Villanova Triumph of David - Emily Wroczynski Conservation Portfolio

Conserving a Giant: Resurrecting Pietro da Cortona's Triumph of David

Old Falvey Library Reading Room,

Villanova University, Pennsylvania

Treatment completed as conservation intern from September 2013- December 2013.

Treatment Summary:

vacuuming verso
cleaning/removal of varnish and overpaint
paint consolidation
localized humidification to relax tenting paint

For more information on the on-going project visit the project blog:

http://projects.library.villanova.edu

/paintingrestoration

Overall recto before treatment.

The Presentation of David to King Saul After Slaying Goliath (Triumph of David), c. 1630. Attributed to Pietro da Cortona. Oil on canvas.

Press release image, overall before treatment, with Lead Conservator, Kristin deGhetaldi standing in front of the painting for scale.

Treatment took place on site in the Old Falvey Library Reading Room behind a lockable artifact cage installed for the duration of the project.

Detail of the verso during cleaning. Notice the line between clean and uncleaned due to excessive layer of dust.

The verso was vacuumed using a HEPA vacuum and a soft Hake brush to facilitate removal without bringing the vacuum pressure too close to the canvas.

Detail of dust and staining on verso in raking light.

Detail of crossbar shoulder and joinery

Detail of stretcher bar keys

With a flashlight, the margin of the lining canvas is also visible just behind the stretcher bars. The lining is a glue lining and was likely completed in Italy. The only documentation of treatment at Villanova is a new varnish application and some retouching by a local gallery and frame shop.

Detail of left tacking margin. Some of the red ground is visible in losses. The multiple edge linings are also noticeable.

Detail of right tacking margin. Multiple edge linings and tape to reinforce the stretching edge are visible.

Planar distortions in Quadrant I (upper left corner) of the canvas.

Detail of bulges in raking light in Quadrant IV (lower left corner).

Detail before treatment.

The dark brown patches are areas of gross overpaint that has become more pronounced as the varnish has degraded and the original paint has aged differently.

These women making music and processing in the streets are referenced in one account of this event in the Bible.

Detail of David and Abner, Saul's general of the army charged with finding David to bring to King Saul.

Note the cleaning test on David's cheek for removal of darkened overpaint. The dark spots on the column in the background are less noticeable when the canvas is wet up with mineral spirits. The dry and muted look of the column in this image is representative of the degraded coating.

Detail of acutely tented areas.

Tenting has been exacerbated by grossly overfilled areas with hardened bulked lead white fill medium. Excessive layers of overpaint have also been previously applied to these areas as a pseudo consolidant only contributing to worse tenting.

Half of this woman's face appears marred as if it were a large area of paint loss.

Actually, the damage has occurred in the coating layer and the paint beneath is in good condition (see next image). The coating, analyzed by FTIR to be a dammar mastic resin, is severely cracked and therefore reflects light differently. All of the cracks in the coating impede the view of the paint layer beneath.

This painting had been on constant display in the Old Falvey Reading Room since the 1950s opposite a wall of windows. The direct UV radiation likely accelerated the degradation of the coating, which is documented as having been applied by a local frame shop and gallery when the painting was acquired by the University. The original artist's varnish was only remaining in localized areas in Quadrants III and VI and has been documented in cross section samples.

This is the same figure from the previous image. Here, half of her face has been wet up with mineral spirits. This non-polar solvent acts as a temporary coating (until evaporating) and fills in the cracks allowing the paint layer to be interpreted. Notice that her face is well-intact and not severely overpainted.

Notice the white shadow in the middle of this image. The white area forms the outline of a "ghost leg" or pentimento, referring to an artist's original change in the composition. As oil paint ages it can become more transparent over time. Therefore, as paintings age, original under drawings or even paint layers can show through especially if the final layers were added as thinner glazes.

With this particular pentimento, the appearance of the leg had more to do with the degraded coating. Once varnish removal was complete on this section the "ghost leg" disappeared again.

Detail of "ghost leg"

Multiple pentimenti were found throughout Quadrants III and IV. Unlike this "ghost leg" most of the pentimenti were uncovered due to cleaning. It has been hypothesized that some areas of extensive overpaint were applied to conceal the pentimenti that had begun to show through. The most common pentimenti on this canvas have been multiple feet (see an example next).

In addition to pentimenti, underlayers visible through areas of loss demonstrate that whole figures have been moved and painted over in compositional adjustments. Issues with posture and the human figure could serve as supporting evidence that this canvas was completed with the help of a workshop. Part of the overall scope of this project includes this sort of technical art historical research.

However, these kinds of drastic changes appear to be common to the works on canvas of Pietro da Cortona having examined images of x-radiographs of some of his other works.

Funding has not yet been procured in order to x-ray Triumph of David.

Example of pentimenti. There are two other partial renderings of this foot just to the left.

The toes of the second attempt at the foot were blended into the herring bone pattern of the floor tile.

This detail is part of an arm and demonstrates multiple layers of overpaint across an area of loss without a fill.

Example of a loss with no fill. This is likely a poke through the original canvas. The weave that is currently visible is likely the lining canvas.

To the left there is continued loss that has been overpainted but not filled. These inconsistencies occur throughout the painting and are expected due to the multiple campaigns of restoration.

This detail depicts a cleaning test (approx. 2" X 2" square) and a cross section sampling indicated by the blue tape. This section illustrates areas of loss that have been previously filled (cream colored areas) Most of the old fills are fairly stable. There have been multiple campaigns of restoration and different fill media have been employed. In some areas the fill material is readily dissolved by the cleaning system.

Some losses reveal the red ground. There is actually a double ground on this painting, which is visible in cross section.

Detail of tented area with BEVA application as consolidant.

Here I am cleaning in Quadrant III. Raking task lights help interpret the level of cleaning accomplished.

Initial cleaning test with 1:1 acetone: ethanol reveals that the sky was originally a bright blue. The green color visible before treatment is a combination of yellowed varnish and pigments added to tint the varnish (possible reduce contrast of overpaint which was noticeable at the time of donation according to the photo archive).

Additional cleaning test using 1:1 acetone: ethanol. Notice that the heavier application of overpaint has not been completely reduced by 1:1.

Preliminary cleaning test with 1:1 acetone: ethanol before proposing treatment. This test indicated that there was original paint remaining even in heavily damaged and overpainted areas such as this boy figure in Quadrant III.

Cleaning tests using benzyl alcohol in Pemulen TR-2 emulsion

From right to left: previous cleaning test with 1:1 acetone:ethanol, 2%, 5%, 10%, 20% benzyl alcohol in pemulen

It was concluded that the benzyl alcohol aqueous emulsion was more efficient at removing overpaint and embedded dirt than the 1:1 acetone:ethanol. The 10% was a good balance between efficiency and risk of blanching.

Old glue residue (identified through analysis) was mixed with embedded dirt and grime in local areas. A Pemulen TR-2 emulsion was able to successfully clean these areas.

Detail image after cleaning

Blue shape in drapery is initial cleaning test using 1:1 acetone: ethanol

Same drapery of kneeling woman in Quadrant III from previous image now partially cleaned. This square was cleaned using 1:1 acetone:ethanol followed by pyrrolidinone solvent gel as necessary for more tenacious overpaint.

Detail of same drapery after cleaning is complete using multiple applications of pyrrolidinone gel.

In areas of loss the darker underpainting peaks through.

Here I am applying BEVA thinned in xylene to broad areas of flaking paint in Quadrant IV. These areas were then tacked down over silicone mylar with a heated spatula. Consolidation of paint occurred before cleaning could begin in these areas.

Image of the painting partially cleaned. A test square of varnish was applied in the lower center on the legs of the soldiers (approx. 3' X 2') in order to better assess the level and evenness of cleaning.

Detail of acutely tented area

Detail of largest area of tenting in raking light to demonstrate proudness.

Detail of local humidity chamber used to help relax tented areas. After six hours of humidification heat was carefully applied over silicone mylar to help relax the paint back into plane with the canvas. These steps were repeated a second time if necessary.

The humidity chamber consists of a plastic bin with a piece of felt glued to the bottom. The felt is sprayed up with water and is held at the surface of the painting by resting on top of Volara-padded neodymium rare earth magnets.

This is a steel plate covered with blue tape and silicone mylar to protect the canvas. The rare earth magnets holding the humidification chamber grab onto the painting because they are attracted to the steel plate placed behind the area undergoing treatment.

I am located on the lefthand side of the screen. I am using a solvent gel system to remove degraded varnish and overpaint in Quadrant IV. Lead Conservator Kristin deGhetaldi discusses goals for the day with me and Maggie, another Conservation Intern, on the righthand side of the screen. Maggie is removing excess Beva (a consilidating adhesive for stabilizing flaking paint) using a strong aromatic solvent. Therefore, Maggie is working with a portable fume extractor.

Here I am continuing to use the solvent gel cleaning system. Recorded from live webcam viewable on the

project blog.

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