56-TE-2006_Nichelino, Stupinigi Hunting Lodge, J. da Ponte (Bassano), Country Scene, inv. 54

Facilitated description:

 

Country Scene is a painting on canvas.
Jacopo da Ponte, known as Bassano, painted the painting in 1590-1599.
The painting represents a scene from life in the countryside.
The painting is kept in the Hunting Palace of Stupinigi.
The restorers of the La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the painting in 2008 after its discovery. The painting was stolen in 2004.
The restorers disassembled the canvas from the frame (wooden structure that stands behind the painting and supports the painting).
Then they tensioned the painting (properly position the canvas to prevent changing the shape and layers of the color) onto a new frame.
The restorers carried out a cleaning (cleaning the surface from the dirt deposited over time or from the layers of old restorations).
Scientists at the Center did scientific analysis on the painting to know which colors were used.
The restorers have eliminated the paintings of the old restorations in the upper part of the painting.
They integrated (filled) the colorless parts with putty (plaster layer).
They painted the putty with watercolors.
Eventually they applied a paint to protect the painting from the sun's rays and dust.
The restorers also cleaned the frame and integrated (filled) the shortcomings of gilding with gold sheets.
They painted the scratches with watercolors to make the surface even.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

The restoration of Bassano's painting and frame 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 to the Palazzina.

 

Restoration

At the level of the support, the canvas was sprung from the frame and the strips of perimeter cloth and patches were removed. Subsequently the cleaning of the verso, the consolidation of the support and the tensioning of the canvas on a new expansion wooden frame were carried out. 

 

At the level of the pictorial film, a gradual cleaning was carried out, aimed at the selective solubilization of the different types of non-original materials overlaid and at identifying the stratification of the restoration interventions. The altered surface paint and touch-ups were then removed. In addition, following the results of the scientific analyses (UV fluorescence, SEM electron and electronic microscope observation, XRF investigations, IR reflectography) the oily repaintings present at the top of the work were eliminated because they concealed the sky, part of the profile of the hills, the fronds of the trees and an owl placed on a branch of the right tree. The gaps were then plastered and pictorially integrated with watercolor and paint colors.
Finally, a protective varnish was sprayed over the entire surface of the painting.

 

Frame

The wooden surface was cleaned of atmospheric deposits and the golden parts were subjected to consolidation. All gaps were plastered with plaster and glue. Subsequently, the stuccoing and gold gouache with gold leaf were pictorially integrated. Finally, the gold leaf additions were burnished with agate stone and watercoloured to match the colour of the original golden surface. The most visible abrasions were integrated with watercolor colors. In the end, the frame was protected with a homogeneous layer of paint.