2-TE-2006_Venaria Reale, Reggia di Venaria, J. Miel, The Death of the Deer, inv. D 737 294 (Museo Civico d’arte Antica di Torino - Palazzo Madama)

Facilitated description: 

 

The Death of the Deer is a painting on canvas.
The painting depicts a scene of deer hunting.
The painter Jan Miel painted the painting in 1659-1661.
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.
Scientists at the Venaria Center did scientific analysis to study how many layers of paint are present on the painting.
The restorers cleaned the frame (wooden structure that stands behind the painting and serves to support the painting).
They have removed the canvas patches on the back put during the old restorations.
They cleaned the front of the painting from the yellowed paint.
In the parts where the color was missing they made a base with stucco (plaster and glue layer) and then painted the stuccoes with watercolors.
Eventually they painted the painting to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention: 

 

The canvas Death of the Cervo 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. The restoration was preceded by multispectral analysis (ultraviolet fluorescence) to deepen the knowledge of the pictorial surface.

 

Restoration

The intervention began with a velinatura of the polychromy of the edges and the removal from the verse of old bands. In addition, the linen band at the top of the painting has been removed and the patch at the bottom right has been replaced. The entire surface was then cleaned with a slight mechanical action. The frame, in good condition, has been maintained, cleaned and subjected to anti-moth treatment. In addition, perimeter bands have been applied for the retensioning of the canvas on the frame.
The first phase of the cleaning eliminated the layer of paint that concealed the numerous repaintings also highlighted by ultraviolet analysis. In a second phase, the repaintings and groutings related to previous interventions were eliminated. In addition, traces of yellow color have been highlighted along the perimeter edges and nail holes probably pertinent to a frame anciently fixed on the painting. Subsequently the canvas was painted and the new plastering was carried out. The watercolor chromatic integration was carried out in a differentiated way: hatched on white plastering, with light and punctual varnish veils on the abrasions of the darkest colors and the sky. Finally, a protective painting was carried 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.