Category: Conservation
Giotto's Frescos Scanned
April 16 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Giotto's frescos in the The Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, have been scanned by the art imaging company Haltadefinizione. Fourteen thousand shots were made of 700 square metres of the interiors, allowing viewers to digitally fly through this building with incredible zooming capabilities. Furthermore, this resource is completely free to use via. their website.
Detroit's Artemisia Gentileschi Returned
April 15 2021
Picture: Detroit Institute of Art
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Detroit Institute of Art have shared news on their Facebook page that their Artemisia Gentileschi of Judith and Her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes has finally returned to their galleries. They explained that the painting was conserved last year. This was presumably before the work was exhibited in London last summer. They had posted these short videos last year showing the painting half cleaned and being revarnished.
I should also point out that the museum's YouTube channel has some rather interesting videos relating to their collection of old masters, in case it may be of interest to readers.
The Vittoria Alata di Brescia Conserved
April 11 2021
Picture: ilfattoquotidiano.it
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Vittoria Alata di Brescia, a very rare 1st century AD Roman bronze statue, has completed a two-year restoration project in Italy. This rare bronze was discovered in 1826 and is now kept in the Capitolium di Brescia in Northern Lombardy. The delicate conservation work was undertaken by Anna Patera dell'Opificio and Francesca Morandini of the Brescia Musei Foundation, in collaboration with the bronze restoration department of the Florentine institute under the direction of Laura Speranza. Click on the link above to see some interesting details of the project.
Looking Under Paintings with AI
April 8 2021
Video: Oxia Palus
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Here's the latest collaboration between tech wizards and the art world. The art collective called Oxia Palus has been using AI to recreate paintings found underneath artworks. In this case, they've used scans of Picasso's The Crouching Beggar to digitally recreate an overpainted work that was discovered in 2018. It's believed that the painting underneath Picasso's is by Santiago Rusiñol, a modernist landscape painter and friend of the artist.
According to the article above:
The Oxia Palus team used a combination of spectroscopic imaging, AI, and 3D printing to actualize the visible trace of the landscape. They call the method “the neomastic process.”
The company has gone so far as re-printing 100 copies of the AI interpretation of the lost painting for sale.
Conserving Giovanni di Paolo
April 8 2021
Video: MET
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York's latest video focuses on the conservation of Giovanni di Paolo's altarpiece dated to 1454.
Lavinia Fontana's Minerva Conserved
March 31 2021
Picture: Galleria Borghese
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Italy that the Galleria Borghese's Minerva Dressing by Lavinia Fontana has been conserved.
The painting had been kept in the gallery's stores for some time before the gallery's new director Francesca Cappelletti instigated an enhancement project of one of the gallery's rooms. Indeed, the project will see the recreation of the Camerino delle Veneri kept by Cardinal Scipione Borghese. The new room will be reopened to visitors after Easter, depending on the local lockdown of course.
Cappelletti is quoted explaining the way that Fontana depicted Minerva (goddess of wisdom and just war):
painted naked in an attitude typical of Venus, as if to say that a woman's beauty is not in contrast with talent . A very current message.
Ps. Did you know that you can book a private tour of the museum's storerooms? An intriguing initiative.
Conservation of Turin's Cappella della Sindone Finally Finished
March 31 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The conservation of Turin's Cappella della Sindone has finally been finished after damage incurred after a fire in 1997. This late seventeenth century setting was commissioned by the Duke of Savoy Vittorio Amedeo II to house the famous Turin Shroud. It was designed by the engineer and mathematician Antonio Bertola and completed between the years 1688-1694. The Chapel was reopened to the public in 2018, however, the full restoration has only just been completed twenty four years after the fire.
Repin Masterpiece Conservation Underway
March 29 2021
Picture: tass.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Moscow that Ilya Repin's Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan (1883-5) is in the process of being restored in the State Tretyakov Gallery. The painting was badly damaged in 2018 when it was attacked by a visitor using the gallery's metal security poles. Shockingly, its protective safety glass was smashed and the canvas pierced in three places. Restoration began in 2019 and the gallery has taken the opportunity to undertake a thorough research project on the work.
Fifteenth Century Painting of Dante Restored
March 23 2021
Picture: The Telegraph
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A recently restored fifteenth century portrait of Dante has been unveiled at the Uffizi in Florence. The painting was originally one of nine famous figures painted in fresco by Andrea del Castagno on the walls of a villa outside Florence between 1447 and 1449. It will be included in the Uffizi's recently announced Uffizi Diffusi Project, which will see important works of art travelling to different parts of Tuscany.
Is this by Raphael?
March 22 2021
Picture: Accademia Nazionale di San Luca
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Accademia Nazionale di San Luca in Italy are about to undertake an interesting project to determine the authorship of the fresco fragment above. It has long borne a traditional attribution to Raphael, but this new project will attempt to determine this more conclusively with conservation and scientific analysis. One of the sticking points is that it had belonged to the neoclassical painter Jean-Baptiste Wicar (1762-1834), who may well have passed off a copy as an original.
Barcocci's Martyrdom of St Sebastian Put Back Together Again
March 16 2021
Picture: ilgiornaledellarte.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Italy that Barocci's Martyrdom of St Sebastian has been conserved and redisplayed in the Cathedral of Urbino. The work had suffered terrible damage after thieves removed a squared section of the painting in 1982. The stolen fragment was recovered in 2017 and has finally be reunited with the rest of the painting. It sounds as if the restoration was a rather tricky one, as the squared returned section had been trimmed down leading to large losses of original work.
Spain Pays €130,000 for Restoration of V&A Predella
March 12 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Spanish press have criticised the country's Heritage and Culture ministry for spending €130,000 on the restoration and care of a fifteenth century predella owned by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
The predella of the Centenar de la Ploma altarpiece was restored by the Valencian Institute of Conservation and Restoration (IVC + r) for a three month exhibition held at the Museum of Fine Arts in Valencia in 2020. The Spanish press have asked why Spanish money was used to fund the restoration of a British owned work of art. The museum also footed the bill for the artwork's insurance and travel expenses, which is usually the case for museums and galleries hosting loans for an exhibition.
The cultural ministry has refuted the claims that the expense was a waste of money. Critics have claimed the money could have been better spent on restoring works in their own national museums.
Marinus van Reymerswaele Opens in Madrid
March 9 2021
Video: Prado Madrid
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Prado in Madrid have released the following video to celebrate the opening of their latest exhibition Marinus: Painter from Reymerswale. Five works were conserved as part of the preparations required for the show, which features ten works by this enigmatic artist in total.
The exhibition will run until 13th June 2021.
Rubens: Reuniting the Great Landscapes
March 9 2021
Picture: The Wallace Collection
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Wallace Collection's Spring / Summer exhibition, which will see the reuniting of Rubens's two great landscapes, is shaping up to be one of the most exciting moments in the London art calendar for 2021. This will be the first time in two hundred years that the paintings will be hung next to one another, as they were originally intended in the artist's house in Het Steen. Indeed, this was only made possible due to the Wallace Collection's trustees recent overruling of Lady Wallace's 1897 bequest which specifically stopped the collection giving or receiving loans.
The dates of the exhibition haven't been announced on the museum's website yet, but it's likely that it will be opened once the UK comes out of the next stage of lockdown on 17th May 2021.
Furthermore, the museum have also released details of a very exciting two day online conference on 17th & 18th May 2021 which will dwell on many aspects to do with the paintings' various contexts and conservation histories. Speakers will include experts from Antwerp, the MET, The Kunsthistoriches Museum, the State Academy in Stuttgart, the Hamilton Kerr Institute and the National Gallery of course.
Ghent Altarpiece Returned this Month
March 8 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Jan Van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece will be returning to St Bavo Cathedral on 25th March 2021. This famous fifteenth century treasure has recently completed a ten-year restoration project. The cathedral will be closed for two weeks in preparation for its unveiling.
Palazzo Vendramin Grimani Reopens for Visitors
March 5 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Palazzo Vendramin Grimani in Venice is being reopened for visitors in May 2021. Press reports suggest that this is the first time that visitors have been able to book on private tours to see the interiors of this historic building. The Palazzo has been restored and run by Fondazione dell'Albero d'Oro, a private foundation who have taken enormous care in the presentation of the site for the public. In particular, great attention has been given to tell the story of the largely dispersed Grimani collection that used to be kept within the Palazzo, including works by the city's most famous artists.
New Edition of Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art
March 4 2021
Picture: Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art have published their latest edition online. Included within is a very interesting technical study of Rubens's The Conversion of Saint Paul in the Courtauld Collection. Also included are some articles on Joannes Fyt and Paulus Potter. It's wonderful to see that this series is free and available to read online.
Lecture: Conserving Paintings by Nehemiah Partridge
March 3 2021
Picture: Albany Institute
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Albany Institute of History and Art in New York are hosting a special online lecture on the conservation of paintings by the early American artist Nehemiah Partridge (1683-1730).
As their blurb explains:
Maggie Barkovic and Rachel Childers from the Williamstown Art Conservation Center will discuss the conservation of works by Nehemiah Partridge with preliminary insights into his materials and techniques based on technical analysis. This presentation will include the treatment of Ariantje Coeymans Verplanck’s full length portrait in addition to the other portraits attributed to Nehemiah Partridge.
This online lecture will be broadcast on 11th March 2021 at 7pm (New York Time), with a suggested donation of $10.
Wounded Lebanese Artemisia Gentileschi Arrives in Milan
March 3 2021
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A damaged painting by Artemisia Gentileschi has arrived for the Le Signore dell’Arte exhibition in Milan. Curiously, the Italian press have published images of the Lebanese Sursock Magdalene which was damaged in last summer's Beirut explosion. The article above shows that glass and rubble have in some cases pierced through the canvas itself. The damaged painting will feature in the exhibition in its unrestored state.
An Undiscovered Titian (?) Found in Parish Church
March 2 2021
Picture: BBC
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The BBC have published news that a undiscovered Last Supper by Titian (?) has been uncovered in a parish church in Ledbury, Herefordshire. The claims of this discovery have been made by the art historian Ronald Moore, who was approached by the church to undertake research into the work three years ago.
The painting was gifted to St Michael and All Angels in 1909 and has been undergoing conservation in recent months. Another article by the Daily Mail suggests that the painting was acquired by the collector John Skippe from a Venetian convent in the eighteenth century.
Amongst the most interesting pieces of evidence is a faded signature which has been compared to Titian's:
Crucially, the article doesn't contain any information whether Moore's attribution has been supported by any Titian scholar.
