14-AL-2006, Nichelino, Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi, G. M. Bonzanigo, Sofa, inv. 1815

Facilitated description: 

 

The sofa is a work of gilded wood and fabric. 
Giuseppe Maria Bonzanigo made the sofa at the end of the 1700s. 
The sofa is kept in the hunting lodge of Stupinigi, in Salotto 8. 
The Centro Conservazione e Restauro La Venaria Reale restored the sofa in 2006. 
The restorers have inserted the sofa in the anoxic room (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).
The sofa had gaps (missing parts) in the wood and gilding.
The restorers stuccoed the gaps (they themselves have a white layer of plaster and glue inside the shortcomings of wood and gilding).
They painted the stucco with watercolor and gold colors. 
They reinforced the joints of the sofa's legs. 
Eventually they painted the wooden parts to protect the sofa from the sun's rays and dust.  

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention: 

 

The intervention is part of the first lot of restoration of the Hunting Palace of Stupinigi relating to the Levante Apartment. The project involved the furniture and furnishings of Lounge 8, Chinese Rooms 14-15 and Cabinet 10. The restorations were included in the interventions financed by the Ministry of Heritage and Cultural Activities with the proceeds derived from the lottery.

 

Restoration

The entire surface of the furniture has been cleaned with soft brushstrokes and vacuum cleaners. Subsequently, the restorers intervened on the surface lacquered with rubber loaves and scalpels and on the gilding with artificial saliva and mechanical action (for the most tenacious residues).
The grouting of the gaps was then carried out, then chromatically integrated with watercolor and gold shell colors. On the entire surface was itself a layer of protective paint.
At the level of the support, an anti-mould treatment, consolidations and bonding of the joints with strong glue were carried out. Finally, the cantons were detached and glued again with strong glue.