THE ROMANESQUE PULPIT IN THE CATHEDRAL OF ST DOMNIUS IN SPLIT – RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION-RESTORATION OPERATIONS

Sa？etak During research into and the documentation of the as-found state of the pulpit, various forms of inorganic soiling and mechanical damage were found. It was held to be necessary to define and classify them, and to determine their origin, which was executed with visual and microscopic examinations, sampling and analyses of the dirt. Apart from this, more than 30 different types of soiling were sampled, described, photographed through a microscope and saved. Laboratory analyses showed that on the surfaces there were various kinds of waxen and resinous coatings. On the whole, they related to operations of an aesthetic character, for the pulpit to obtain to an extent the appearance of age and the shine of stone after the cleaning. In most places the original polish of the stone is very well preserved; it gave the surfaces a fullness of colour and a high polish. All the carved shapes were well preserved precisely because of this reason. The penetration of aerosols, dust and other dirt through the micropores of the stone was thus prevented. Water, turpentine gel and white spirit had the primary role in removing the dirt and the coatings from the surfaces. During the operations, what was going on between the joined elements was explored, particularly in places invisible to the eye, where the old craftsmen had stabilised the structure with the use of iron clamps or ties. The existence of many iron elements was ascertained; only of those that were visible, more than sixty were counted. All the accessible and revealed iron elements were cleaned and conserved. As part of the research works, more than fifteen types of reutilised ancient stone from quarries that ceased production in Late Antiquity were recorded and processed typologically. It could be concluded that all the kinds of stone were secondarily used from the decorative material of Diocletian’s Mausoleum and surrounding structures that had been broken off / pulled down. The slabs of the pulpit screen have dimensions that are similar to those of some of the marble slabs that were incorporated into the later medieval paving of the cathedral, and are similar in dimensions and thickness to the material from which the second medieval inventory of the cathedral was made. The slabs probably belonged to the original paving of the mausoleum’s niches, or were used for similar purposes. Microscopic recording and analysis of the pigments and gilding and reinterpretation of the results led to the conclusion that the original appearance of the pulpit in the Romanesque had a certain order. Painted decorative stone