Conservation, Restoration and Reconstruction of the Marble Tombstone of Seyyed Ruhollah Kashfi Darabi in Tabriz Islamic Art University
This article examines and identifies the tombstone of the late Seyyed Rouhollah Kashfi Darabi and discusses how to carry out its restoration, reconstruction, and display. The necessity and importance of this research is the attention to the conservation and restoration of outdoor stone artefacts in the museum that are exposed to environmental factors in open areas. This has been accomplished through laboratory studies identifying stones using petrographic methods and examining similar past experiences in the region through field and library research. After documenting, analyzing, and evaluating the intervention and reconstruction methods, the incomplete interventions of previous restorations were cleaned up and rectified. In continuation, the reconstruction of the tombstone was carried out using silicone molds and polyester resin. The restoration intervention was done by examining and comparing various reconstruction methods for such works and the less-considered idea was innovatively implemented by reconstructing the missing parts with polyester resin (simulating marble stone) while considering technical and aesthetic principles. Finally, conservation and restoration measures were carried out using 4% Paraloid B-72 as a coating-stabilizer and it was entrusted to the technical office of Tabriz Islamic Art University with arrangements for display and conceptual space. Despite the positive aspects of the reconstruction measures in terms of technical and aesthetic principles, due to the location of the artifact in the outdoor environment and exposed to destructive environmental factors, follow-up researches are needed to investigate the behaviour of stone and restoration materials.