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The painting was restored between the years 2006 – 2008 in the Restoration ateliers of the Slovak National Gallery (SNG), as its property. Both the author and the concrete theme of the painting are unknown. Probably the painting introduces a mythological scene, which belongs to the symbolist art-deco era. Research such as pigment analysis proved that the painting dates from after 1885. The preserved part of the painting is a proof of a high quality monumental composition which is marked out with outstanding work of colour and light.
Introduction General information Author: unknown Central European (Czech?) painter Artwork: mythological scene Dating: end of 19th century Technique: oil on canvas Size: 173 x 118,5 cm Owner: property of the Slovak National Gallery, inv. no. O 6948 The painting was brought to be restored rolled into a thin roll, the painting facing inside. That is the standard mistake of a layman by manipulation with a painting without stretcher. The technique is oil on canvas and the motif is cut out from a large composition. This is proved by a larger sized triangle shape which is sewn with a sewing machine to the right bottom corner of the painting which was not missing anywhere, but had identical canvas with the ground layer and colour layer from a different area of the painting. The attachment of the oil painting onto the stretcher using nails straight through the painting layer also proved this find. Description of the artwork The support is a very thin linen canvas with canvas weft with density of threads 20 x 20 onto a squared centimetre (figures 2 and 3). On the painting appeared splitting of the colour layer off the ground. Thin, one-layer white oil ground and the colour layer were mechanically damaged with lengthwise cracks as a consequence of a long-term storage in a rolled state. This resulted also in tearing of the fine and brittle canvas and creation of splits with size of a few centimetres all over its area. Almost all breaks and splits in the canvas were unreasonably painted on the back with white colour, since somebody in the past probably wanted to prevent in this way the canvas from its further tearing. A vertical 25 cm perforation in the canvas after a hit was present in the left top part of the painting.
Figure 1. Mythological scene, unknown Central European (Czech?) painter. Before restoration. © SNG
Figure 2. Microphotograph of fibre using cross-polarized light (200 x enlargement). © SNG Figure 3. Microscopy research: A linen canvas (200 x enlargement). © SNG Figure 4. Ultraviolet luminescence. © Bedrich Hoffstädter, MFA
Study of materials and technique
During the visual exam of the artwork by ultraviolet (UV) light (figure 4), retouches and overpaintings with local character from the different time periods were observed under the layer of yellowed varnish (richness of the hue of the overpaintings). Comparing the survey with infrared (IR) reflectography (figure 5) and research of the layering in the colour, two rounded shapes were found on the left top part. The X-ray image was not conclusive due to the materials used in the painting, which did not allow the recognition of the forms. Actually, the ground of the painting, which is applied on the entire surface, contains lead white while the paint layer was made with zinc white. Analytical methods The laboratory research of technique and materials was carried out in the IRPA/KIK laboratories at Brussels. For this purpose, the following methods were used: cross section stratigraphy by optical microscopy (Axioplan, Zeiss) with white polarised and UV light illumination (magnifications from 25x up to 1000x); the dyestuffs of organic pigments were analysed by high performance liquid chromatography and a UV/Vis diode array detector (HPLC-DAD, Spectratech, Finnigan). The dyestuffs were extracted from the pigment by mild extraction. The inorganic pigments were analysed on the cross sections by scanning electron microscopy (SEM, Jeol JSM6300 instrument, 15 keV primary energy) coupled to an energy dispersive X-rays detector (EDX, Pentafet Si (Li) X-ray detector, from Oxford Instruments). Optical microscopy The observation of the micro-samples in the cross section by optical microscopy under the normal and UV light allowed the understanding of the function of the layers and also permitted to distinguish the over paintings (figures 6-8). The varnishes and some pigments are strongly fluorescent, so UV light reveals their presence and position. Two varnishes could be observed under UV, one being probably the original (layer 5, figure 8) and the second one over the overpainting (layer 7, figure 8).
Figure 5. IR reflectography. © Bedrich Hoffstädter, MFA
Figure 6. Localisation of the microsamples. © SNG. Figure 7. Cross section of microsample A, taken from the background, photographed in polarised light at magnification 200x. Stratigraphy description on the next page. © IRPA/KIK Figure 8. The same cross section as in figure 7, photographed under UV light. © IRPA/KIK
Pigments and dyestuffs analysis
There are tree pigments found in the paint layer - an unidentified azo pigment, Cadmium yellow and Cerulean blue, which were not in use before the last quarter of the 19th century. Azo dyes form a large class of synthetic compounds, which are characterised by the presence of one or more azo linkage groups (-N=N-). Although the azo dyes appeared soon after the discovery of diazotisation reaction by Gries in 1858 and were already in wide use in the 1880's, it was only in 1885 that the first azo pigment was commercialized [Eastaugh et al, 2004, Perego, 2005]. The presence of Cadmium yellow and Cerulean blue (Coelin blue) in this painting support also the hypothesis that it was created at the end of the 19th century. Salter wrote in 1869 that a cobalt blue pigment, under the name Coelin blue was imported to England from Germany since a few years. This cobalt blue with a tin base "contains or is mixed with gypsum, silica, and sometimes magnesia" [Salter, 1869]. Eastaugh et al. notes that the 1860 edition of Gentele's Lehrbuch der Farbenfabrikation does not mention cerulean blue, while the 1880 edition does. Cadmium yellow was suggested for use as an artists’ pigment by Stromeyer in 1818, but its commercialisation was expanded only after 1840, and its use remained rare until 1870, probably because of its high price (20 times higher than chrome yellow). Cadmium yellow was found for the first time by chemical analysis in a painting of Vincent van Gogh from 1887 [Fiedler and Bayard, 1986]. The other pigments identified in the micro-samples (figures 7-8) such as cochineal red lake, zinc white and chrome yellow were also in large use in paintings during the second half of the 19th century. In conclusion, we can state that the analytical study revealed the pigments and the characteristic layer structure of a painting from the end of the 19th century. Stratigraphic description of the microsample (figures 7-8) 7. Varnish and deposits. 6. Over-painting beige layer (the colour of the surface is darker and yellowier). The beige matrix is composed of a mixture of zinc and lead white, although particles of chrome yellow and red pigment, and carbon black pigment can also be found. 5. Varnish layer containing zinc and calcium. 4. Grey white layer composed of 4 – 6 coatings applied “á la prima”, whose borders could not be distinguished. In the white matrix of zinc white, particles of Cerulean blue, cadmium yellow and red, red cochineal lake and azo-pigments, ochre and carbon black pigments can be observed. 3. Grey preparation containing zinc white, chalk, cadmium yellow, carbon black, Cerulean blue and earth pigments. 2. Lead white - oil (?) matrix ground containing particles of barite and gypsum. 1. Sizing. Restoration process Based on the result of the research technology, the restoration procedure was set. The first step in this process was the stabilisation of the very brittle support of the painting. The reverse was mechanically cleaned from dirt and from the white colour covering the rips and breaks in the canvas. The sewn-on patch on the right bottom corner was removed. Onto the tears in the canvas on the reverse were locally applied sheets of Japanese paper in areas already covered with the reversible glue Lascaux 375. The whole reverse side of the canvas was impregnated with the same adhesive. Then the right bottom corner was added with original canvas painted with Lascaux 375 exactly made to measure and it was ironed onto a new canvas treated with gelatine. The lining using heat and vacuum technology was executed in two stages. First lining with the paint layer facing up was applied. In the second stage the missing part of the canvas was added left up with the leftover original canvas treated with Lascaux 375 and the lining was realised with the painting facing down. After the stabilisation of the support and adhesion of the loosened particles of the colour layer, a research of colour layer was done. Most of the over-paintings were applied according with the original author's form. Two sphere-like shapes gradually appeared during the cleaning from under the layer of the over-painting (figure 9). They were visible during the IR reflectography and readable also on the IR photograph. Probing and removal of secondary varnishes, oil over-painting and fillers Over-painting and fillers from the 20th century were removed using combination of mechanical and chemical cleaning, while organic solvents were chosen which did not damage the original painting. Only after complete cleaning of the painting from secondary over-paintings and fillings, the original handwriting of the author became obvious with its very sensitively executed colour shaping in thin, glaze layers. Filling The areas of losses of the ground with the colour layer were based with gelatine and filled with chalk putty (figure 10). Around the inserted patch filler was applied with Lascaux 375. With stretching of the painting onto a new adjustable stretcher its cut offs were adjusted so that its composition was enlarged by the formerly bent edges. For reviving of the colours of the painting the surface was varnished with dammar varnish. Retouching The filled areas were painted first with aquarelle colours and the base for the final retouch was prepared. A mimicking, trattegio style retouch with glaze like colours on a mastic varnish base was chosen (figure 11). Varnish The surface shine of the original and of the retouch was united with a mat varnish in spray. The film from the dammar varnish in the end united and secured the protection of the painting.
Figure 9. Probing of removal of overpaint. Figure 10. After filling. Figure 11. After treatment. © SNG.
ConclusionsAfter the complete restoration it was possible to place the artwork among the exhibits of the 19th century collection in the Slovak National Gallery. The pigment analysis allowed to determine 1885 as the terminus ante quem non, the date before which the canvas could not have been painted. Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank all colleagues restorers, especially Bedrich Hoffstädter, MFA, from the Slovak National Gallery for their useful professional consultations, and Cécile Glaude for her help in laboratory of Royal Institute of Cultural Heritage. A special acknowledgement is due to Barbara and Stevin Davidson for their assistance in the translation of the present text. Bibliography [1] N. Eastaugh, V. Walsh, T. Chaplin and R. Siddall, The pigment compendium: a dictionary of historical pigments, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2004 [2] F. Perego, Dictionnaire des matériaux du peintre, Belin, Paris, 2005 [3] T.W. Salter, Field's Chromatography; or, Treatise on Colours and Pigments as used by Artists, Winsor and Newton, London, 1869, as cited in [1] [4] I. Fiedler and M.A. Bayard, “Cadmium yellows, oranges and reds”, in R.L. Feller (ed.), Artists’ Pigments. A Handbook of their History and Characteristics, Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1986, pp. 65-108 [5] J. Sanyova, “Mild extraction of dyes by hydrofluoric acid in routine analysis of historical paint microsamples”, Microchimica Acta 162, 2008, pp. 361–370 [6] J. Sanyova, Carmine, Crimson. Kermes and cochineal lake pigments, Collection of the Lectures of the 7th International Seminar on Restoration, Banská Bystrica 26-28 September (2007), Bratislava, 2008, pp. 8-27 and 167-183 [7] D. Bomford, Conservation of Paintings, National Gallery Publications, London, 1997 [8] G. Émile-Mâle, The Restorer's Handbook of Easel Paintings, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976 [9] H. Althöfer, Das 19. Jahrhundert und die Restaurierung. Beitrage zur Malerei, Maltechnik und Konservierung, Callwey, München, 1987 [10] J. Koller, Cleaning of a 19th century painting with deoxycholate soap: mechanism and residue studies, Cleaning, Retouching and coatings. Preprints of the contributions to the Brussels Congress, IIC, London, 1990 [11] K. Nicolaus and C. Westphal, The Restoration of Paintings, Könemann, Cologne, 1999 [12] R. Wolbers, Cleaning painted surfaces: aqueous methods, Archetype Publications, London, 2000, pp. 76-80, 116-126, 139-145 [13] Ch. Sitwell and S. Staniforth, Studies in the History of Painting Restoration, Archetype Publications, London, 1996 [14] L. Carlyle, “British nineteenth-century oil painting instruction books: a survey of their recommendations for vehicles, varnishes and methods of paint application", in J.S. Mills and P. Smith (ed.), Cleaning, retouching and coatings: Contributions to the 1990 IIC Congress, Brussels (1990), London, 1990 [15] L. E. Richter and H. Härlin, “A nineteenth-century collection of pigments and painting materials”, Studies in Conservation 19, 1974, pp. 76-82 [16] J. D. Carr, T. R. C. Young, A. Phenix and D. R. Hibberd, “Development of a physical Model of a Typical Nineteenth-Century English Canvas Painting”, Studies in Conservation 48, 2003, pp. 145-154 [17] R. Keller, “Lainöl als Malmittel, Rekonstruktionsversuche nach Rezepten aus dem 13. bis 19. Jahrhundert“, Maltechnik/Restauro 2, 1973, pp. 74-105 About the authors PETRA HOFFSTÄDTEROVÁ DOSTÁLOVÁ Restorer Contact: petra.dostalova@gmail.com Petra Hoffstädterová Dostálová (MFA) is a conservator-restorer, specialist in canvas and panel paintings. She graduated in 2002 from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava, Slovakia. Nowadays she is on Doctoral study at the Department of Conservation and Restoration of Easel paintings and Wood panel paintings at the same Academy. She is working since 2006 in the Conservation-restoration ateliers of the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava, Slovakia. JANA SANYOVA Senior conservator scientist Contact: jana.sanyova@kikirpa.be Jana Sanyova (PhD) is a senior conservator scientist, specialist in historical paint technology. She obtained her M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, Slovakia in 1983 and her PhD. From Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium in 2001. She has been working at the Royal Institute of Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA) in Brussels, Belgium, since 1990.
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