17mc10-AL-2013_Nichelino, Stupinigi Hunting Lodge, Cross, inv. 487

Facilitated description: 

 

The cross is made of gilded wood and metal. 
The cross is kept in the chapel of the hunting lodge of Stupinigi. 
The Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the cross in 2013. 
The restorers have placed the cross in the anoxic chamber (room without oxygen that serves to eliminate insects that eat wood). 
Then they wiped the cross from the dust. 
They stopped the parts of wood and gilding that were coming off. 
They glued the arm of Christ. 
They filled the wooden gaps with stucco (plaster and glue). 
They painted the stucco with watercolors. 
They put a product against insects that eat wood. 
In the end they painted the cross to protect it from the sun's rays and dust. 

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention: 

Restoration

The restoration of the work began with a disinfestation in the anoxic chamber for a period of three weeks. Subsequently, a chemical cleaning of the entire golden surface was carried out, while the larger sediments were mechanically removed with scalpels. The cleaning of the back was carried out with tires, while that of the Christ with ethanol.
Consolidation of the lifts was performed with injections of acrylic resin and the arm was made to adhere again to the body by the use of strong animal glue. The gaps were filled with stucco (bologna plaster and animal glue), then blunted with scalpel and brass canvas and chromatically integrated with watercolor and mica colors. The flicker holes have been integrated using a waxy putty added with natural pigments. Finally, preventive disinfestation was carried out by brushing the anti-moth solution and final painting.