Fungal and Bacterial Biodeterioration of Outdoor Canvas Paintings: The Case of the Cloisters of Quito, Ecuador

The historic center of Quito, Ecuador, was one of the first World Cultural Heritage Sites declared by UNE-ISCO in 1978. here are numerous religious buildings built during the Spanish colonial period reflecting the cultural her- itage in this area. Between them, the cloisters of San Francisco, Santo...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Poyatos-Jiménez, Fernando, Morales, Fátima, Morales-Carrera, Rosa, Boffo, Silvia, Giordano, Antonio, Romero-Noguera, Julio
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/130003
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/130003
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Biodeterioration
Canvas Painting
Cloisters
Quito
Conservation
Pintura en lienzo
Biodeterioro
Conservación
Claustros
Descripción
Sumario:The historic center of Quito, Ecuador, was one of the first World Cultural Heritage Sites declared by UNE-ISCO in 1978. here are numerous religious buildings built during the Spanish colonial period reflecting the cultural her- itage in this area. Between them, the cloisters of San Francisco, Santo Domingo, and Santa Clara should be highlighted. The specific problems of conservation of the outdoor canvas paintings are not well known at the moment. The objective of this paper is to achieve a conservation study of the canvas paintings exhibited in these three cloisters of the historic center of Quito in order to identify the microbial agents and the main bioclimatic parameters of deterioration. For this, a study of the state of conservation of five canvas paintings has been carried out, as well as a sampling and identification of the main microorganisms present on the obverse and reverse of the works, employing diverse techniques, traditional and biomolecular ones. An analysis of climatic conditions has also been achieved in the cloister of San Francisco. The results of the study indicate that the exhibition conditions in the cloisters are really problematic for the conservation of paintings. Important biodeteriorating agents have been isolated, including fungi and bacteria species belonging, among others, to the genera Bacillus, Penicillium, Alternaria, Mucor, and Aspergillus. We have also researched its relationship with the deterioration state of the artworks and the exhibi ion conditions in each case, proposing guidelines for the proper conservation of this important World Cultural Heritage.