18-TE-2005_Venaria Reale, Reggia di Venaria, E. Grandjean, Margherita di Savoia Duchess of Parma and Margherita de Marete de Loicey Countess of Villafaletto (property Castello di Racconigi)

Facilitated description:

 

The painting on canvas depicts two princesses on horseback, both named Margherita.
The painter Esprit Grandjean 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 with the princesses named Margaret on horseback was very ruined and the princesses recognized each other with difficulty.
The restorers cleaned the painting on the front and back.
They removed the folds from the canvas.
They put a reinforcement canvas behind the painting.
The restorers mounted the painting on a new frame.
Scientists at the Venaria Center did scientific analyses to study the layers of paint and varnish.
After the analysis, the restorers filled the numerous color deficiencies of the painting with grouting (plaster and glue layer).
They painted the plastering with watercolors and paint.
Eventually they painted the painting to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention: 

 

The canvas Marguerite of Savoy Duchess of Parma and Marguerite de Marete de Loicey Countess of Villafaletto 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 eventful 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 Grandjean'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 to deepen the study of the pictorial surface. 

 

Restoration

The restoration of the painting began with the removal of linen from the back of the paintings and the removal of glue deposits attributable to previous restoration interventions. Subsequently they were smoothed out and the lacerations were compensated with portions of linen. The edges were then consolidated and tensioning was carried out on a temporary frame to allow the relaxation of the numerous folds. A liner cloth was applied and the painting was fixed with 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.

In the next phase the tissue was removed, which protected the front, wrinkles and deformations of the pictorial film were smoothed out and the color scales at risk of falling were consolidated. The cleaning of the surface has highlighted numerous repaintings, so it was decided to perform further shooting in UV fluorescence to compare the areas with and without paint. Ultraviolet observation showed that the elaborate decorations of the princesses' dresses appeared to be heavily repainted and that the original color scheme appeared fragmentary or non-existent. The gaps that disturbed the reading of the work were plastered and chromatically intoned with watercolour colours. Finally, a paint was applied to balance the color rendering of the work.

Bibliography

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. 124-161.