29-AL-2006_Nichelino, Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi, L. Prinotto, P. Piffetti (attr.), Desk by Diana, inv. 2369

Facilitated description:

 

The folding desk is a piece of furniture in which the writing surface can be opened and closed.
Luigi Prinotto and Pietro Piffetti made the desk in 1730-1740. 
The artists made the desk with different types of materials: wood, ivory (material obtained from elephant tusks), turtle shell, mother-of-pearl, bronze.
The desk is also called Diana's desk because in the center is represented the god Jupiter crowning the goddess of hunting Diana.
The desk is kept at the Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi.
The La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the desk in 2006-2007 after the furniture was found. The desk was stolen in 2004.
Scientific analyses have made it possible to recognize the ivory parts made by Luigi Prinotto and those made by Pietro Piffetti.
The restorers carried out a cleaning (cleaning the surface from the dirt deposited over time) with different tools.
For the brass parts they used a laser light instrument.
The restorers glued the detached slab parts (coating of fine wood).
The desk had gaps (missing parts).
The restorers supplemented (filled the gaps) with tiles of ivory and different types of wood.
In the end they painted the desk to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

The restoration of the folding desk, also known as Diana's desk, was completed in 2007 under the supervision of Pinin Brambilla Barcilon.
The work, traditionally attributed to Pietro Piffetti, was then assigned to Luigi Prinotto by Vittorio Viale. The restoration was carried out on the occasion of the discovery of the nucleus of works stolen from the Hunting Palace of Stupinigi in 2004. Thanks to the diagnostic campaign and digital X-rays, the diversity in the constituent material of the ivory inserts emerged. In this way it was possible to trace some interventions to Prinotto and others to Piffetti and his workshop. After the restoration, the work was relocated to the Palazzina.

 

Restoration 

The desk underwent anoxic disinfestation for three weeks. The bonding of the broken and unstable parts was then performed and the functionality of the lock was restored.
Subsequently, cleaning dowels were carried out on the different materials to program a differentiated cleaning: removal of deposits, cleaning of ivory parts, thinning of the protective film, laser cleaning for brass parts.
The raised inlay parts were then glued and the gaps were supplemented with tiles of ivory, rosewood, rosewood and ebony. The polychrome ivory engravings were reproduced on the ivories with paint colors, after isolating the tiles with an aliphatic paint. The same procedure was applied to some tiles whose polychromy had obvious gaps.
Finally, a thin film of aliphatic paint was applied to the outer surface.

 

Bibliography 

C. E. Spantigati, Sheet 1, in "The restoration of wooden furnishings. The Piedmontese cabinet-making: studies and research", edited by C. E. Spantigati, S. De Blasi, Firenze, Nardini, 2011, pp. 36-43.