9mc05-TA-2019_Torino, Museo Civico d'Arte Antica - Palazzo Madama, T. George, Portrait of Madame G. R. Smith, inv. 592

Facilitated description:

 

Portrait of Madame G. R. Smith is a small painting on ivory (material obtained from elephant tusks).
The painting was made in 1831.
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 2019.
The restorers dismantled the painting from the frame. They put the painting under weights to flatten it.
They cleaned the painting of dust. They filled the color gaps with paint.
They put a cardboard between the painting and the frame closure to protect the painting.
In the end they cleaned the frame and glued the detached pieces.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

Restoration

Restoration of the miniature Portrait of Madame G. R. Smith, 592 began with disassembly from the frame and cleaning with soft brushes and microaspirator. In addition, residues of cardboard and animal glue were removed from the back of the support with the scalpel. Subsequently the work was left under weight to favor the restoration of the planarity. The pictorial retouching was performed with resin-based paint colors, sometimes added with other types of resins to achieve a more defined gloss effect. Finally, the constraint system has been re-adjusted: a perimeter spacer has been inserted to limit mechanical stress on the miniature, covered with a sheet of non-acid conservative paper. 

Frame
Chemical cleaning of the metal frame and glass to remove inconsistent dusty deposits and greasy dirt and remove strips of adhesive tape. Subsequently, the bonding of the fractured parts and the replacement of any damaged elements (screws, bolts) were carried out.