19-TA-2010_Turin, Civic Museum of Ancient Art - Palazzo Madama, Prophet standing, inv. 468-D

Facilitated description:

 

Prophet standing is a painting on wooden table.
Jean Bapteur's workshop painted the painting in 1450-1460. 
The painting depicts the prophet Solomon. 
The painting is kept at the Civic Museum of Ancient Art in Turin (Palazzo Madama). 
The La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the painting in 2010. 
A restoration student did the restoration of the painting for her thesis (final exam).
Scientists at the Venaria Center did analyses to see how the table was built, study the colors used by the artist and see the restorations of the past. 
The restorer saw that the painting had cracks and holes caused by insects eating wood. 
He saw that the painting was ruined and that the painting in the past had different dimensions.
In the end the student studied the previous restorations made in 1953 and 1977. 

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

The table Prophet standing Palazzo Madama has been the subject of a thesis work conducted by Elena Ghio. The study aimed to document the state of conservation and to deepen the knowledge of the work through a diagnostic campaign.
The radiography made it possible to identify the composition, the assembly of the table and the presence of several canvases. The XRF analysis, on the other hand, helped to investigate the nature of the paint palette, while the UV analyses highlighted the punched decoration of the background, then covered by gilding, and the modern nature of the paint.
Among the main degradations were identified: cracks (xylophagous insects, shrinkage insects, nails, anchoring system), gaps in the support, scaling of the height of the board, oxidation of the visible tarpaulin, aging cracks (particularly visible from the IR analysis). Finally, the previous restoration works have been critically analyzed (Ettore Patrito, 1953 and Guido Fiume, 1977).

 

Bibliography

A unique painted table depicting a standing Prophet: historical-artistic and technical exegesis and scientific investigations aimed at defining the scope of realization, dissertation of the degree course in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, Prof. Cesare Pagierlo, thesisist Elena Ghio, academic year 2009-2010.