The emperor on his throne
As early as the year 2000, a piece of wooden moulding fell down from the ceiling and shattered. Inspection of the debris immediately made one thing clear; the wood in question was thoroughly infested by the deathwatch beetle Xestobium Rufovillosum and next to boreholes also showed local powdering.
The resulting research project, which was carried out in 2000, formed the basis of the restoration project which started in 2024. The statues and all the other, fragile woodcarvings, were carefully removed and treated in an anoxia tent. The remaining parts of the construction could not be dismantled and were treated in situ with a thermal treatment method using microwave technology, which ensured the wood was heated to 55°C in it's core.
This insect treatment was the perfect moment to further research the statue and construction! We carried out a material-technical and historical study in hopes of evaluating the originality of the pieces. Thanks to dendrochronological analyses, we could disprove a few assumptions noted in old sources.
After the anoxia treatment, every fracture and other small defect was restored. Especially the banderoles are very fine and fragile and as thus, showed a lot of fractures and tears. Afterwards, the pieces were mounted according to their original methods. All interventions were carried out with historical techniques and materials.
