Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera, G. Campi, Madonna with child and saints, Painting on panel

consistency

Restoration report (1997-1998) and photographic documentation related to the intervention on the painting Madonna with Child and Saints by Giovanni Campi.

Works supervision: Pietro Cesare Marani.

 

 

Facilitated description

 

The work ‘Madonna con bambino e santi’ attributed to Giulio Campi, now known as ‘La Natività con i santi Mattia, Antonio da Padova, il beato Alberto di Villa d’Ogna e un offertante’ (The Nativity with Saints Matthias, Anthony of Padua, Blessed Albert of Villa d’Ogna and a bidder), is a painting on panel from around 1529 in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan.
The restorer Pinin Brambilla Barcilon restored the work in 1997-1998 under the direction of Pietro Cesare Marani.
It consolidated (make the surfaces more stable) the structure and cleaned the surface.
Cleaning (cleaning the surface of the work of art from the dirt deposited over time) revealed a yellow-red patina (surface layer due to the aging of the work of art), repainting, retouching and some repentance (changes in the composition of the representations originally made by the artist and visible only with technical and scientific analysis).
The restorer removed old restorations and extended patinas, improving the brightness of the work.
He made a grouting of the gaps (a white layer of gypsum and glue that extends inside a gap and forms a smooth and uniform base on which to paint the additions) and painted the surface.
He used hatch technique (thin and small lines of color that from a distance recompose the shape of the missing part) and glazes (transparent layer of color) for integrations (reconstruction of the material or color of missing parts).
Finally, the restorer treated the back of the painting, removing dirt and applying a treatment against xylophagous insects (insects that feed on wood and damage the work).