Maria Carolina Peña Mariño
Easel Painting Conservator
Heroes of the Independence paintings series
Five portraits of Colombia's independence heroes painted by Constancio Franco, Julián Rubiano and Eugenio Montoya, in the collection of the Museo Nacional de Colombia were conserved in 2013 by Cecilia Bagés and myself.
These paintings belong to a series of 151 portraits made during the late 19th century with the aim of consolidating the county's identity and collective memory.
Prior to the conservation treatment, we carried out the painting's Preliminary Technical Studies and found out that one of the portraits was painted over another painting.
To learn more about the findings
Also, scroll down to see the conservation treatment of all the paintings
PORTRAIT OF AMBROSIO PLAZA
Ca.1886, Oil on Canvas. (71 x 57 cm)
The portrait of Ambrosio Plaza was of special interest and by far the most complex to treat. X-ray imaging showed that the canvas had been reused and two different compositions were identified underneath the painted surface. In addition, the back of the canvas exhibited a pencil sketch of a man’s face.
As Ambrosio Plaza was a key character in the Heroes of Independence paintings series and the integrity of the paintings underneath was uncertain, as well as the identity of the men portraited, the conservation treatment focused on the documentation of the findings and the stabilization of the visible painting.
This painting displayed deep cracks, due to the number and thickness of the paint layers underneath and its differential expansion and contractions rates during changes in atmospheric conditions. Another important conservation issue was the thick, irregular and glossy discoloured varnish that was causing the total distortion of the image aesthetical values. The treatment involved surface cleaning (front and back), the elimination of the varnish layer, the reduction of the planar distortions, filling and retouching of the small paint losses and spray varnish.
PORTRAIT OF JOAQUíN PARIS
Ca.1880, Oil on Canvas. (83 x 70 cm)
The painting exhibited a previously mended L shaped tear in the lower right side of the background covered by heavy overpaint. This area was patched on the back with both paper and fabric patches attached to the canvas with animal glue in excess. In addition, in the top right corner, the painting had two tears of smaller dimensions, warping and dents to the canvas, cracks and paint losses, and correspondingly, a tick fabric patch on the back. The painting also exhibited an overall discolouration of an unevenly applied varnish coating.
The treatment involved the painting surface cleaning, the removal of the overpaint and discoloured varnish, the elimination of the patches in the reverse and the cleaning of the glue residues present on the canvas support. Once this stage was concluded, the tears were mended, the plane was recovered and the losses were filled and retouched. Finally the painting was sprayed varnished.
Before the conservation treatment. The painting exhibited various previous treatments like patches and retouching, besides it had canvas tear, fragment losses and unevenness of tension.
Here we can see the previous treatments (patches, filling and retouching), as well as the fragment losses
Fluorescence difference between the retouching and the rest of the painted surface.
Appearance of the tear after removing previous mending treatments
After the conservation treatment
PORTRAIT OF JOSÉ MARIA ESPINOZA
Ca.1886, Oil on Canvas. (76 x 62 cm)
The main conservation issue of this painting was the overall thick, irregular and discoloured varnish, as it altered the original chromatic values and flatten the image. In addition, there was dirt and grime deposited both front and back. Structurally the painting was sound, but the canvas was slightly slacking on the strainer.
The treatment performed involved: surface cleaning (front and back), varnish removal, the replacement of the strainer for a conservation stretcher, minor fills, retouching and a final spray.
PORTRAIT OF PEDRO LASTRA
Ca.1886, Oil on Canvas. (67 x 54 cm)
The painting had a minor tear on the top left side and a correlated and punctual loss of the ground and paint layers. In addition, it exhibited a very yellow dripped varnish coating that altered the chromatic values of the image.
The treatment involved the consolidation of paint near the tear, the surface cleaning of the front and back, the tear mend, the replacement of the strainer for a conservation stretcher, the filling and retouching of the paint loss and spray varnish.
Before the conservation treatment. The painting had discolored and runoff varnish layer, unevenness of tension, a minor tear and fragment loss.
Runoff discolored varnish
After the conservation process
PORTRAIT OF LEONARDO INFANTE
Ca.1880, Oil on Canvas. (78 x 65 cm)
The main conservation problem in this painting was a yellowed and micro-cracked discoloured varnish layer which was obscuring the colour of the image background. In addition, there was dirt and grime deposited front and back, the strainer bar marks and planar deformations.
The treatment performed was straight forward and successful. The elimination of the varnish allowed the painted background to be seen and there was an overall improvement in term of the overall colour values. The strainer was replaced with a new conservation stretcher.
