Research on heritage paper bleaching presented at Icon Conference
At the end of October, Camille Jallu, paper conservator who graduated from ENSAV La Cambre, presented a poster at the Icon (Institute of Conservation) Book and Paper Group Conference "Conservation Uncovered: Investigation and Discovery in Treatment and Analysis" (The National Archives, Kew, London).
Her research, carried out during a year-and-a-half research internship at KIK-IRPA’s MatCoRe (Material Science for Conservation Research) unit in collaboration with the Conservation Research Center (MNHN, Paris), focused on the bleaching of lignocellulosic heritage papers using reducing and oxidising agents, and how these treatments affect the colour, the pH and the mechanical properties of the substrate. Her comparative study provided updated insights into the various bleaching protocols available to conservators for the treatment of degraded lignocellulosic papers.
This interdisciplinary project was supervised by Dr. Nathan Ferrandin-Schoffel (IPCM-Sorbonne Université), Dr. Anne-Laurence Dupont (CRC-CNRS), Prof. Estelle Van Geyts (ENSAV La Cambre) and Dr. Francisco Mederos-Henry (KIK-IRPA).
Camille is currently enrolled in a PhD programme at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris as part of the BIOCARE project.
Congratulations, Camille!
More KIK-IRPA news
Masterpiece by Dieric Bouts returns to Granada after restoration
The Triptych of the Descent from the Cross (c. 1455-1460), one of the most important works by the Leuven painter Dieric Bouts, will return to the Royal Chapel of Granada Cathedral in early June 2026. The painting spent three years in Belgium, where it was displayed at M Leuven and underwent an exceptional conservation-restoration treatment carried out by the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA). This month, the masterpiece will once again be installed in its historic setting.
Access to the KIK-IRPA Library
The management of KIK-IRPA wishes to respond to the inaccurate and insufficiently nuanced information currently circulating about the Institute’s library.