Guide to the Getty Conservation Institute, Nefertari Project Logbooks, 1989-1992
Finding aid prepared by Sara Seltzer
Title: Nefertari Project logbooks
Date (inclusive): 1989-1992
Number: IA30008
Creator/Collector:
Getty Conservation Institute
Physical Description:
0.6 linear feet
(2 boxes: 5 volumes)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Institutional Records and Archives
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California, 90049-1688
(310) 440-7390
archives@getty.edu
Abstract: The Nefertari Project logbooks (1989-1992) document Phase III of the joint project of the Getty Conservation Institute and
the Egyptian Antiquities Organization to conserve the wall paintings in the tomb of Nefertari. The entries in the logbooks
were made by various members of the conservation team. The logbooks are comprised of five volumes, which include color photographs
of the wall paintings and hand-written notes.
Request Materials: To access physical materials at the Getty, go to the
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general library access policy . See the Administrative Information section of this finding aid for access restrictions specific to the records described
below. Please note, some of the records may be stored off site; advanced notice is required for access to these materials.
Language: Collection material is in English, Italian, Spanish, and Arabic.
Administrative History and Project Background
The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), a part of the J. Paul Getty Trust, was initially planned in 1982 and began full operation
in 1985. Since its inception, the GCI has engaged in a program of scientific research, educational activities, documentation,
and the dissemination of information through publications, conferences, workshops, and public programs that include research
opportunities for professionals and public lectures. In addition, the Institute has conducted international field projects
in Asia, Africa, North and South America, and Europe. The GCI's endeavors are designed to serve the needs of the conservation
profession by undertaking work that tackles broad practical or theoretical questions of significance to the conservation field.
The Institute develops and refines tools for conservation and shares its expertise with institutions and organizations worldwide
so that its efforts have the greatest possible benefit to the practice of conservation.
The Getty Conservation Institute's first field project focused on the 3,200-year-old tomb of Queen Nefertari in the Valley
of the Queens, near Luxor, Egypt. Beginning in 1986, in collaboration with the Egyptian Antiquities Organization (EAO), a
multidisciplinary, international group of experts conducted an intensive six-year campaign, which included condition assessment,
analysis, emergency treatment, and conservation of the extraordinary wall paintings in the tomb. The project included training
conservators from Egypt and other countries.
One of the main objectives of the conservation effort was to maintain the site's historical integrity, therefore treatment
of the wall paintings was limited to consolidation and cleaning. The diagnostic methodology developed during the project was
one that can be applied to wall paintings at other sites.
The GCI and the J. Paul Getty Museum presented a joint exhibition on the project, which opened to the public on November 12,
1992. This was the first exhibition to chronicle on the GCI's internal conservation campaigns and also the first exhibit on
site conservation to be shown at the Getty museum. It also marked the first time the Museum and the GCI collaborated on a
Museum show. The purpose of the exhibition was to increase public awareness on in situ conservation and its importance in
the preservation of cultural property worldwide.
The materials in accession 1994.IA.06 are open for use by qualified researchers.
The following types of records are permanently closed: records containing personal information, records that compromise security
or operations, legal communications, legal work product, and records related to donors. The J. Paul Getty Trust reserves the
right to restrict access to any records held by the Institutional Archives.
[Cite the item and series (as appropriate)], Nefertari Project Logbooks, 1989-1992, Getty Conservation Institute. The Getty
Research Institute (IA30008).
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
The records described in this finding aid originated in accession 1994.IA.01.
Finding aid was created by Sara Seltzer, 2011.
Handle with care. Some photographs in Volume 2 have become separated from the pages. Photographs are unprotected and gloves
should therefore be worn when handling logbooks.
The following materials are offered as possible sources of further information on the people, programs, and subjects covered
by the records. The listing is not exhaustive.
Art and Eternity: The Nefertari Wall Paintings Conservation Project, 1986-1992.
Miguel Angel Corzo and Mahasti Afshar, editors, Santa Monica, CA: Getty Conservation Institute; [Cairo]: Egyptian Antiquities
Organization, c1993.
House of Eternity: The Tomb of Nefertari.
John K. McDonald, Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute and J. Paul Getty Museum, c1996.
In the Tomb of Nefertari: Conservation of the Wall Paintings.
Malibu, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum; [Marina del Rey]: Getty Conservation Institute, 1992.
Source Materials for the Study of Wall Paintings in the Tomb of Nefertari.
Mahasti Afshar, Marina del Rey, CA: Getty Conservation Institute, 1991.
Wall Paintings of the Tomb of Nefertari: First Quarterly Report.
report prepared by Miguel Angel Corzo, [Marina del Rey, Calif.]: Getty Conservation Institute; [Cairo]: Egyptian Antiquities
Organization, [1986].
Wall Paintings of the Tomb of Nefertari: Scientific Studies for Their Conservation: First Progress Report, July, 1987: A Joint
Project of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization and the Getty Conservation Institute
.
[Coordinating editor, Miguel Angel Corzo], Le Caire: [Organisation des antiquites egyptiennes]; [Marina del Rey, CA]: Getty
Conservation Institute, 1987.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Nefertari Project logbooks (1989-1992) document Phase III of the joint project of the Getty Conservation Institute and
the Egyptian Antiquities Organization to conserve the wall paintings in the tomb of Nefertari. The project was directed by
Paolo and Laura Mora. The entries in the logbooks were made by various members of the conservation team, which included Eduardo
Porta (field coordinator), Paolo and Laura Mora, Stephen Rickerby, Luigi de Cesaris, Giuseppe Giordano, Lorenza M.G. D'Alessandro,
Giorgio Capriotti, Adriano Luzi, Hussein Mohamed-Ali, Said Ahmed El-Shahhat and Guillermo Aldana.
The logbooks are comprised of five volumes, which include color photographs of the wall paintings and hand-written notes.
Volumes are arranged in chronological order.
Nefertari, Queen, consort of Ramses II, King of Egypt
Archaeological sites--Conservation and restoration
Architecture, Ancient--Egypt
Mural painting and decoration, Egyptian--Egypt--Thebes (Extinct city)
Painting--Conservation and restoration
Tombs--Egypt
Valley of the Queens (Egypt)
Color photographs
Logs (records)
Aldana, Guillermo
Capriotti, Giorgio
D'Alessandro, L.
De Cesaris, Luigi
El-Shahhat, Said Ahmed
Giordano, Giuseppe
Hay'at al-Āthār al-Mişrīyah
Luzi, Adriano
Mora, Laura
Mora, Paolo
Porta, Eduardo
Rickerby, Stephen
Container List
Nefertari Project logbooks, 1989-1992
Physical Description:
0.6 linear feet
(2 boxes)
Box 1994.IA.01-01
[Volume 1], October 3-December 15, 1989
Box 1994.IA.01-01
[Volume 2], February 2-April 6, 1990
Box 1994.IA.01-01
[Volume 3], October 11-December 14, 1990
Box 1994.IA.01-02
[Volume 4], October 9-December 23, 1991
Box 1994.IA.01-02
[Volume 5], February 5-April 7, 1992