Al Aqsa Mosq, mosaic restoration
The restoration of the Al Aqsa Mosque mosaics in Jerusalem is a meticulous process of conservation and repair. It is essential to preserve the historic Islamic motifs and intricate details of these ancient works of art. This initiative protected the cultural and religious heritage while enabling future generations to appreciate the beauty and historical significance of the original mosaics.
Al Aqsa Mosq
There is no doubt that, aside from Norman Sicily, the surviving evidence for the use of wall mosaics in Islamic monuments comes from Jerusalem between the ninth and thirteenth centuries. The Fatimid Caliph al-Zahir, from 1021 to 1036, embellished the mihrab dome of the Aqsa mosque with vegetal mosaics inspired by Umayyad prototypes as part of an extensive restoration of the mosque.
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Jerusalem, Israel.
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1200m2
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Murano glass for mosaic, marbles.
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Traditional know how to serve modern restoring heritage
After the Ayyubid reconquest of the city in 1187, the main mihrab was provided with inscriptions executed in white, green, black, and gold mosaics and set against a pearl-studded scrolling acanthus. The interior of the mihrab was filled with a network of interlocking circles filled with pendant bunches of grapes comprised of mother-of-pearl.
In 1994, the CCA, Centro di Conservazione Archeologica, was asked by the UNESCO commission to study the condition of the mosaic surfaces in order to decide a project for their conservation. During the inspection, original fragments detached from the Al Aqsa mosque were also found in storage. In 1956, Cesare Brandi visited the site for UNESCO to examine the condition of the surfaces
Renaissance of Historic Mosaics: Restoration Techniques and Challenges.
He made it clear that the most urgent task was to consolidate the mosaics, which had been damaged over the centuries by water infiltrations and misguided restoration treatments. The CCA's conservation program made it clear that studying and documenting the surfaces was essential to distinguish the non-original parts. It also took into account the methodological indications supplied by Brandi regarding cleaning systems, consolidation in situ, and integration of missing parts with recognizable and reversible systems.
The Art of Restoration: Preserving the Heritage of Ancient Mosaics
Artefact Mosaic Studio has been asked to participate in the project to reconstitute the missing parts and eliminate some of the less successful past restoration.