14-TE-2008_Moncalieri, Castle, Equestrian portrait of Philip of Savoy, Duke of Achaia, inv. 298

Facilitated description:

 

The equestrian portrait of Philip of Savoy is a painting on canvas made during the 1600s.
The painting depicts Philip 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 repaired the unwrapped canvas parts.  
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 characters from the House of Savoy. 
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, perimeter bands and glue residues from previous restorations. A cleaning of the support with soft sponges and brushes followed. 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. 
On the pictorial film the residues of oily film were removed (during this phase the original profiles of the figures partially modified by the old retouches were redefined). Subsequently, suitable grouting was adjusted and resin brush consolidations were carried out. Two varnishes were then carried out and the chromatic re-itegration with watercolor and varnish colors.
Finally, on the frame, not original, a cleaning of the front was performed to eliminate the protective and the verse. The plastering and the chromantic reintegration and the painting were then carried out.