Cave Temples and Palaces—Wall Paintings of Mustang, Nepal

Luigi Fieni

Italian conservator Luigi Fieni has been restoring the palace and temple wall paintings of Mustang, Nepal, since 1999. As the project director, he and his team have trained the locals—most of whom were farmers until he enlisted them—in highly technical conservation work, cleaning and preserving colorful and detailed artworks. During his Curator’s Circle Conversation, Fieni shared many images of the paintings he has worked to restore.

Fieni’s study of European frescos and paintings provided a foundation for the work he is doing in Nepal, but the paintings of the 14th–19thntury in Mustang were not created the same way as Italian works. Instead of pigments on wet lime plaster, Mustang’s paintings are secco (dry in Italian). Paint was mixed with glue and applied to the wall. Over time, the walls were damaged by earthquakes and water from leaky roofs. Colors were turned almost completely black due to the soot of butter lamps used by worshipers or the darkening of varnish from exposure to light. Colors have washed away, walls have collapsed or been damaged by vandalism, and layers of paint have flaked off.

Fieni’s team uses local glues to repair the paintings, as Western plasters are too heavy and might risk further damage. Water-based chemicals and swabs, not traditional brushes, are used for cleaning. The team works millimeter by millimeter, using different chemicals on different colors, being sure to stay in the lines. Varnish is removed layer by layer, like an onion. Because many of the paintings have blackened so much over the years, the team is often shocked by the vivid colors found underneath.

Most of the paintings are of a typical Tibetan Buddhist style, with mandalas, lamas, Buddhas, and other traditional themes. They have been complexly organized by a master painter using cords dipped in chalk to create grids on the walls. The master sketched the drawing, and color was applied by students. Fieni has come across several curious images in the composition of some of the paintings: the presence of tigers, monkeys, leopards, and exotic birds—creatures not found in this area of the world. Many of the painters may have come from other parts of Asia. Mustang is a stop along a major trade route, so it follows that Chinese, Indian, and Tibetan artists would have traveled through, leaving their mark on this remote spot.

At his workshop on the next day, Fieni described many of the adversities his project has faced, geographically and culturally. One main problem is Mustang’s isolation. Fieni arrives by horse, carrying all of his materials with him. If he runs out of materials, he is finished. It is imperative that he plan each trip very carefully. He has also learned the necessity of using materials—glues, paints, cleaning agents, and more—that he can find in Mustang.

His team has also faced challenges from the Nepali and local governments. It took two years to get permission to start work because the Nepalis did not know what his restoration would entail. It was a complicated thing to make people unfamiliar with conservation understand what he wanted to do, because to them, the paintings are not mere images on a wall. They are gods to be worshiped. This required that each site have a ceremony performed that would capture the souls of the paintings so they could not be harmed by the chemicals used to restore them. The souls would be returned when restoration was complete. When Fieni first cleaned a section of wall to show the king of Mustang what could be done, the king was sure Fieni had painted the image himself. He had to be convinced that, in actuality, what he saw before him was the original painting.

Many of the paintings that were conserved have either never been completed by the original master or are too damaged to be fully restored. The government does not like these images—their gods—to go unfinished. At times, Fieni is forced to compromise and fill in the missing pieces, a practice strictly forbidden by conscientious conservators in Europe and America. In these cases, the team tries to copy from complete sections, using stencils and watercolors (which can be easily removed). Fieni sees these compromises as a way to respect the culture and religion responsible for these amazing works.

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