15-CM-2022_Turin, Royal Palace, Centerpiece, inv. 8816, 8817

Facilitated description: 

 

The centerpiece consists of 5 gilded metal candlesticks and two mirrors and is used to decorate and furnish the table.
The centerpiece was built in 1830-1840 and is kept at the Royal Palace of Turin.
The La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the centrepiece in 2022.
The restorers carried out a cleaning (cleaned the candlesticks and mirrors from the dirt deposited over time or from the layers of old restorations).
They made all the pieces dry in a special chamber called a drying chamber.
They fixed one of the broken arms of the larger candlestick. They glued the broken mirror pieces.
In the end they cleaned the wooden parts and made a treatment against the attack of fungi.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention: 

 

Restoration

The intervention began with the preliminary study and the numbering of the elements. It is followed by chemical cleaning of all parts, selective removal of corrosion products, rinsing in water and drying in the drying chamber. In this way, a targeted cleaning was obtained, which did not completely eliminate the dark patina. Subsequently, a protective acrylic was applied and all the elements were reassembled. The same was done for the metal parts of the mirrors, while the enamel parts were cleaned with swabs and alcohol. The fractured arm of the major candelabra was welded and some nails were replaced. The mirrors were cleaned with water and alcohol, a fragment was glued and the limited chips were compensated. Gaps in mercury amalgam were compensated with reflective plastic foil. Finally, the wooden portions were cleaned with alcohol buffer and subjected to disinfestation from fungal attacks present on the wooden base of the central candlestick.