124mc9-AL-2017_Turin, Royal Palace, F. Bolgiè, Confessionale, inv. DC 2046

Facilitated description:

 

The confessional is a wooden piece of furniture consisting of a kneeling part, drawers and an upper part decorated with a cross.
Francesco Bolgiè made the confessional in 1816 with blue and golden painted wood.
The confessional is kept at the Royal Palace of Turin.
The La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the confessional in 2017.
The restorers have placed the confessional in an anoxic chamber, a chamber without oxygen that serves to eliminate insects that feed on wood.
They cleaned the confessional of dust.
They glued the raised wooden parts and filled the missing wooden parts with putty (plaster and glue layer). They colored the putty with watercolors and golden powder.
In the end they painted the corner to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

Restoration carried out on the occasion of the exhibition on display Genius and mestria. Furniture and cabinetmakers at the Savoy court between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (Reggia di Venaria, Sala delle Arti 17 March - 15 July 2018). 

Restoration

The intervention began with treatment in an anoxic chamber for a period of three weeks to eliminate any symptomatic attacks and the application of anti-moth product. Particulate matter was then removed from the surface with soft brushes and vacuum cleaners and inconsistent deposits were chemically cleaned. On the parts with polychrome, on the other hand, a cleaning was done with tires. The consolidation of the micro lifts with resin and the filling of the gaps were then carried out. Finally, chromatic integration was carried out with watercolour colours and micacea powder (recognisable by the dotted technique) and the application of protective varnish on the golden parts. 

 

Bibliography

F. Gualano, Sheet 121, in Genius and mestria. Furniture and cabinetmakers at the Savoy court between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (catalogue), edited by S. De Blasi, Turin, Allemandi, 2018, pp. 369-370.