21mc028-TE-2008_Turin, Galleria Sabauda, L'Aurora, inv. 462, cat. 343

Facilitated description:

 

The Aurora is a painting on canvas made after 1650. 
The painting depicts a country landscape in the early morning. 
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, eliminated the yellowed paint and the old repaintings. 
They filled the paint gaps with stucco (plaster and glue layer).
They painted the grouts. 
They painted the painting to protect it from the sun's rays and dust. 
Afterwards they also restored the frame. 
They glued the parts of wood that were coming off. 
They cleaned the frame of the dust. 
They filled the wooden gaps with stucco (plaster and glue layer). 
They gilded the plastering with gold leaf or watercolors. 
In the end they painted the frame. 

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

Restoration

Initially the frame was cleaned of dust deposits with a vacuum cleaner and was widened slightly to better stretch the painted canvas. On the canvas, inconsistent deposits were removed from the surface and solubility tests were performed for the removal of altered paint and retouching. After cleaning, the area of the sky to the right, affected by altered retouching, revealed an extensive older repainting that was considered to be thinning. Subsequently the gaps were stuccoed in a localized manner and with particular attention to the left margin of the painting, while on the repainted area a basic application with watercolor colors was performed. A first brush painting and pictorial integration were then carried out. Finally, a protective paint was sprayed.

 

Frame
The golden frame was initially subjected to the stoppage of the decoese parts by the application of acrylic resin in aqueous dispersion; It was then cleaned of dirt with a solution and mechanical action using a scalpel. The work continued with the filling of the gaps (stucco made with Bologna plaster and rabbit glue). The most important plasterings were treated with red bolus, gilded leaf with gouache technique and burnished, while the smaller ones were closed in color with watercolor colors. Finally, the original gilding abrasions were integrated with shell gold and then veiled with watercolor colors to conform to the original one of less brilliant tone. The final protection painting was followed.