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.