52-AL-2006_Nichelino, Stupinigi Hunting Lodge, G. M. Bonzanigo, M. Rapous, Specchiera, inv. 296

Facilitated description:

 

The mirror with painted and gilded wooden frame is decorated with leaves and flowers.
In 1784 Giuseppe Maria Bonzanigo and Michele Rapous created the frame.
Bonzanigo made the wooden parts and Rapous decorated them with painting.
The mirror is kept at the Hunting Palace of Stupinigi.
The Centro Conservazione e Restauro La Venaria Reale restored the mirror in 2008 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 replaced the metal supports of the upper part of the frame with steel pieces.
They have eliminated the materials of previous restorations (glue, ruined paint).
They consolidated (made more stable) the detached decoration parts.
They filled the small wooden gaps with stucco (plaster and glue) and rebuilt some roses of the frame.
In the end the restorers painted the parts added during the restoration with watercolors and redone the gilding.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

The restoration of the mirror, carried out by Giuseppa Maria Bonzanigo and Michele Rapous, was completed in 2008 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, together with the twin mirror inv. 297, at the Palazzina.

 

Restoration 

The work was subjected to disinfestation in anoxic chamber for a period of three weeks. Subsequently, differentiated surface cleaning was carried out depending on the materials. The metal bars inside the top have been replaced by steel bars. Pre-existing glues, resins and paints have been removed. The fragments of the carved decoration were reintegrated by inserting wooden pins. Subsequently, action was taken to fill the gaps and reconstruct small parts of the artifact. The decorated surface affected by uplifts has been consolidated and integrated. After careful consideration, it was decided to replenish the missing roses using the twin mirror as a model. The gaps were plastered and supplemented with watercolor colors.