57-TE-2006_Nichelino, Stupinigi's Hunting Lodge, Portrait of the Queen of Spain, inv. 16

Facilitated description:

 

The portrait of the Queen of Spain is a painting on canvas made in 1650-1699.
The painting is kept in the Hunting Palace of Stupinigi.
The restorers of the Centro Conservazione e Restauro La Venaria Reale restored the painting and the frame in 2008 after the discovery of the work. The painting was stolen in 2004.
The restorers carried out a cleaning (cleaning the surface from the dirt deposited over time or from the layers of old restorations).
The painting had abrasions (scratch of the surface) and pictorial gaps (lack) of color. 
The restorers carried out the pictorial integration (reconstruction with the color of gaps and abrasions).
Then they applied a paint to protect the painting from the sun's rays and dust.
The restorers also intervened on the frame. 
They cleaned the frame of the dust. 
They consolidated (made more stable) the detached wooden parts.
They integrated (filled) the small wood deficiencies.
The restorers have reconstructed some parts of the frame. They gilded the reconstructed parts with sheets of gold.
Eventually they applied a paint to protect the frame from the sun and dust.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

The restoration of the Portrait of the Queen of Spain It 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 was made to re-adhere the auxiliary sheet to the cloth to be recoated, then subjected to ironing.
At the level of the pictorial surface, surface cleaning was carried out. The aesthetic presentation included pictorial additions to the abrasions and gaps with paint colours. The final painting was carried out with a mixture of acrylic resins.

 

Frame
The frame has been cleaned. The detached carving parts were glued and the gaps were replenished. The parts reconstructed in heraldry have been consolidated with plaster and gilded with gouache gilding. The gold leaf was coated with earth and alcohol. The preparation and gilding gaps were supplemented with gold earth and powder mixed with ethyl alcohol. Finally, a protective varnish was applied to the entire surface.