Maria Carolina Peña Mariño
Easel Painting Conservator
Advanced Internship in
the Conservation of Easel Paintings
During my two and half years Internship I got the chance to be part of different supervised projects according to my experience and aimed to improve my proficiency in the field. I treated paintings both on panel and canvas exhibiting challenging structural treatments, cleaned complex painted surfaces using innovative methods and materials, performed technical analysis using examination methods such as optical microscopy, microchemical tests, UV, XRAY, IRR, SEM-EDX and XRF. In addition, I was part of in-situ conservation actions, attended lectures, seminars, courses and kept abreast of the new developments in the profession, carried out a research project and delivered a paper published in the HKI technical Bulletin No. 8 entitled “Unnoticed: Diverse uses of starch in paintings.”.
The Worship of the Golden Calf
by Frans Francken II. 17th century
Oil on panel.
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
The painting exhibited at least three different campaigns of overpainting located mainly on the sky, which covered wear, abrasion or loss of the original. The golden calf, one of the key elements in the composition, was almost lost and completely repainted.
Excluding the sky, the paint layers were in very good condition. There were minor losses, diagonal indentations and small curved scratches across the panel. In addition, there was a thick, moderately discoloured varnish layer present on the surface, which masked the colour, shapes and texture of the painting.
The painting's treatment involved surface cleaning (front and back), total removal of the varnish layer and partial elimination of overpainting. It was followed by a restoration stage in which the losses were filled and retouched and the golden calf was reconstructed.
A technical study of this painting was carried out alongside its conservation.
This painting was conserved in preparation for the temporary exhibition “Feast & Fast: The Art of Food in Europe, 1500-1800” at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
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The painting exhibited remnants of a very broken coating ingrained in the interstices of the painted surface texture. In addition, it had filled and retouched losses which differed from the original in colour and quality, and a moderately discoloured varnish layer. All this was negatively impacting the aesthetic qualities of the painting by altering the appearance of the colours and significantly reducing its brightness.
The painting was surface cleaned (front and back). Following, the varnish was completely removed along with the old coating remnants, discoloured retouchings and fills. For the cleaning both free solvents and a water-based cleaning system were used. The restoration stage inlcuded: varnishing, filling and retouching.
The Dogana with Santa Maria della Salute by Francesco Guardi. (Ca. 1770)
Oil on canvas
Wallace Collection, London.
The conservation of this paintings was part of :
Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I
Anonymous (16th century).
Oil on panel.
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
This painting exhibited extensive and disfiguring overpaint on the sitter's face concealing a very worn and damaged original. During cleaning, traditional solvent mixtures were tested to remove this layer but nothing proved effective. Finally, an aqueous cleaning system with chelation was found safe and therefore used for the elimination of the overpaint, in combination with mechanical action under the microscope. The same solution was also effective for removing a very degraded and opaque oleo-resinous coating found underneath the superficial natural-resin varnish.
Following the cleaning, a couple of minor splits were stabilized and a wood insert was added to the lower-left corner of the panel. The painting was varnished, filled and sympathetically retouched. Finally, a microclimate framing was given to the painting as it was returning to an uncontrolled environment.
During the conservation process, X-RAY imaging was performed on the painting to assess the losses and to understand some underlayers that were showing through, due to the increased transparency of the paint because of ageing.
The X-RAY revealed changes to the composition during the build-up of the image related mainly to the sitters’ outfit. An initially wired veil was abandoned and substituted by a more traditional veil.
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X-ray Composite taken by Chris Timus, ©Hamilton Kerr Institute.
Bathsheba at the pool
Hendrick Van Balen (attributed)
c. 1615 to c. 1647
Oil on panel.
Weston Park, Staffordshire.
The panel exhibited three vertical oak battens attached to the back which restrained its natural movement and caused the failure and misalignment of the panel joint and of a repaired total split located in the upper board.
The painting had important losses all along the joint and the split, most of which were both filled and retouched in a historic intervention. Due to the panel’s structural condition, some of the fills had cracked and fallen out. The retouchings were discolored and disfigured the image.
In addition, the whole painted surface exhibited raised cracks and cupping, plus areas of isolated paint-flaking. Bathsheba’s maid’s blue dress exhibited significant wear and abrasion to the paint layer. Finally, the painting had a mildly discolored glossy surface coating, covered by a significant amount of dust.
The painting's structural treatment was complex and entailed the removal of the battens, the separation of the panel in its three sections, followed by its correct re-joining. Previous to this step the paint layers were consolidated and the varnish, overpaint and fills totally removed. After the rejoining of the panel, the painting was varnished, filled, and sympathetically retouched.
Portrait of Edward Waring
Unknown artist.
19th century. Oil on canvas.
Magdalene College, Cambridge.
The painting's structural stability had been compromised by five tears of different sizes present along the surface. The most significant and complicated one was a straight gaping tear measuring c. 8.9 cm, which also exhibited the loss of weft and warp threads. There were paint losses and flaking related to the canvas tears and some tenting in the bottom part of the painting. In addition, the canvas had some mild undulations in the central upper part and localized spiral cracks and planar distortions due to impacts. The canvas also displayed bar marks and was slightly slack on the stretcher. The paint surface exhibited some decently executed and localized overpaint, plus deposits of dust and grime.
First, the painting was surface cleaned (front and back). The tears were mended under magnification by the thread-by-thread method, using a sturgeons glue/wheat starch paste adhesive. The area of total canvas loss was mended in the same way (by adding individual threads and weaving them into the original structure) rather than introducing an insert of new canvas. This process reconstructed the continuity of the fabric support and its mechanical properties, restored the integrity of the weave pattern, and reconstituted the canvas tension. Finally, the painting losses were filled and retouched.
