51-AL-2006_Nichelino, Stupinigi Hunting Lodge, Mirror, inv. 1256

Facilitated description: 

 

The mirror with gilded wooden frame was made in the Turin area in the mid-1700s.
The mirror is kept at the Hunting Palace of Stupinigi.
The Centro Conservazione e Restauro La Venaria Reale completed the restoration of the mirror in 2007 after its discovery. The mirror was stolen in 2004.
The restorers have placed the mirror in an anoxic chamber (room without oxygen that serves to eliminate insects that feed on wood).
They carried out a cleaning (cleaned the surface from the dirt deposited over time or from the layers of old restorations).
They consolidated (made more stable) the detached frame parts.
The frame had gaps (missing parts) in the wooden decoration. 
The restorers integrated (filled the gaps) with wood and glue. 
They supplemented the gilding (filled the shortcomings of gilding with gold in sheets).
In the end they painted the frame to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

The restoration of the mirror attributed to Turin workshop was completed in 2007 under the supervision of Pinin Brambilla Barcilon. The intervention was carried out on the occasion of the discovery of the nucleus of works stolen from the hunting lodge of Stupinigi in 2004. After the restoration, the work was relocated to the Palazzina.

 

Restoration

The support was subjected to disinfestation treatment in anoxic chamber. Consolidation of the detached fragments was then carried out. The gap in the top has been integrated with the same original wood essence. The decorative surface was then cleaned. The golden surface has been integrated with the same original technique. Finally, a protective coating was carried out.