1-TE-2005_Venaria Reale, Reggia di Venaria, J. Miel, The Hunters' Assembly, inv. D 736 293 (ownership of the Royal Museums of Turin - Galleria Sabauda)

Facilitated description: 

 

"The Hunters' Assembly" is a painting on canvas and represents a hunting scene.
Jan Miel painted the painting in 1660.
The painting is kept in Diana's room of the Reggia di Venaria.
The Conservation and Restoration Center "La Venaria Reale" restored the painting in 2006-2007 for the reopening of the Reggia di Venaria.
The restorers cleaned the back of the painting and the frame (wooden structure that stands behind the painting and serves to support the painting).
They put on the frame a product against insects that damage the wood.
Then they removed the humps on the canvas and glued a canvas to fill (canvas that is put behind the paintings to reinforce them).
During the intervention, the restorers noticed four cuts on the painting. The cuts were made with the sword by the French general Catinat in 1693 during a battle.
The restorers cleaned the front of the painting.
They have eliminated the restoration work of the past.
They made the paint thinner (the last layer of the painting above the paint).
They filled the missing colored parts with watercolors and painted the painting to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

The Canvas TheAssembly of Hunters by Jan Miel was restored on the occasion of the reopening of the Reggia di Venaria and the exhibition in its original location in the Hall of Diana. The painting, part of a series of 10 works with a hunting theme, has been affected by several movements during its conservative history and has come to the Royal Palace from the Civic Museum of Ancient Art in Turin - Palazzo Madama, where it was in temporary storage by the Galleria Sabauda. The restoration was preceded by an in-depth diagnostic campaign, which allowed us to know more precisely the executive technique, the preparatory drawing and the previous restoration interventions. 

 

Restoration

The intervention on the support began with the cleaning of the frame and an anti-moth treatment to prevent attacks by xylophagous insects. The plastering of the previous restorations was then removed and flatness was returned to the canvas with moisture and heat. The painting was then made to re-adhere to the canvas by glue.
The painting shows four sabers inflicted by the troops of General Catinat in 1693 during the French occupation of Turin.
The intervention on the pictorial film aimed to restore the chromatic balance thanks to differentiated operations. The surface was cleaned to remove grouting, retouching and thin the yellowed paint. Subsequently a light protective film of paint was applied with a brush, stuccoings and pictorial re-iterations with watercolor colors were made.
The aesthetic restitution was completed with paint colours to lower the tonal interference resulting from the reddish brown preparation.
In the end, a protective layer was laid out.

 

Bibliography

- D. Zanardo, Tabs 8.1-8.10 in The Royal Palace of Venaria Reale and the Savoy. Art, magnificence and history of a European court, edited by E. Castelnuovo, catalogue of the exhibition (Reggia di Venaria, 12 October 2007 - 30 March 2008), pp. 143-155;
Of the hunts I give thee the high empire: restorations for Diana's room at the Venaria Reale, in ‘Archivio 2’, edited by C. E. Spantigati, Nardini Editore, Florence, 2008.