21mc024-TE-2008_Turin, Galleria Sabauda, A. Tempesta, Tournament in Piazza del Castello di Torino, inv. 360, cat. 470

Facilitated description: 

 

Tournament in Piazza Castello in Turin is a painting made by Antonio Tempesa in 1619.
The painting represents fighting games in the most important square of Turin.
The painting is kept at the Galleria Sabauda in Turin.
The La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the painting in 2008.
The restorers cleaned the frame (wooden structure that stands behind the painting and serves to support the painting).
They cleaned the front of the painting to get rid of the dust. 
Then they arranged the paintings of the old restoration with watercolors. 
They painted the painting to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.
Then they dusted the frame. 
In the end they eliminated the gilded retouches of the old restoration. 

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

The work, before this restoration, was exhibited at the exhibition The Palace of Venaria and the Savoy. Art, Magnificence and History of a European Court at the Royal Palace of Venaria Reale (12 October 2007 - 30 March 2008). 

Restoration

The restoration of the painting began with the dusting of the frame and the verse of the painting. The pictorial surface was then treated with a surface cleaning with a solution of demineralized water. Subsequently, the revision of the previous retouches and the altered repaintings was carried out by intervening with paint colors. Finally, the painting was spray-painted.

 

Frame
The frame has been dusted with soft brushes and suction. In addition, the presence of a yellowed protective film and numerous altered purple retouches made it necessary to clean and gild some abraded areas, hidden by purple additions.

 

Bibliography

- A. M. Bava, Sheet 4.37 in The Palace of Venaria and the Savoy. Art, Magnificence and History of a European Court, E. Castelnuovo (eds.), Turin, Allemandi, 2007, p. 88. 

- M. B. Failla, Sheet 3.5 in De Van Dyck in Bellotto. Splendeurs à la cour de Savoie, C. E. Spantigati, P. Astrua, A. M. Bava, S. Damiano, Turin, Allemandi, 2009, p. 124.