The two murals were created by muralist Barry Faulkner
(1881-1966) and installed in the Rotunda when the National Archives building on
Constitution Avenue was erected in 1936. Each painting is 13’10" high by
34’10" long and was executed in oil on heavy "Gothic" canvas in studio
space located in New York’s Pennsylvania Station. They were transported to Washington
where they were adhered to the Rotunda’s plaster walls with a mixture of white lead
paint, Damar varnish and Venice turpentine. One year following their installation, the
murals were cleaned with turpentine and finished with a thin layer of turpentine mixed
with small amounts of Beeswax and Damar varnish. A final coating of buttermilk and cold
water mixture was sponged onto the surface. On October 24, 1936, the Commission on Fine
Arts approved the murals. Although Faulkner believed that the murals would remain in good
condition for forty or fifty years, he included instructions to remove the last coat of
buttermilk in the event it should catch too much dust. Until 1970, the murals remained as
installed with no known cleaning or conservation treatment.
Over the past 60 years, the two murals have suffered
significant deterioration, now making extensive conservation and preservation treatments
urgent to assure that they can continue to evoke the grandeur and significance of the
documents that define our democracy.
In the mid-1960’s, the National Archives began to investigate restoration
treatments, and in 1970, Cliff Young, Barry Faulkner’s chief assistant, with the
assistance of Hiram Hoelzer, a paintings conservator, evaluated the works. They reported
that although the canvas was strong and the adhesive was holding, the paintings had become
very dirty and required cleaning and revarnishing. They also indicated that in about 20 to
30 years (about 2000 A.D.) the plaster will have deteriorated to the point that the canvas
could safely be taken off the wall without damage to the paintings.
Prior to implementing any conservation treatment, National Archives conservators must
complete a detailed survey of the murals to evaluate their current condition and to
establish the scope and protocol for their conservation treatment. This study will include
all possible testing to determine the proper materials and methods for removal of the
murals, repair of the substrate, conservation of the canvas and paint, design of the
support and anchoring system for the murals, and their reinstallation into the renovated
Rotunda.
Among the tasks to be completed are to: (1) stabilize and clean the murals to the
fullest extent possible before they are removed from the walls; (2) take the murals from
the walls prior to the start of the Rotunda’s renovation and transport the paintings
to the conservator’s studio; (3) remove the plaster substrate and repair the masonry
support as necessary; (4) determine the best substrate support system; (5) remove the
white lead adhesive, apply cleaning and conservation treatments to the canvas and paint at
the conservator’s studio; (6) transport and install the murals onto a new support
system in the renovated Archives Rotunda; and (7) complete on-site the final conservation
treatment and coating applications.
The methods and protocols that will be developed to assure the preservation of the
Charter murals also will enable conservators to determine new preservation protocols for
similar oversized public works, especially those created in the first half of the
twentieth century. Because the Rotunda is subjected to significant environmental stress,
being located in the midst of major metropolitan area exposed to continuous public traffic
and construction, the preservation of the Charter murals offers the unique opportunity to
investigate and determine how to manage works of art that are subjected to ongoing
environmental impact.
dorning the walls above the 
