12-TE-2008_Moncalieri, Castle, Equestrian portrait of Louis I of Savoy, inv. 297

Facilitated description:

 

The equestrian portrait of Louis I (first) of Savoy is a painting on canvas made during the 1600s.
The painting represents Ludovico 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 the 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 House of Savoy for the Castle of Moncalieri.
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 operations began with the removal of the work from the frame, patches and perimeter bands dating back to previous restorations. A cleaning of the support with soft sponges and brushes was followed and a product was applied to the back of the painting to make the fibers less hygroscopic. We then proceeded with consolidations in the weakest parts of the fabric, the addition of perimeter ties and the replacement of the frame with an expansion one. 
The paint residues were removed from the paint film, the original tips of the crown, the outline of the horse’s hoof emerged and it was found that the lacquer shading, visible from ultraviolet analysis, is not original. Subsequently, suitable grouting was adjusted and non-relevant grouting was removed. Consolidations were then carried out in the area of the dark background, the first painting and the new plastering. Finally, the chromatic re-itegration was performed with watercolor and varnish colors and a final veniciatura. 
On the frame, probably not original, a cleaning of the front was carried out to eliminate the protective and the verse. The grouting was then prepared and the chromantic reintegration and painting were carried out.