Specialty

Restoration of Frescoes, Painted Ceilings and Monumental Decorative Schemes

A monumental work does not leave its setting: À L’Atelier travels to it, scaffolding included. Painted ceilings, mural schemes, marouflaged paintings, iconostases, large formats in churches and town halls.

These are the longest projects, and the most exposed. Every retouch must read correctly from several meters below and at thirty centimeters alike — a rightness got only by climbing up and back down, over and over.

What À L’Atelier takes on

Painted ceilings and mural schemes

Grime, water ingress, flaking, earlier repairs: the scheme is first stabilized in place, then cleaned and reintegrated zone by zone, in the order the state of the surface dictates.

Marouflaged paintings and large formats

Canvases marouflaged to wall or ceiling, large church compositions: lifting, tears and losses are treated in situ, without removal, whenever the work allows.

Iconostases and liturgical ensembles

An ensemble is treated as a whole: panels, tondi, gold grounds and joinery come back in accord with one another. The works are taken down, brought in, and the whole reinstalled on site.

Town halls, chapels and public buildings

For many years À L’Atelier has worked for parishes, local authorities and historic monuments, with everything that entails: access, safety, scheduling, and sharing the site with other trades.

Condition reports and project documentation

Every project begins with a condition report and yields a full photographic record — before, during and after — handed over to the client.

Work carried out

Real commissions, photographed as they came in and as they left.

Separating a canvas glued to glass, and its reinstallation — a Paris shopfront — before and after restoration — Separating a canvas glued to glass, and its reinstallationa Paris shopfrontA painted canvas glued to glass, shattered by a paving stone thrown through the shopfront.

Consolidation of cracks and reintegration of color — painted ceiling — before and after treatment — Consolidation of the cracks and reintegration of the colorspainted ceilingCracks in the support ran right across the sky; they were consolidated, then reintegrated.

Separating a canvas glued to glass, and its reinstallation — a Paris shopfront — The restored decoration, the canvas laid on new glass — Separating a canvas glued to glass, and its reinstallationa Paris shopfrontThe restored decoration, the canvas laid on new glass

Separating a canvas glued to glass, and its reinstallation — a Paris shopfront — detail of the break — Separating a canvas glued to glass, and its reinstallationa Paris shopfrontDetail of the break

Consolidation of cracks and reintegration of color — painted ceiling — Painted ceiling: treatment in situ — Consolidation of the cracks and reintegration of the colorspainted ceilingPainted ceiling — work in situ

Consolidation of cracks and reintegration of color — painted ceiling — Reworking a painted coffer — Consolidation of the cracks and reintegration of the colorspainted ceilingReworking of a painted coffer

Worth knowing

Does the building have to close during the work?

Seldom entirely. The site is divided into zones and the schedule fits around services, sessions or opening hours. That is settled at the visit, before the estimate.

Who puts up the scaffolding?

It is allowed for in the estimate and erected by professionals, in agreement with whoever is responsible for the building. Working at height and its safety are part of the job, not an extra discovered along the way.

How do I get an estimate for a scheme in place?

By a visit: a photograph tells you nothing of the state of the support, nor of how well the paint layer is holding, nor of what raking light reveals. Travel to a work that cannot be moved is quoted for beforehand.

Talk to me about your work

The condition report and the estimate are free of charge at À L’Atelier, and commit you to nothing. Describe the work — artist, support, period, dimensions — and its condition, and we will arrange a time.

06 60 94 82 63 contact@a-latelier.fr

28 rue Traversière, 75012 Paris — Gare de Lyon métro
Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. — by appointment only
See every case study

The other specialties

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