Extreme Makeover: Plaster Edition
Whitney Ale, teaching assistant for Haverford sculpture professor Marianne Weil, spent the tail end of fall semester restoring a 150-year old plaster- cast bust of the goddess Diana that once sat atop the shelves of the old Haverford Library. As reported in a previous blog posting, busts of Diana and Aristotle were recently identified and discovered on campus.
Ale, a senior anthropology major from Bryn Mawr, has put in over 20 hours of work cleaning and repairing the sculpture and predicts just as many hours before she finishes. The first step in Ale’s restoration process is to sand the entire bust by hand with a fine grit sandpaper. This step removes small nicks and gives the bust an even and clean appearance.
“When I first saw Diana she looked tortured,” reports Ale. “She had been colored on with marker, given eyeballs with pen. It looks as though at one point her head had fallen off and was glued back on.”
Following the initial sanding, Ale will soak the bust in water to open its pores in preparation for the final steps, patching large cracks with new plaster and giving the work a final sanding to make the repairs flush with the rest of the piece.
Having worked extensively in bronze, wax, steel and clay, this is the first time Ale has worked with plaster and she is really enjoying it: “I feel that I am forming a real connection with the piece. It is very exciting at this point to see her becoming beautiful again.”
Once completed, Diana will make a triumphant return to Magill Library where she will be offered pride of place in Haverford Special Collections.
