Materials and Techniques and of Cappadocian Wall Paintings

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a research mission and restoration project, Rupestrian painting in Cappadocia: knowledge, conservation and enhancement, which the University of Tuscia has been conducting in Cappadocia (Turkey) annually since 2006. Carried out in collaboration with our Turkish colleagues from the Archaeological Museum and the Regional Restoration Laboratory of Nevşehir, it is intended to promote knowledge and conservation of the extraordinary wall painting heritage of Cappadocia. Our paper focuses on the materials and techniques of the wall paintings of Cappadocia, based on research carried out over a 13-year period, derived firstly from a survey in the region and then from the experience acquired from conservation projects undertaken at two rock-cut churches, the Church of the Forty Martyrs in Şahinefendi and the New Tokalı church in the Göreme Open Air Museum. Findings indicate that the use of different materials and execution techniques can be related to four macro-phases into which we have divided painting practice in Cappadocia. In the overall development of painting up to the 11th century, there was a general tendency to expand from simplified forms to more complex approaches, which is partly related to the development of more ambitious architectural spaces. In the 10th and 11th centuries, painting procedures proliferated, which can be associated with the presence of different workshops coexisting in the extended territory between the Open Air Museum and Çavusin. This diversity encompasses a broad range, from the most modest wall painting schemes up to those of an exceptional nature, the latter exemplified by the painting in the New Tokalı church or the painting cycles of the so-called ‘Column Churches’.