Photo: Chester Ong 2010 Photo: Chester Ong 2010

Conservation of the Interior Finishes

of San Sebastian Basilica
The Basilica of San Sebastian is covered with elaborate trompe
l’oeil and faux stone paintings applied directly to the surface of
the building’s steel cladding panels. Every inch of the building’s
interior is painted, and more than 140 trompe l’oeil paintings
of saints and other religious figures decorate the dome and
side walls. The trompe l’oeil paintings depict saints and other
religious figures, as well as crests and iconography sacred to the
Augustinian Recollect order. The decoration was carried out by
students and professors from the Academia d Pintura y Dibujo,
headed by Don Lorenzo Rocha and Don Lorenzo Guerrero.

Rocha and a star pupil, Felix Martinez, painted the figural

trompe l’oeil in the nave of the church, while Martinez alone is
credited with the painting of the scenes in the choir loft. The
work of the many hands of the students is legible in the faux
Photo: Chester Ong 2010
stone work at the Basilica. The paintings are significant for
their quality, scale, and as the last remaining work of Lorenzo
Rocha and his students. Completed just a few years before the
end of Spanish occupation, they are a final relic of the heavy
papal and monarchic influence on art and architecture in the
Philippines.

Photo: Chester Ong 2010 Photo: Estan Cabigas 2011

Christine Leggio • 2012 1

 Photo: C Leggio 2012
Condition Survey Survey Panel:

NW
The preservation of this remarkable interior is threatened by
Trompe L’oeil Panel of Saint Monica
severe deterioration caused by electrochemical corrosion of
Photo: Estan Cabigas 2011 the metal building components. This is causing damage to the
painted surface
Cracking (1) and total losses to the steel in some areas.

A study to understand, document, and diagnose the

deterioration
Cracking (2) of the interior
Loss decorative finishes of San Sebastian
Basilica formally began in September of 2011, with archival
and technical research conducted by Christine Leggio to fulfill
the Pitting
thesis (1)
requirement Lost
of the
Bolts
Graduate Program in Historic
142

Preservation at the University of Pennsylvania. Funding

provided by the Keeper’s
Pitting (2)
Fund for Preservation made possible
Lost Bolt-heads
a site visit which took place in January of 2012 and facilitated
a detailed condition assessment of, and sample collection
from, select areas of the Caulk
Darkening church’s interior. The study was
completed in May 2012. It investigated the specific pathologies
affecting the interior finishes; assessed the extent of damage to
selected paintings of the
Alligatoring Basilica; diagnosed the causes of the
Plate Joint
deterioration; and established a framework for research and
Photo: Chester Ong 2010
testing of potential remedial treatments.
Accretions
Abraision
The study ultimately found that the deterioration of the
paintings at San Sebastian Basilica is almost entirely caused
Crusts (white)
by the interaction of water with the ferrous materials of which
the church is constructed. Rainwater from leaks, high and
fluctuating
Blistering relative humidity and associated condensation have
converged to create the ideal environment for corrosion and
damage to the painted surfaces.
Streaking (white)

Streaking (rust)

Over-paint
N

Excerpt from condition survey, C Leggio 2012 40x; Olympus CX3/Nikon YS2-7; reflected halogen quartz illumination. C Leggio 2012

Christine Leggio • 2012 2

 INTERIOR CLIMATE INTERIOR CLIMATE INTERIOR CLIMATE

STEEL SUBSTRATE STEEL SUBSTRATE STEEL SUBSTRATE

Diagram illustrating the progression of the corrosion damage. C Leggio 2012

Christine Leggio San Sebastian Basilica
Manila, Philippines
Christine Leggio San Sebastian Basilica
Manila, Philippines
Christine Leggio San Sebastian Basilica
Manila, Philippines

Breaches in the paint offer paths for corrosion and a cycle of

deterioration is set in motion: the metal substrate is exposed;
corrosion attacks the exposed metal; moisture, attracted to the
corrosion product facilitates more corrosion, which disturbs the
paint and causes more loss, and the cycle continues.

Although insidious, the pattern of deterioration is well

established. Judging from conditions in the survey areas,
extensive pitting, cracking, and loss of paint reveal early
stages of deterioration and that will advance exponentially
with time. In the survey, one painting was found to have
been coated with varnish as recently as 20 years ago. This
painting exhibited conditions identical to the uncoated
C Leggio 2012 paintings to a point, but did not exhibit the most advanced
and detrimental conditions, delamination and loss, to the
same degree. The coated panel had half as many instances
of loss as the uncoated panels. Based on this comparison, the
rate of deterioration appears to be increasing with time, and
intervention through the application of a clear coating seems
to be somewhat effective in slowing the deterioration.

Without intervention to improve the environmental conditions

and seal the exposed metal surfaces, the paintings will
continue to deteriorate until they are entirely lost. The loss
of the paintings will enable the further deterioration of the
building’s structural members.

Corrosion of the steel and iron substrates directly impacts

Estan Cabigas 2012 the preservation of the paintings at San Sebastian Basilica,
however insidious it may be at this time. To predict the
INTERIOR CLIMATE longevity of the paintings is to predict the rate of deterioration
of the substrate, and the building itself. As long as the
potential for atmospheric corrosion and continued paint
stresses exist in the interior climate of the Basilica, the
STEEL SUBSTRATE
finishes will continue to deteriorate. Although it is not possible
to entirely arrest deterioration at this time, it seems to be
possible to slow it down. The role of an impervious coating in
retarding corrosion warrants further study.
Damaged paint with clear coating. C Leggio 2012
Christine Leggio San Sebastian Basilica
Manila, Philippines

Christine Leggio • 2012 3

Chester Ong 2010 40x; Olympus CX3/Nikon YS2-7; reflected halogen quartz illumination. C Leggio 2012

Funding is being sought for Phase II in the research for

the conservation of the paintings. Phase II will focus on the
identification of a protective coating which would be suitable for
slowing the rate of deterioration of the finishes in the Basilica.

Experimental testing is needed to identify the appropriate

conservation materials and approaches to slow deterioration.
Research and testing must center on the identification of a
coating that would adhere to the substrate, consolidate the
paint, be sufficiently reversible, and not susceptible to the
moisture in the atmosphere itself. Potential protective coatings
for the interior of the Basilica must be completely transparent,
hydrophobic, and impervious to vapor transmission. It must be
sufficiently adhesive to cling to the paint and corrosion product,
and should be soluble so as to facilitate future retreatment.
Some coatings that warrant further research include varnishes
with similar properties to natural resin varnishes, such as
dammar. It would be desirable to identify a varnish with a
higher glass transition temperature and greater color stability.

Anticorrosive coatings made from low molecular weight

polyethylene; layered silica oxide and fluoropolymer coating
systems; and poly-acrylic acid cross polymer based coatings,
are all promising materials for use in the Basilica. Accelerated
weathering testing must be undertaken to determine the
effectiveness of each coating. The best performing coating could
then be applied to an area of the basilica, and monitored for
Estan Cabigas 2011
an extended period of time to determine its true response to
conditions in the church.

It is crucial that intervention for the paintings is undertaken

soon, as they continue to deteriorate in the building’s unstable
environment. In addition to playing a crucial role in the
conservation of San Sebastian Basilica, the findings of Phase
II of this research will also be applicable to other conservation
issues, particularly in the conservation and interpretation
of industrial and modern era heritage sites with immovable
painted metal artifacts.
Estan Cabigas 2011

Christine Leggio • 2012 4