20-TE-2005_Venaria Reale, Reggia di Venaria, B. Caravoglia, Claudia Margherita Scaglia di Verrua marchesa del Marro and Ludovica Maria San Martino d'Agliè marchesa di San Maurizio (property of Castello di Racconigi)

Facilitated description:

 

The painting on canvas represents two princesses on horseback Claudia Margherita and Ludovica Maria.
The painter Bartolomeo Caravoglia painted the painting in 1658-1663.
The painting is kept in Diana's room of the Reggia di Venaria.
The La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the painting in 2006-2007 for the reopening of the Reggia di Venaria.
The painting is very ruined and the two princesses on horseback recognize each other with difficulty.
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 paintings from the roller and separated it from the other paintings.
They cleaned the painting and the frame.
They fixed the canvas clips.
They removed the folds from the painting.
They applied a reinforcement canvas behind the painting and mounted the painting on a new frame.
In the front part of the painting the restorers have eliminated the old restorations.
In the end they painted the painting to protect it from the sun's rays and dust 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

The canvas Claudia Margherita Scaglia of Verrua marquise del Marro and Ludovica Maria San Martino d'Agliè marquise of San Maurizio 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). The restoration was preceded by an in-depth diagnostic campaign to deepen the knowledge of the painting layer. 

 

Restoration

The restoration on the painting began with the removal of linen canvas patches from the back of the support and glue deposits from previous restorations. The verse of the canvas was then cleaned with mechanical action. Subsequently the lacerations were compensated with portions of canvas, the edges were consolidated and the folds were stretched through tensioning on a provisional frame. A liner cloth was then applied and the painting was fixed with a tension calibrated 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 placed to protect the painting was removed and consolidation was carried out to eliminate the most important deformations. Several cleaning tests followed which brought out numerous repaintings. Cleaning was then carried out from overflowing repainting and grouting to bring out fragments of original pictorial film. Finally, chromatic additions were made with watercolor colors and a final varnish was applied.

 

Bibliography

- C. E. Spantigati, Files 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. 124-161.