11-TE-2008_Moncalieri, Castle, Equestrian portrait of Filiberto II of Savoy, inv. 299

Facilitated description:

 

The equestrian portrait of Philibert II (second) of Savoy is a painting on canvas made during the 1600s.
The painting depicts Filiberto 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 mounted the painting on a new frame. 
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 that, thanks to UV analysis and backlighting, highlighted the repaintings and abrasions.
The operations on the support involved the removal of patches, perimeter bands and glue residues and the cleaning of the verso with rubbers and brushes. Subsequently consolidations were carried out, perimeter strips of synthetic fabric were applied and a new expansion frame was mounted.
On the pictorial film, on the other hand, the strips of Japanese paper and the residues of paint and repainting have been removed, so the original tips of the crown have emerged, the contour of the horse's hoof and a different position of the horse's back paw and a thicker tail have been detected. The unsuitable groutings were removed and the surface was consolidated with acrylic resin. The gaps of pictorial film were integrated with stucco and tuned with watercolor colors and paint colors for the final glazes. Finally, a painting was carried out.
On the frame, not original, was made a cleaning from the protective and a dusting of the verse. The plastering was then carried out, chromatically reintegrated with watercolors, and a final painting was sprayed.