The Legislative Building at Queen's Park was constructed in the early 1890s to house the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The original decoration of the Chamber's interior, based on that of the British House of Commons, was a sumptuous mix of decorative elements including paintings by Toronto artist Gustav Hahn on the upper walls and ceiling. Unfortunately, the richness of the original decor has been lost due to years of piecemeal redecoration and repainting.

Paul Tranquada (Director of Building Maintenance and Conservation at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario) requested that CCI participate, during July and August 1999, in the planning for reinstating the interior of the great Chamber. This recovery project, managed by Martin Davidson of A.J. Diamond, Donald Schmitt and Company (a Toronto architectural firm) and John Edelman of the Legislative Assembly, includes a complete refurbishment of the Chamber in order to return it to the original, late-19th-century colour scheme. CCI's involvement in this project dates from an earlier investigation of the condition of the Chamber ceiling in 1979.^{1, 2}

As part of the current investigation, CCI was asked to undertake two main projects:

• a colour investigation of the long-lost original colours to provide paint specifications for repainting the architectural elements; and

• methods testing to remove layers of overpaint from Gustav Hahn's original 1893 Art Nouveau/Beaux-Arts-style mural paintings on the upper walls of the Chamber.

The main question to be answered was whether or not the original mural paintings could be recovered safely and, if so, at what cost. If conserving the original murals was not feasible, the alternative would be to repaint the 1893 scheme based upon fragmentary black-and-white photographic records. CCI's findings and recommendations have been outlined in two reports.^3,4

The area designated for the overpaint removal investigation was the figure of Wisdom on the west spandrel of the north wall.⁵   A previous investigation in 1993–1994 by Martin Weaver and Associates (for A.J. Diamond, Donald Schmitt and Company) began overpaint removal tests on the adjacent spandrel that partially revealed the allegorical figure of Power.⁶   The current investigation found at least six layers of overpaint, the result of changes to the Chamber's decorative scheme that began after a disastrous fire in 1909 destroyed the building's west wing. Repainting was documented in 1912, 1952, 1974, and the late 1980s. The paint binders of most of these layers were identified in our investigation.

Holly Fiedler removing upper layers of overpaint after the application of solvent compresses.

Amanda Gray testing methods to remove layers of overpaint next to the mural surface. Top: Detail of Gustav Hahn's Allegory of Wisdom, showing the secondary figure of a boy.

As project leader, I contracted several conservators from the private sector—including Susan Maltby (Toronto) and Mary Hough (Ottawa) for the colour finishes team and Amanda Gray (Kingston) and Jennifer Cheney (Toronto) for the mural testing team—who worked with CCI conservators and scientists Helen McKay, Holly Fiedler (Queen's University intern), Nancy Binnie, and Kate Helwig. Michael Harrington, Paul Heinrichs, Bob Arnold, and Peter Vogel also assisted briefly. In one of the hottest summers on record in Toronto, this team endured temperatures of 35^oC (while on scaffolding 20 m high), noise, dirt, dust, discomfort, and constant interruptions for PR visits (about seven interviews in both English and French were given to television and newspapers in order to satisfy the demand from the public for information about this high-profile recovery project). I commend everyone for their perseverence and humour in the face of these difficult working conditions.

The colour finishes

The colour finishes team performed the site investigation. The colour layers were investigated by examining cross sections using reflected light microscopy and SEM/XES, and binders were identified by FTIR spectroscopy.⁷ Colours were verified by mechanically removing overpaint layers using scalpels and a Fein small-head, dust extraction sanding unit. After the original colour layers were exposed, three conservators made visual colour matches to CIE L*a*b* colour co-ordinates under several light sources; these were verified by Nancy Binnie, CCI conservation scientist, using a Minolta CR-200 tristimulus chromameter. The primary match was made to Benjamin Moore HC-34 ‘Wilmington Tan', a cool yellow ochre from its Heritage Colour series. The terra cotta-coloured glaze found on the background of bas-relief friezes on the large arches of the windows and the visitors' galleries was matched to Benjamin Moore #1204. The gloss and final appearance were verified from several late-19th-century black-and-white photographs of the northeast corner of the interior. Our matches were compared to untouched fragments of original paint behind mouldings.

The paint chosen for the repainting was acrylic latex. The paint contractor (Tonino Margani of New Millennium, Toronto) was asked to prepare a prototype section to determine the gloss of the colours and the saturation of the terra cotta-coloured glaze. The final choice, agreed upon by all project stakeholders, was satin for the main arches and eggshell for the reliefs.

Since the 1970s the colour scheme in the Chamber has been an unfortunate combination of white and blue with bronze paint highlights on frieze reliefs. As the repainting progressed, it became clear that the more subdued scheme of ochres and terra cotta integrated the interior appearance with the colour of the stone on the exterior of the building. All red and blue textiles were replaced with green carpets, draperies, and upholstery, returning the Chamber to its original appearance.

The mural investigation

Descriptions in tenders from 1892 call for allegorical subjects on both walls:

'Moderation' on the south wall above the Speaker's throne, the principal figure holding a curbed bridle and the supporting cherub holding a code of laws. On the north wall above the desks of the Members are the subjects of  'Power,'   a virile figure carrying a sword and oak branch, and 'Wisdom,'  with open book and lamps of knowledge. [p. 66 in Vogel, P., and F. Bayer. "Conservation Problems within the Legislative Building in Toronto." Conservation within Historic Buildings. Preprints of the Contributions to the Vienna Congress, 7–13 September, 1980 (edited by N.S. Brommelle, G. Thomson, and P. Smith). London: International Institute for Conservation, 1980.]

The results of this investigation indicated that mechanical methods of overpaint removal were not feasible because of the risk of damaging the original paint surface. Sanding and cleavage with scalpels and dry peel methods were attempted without success. Chemical methods of removal, although very slow, could be done with adequate control on portions of the mural (e.g. colours such as the flesh tones that were mixed with lead white) although they were difficult on areas where the original paint was underbound and sensitive to the organic solvents required to swell and remove the tough oil-based overpaint. However, we felt that removing overpaint by using organic solvents was the safest and most controlled method available. The most effective process proved to be applying compresses (made of Gore-Tex-covered panels sprayed with acetone) to the wall to swell the paint and lift it away in layers. The entire north wall was then exposed down to the 1912 decorative scheme; this will provide accurate time estimates for the private-sector contractors who will finish restoring the rest of the Chamber during future periods of parliamentary recess.

Conclusion

A discussion of the conservation issues and the preliminary cost estimates were submitted based upon this 6-week project. The results indicate that conserving the original murals is a cost-effective alternative to repainting the mural scheme. As removing all the overpaint will likely be impossible, the restoration will have to combine retouching and reconstructing damaged areas of the mural along with repainting areas of overpaint that cannot be removed (e.g. portions of the 1912 stencil borders).

These results will assist in planning further conservation work, which will be contracted to private-sector conservators. CCI will remain available to help future contractors as they carry out this work.

References

1. Vogel, P., and F. Bayer. "Conservation Problems within the Legislative Building in Toronto." pp. 64–68 in Conservation within Historic Buildings. Preprints of the Contributions to the Vienna Congress, 7–13 September, 1980 (edited by N.S. Brommelle, G. Thomson, and P. Smith). London: International Institute for Conservation, 1980.

2. Bayer, F., and P. Vogel. "Conservation Problems within the Ontario Legislative Building." Canadian Regional Review II, III (June 1980), pp. 16–21. Ottawa: Regional Council of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

3. Bourdeau, J., N. Binnie, and K. Helwig. Colour Finishes Study and Recommendations for the Ontario Legislature. Ottawa: Conservation and Scientific Services Directorate, Canadian Conservation Institute, 1999.

4. Bourdeau, J., and A. Gray. Recommendations for the Conservation of Mural Paintings in the Ontario Legislature. Ottawa: Conservation and Scientific Services Directorate, Canadian Conservation Institute, 1999.

5. Op. cit., p. 67.

6. "Chamber Investigation." Section 6. Ontario Legislative Assembly Buildings and Grounds Design Development Report. Toronto: A.J. Diamond, Donald Schmitt and Company, 1994.

7. Helwig, K. Analysis of Paint Samples from the Ontario Legislature. Analytical Research Laboratory Report 3883. Ottawa: Conservation and Scientific Services Directorate, Canadian Conservation Institute, 1999.