Projects: Geographical Overview
Terrace House 2, view into the ›Erotes Room‹ (Room 18)
Eros before restoration
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Conservation and Restoration of Wall Paintings in Terrace House 2
In 2010, a project financed by the Ephesus Foundation was initiated to conserve and restore the wall paintings in Terrace House 2. The goal is to guarantee the long-term preservation of the decorated upper surfaces and to make them presentable to the visitors.
Due to massive destructions, caused by fire and earthquakes in antiquity, damage during excavation, and safeguarding which was only provisional for decades, yet also due to improper restoration in the past and lack of maintenance, the wall paintings in Terrace House 2 are in part poorly preserved, and some of them are even acutely endangered. It was therefore necessary in a first step to stabilise the painting and the lower layer of plaster, and to fill in areas of loss. Inadequate interventions were removed and, where possible, the ancient substance was made visible. After this basic work, a general cleaning of the decorated upper surfaces ensued. The filling in of losses with lime mortar, as well as a careful treatment of the upper surface, constitute the final steps. The restoration concept is designed only to undertake interventions and alterations where these are absolutely necessary due to grounds of stability. In addition, great value is placed on the fact that the history of the wall decoration should be preserved and all of its phases, including destruction phases, should remain legible.
A pilot project with a team of Turkish and Italian conservators, initiated in August 2010, covered Rooms 17 and 18 on the middle terrace of Terrace House 2. In Room 18, the so-called Erotes Room, the wall decoration, which included a total of four phases, was stabilised and the cleaning of the most recent painted layer, the erotes, was begun. Conclusion of the work is fixed for 2011. Parallel to the practical work of restoration, analyses of material will be carried out, and furthermore an overall restoration concept for all of the decorated upper surfaces in Terrace House 2 is being worked on.
In 2011, four rooms – 17, 18, 36 and 36a – could be completed by a Turkish-Italian team of conservators. Thanks to promised financial support, work will be continued in rooms 16a and 18a. Furthermore, a comprehensive restoration concept is being worked out for all the decorated surfaces in Terrace House 2.