Van Dyck's Charles I Rehung!
July 1 2020
Picture: The National Gallery
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
One story that was swept away by the virus crisis was the completion of conservation and restoration on Sir Anthony Van Dyck's Equestrian Portrait of Charles I in the National Gallery, London.
News has reached Twitter that the painting was finally rehung in the gallery today. The painting has a new black and gilded frame too. This means that visitors returning to the gallery from 8th July will be able to see the work in all its splendour! For those who can't wait to go and see it, the gallery have uploaded this high resolution and zoomable image on their website.
One of the most remarkable aspects of conservation work was the reinstating of the blue pigments in the sky. The retouching of the sky has really revived and rebalanced the colour scheme of the picture, which harks back to the bright colours of Titian whom Van Dyck admired above all others. Blues are so often lost due to overly-harsh cleaning in the past and general degrading of the various pigment over time. I do recommend watching the videos of the conservation work found on the gallery's website.
