２００８年 １１月１日 箔置きの楽しみ Gilding Gold

HI guys, I've started to learn the art of
traditional gold-gilding (water gilding),
at the end of the course I should be able
to make and restore many types of frames gilded in gold and silver.

Started out by applying layers of gesso di Bologna thinned with
rabbit skin glue.
Afterwards we designed a frame to be decorated with pastiglia
(it's always rabbit glue and gesso but much thicker)
Then on with the bolo... nowadays it's more common to use
manufactured products instead of using the real Armenian clay.
In any case it's better to thin the bolo with our usual
rabbit glue and hot water.

We in the meantime started to restore an old mirror framed
elaborately, as you can see with Sirens and monsters.
We consolidated the lacquer and what remained of the gold
(the rest has been painted over with porporina)
with fish glue.
It surely is a costly art but extremely interesting....