TRACING PAPER : METHODS OF STUDY AND RESTORATION (M. Bicchieri, P. Brusa, G. Pasquariello) Restaurator, 14 (4), 217-233 (1993). Introduction The I.N.G*, in collaboration with the C.F.R.**, has recently faced the problem of restoring some architectural drawings belonging to the Virgilian Academy of Mantua. These were done in the first 30 years of this century by Duilio Cambellotti (Rome 1986-1960), an all-purpose artist, sculptor, set designer, illustrator, engraver, decorator, interior designer and poster maker. The drawings are marked with the numbers 4, 7 and 9, and represent the following subjects: -- n°4 : perspective of temple - facade (570 mm x 405 mm); -- n°7 : perspective of temple - side (460 mm x 665 mm); -- n°9 : perspective of temple - rear (570 mm x 410 mm). The tracing-paper drawings, each supported by paperboard (from which they were partly detached) showed various signs of mechanical damage: tears, deformation, curling edges and deep creases in which there were traces of dust and insect excrement. The creases were found primarily in the central area of the sheets (which still adhered well to the paperboard) and ran the entire length of the tracing paper. All three drawings showed unmistakable signs of biological attack in the form of rust-colored stains (foxing) or rose and violet-black stains that had penetrated deeply into the paper. Only one of the drawings (n°7) also had superficial black stains that could not be attributed to biological agents, the stains occurring in a rectangular strip. (Fig. 1) The conceptual interest involved in the restoration of the three Cambellotti perspectives centers around the challenge of restoring a tracing-paper support, a material that has been little studied and even more rarely restored. In order to approach the problem correctly, chemical and biological analyses were performed and simulated restoration trials were made on similar modern material, artificially aged before testing. PROOFS