The detached wall paintings from the attic of the monastery church St Johann in Müstair in the collection of the Swiss National Museum – research and development of a conservation and restoration concept.

On the instructions of the National Museum Zurich, twenty Carolingian and eight Romanesque murals were removed from the monastery church of St. Johann in Müstair in 1908/09; they were mounted on new supports and transferred to the museum.

An interdisciplinary team assessed the condition of the murals from the loft of the monastery church and studied their conservation and restoration history. By means of digital photography and scientific analysis, a documentary record was made of the mural residues still in situ and of the previously detached murals. A concept was then developed for future conservation and restoration measures. The project ran between September 2019 and August 2021.

Publication

“The detached wall paintings from the attic of the monastery church St. Johann in Müstair in the collection of the Swiss National Museum – research and development of a conservation and restoration concept” in: ZAK, Band 79, 2022, Heft 1

Project participants

• Natalie Ellwanger, Markus Leuthard, Tiziana Lombardo, Collection Centre, Swiss National Museum
• Marta Caroselli, Alberto Felici, Giacinta Jean, Camilla Martinucci, Francesca Reichlin, Scuola universitaria professionale della Svizzera italiana
• Patrick Cassitti, Rufino Emmenegger, Stiftung Pro Kloster St. Johann