Spanish Scientist Uses Bacteria to Repair 18th-century Artworks

Spanish Scientist Uses Bacteria to Repair 18th-century Artworks

Spanish scientist Pilar Bosch has found a way to use bacteria to repair 18th-century paintings.

Bosch, a microbiologist, tells Reuters she got the idea for the method while considering possibilities for a paper toward her doctoral degree. During this process, she discovered someone else’s paper that suggested bacteria can be used to restore artworks.

At around the same time, Bosch learned that her mother was struggling to find a good method for restoring 18th-century paintings. The paintings, by Spanish artist Antonio Palomino, sat in Santos Juanes – one of the oldest churches in the city of Valencia.

Pilar Roig Picazo, 75, and her daughter Pilar Bosch Roig, 42, work together on the restoration process at Santos Juanes in Valencia, Spain, September 17, 2024. (REUTERS/Eva Manez)

Bosch said her mother, Pilar Roig, noted how difficult the restoration process at the church was. One reason was the glue used to remove the paintings from the walls in the 1960s. The substance was nearly impossible to remove completely.

"My mother had a very difficult problem to solve and I found a paper about bacteria used to clean frescoes in Italy," Bosch said. A fresco is a kind of painting that often appears across a large wall.

Bosch added she decided to write her doctoral paper on the same subject. That was more than ten years ago. Today, she gets to work with her mother on the church restoration. They are using the bacteria method to remove glue from artworks. The $4.46 million project is being financed by local organizations.

Pilar Roig Picazo, 75, and her daughter Pilar Bosch Roig, 42, watch as restorers work on a mural painting removed from the Santos Juanes church in Valencia, Spain, September 17, 2024. (REUTERS/Eva Manez)

The process involves feeding small amounts of the glue – made from animal collagen – to the bacteria. After a time, the bacteria begins to naturally produce enzymes to break down the glue.

The mother-daughter team then mixes the bacteria with a natural algae-based substance, called a gel, and places it onto the paintings. They say that after about three hours, the gel mixture is removed, leaving the paintings glue-free.

Pilar Roig Picazo, 75, and her daughter Pilar Bosch Roig, 42, work together on the restoration process at Santos Juanes in Valencia, Spain, September 17, 2024. (REUTERS/Eva Manez)

Bosch’s mother, now 75, noted that in the past, restorers of artworks had to use traditional cleaning methods that "took hours and damaged the painting." She noted that several other relatives in the family also work in art restoration. Bosch agreed, saying the work "certainly runs in the family."

Bosch has also used her bacteria removal process in other restoration projects in Italy and Spain. And, she is now training other scientists to use a different kind of bacteria to clear walls of painted graffiti.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Reuters reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

restore – v. to repair something old

church – n. a building where people go to worship God

glue – n. a substance used to stick things together

graffiti – n. writings or art painted on walls and public places, usually illegally