05-TE-2013_Nichelino, Stupinigi's Hunting Lodge, Portrait of Maria Giovanna Battista di Savoia, inv. 715

Facilitated description:

 

The portrait of Maria Giovanna Battista of Savoy is a painting on canvas made in the eighteenth century.
The painting is kept in the Hunting Palace of Stupinigi.
The Centre for Conservation and Restoration "La Venaria Reale" restored the painting in 2013.
The restorers cleaned the frame (wooden structure that stands behind the painting and serves to support the painting). 
They put on the frame a product against insects that feed on wood.
They cleaned the painting of ruined paint and old restorations.
Restorers have discovered that the painting has changed shape: It used to be oval and now it's rectangular. If you look closely you can see the sign of the oval.
The restorers filled the color gaps with a stucco base (plaster and glue layer) and watercolor colors.
Eventually they cleaned the frame and filled the missing gilding parts with watercolors and gold powder.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

Restoration

The restoration work on the painting of the Piedmontese school was designed in different phases depending on the specificity of the constituent material. 
The frame has been preserved for the originality of the constituent elements and the good state of conservation. The surface of the slide rules was cleaned first with vacuum cleaner and brushes and then with sponge. The frame was then treated with anti-moth product.
At the textile support level, atmospheric particulate matter was cleaned with vacuum cleaners and brushes. In addition, on the back of the canvas the inserts were made to re-adhere to the canvas and a synthetic band was applied on the back. 
The pictorial surface has been cleaned of paint and retouching. The extensions of the corners have been preserved as historical evidence, taking care to recover the original color. The pictorial film has been consolidated and chromatically integrated with plaster and glue plastering, then retouched in camouflage with watercolor colors and paint colors.
Finally, the frame was cleaned of deposits and alterations of purple. Moulding gaps were grouted and supplemented with watercolors and gold powder.