House of Lords: Royal Gallery Frescos

Lord Swinfen Excerpts

Monday 12th July 2010 Lords Chamber

[The Chairman of Committees]

My Lords, in a word, yes.

[Lord Swinfen]

My Lords, the Chairman of Committees has said that the frescos were painted using a technique developed in Germany. Has anyone asked the Germans whether they have similar problems with frescos in Germany and, if so, how they have dealt with them?

[The Chairman of Committees]

My Lords, as I said earlier, the House has looked at this issue over a number of years. I can only guess that the Germans would have been asked, although this technique was established in the middle of the 19th century so there is not likely to be anyone around with an original view on it. We have looked into ways of doing this and, so far, nothing has been found.