In one of these actions has been replaced the original wooden support with the background image that had to be in poor condition partly because of widespread and massive attack by insects xylophagous. The hypothesis is supported by the observation of the presence of holes flickering only on the surface of the figures, and in contrast, has vanished on other points of the painting let alone on the wooden support, which instead appears apparently in good condition and recent invoice.
The original image corresponds to the whole figure of the child remaining with his halo, and the figure of the Madonna, whose halo and the bottom, thus, be re-roofing.
(In the picture is highlighted in red the boundary along which the figures were cut out)
E 'was precisely the extraordinary compactness of the wood support, contrary to the conservation status of the image, the first clue that led us to hypothesize the above.
The current fixture is composed of two longitudinal axes of chestnut wood, with the addition along the upper and lower margins of two narrow horizontal axes of the same wood.
The oldest portion of the work is painted on a incamottatura consists of a thin linen with almost no preparation, while the remake has a jute cloth, very coarse, about which there is a preparation chalky coated with red bole at dell'aureola bolus of Our Lady and brown on the bottom. The gilding dell'aureola Madonna is made of pure gold with gold while the bottom shell.
The painted surface appears to be executed in tempera, with highlights of the dresses in gold shell.
L or condition of the painting at the time of his arrival to our laboratory, was bad. The surface was distorted by the ripples caused by the detachment of the canvas by the new media that now tends to lift and tear, tear detachment and were also fraying around the edges of the table (8 fot raking light) . The paint film and gilding
appeared darkened because of the alteration of old and protected sovrammissioni more or less adherent dust and dirt of various kinds.
el'aureola The mantle of the Madonna of the Child were fully covered with clumsy repainting that had contributed significantly to increasing deterioration of the work. In fact, their shrinkage during the drying and aging has distorted the delicate assembly composed of the canvas and the original colors.
could be seen in the remaking the original thickness of the irregular filler protruding from the surface.
altered Many adjustments were also prevalent throughout the rest of the representation. It should be noted particularly that located on the right cheek of the Virgin Mary that disfigured his face with a big stain.
More severe damage was the presence on the figures of a huge amount of metal bodies matter such as nails, pins, tacks, even rusted as well as holes of various sizes with torn edges, due to the custom of adorning Sacred Image with jewels and precious stones.
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in planning this restoration work has now revealed in all its complexity.
icon as we arrived in the laboratory with the repainting though coarse, was the image that the faithful knew and revered for years. The cleanup action would surely have altered this picture and that worried us is that the Friars. But it was a priority to stop the progress of degradation consists primarily of the incidence of these physical repainting the delicate original color, and thus can better recover their aesthetic.
Moving between these two goals, it was a thorough reconnaissance of the paint surface is both support and assess the possibility of further action on the back of the painting for free, as mentioned, the layers of various materials deposited over time because of the restoration and maintenance, and previous exposure to weather, and groped only to improve the flatness again without subjecting the painting to a detachment from the support. Whereas a contribution as a whole, the work would be subjected to excessive stress on his already severely tested material.
were performed to test the micro-cleaning in various parts of the area to identify and quantify the original colors, and to develop a methodology capable of achieving a satisfactory reading of the image. The first step of cleaning we have confirmed the presence of several layers of different materials may be identified as paints, , proteins, waxes, general dirt, colored coatings, repainting with oil and enamel above that covered by the mantle of the Madonna that was really dark blue.
Following this confirmation, the brothers exhibited to the congregation and devotees, through photographs, the results of the test cleaning explaining the circumstances of the intervention that was going to do and describing how the results of such an intervention would change the picture.
Comforted, then the support of the friars and the awareness of the faithful, we started our cleaning work.
First, it eliminated the huge amount of animal glue across the entire surface with the use of tampons soaked in lukewarm water.
Under the glue has been found a waxy layer removed with a mixture of acetone and ligroina.
The repainting were removed by swelling the layers by applying
a gelled solution based on citric acid and triethanolamine, and subsequently removed by scalpel.
Always scalpel have been removed the old fillings and was released on the original contour of the figures covered by the reports to the rebuilding fund.
were thus retrieved the colors of the Madonna's mantle, the halo and legs of the Child, the fund and plans for joint between the figures and the halos of the central region between the head of the Madonna and that of the first child is not visible, as well as the silhouette of the figures.
After further tests of solubility, we performed a second purpose of cleaning dirt and thinning of the protective substances present in the altered removed in the previous phase. That cleanup was conducted by using a solvent-gel Acetone and DMSO based on Japanese paper, then removed with a dry swab and its residue removed by washing with swabs of acetone and petroleum spirit.
This phase cleanup has been calibrated selectively, so as not to highlight the failure on the surface color painting.
dell'aureola The gilding of the fund and the Madonna, though not original, were retained because As mentioned above, the corresponding original areas were eliminated in the past together with the replacement of the old media.
The work, now free of sovrammissioni, had already lost a lot of strain as that which was caused precisely by the hardening of these layers and rips in it caused. We proceeded, therefore, to fix the lifting of the canvas with infiltration of thermoplastic resin with the aid of tacking it has allowed the repositioning support.
At this point, the deformation of the canvas, even if not completely, had almost disappeared, and we could feel satisfied with the result obtained without intervening with more invasive measures.
E 'was then performed a light coating intermediate necessary to interpose a thin layer of intervention between the original and the substances applied in the following . is the fillings are made with gypsum and animal glue and we proceeded with the reintegration of chromatic abrasions and holes, localized mainly on the mantle of the Madonna, the nimbus of the Child and in some areas of the gold that put in the view canvas below, negatively affecting the perception of the image.
The intervention took place mainly with the intention of restoring homogeneity operational work with the utmost discretion. The first phase, watercolor, affected mainly the lower tone of the large gaps in the imbalances of the original color of the canvas irreversibly stained by various substances of previous restorations, and abrasions and micro-gaps placed mainly on dark colors, proceeding by gradual elimination of optical interference from time to time prevailing.
After a further slight coating spray, we proceeded with the reintegration of the new filling using color to paint restoration with the technique of alternating dash.
The gold background was reinstated with hatching and followed with gold shell Karati 23 ¾ with which discontinuities have also been used more obvious d elle highlights the role of Child.
were used Windsor & Newton watercolor paints only colors compatible and resistant to UV radiation, and color restoration Maimeri paint.
The surgery was completed with the application semi-matte paint.
The result shows the clear image and lightened by over-painting, recovered in the original colors, re-composed and perfectly readable.
San Michele di Serino, 08/06/2004 Rest. Maria Paola Bellifiori
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