Exhibition “Between the Threads of Time. The tapestry "Abduction of the Sabine Women” and the story of its restoration”

Tapestries are a special kind of textile art in which artistic expression, history and mastery are combined. These textiles serve not only to decorate interiors but are also the guardians of cultural memory, testifying to the people who created or used them and their era. Restoration is a process of multiple stages that is very subtle and demands great responsibility, combining careful scientific research, hand-crafting and the restorer’s ethical position, where the goal is to preserve the authentic textile of the work of art along with the historic information encoded within. This process is particularly difficult in those cases where an item has already undergone repeated interventions, which have often not only left their trace but also result in additional challenges for the restorer.

The tapestry Abduction of the Sabine Women created at the Royal Aubusson Manufactory (?) (France) in the mid-18th century is part of the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania textile collection. This work was gifted to the museum in 2021 by Nathan Levi from Florence (Italy). The age of the tapestry was determined by analysis and historical sources – its composition echoes the narrative of the painting The Abduction of the Sabine Women (1672–1674) by the famous Italian Baroque painter Luca Giordano (1634–1705). The cartoon used in the weaving of this tapestry was created using an engraving (1762) by Firmin Beauvarlet (1731–1797)published by the Firmin Didot printing house which conveyed the composition of Giordano’s painting.

The course of the tapestry’s restoration, presented in this exhibition, is part of the final thesis of Master’s student Bernadeta Rudytė from the Vilnius Academy of Arts Vilnius Faculty of Restoration, Department of the Restoration of Art and Interior Heritage (textile restoration specialisation). The restoration was performed under the supervision of her creative work leader, lecturer Audronė Petroševičiūtė. Contemporary conservation principles were followed during the restoration of the tapestry – the requirements of minimal intervention, reversability and preservation of the object’s authenticity. During the course of this process, unsuitable layers that had been added during previous restorations were removed, the fragile original fabric was stabilised and missing fragments were reconstructed.

This exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to learn about the history of this tapestry from up close, the stages of its restoration and the subtleties of the restorer’s profession. The exhibited tapestry not only reveals how time affects works of art but also invites the public to think about restoration as a constant balancing act between preserving the legacy of the past and its meaningful presentation to the modern viewer.

According to the myth, the founder of Rome, Romulus, invited the Sabines with their wives and daughters from a neighbouring city to a festival in honour of the god Consus. When the celebration began, the Romans violenty kidnapped the young women.

The centre of the composition depicts the fierce struggle between the Roman soldiers and the Sabine women. Six Roman soldiers are shown wearing lorica (a type of armour) and sandals, helmets and cloaks. The Sabine women’s figures are exposed or meagerly covered by light stola and robes. To the left of the composition a Sabine woman is visible thrown down on the grass, her ochre stola is dishevelled and she is trying to push away the soldier lunging at her. Nearby, another Sabine holds her head in fear; she is wearing a light, brownish dress and is wrapped in a red cloak. A Roman soldier wearing lorica is depicted in the centre of the composition; he has a sword hanging on his left side and is holding a writhing Sabine aloft – her arms are raised, her hair and green cloak are billowing in the wind. To the right are several figures wrangling. The scene is taking place in an open space overgrown with meagre plants, just a few tufts of grass, in the distance is a fragment of a crumbled column, a bastion with a defensive wall and small scale figures. The scene is completed with a hilly landscape and a cloudy sky.

The influence of Italian Baroque painting can be sensed in the composition, conveyed in the more decorative manner harmonised with the style of 18th-century French artistic textiles. The movement of the figures is expressive, they are depicted from various angles and in complex poses. The sense of dynamism is created by the plastic drapery of the clothing, their bright colours – different shades of red, blue, green and brown. Nevertheless, the textile lacks the elegance and lightness typical of the French Rococo.

The tapestry is surrounded by a narrow border imitating a carved wooden frame. It consists of an asymmetrical ornament featuring a fancy illustration, typical of Rococo architecture and the applied decorative arts, composed of shells, stylised plant leaves and motifs reminiscent of the crests of waves, all intertwined with floral blooms.

Before beginning restoration of the tapestry Abduction of the Sabine Women, comprehensive visual and chemical research was conducted which allowed making an accurate assessment of the textile’s condition and the impact of previous interventions. The visual analysis revealed the locations of lost warps and wefts, crudely executed and imprecise sewing, an unmatching band that had been sewn in on the lower border, as well as dirty spots, dustiness and faded colours.

Having removed the lining, it became apparent that maintenance work had been done to the tapestry on at least five occasions, using various materials and methods. The technical chemist Dr Laima Grabauskaitė who conducted the chemical research determined the materials that had been used in earlier restoration efforts. These were linen, wool and cotton fabrics, viscose fabrics impregnated with natural resin, and polyester thread used in sewing machine stitching. Grabauskaitė identified that the tapestry had been woven using naturally dyed silk and wool yarn.

After conducting this research, it was found that viscose patches impregnated with natural resin would swell when coming into contact with water, thereby placing the original textile at risk. This is why washing became a fundamental factor in making the decision to remove them. Also, the technical condition of these patches was already rather poor – the untidy way they had been sewn on, layering and sewing machine stitching not only deformed the composition but also caused additional tension in the fabric.

The point of washing was to remove the superficial debris and restore the pH balance of the textile. Silk and wool fibres are very sensitive to acidification, which accelerates structural disintegration.

The earliest layers of restoration that were visually and structurally neutral were left as historical marks. When the unsuitable layers were removed, the actual damage was revealed – there were more missing wefts and warps, and the absent fragments were now noticeable.

During restoration of the tapestry Abduction of the Sabine Women, two different methodological strategies were applied, depending on the nature of the damage. In those places where both warps and wefts were missing, the absent fragments were recreated by using a needlework method imitating the tapestry weave. Pre-washed and synthetically dyed wool yarn was used for this purpose. In order for the resulting yarn colour and thickness to resemble the original as closely as possible, the yarn was twisted from three to five coloured strands. These threads were laid parallel to the direction of the warps and were tacked onto the restoration base, thereby recreating the visual rhythm yet clearly retaining a distinction of the restored places from the original.

In those places where only the wefts had been lost and the warps remained, a tacking technique was used – colour-matched thread subtly reinforced the structure while preserving the original textile.

RESTAURAVIMO DARBO VADOVĖ / RESTORATION WORK SUPERVISOR Audronė Petroševičiūtė

 

RESTAURAVIMO IR TYRIMŲ PARTNERIAI / RESTORATION AND RESEARCH PARTNERS Lietuvos nacionalinio dailės muziejaus Prano Gudyno restauravimo centro tekstilės restauravimo dirbtuvės, dr. Laima Grabauskaitė

PARODOS TEKSTŲ AUTORĖS / EXHIBITION TEXT AUTHORS Bernadeta Rudytė, prof. dr. Ieva Jedzinskaitė-Kuizinienė

FOTOGRAFIJŲ AUTORIAI / PHOTOGRAPHS BY Vilija Šileikienė, Vytautas Abramauskas, Bernadeta Rudytė

 

PARODOS KOORDINATORĖ / EXHIBITION COORDINATOR dr. Živilė Mikailienė

 

REDAKTORĖ / COPY EDITOR Monika Grigūnienė

 

VERTĖJA Į ANGLŲ KALBĄ / ENGLISH TRANSLATOR Albina Strunga

NUOŠIRDI PADĖKA dr. Indrei Užuotaitei ir Audronei Petroševičiūtei UŽ ĮKVĖPIMĄ, KONSULTACIJAS IR NUOLATINĮ PALAIKYMĄ / SINCERE THANKS TO Dr Indrė Užuotaitė and Audronė Petroševičiūtė FOR THEIR INSPIRATION, CONSULTATIONS, AND CONSTANT SUPPORT