Scientific study of the artwork at Nako, India

Monuments and objects of art all over the world deteriorate over time due to their material composition, their means of production, and suffer from the environmental influence as well as from inappropriate human interventions. One of the sites which was included in the list of the 100 most endangered monuments by the World Monuments Fund (WMF), is the Buddhist temple complex in Nako village, Himachal Pradesh, India. This temple complex, a substantial part of which can be dated back to the 12th century, is one of the most important and unique art works of its kind in the world. Boasting four temples, it preserves the earliest artistic heritage of Tibetan Buddhism in the form of mural paintings, polychromed clay sculptures and beautifully decorated wooden architectural elements. The complex, which has survived for approximately 900 years, has recently started showing alarming signs of deterioration. Changing climatic patterns, rising ground water, frequently occurring earthquakes and human interventions have resulted in an urgent need for a comprehensive conservation programme and further preservation. For this purpose, a better understanding of the support, painting techniques, and of the deterioration mechanisms is essential and an extensive programme of scientific research is requested. This scientific research will thus form a basis for the development of appropriate conservation treatments as well as for the guidelines of the future preservation. An extensive scientific study proposed within this project will focus on the painting techniques of all decorated surfaces (murals, polychromed clay sculptures, and painted ceiling panels) and its support (clay, mud bricks, and mud plasters). Due to the extreme geographical and unfavourable working conditions, the study will include only a limited range of non-invasive methods (imaging in ultraviolet, visible and infrared light with high performance digital photography). A substantial part of the research will be carried out using invasive instrumental techniques including optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX), microchemical reactions, histo-chemical (staining) tests, X-ray diffraction (XRD), micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (-FTIR), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), micro-Raman-spectrometry, and mercury porosimetry. The output of the study will provide a thorough knowledge about the state and material composition of the support, ground layers, and the original and secondary paint layers. Valuable information about the original technology, characterisation of past intervention materials, and possible mechanisms of the decay - including the comparative assessment of painting techniques on all surfaces and structural elements - will be acquired.