ABSTRACT: The conservation of the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha (Coimbra, Portugal) includes the open-air display of the ceramic tiles that pave the Main Cloister, some of which exhibit surface scaling and flaking. The possibilities of... more
ABSTRACT: The conservation of the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha (Coimbra, Portugal) includes the open-air display of the ceramic tiles that pave the Main Cloister, some of which exhibit surface scaling and flaking. The possibilities of minimizing this loss of material resorting to two TEOS-based consolidants were assessed by characterizing changes in open porosity, water absorption, drying, colorimetric and drilling resistance features. Products were applied on selected tile samples by brush, via capillary uptake and using cellulose poultices. Results showed that the application method distinctively influences the product intake; for the samples treated by brush, the use of drilling tests to evaluate the penetration depth of the consolidants on these particularly abrasive materials is furthermore discussed.
