11-TE-2006_Venaria, Reggia, S. Conca, Madonna and Child with St. Francis of Sales

Facilitated description:

 

The Madonna and Child with St. Francis de Sales by Sebastiano Conca is a painting on canvas made by Sebastiano Conca in 1724.
The painting represents the Madonna with the Child Jesus in her arms and St. Francis on his knees.
The painting is kept at the Reggia di Venaria, in the chapel of St. Hubert.
The La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the painting in 2006 for the reopening of the Reggia di Venaria.
Scientists at the Center did scientific analysis and found that the artist at the beginning of the work had painted some parts differently.
For example, the angel at the bottom right in the first version of the painting held a book in his hand and not an ink container.
The restorers cleaned behind the painting to remove dust.
They repositioned the painting on the frame (wooden structure that stands behind the painting and serves to support the painting). 
They removed the folds from the canvas. 
They cleaned the painting and eliminated the old restoration work.
They filled the color gaps with a stucco base (plaster and glue layer) and watercolor colors.
Eventually they painted the painting to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

The canvas Madonna and Child with St. Francis de Sales by Sebastiano Conca was restored on the occasion of the reopening of the Reggia di Venaria and the exhibition in its original location in the chapel of Sant'Uberto (left side chapel) together with the other three works that adorned the altars of this environment. The altarpiece, affected by several movements during its conservative history, has come to the Royal Palace from the Aula Magna of the Palazzo dell'Università di Torino, where it was preserved from 1964 to 2006.

 

Restoration

The diagnostic campaign, which preceded the restoration, highlighted numerous regrets in the composition made evident by the infrared (e.g. the angel at the bottom right holding the inkwell before holding a book). The intervention began with the cleaning of the frame and the verso, on which an antifungal treatment was also carried out. In the upper part of the blade the small localized holes were compensated with canvas inserts and in the area of the centina we proceeded with the unzipping for the retensioning of the canvas. 
On the pictorial film the layer of oxidized varnish has been thinned with a cleaning and the groutings dating back to various restoration interventions have been eliminated. The edge of paper glued on the entire perimeter of the frame, which partly turned on the pictorial film, was eliminated with hot water and scalpels. Subsequently, a protective film of paint was applied with a brush and the new groutings were prepared. The pictorial integration was carried out in imitation of the surface texture, intervening in the areas to be reconstructed in watercolor with the technique of hatching and glazing and with the final insertion of paint colors.

Bibliography

- Restoration of the altars of the church of Sant'Uberto alla Venaria Reale, edited by C. E. Spantigati, Florence, Nardini, 2007; 
- F. Grana, Sheets 18.4-18.5, 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. 291-292.