The general health of objects
Chemist and restorer Márta Járó
MúzeumCafé 17.
Márta Járó, a chemist specialising in metals, is an internationally renowned researcher in the field of metal threads used in the decoration of textiles. For over 30 years she has been involved with popularising the basic principles of restoration in Hungary. Concern about the ‘state of health’ of art objects is not without its precedents. In a lecture given in Hungary Gael de Gulches of the Rome-based International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property compared museums to hospitals, where “a good part of our work enters and decays”. The comparison is quite appropriate, since from a scientific perspective risky intervention and careful treatment, namely inappropriate restoration and preventive conservation, have to be clearly demarcated. This approach was, of course, already known in Hungary, but its conscious disciples only appeared in the wake of Professor Gouache’s 1977 lecture. Among them was Márta Járó, who got involved with the world of museums almost by chance. Today she is employed by the Hungarian National Museum and is a lecturer with the Hungarian University of Fine Arts. She teaches prospective restorers chemistry, with specific reference to basic materials. One of the most important lessons she has learned is that restorers are not simply specialists in giving objects a new life. The aim is rather prevention, slowing down the natural processes of decay. Art treasures are preserved not for the sake of restorers or for today, but for science, the public and the future. “It’s not enough to describe an object, scrutinise it and write articles about it. The possibility has to be ensured that in 50 years the very same object can be displayed, studied and handled, and that technical developments will allow the earlier results of examination and research to be complemented.