54-AL-2006_Nichelino, Stupinigi Hunting Lodge, G. M. Bonzanigo, M. Rapous, Specchiera, inv. 351

Facilitated description: 

 

The mirror has a painted and gilded wooden frame and is decorated with leaves and flowers.
In 1784 Giuseppe Maria Bonzanigo and Michele Rapous created the frame.
Bonzanigo made the wooden parts and Rapous painted the decorations.
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. 
The mirror had gaps (missing parts) in the decoration.
The restorers integrated (filled) the gaps with putty (plaster and glue layer).
They reconstructed some parts of the decoration taking as a model the mirror No. 352.
In the end, the restorers painted the mirror decoration to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.

 

 

 

 

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. 352, 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 The metal bars behind the spike have been replaced by steel bars. The fragments of the carved decoration were then repositioned and glued, in some cases inserting wooden or steel pins.
Subsequently, the deepest gaps caused by fractures were consolidated, the smallest missing parts were reconstructed, and the golden surface and colour consolidations were carried out.
The atmospheric deposits were then removed and the grouting was integrated. In agreement with the Works Management, the lacunous decorations have been reconstructed. The old sculpture remakes have been made homogeneous with watercolor veils and watercolor colored pencils. Finally, all over the surface was itself a protective film.