17-TE-2005_Venaria Reale, Reggia di Venaria, C. Dauphin, Princess Ludovica Maria di Savoia and Francesca Maria Cacherana Countess of Bagnasco, inv. 334 (property of the Castle of Racconigi)

Facilitated description: 

 

The painting on canvas depicts two princesses on horseback, Ludovica and Francesca.
The painter Charles Dauphin painted the painting in 1663.
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 2005-2007 for the reopening of the Reggia di Venaria.
The painting arrived from the Racconigi Castle to the laboratories of the Center wrapped around an ancient roller used for the transport of the paintings.
Around this ancient roller were wrapped 5 paintings.
The paintings have been restored and repositioned in Diana's room in Venaria.
The restorers unrolled the painting from the roller and separated it from the other paintings.
The painting was very ruined and the two princesses on horseback recognize each other with difficulty.
The restorers repaired the torn canvas parts. 
They removed the folds from the painting.
Then they lined the painting (they mounted a canvas on the back to reinforce the painting).
They fixed the painting on a new frame.
They filled the color gaps with putty (plaster and glue layer).
They painted the stucco with watercolors.
Eventually they painted the painting to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

The canvas Princess Ludovica Maria of Savoy and Francesca Maria Cacherana Countess of Bagnasco It is part of a cycle of 10. tableaux depicting ladies and knights of the Savoy court on horseback. The painting was restored on the occasion of the reopening of the Reggia di Venaria and the exhibition in its original location in the Sala di Diana. The work, with its lively conservative history, has come to the Royal Palace from the Castle of Racconigi (Residenze Reali Sabaude - Regional Directorate of Piedmont National Museums).
At the time of arrival the work was wrapped around an ancient roller for transporting the paintings. In addition to Dauphin's canvas, four other paintings from the upper register of Diana's hall were wrapped together.
The restoration was preceded by an in-depth diagnostic campaign during which color samples were taken to identify the pigments, the morphology of the drafts and the composition of binders, preparatory layers and any overlays. 

 

Restoration

The restoration on the painting began with the removal of linen canvas patches from the back of the support, dirt deposits and glues from previous restorations. Subsequently, the lacerations were compensated with portions of linen, the edges were consolidated and a tension was made on a provisional frame to allow the relaxation of the numerous folds. A liner cloth was then applied and the painting was fixed with a calibrated tension on a new fir wood frame of a fixed type with a sliding system that allows the canvas to be spaced away from the crossbars.

At a later stage the tissue was removed, applied at the time of rolling on the historical roller around the twenties. The wrinkles and deformations of the pictorial film have been smoothed out and the flakes of color at risk of falling have been consolidated. Subsequently, the surface was chemically cleaned and targeted actions were carried out with scalpels to remove the putty and repaintings. However, it was decided to keep previous restoration works suitable, such as those in the upper right-hand corner. In addition, the exposed canvas was tuned and a first painting was carried out on the entire surface. The gaps that disturbed the reading of the work (right part of the painting) were plastered and chromatically intoned with watercolor colors. Finally, a protective varnish was applied.

 

Bibliography

- C. E. Spantigati, Tabs 8.11-8.17 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. 156-159;
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, pp. 125-161.