore two ancient Šibenik portals.
As Morski writes, two Split students attending the Conservation-Restoration Department of the Art Academy are carefully restoring two historic Šibenik portals alongside their mentor. The Šibenik portals in question are southern portal of the Church of St. Lawrence (Sv. Lovre) and the city gates next to the beautiful bishop’s palace.
To get more deeply into the specifics, the southern portal of Sv. Lovre was constructed in the Baroque style, with the broken gable above the upper horizontal profile being a typical element of Baroque architecture. In the middle of the gables sits an excellently preserved stone sculpture, and the features of the Renaissance style are still present on this portal.
The city gate is located between the old bishop’s palace and the city museum itself. The coat of arms of the Šibenik duke and captain Giacomo Pisani sits above the door. The coat of arms can be found inside a striking cartouche (a type of parchment paper lid), and at the bottom sits a strip with the duke’s name and the year 1560 written on it.
After the investigation works, it is necessary to wash the ancient stone with water under controlled pressure, then comes the mechanical pre-cleaning of all of the surfaces, followed by more abrasive cleaning. This is all followed by laser cleaning of stone plastic, repairing any fractures, remodelling any missing surfaces with artificial stone mixture, and carving and installing natural stone segments. That is followed by the careful removal of inadequate mortar, filling things in with new mortar, and the completion of the accompanying documentation. This includes details of how the structure was found, and the completed works, reports local portal ŠibenikIN.
The talented Split students working hard to restore these stunning Šibenik portals which are in themselves masterpieces will certainly see them shine again in their most incredible form.
