Joint Research for the Conservation of Wall Paintings in Istria, Croatia (Part 2)
Since 2021, The Japan Center for International Cooperation in Conservation has been involved in Joint research on the maintenance, management, and conservation-restoration of mural paintings under the “International Research on Conservation and Restoration Techniques for Cultural Heritage” program.
As part of this initiative, we are collaborating with the Ministry of Culture and Media of Croatia, the Museum of Istrian History and Maritime Heritage, and the University of Zagreb to develop a maintenance management system for wall paintings in churches in the Istrian region, located in the northwest of Croatia. This region is home to numerous mural paintings created from the medieval period to the Renaissance, with over 150 works currently documented. The aim of this research is to investigate and record the state of conservation of thesewall paintings, and to share the collected data among experts to help in their maintenance and management.
From March 10 to 14, 2025, we conducted a pilot test on site at 12 churches using the checklist on the state of conservation prepared in the previous survey. The checklist was structured based on three main focal points: the building in which the wall paintings were painted, the techniques and materials used for the wall paintings, and the state of conservation. Through the test, we were able to review the checklist items and evolve the checklist into something more practical and effective. We plan to continue implementation testing with the goal of building a digital archive.