10-TE-2008_Moncalieri, Castle, Charles II the Good, 9th Duke of Savoy, inv. 301

Facilitated description:

 

Charles II (second) the Good is a painting on canvas made during the 1600s.
The painting depicts Duke Charles on horseback.
The painting is kept at the Castle of Moncalieri. 
The La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the painting in 2008. 
Scientists at the Venaria Center did scientific analysis to see how the painting was made and where the restorations of the past are. 
The restorers dismantled the painting from the frame (wooden structure that stands behind the painting and serves to support the painting) to clean behind the painting.
They eliminated the folds of the painting.
They repaired the unskinned parts of the canvas.  
They lined the painting (mounted a reinforcement canvas behind the painting). 
The restorers also worked on the front of the painting. 
They cleaned the painting from old restoration paintings. 
They filled the color gaps with putty (plaster and glue layer). 
They colored the putty with watercolors.
They painted the paint to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.
In the end the restorers cleaned the frame.
They painted wooden parts without color.
They painted the frame to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

Restoration

The painting is part of a series of portraits of the Savoy dynasty.
The intervention was preceded by a diagnostic campaign aimed at deepening the knowledge of the state of conservation, the executive technique and the presence of previous restoration interventions.
The restoration began with operations on the support: after the removal of the frame, the upper perimeter band and the left side band were frayed to preserve the historical plastering. The patches were then removed. The surface was then cleaned with wishab sponges and soft bristle brushes and the support humidified to eliminate the deformations present. The painting was then subjected to heat and suction. The verse of the painting has been sprayed with substances that make the fibers less hygroscopic. Finally, the gaps were compensated and a linen cloth was placed on the back.
On the pictorial surface instead a cleaning was done to eliminate the repaintings and plasterings. After the first painting was done the grouting of the gaps and the chromatic integration with watercolor bases and paint colors with the aim of attenuating the visual disturbance due to the brown preparation on sight. A new painting was then carried out.
Finally, on the frame, probably not original, a cleaning of the front was done to eliminate the altered protective. The gaps were stuccoed, then chromatically replenished with watercolor colors. Finally, a final protective was applied.