21mc005-TA-2008_Turin, Galleria Sabauda, J. Brueghel, P. P. Rubens, The vanity of human life, inv. 307, cat. 269

Facilitated description:

 

The vanity of human life is a painting on a table.
The painters Brueghel and Rubens painted the painting in 1615-1618.
The painting is kept at the Galleria Sabauda in Turin.
The restorers of the La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the painting in 2008.
Scientists at the Venaria Center have done scientific analysis to see where the restorations of the past are.
The restorers cleaned the painting of dust and yellowed paint.
They have eliminated the paintings of the restoration of the past.
Restorers found that the floor was repainted with a dark color.
Before, the floor was light brown.
They decided to leave the dark color of the floor as a historical testimony.
They have arranged the edges of the old plastering (layer of plaster and glue that serves to fill the color gaps).
They filled the color gaps with watercolors and paint colors.
They painted the painting to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.
In the end they cleaned the frame of dust and yellowed paint.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

Restoration

Thanks to the excellent state of conservation of the support, the restoration did not involve invasive operations on the table, but only a dry cleaning from dirt deposits. The pictorial surface has been the subject of a delicate intervention aimed at recovering the original tonal values affected by the presence of a strongly yellowed protective. Multispectral surveys were fundamental for this purpose, which made it possible to locate and quantify the extent of the areas affected by repainting and to identify the original pieces of pictorial film. The front of the painting was then cleaned of the protective film, removing incoherent deposits of atmospheric particulate matter and dust sediments using soft bristle brushes and micro-aspirators. At this stage, the protective layer was thinned using a solution of ligroin and acetone, applied with cotton swabs. In addition, the most recent paint retouches, made above the protective layer, have been removed.
During the restoration it emerged that the painting was the subject of an important intervention of pictorial recovery that concerned only the flooring of the room: a darker layer has been superimposed on the original light beige layer, which has probably changed over time, accentuating the gap with the original background. However, in agreement with the Works Management, it was decided not to remove these repaintings now historicized in the time path of the artifact.
We then intervened on the plastering, removing the incoherent ones, and proceeded to the pictorial reintegration, limiting ourselves to the gaps of pictorial film and the repainting of the new plastering with watercolor colors and veils of paint colors. Finally, a layer of protective varnish was applied to the entire pictorial surface.

 

Frame
The frame has undergone a scrupulous surface cleaning operation aimed at removing dust deposits and the altered protective, carried out with a soft bristle brush and application of a solvent gel. The restoration has brought out the areas where the metal leaf has undergone a burnishing treatment.

 

Bibliography

- C. E. Spantigati, Sheet 5.6 in De Van Dyck in Bellotto. Splendeurs à la cour de Savoie, C. E. Spantigati, P. Astrua, A. M. Bava, S. Damiano, Torino, Allemandi, 2009, pp. 153-154.