Still Life with Grapes and Nest

A complex conservation process revealed the layer of the painting inits original subtlety and delicate retouchings recreated the integralsurface of the painting. As a result, we can confirm that it is a paintingof high artistic quality dating most probably from the middle ofthe 17th century, painted on an oak panel of German origin. Weremain doubtful about the Internet auction suggested authorship,as the painting does not reach the artistic quality of Jan DavidszDé Heem, a top rank artist from the Netherlands. It is possible tocontinue with the art-historical analysis (and other investigations)of the painting, to find further proof for the hypothetical dating andmaybe even reach an attribution but we must not forget to ask thequestions whether and to whom it would be necessary. What matters for the owner of the painting is the fact that an artwork which decorates the wall of his home has both aesthetic and historical value – even without knowing its exact date or the painter

A DOOR IN USE IN TALLINN APPEARED TO BE OVER 600 YEARS OLD

In a medieval tower in the Tallinn Old Town wall there is a woodeninternal door that was suspected of being rather old. The age of thedoor was determined using dendrochronology. It was possible tomeasure tree rings from the lower ends of the oak planks of the door.Matching the ring-width series with oak references from northernEurope revealed that the door was over 600 years old, and still inplace in medieval Bremen Tower in Tallinn, Estonia. The ring-widthseries of the door was most similar to oak chronology from theDaugava River. However, this does not mean that the door timbersoriginate from that region. At present, we do not possess Estonianoak chronologies extending back to that time. Thus, the provenanceof the oak for this door remains undecided. The dendrochronologicaldate of the door, AD 1394–1411, can be confirmed and can be narrowedby documentary evidence to AD 1400–1410

Colour measurement and documentation in historical buildings: the case study of the Kirna Manor House in Estonia

Historical buildings and their decorative apparatus have a key role in the transmission of national and local traditions, requiring careful conservation of these structures and their overlapping decorative layers, mostly made up of stuccos and coatings. Unfortunately, the procedures and methodologies for both documenting and preserving such cultural heritage are not clearly standardised in Estonia, where most historic manor houses are managed by private owners who have no precise guidelines to follow during the restoration of such complex structures. To amend this issue, the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) organised an international workshop on “Colour Measurement and Documentation in Architectural Paint Research” with the aim to bring together several experts, techniques and tools from different countries in order to define, optimise and modernise the methodologies employed for the identification, documentation and preservation of historical painted interiors and colours. In addition to a theoretical session, the workshop held in October 2019 entailed practical work at the Kirna Manor House, analysing the entrance hall of the building. The paper presents the results of the research and the discussion between international experts

Stone Age imitation of a slotted bone point from Pärnu River (south-western Estonia)

This is an in-depth study of a mimicked slotted point, carved from a cervid longbone, found in the lower reaches of the Pärnu River. The 3D digital model, created during this study, provides an interactive and innovative tool for studying the object in detail. The AMS dating places the artefact at the very beginning of human habitation in the present-day territory of Estonia. SEM-EDS, ATR-FT-IR and GC-FID/MS analyses demonstrate that this unique object was probably originally partially covered with a mixture of red ochre and some coniferous resin, possibly as hafting adhesive. As this is a detailed replica of a slotted point, it also demonstrates how people themselves saw slotted points in the Early Mesolithic, also raising the question of the purpose of this replica â was it an ordinary arrowhead or rather a ritual object

From Analogue to Digital Photogrammetry: Documentation of Padise Abbey in Two Different Time Stages

Exploration of historical buildings during their life cycles is one of many aspects of the cultural heritage research. For studying different conditions of historical buildings over time, it is convenient to use photogrammetric surveys carried out in different time stages. Modern photogrammetric methods give the possibility to use archived analogue photogrammetric data, re-process them, and achieve new potentially valuable results with sufficient geometric accuracy and with high visual quality. The paper presents re-processing of analogue archival photogrammetric images captured by a metric camera in 1991 and compares the results to the new photogrammetric survey with a digital camera. The object of interest is Padise Abbey in Estonia. In 1991, parts of the abbey were in poor condition and conservation and renovation works were at an early stage. Nowadays, the abbey is partly renovated, and the results of the new photogrammetric survey give an opportunity to study two completely different conditions

Colour measurement and documentation in historical painted interiors restoration: the good practice at the workshop of Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn

Historical buildings and their decorative apparatus have a key role in the transmission of national and local traditions, requiring to pay attention to the conservation of these structures and their overlapped decorative layers, mostly made by varnishes and stuccos. Unfortunately, procedures and methodologies for both documenting and preserving such particular Cultural Heritage are not clearly standardised in Estonia, where several historic manor houses are managed by private owners which have not precise guidelines to follow during the restoration of such complex structures. In this context, the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) organised an international workshop on “Colour Measurement and Documentation in Architectural Paint Research” with the aim to bring together several experts, techniques and tools from different countries in order to define, optimise and modernise the methodologies nowadays employed for the identification, documentation and preservation of historical painted interiors and colours. The workshop held in October 2019, besides a theoretical session, carried out a practical work at the Kirna manor house (Järva County, ca100 km from Tallinn), analysing the entrance hall of the building. The paper presents first results of the research and discussion between international experts