Marouflage
Encyclopedia
Marouflage is a technique for affixing a painted
canvas to a wall to be used as a mural
, using an adhesive that hardens as it dries such as plaster
or cement
.
Marouflage is a 3,000-year-old technique. Historically, artists used several types of adhesives including a rabbit-skin glue
. White lead ore was used in the 19th and 20th centuries in the mixture to help it dry.
A thin coat of the adhesive
is applied to both the wall and the canvas
. Once the canvas is mounted to the wall, pressure is exerted with rubber hand rollers to smooth the canvas and remove any bubbles.
In art conservation, the word is a term of art meaning the removal of the painted surface from its underlying support, usually a stretched canvas. The process flattens the impasto
of a painting and is, therefore, probably the most extreme form of intervention that a painting can suffer. It should be used as a last resort because of the intrinsic damage that the process itself causes. Paintings that have been marouflaged include the Louvre
's version of the Madonna of the Rocks
and many of Turner
's canvasses in the care of the Tate Gallery
.
The murals are normally painted on large canvas in the studio and attached to the wall on site, using a starch based glue ( applied to the wall only), the murals can then be moved (by a professional) and re-instated elsewhere if required. The damaged caused to the painting if removed using this technique is minimal.
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
canvas to a wall to be used as a mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
, using an adhesive that hardens as it dries such as plaster
Plaster
Plaster is a building material used for coating walls and ceilings. Plaster starts as a dry powder similar to mortar or cement and like those materials it is mixed with water to form a paste which liberates heat and then hardens. Unlike mortar and cement, plaster remains quite soft after setting,...
or cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
.
Marouflage is a 3,000-year-old technique. Historically, artists used several types of adhesives including a rabbit-skin glue
Rabbit-skin glue
Rabbit-skin glue is a sizing that also acts as an adhesive. It is essentially refined rabbit collagen, and was originally used as an ingredient in traditional gesso.-History:...
. White lead ore was used in the 19th and 20th centuries in the mixture to help it dry.
A thin coat of the adhesive
Adhesive
An adhesive, or glue, is a mixture in a liquid or semi-liquid state that adheres or bonds items together. Adhesives may come from either natural or synthetic sources. The types of materials that can be bonded are vast but they are especially useful for bonding thin materials...
is applied to both the wall and the canvas
Canvas
Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...
. Once the canvas is mounted to the wall, pressure is exerted with rubber hand rollers to smooth the canvas and remove any bubbles.
In art conservation, the word is a term of art meaning the removal of the painted surface from its underlying support, usually a stretched canvas. The process flattens the impasto
Impasto
In English, the borrowed Italian word impasto most commonly refers to a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on an area of the surface very thickly, usually thickly enough that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible. Paint can also be mixed right on the canvas...
of a painting and is, therefore, probably the most extreme form of intervention that a painting can suffer. It should be used as a last resort because of the intrinsic damage that the process itself causes. Paintings that have been marouflaged include the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
's version of the Madonna of the Rocks
Virgin of the Rocks
The Virgin of the Rocks is the name used for both of two paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, of the same subject, and of a composition which is identical except for two significant details...
and many of Turner
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...
's canvasses in the care of the Tate Gallery
Tate Gallery
The Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...
.
The murals are normally painted on large canvas in the studio and attached to the wall on site, using a starch based glue ( applied to the wall only), the murals can then be moved (by a professional) and re-instated elsewhere if required. The damaged caused to the painting if removed using this technique is minimal.