Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera, Andrea Solario, Sacra famiglia, Painting on canvas

consistency

Restoration report and photographic documentation related to the intervention on the painting Holy Family
by Andrea Solario.

Works supervision: Pietro Cesare Marani.

 

 

Facilitated description 

 

The work "Holy Family" by Andrea Solario, now known as "Madonna with the Child and Saints Joseph and Simeon", is a painting on canvas of 1495 preserved at the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan.
The restorer Pinin Brambilla Barcilon restored the work in 1998-1999 under the direction of Pietro Cesare Marani. 
He began the restoration by cleaning the support from atmospheric particles (deposits of dust and dirt, due to atmospheric agents) and re-tensioning it (repositioning it on the frame to keep it in the correct position, to avoid a change in the shape and a problem with the color layers of the painting).
The restorer consolidated (make the surfaces more stable) the pictorial surface in the areas with lifts.
The restorer removed a layer of yellowed paint and old repaintings, revealing the original colors, but also abrasions (scratches on the surface due to rubbing) and retouching.
After cleaning (cleaning the surface of the artwork from dirt deposited over time), he painted the artwork with a transparent varnish to protect it.
He performed grouting (a white layer of gypsum and glue that stretches inside a lack and that forms a smooth and uniform base on which to paint the additions).
Finally, he carried out the pictorial integrations (reconstruction of the material or color of missing parts) to restore the consistency of colors.