site.btaRestoring Tapestries from National Gallery Collection Took More Than One Year

Conservator Elitsa Tsvetkova tells BTA what lies behind the restoration of textile works.

Together with her team of four restoration artists from the National Gallery, two outside specialists and a trainee from the Academy of Arts, Tsvetkova worked on the restoration of the National Gallery's collection of Western European tapestries. The textile works are displayed at the Square 500 Gallery until August 3 2025, and BTA is media partner of the event.

“The restoration of the tapestries took us a year and two months of intense work,” the restorer said. “The commitment was intense to present the works in the condition they are in now,” she added.

Each of the tapestries is first dusted on the front and back with a vacuum cleaner and then cleaned with a foam and slightly wetted. While wet, the tapestry is stretched over a board to which it is pinned and left to dry, she said. The uneven edges are then repaired, a regular outline is given and the frayed threads are arranged to sew into the borders, Tsvetkova said. She said that when sewing, threads of an appropriate colour are used so that it is not obvious where the adjustments have been made. Tsvetkova also noted that the tapestries on display were not in their original colour as they had been used for a long time and had faded over time.

Two French tapestries from the Royal Manufacture of Aubusson posed a big challenge because they had many areas with tears and rips, the expert said. She said they were made with wool warp and silk, which is among the most delicate materials and ages the fastest. They were very unstable and conservators sewed them onto a textile backing, she added.

Dr Tsvetkova said another major challenge was the volume of work. The tapestries represent 33 square metres of old textiles made of silk, wool and cotton, she said.

History woven into a thread

Tapestries were one of the strongest demonstrations of noble power and financial might, art historian Vesela Radoeva told BTA.

There was an interest in historical subjects and through tapestries rich nobles and rulers brought narratives of the historical past into their castles, she added. The embroidered tapestries that emerged in the 20th century were woven and created from paintings made especially for the purpose by some of Europe's most famous artists, the expert noted.

The tapestries on display at Square 500 are of a very high aesthetic level and professional execution, Radoeva said.

Through these works we reveal the richness of the National Gallery's collection, she noted. There is no other institution in Bulgaria that preserves tapestries from the 16th to the 18th centuries, Radoeva said.

She also noted that the word “gobelin” (a textured type of hand-stitched tapestry) is not just a name of an object, but has historical significance. The first royal manufactory established in France by one of Louis XIV's ministers was that of the Gobelins. The Gobelins were a family that had been dyeing wool and silk as well as weaving tapestries for decades, Radoeva explained.

Yarns and lessons from La Fontaine

Six tapestries with scenes from La Fontaine's fables are part of the tapestries in the exhibition, Radoeva said.

They represent animals symbolizing human characters and flaws. They were used as cover textiles for armchairs in the 17th century. They were created at the Royal Manufactory of Beauvais, one of the most famous French royal tapestry factories founded in 1664.

The seat is the largest part, there is also a backrest and mirrored armrests, Radoeva noted.

La Fontaine was extremely popular as an author and it was through his fables that such allegorical textile works were made, she said.