16-TE-2009_Venaria Reale, Royal Palace, Portrait of Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, inv. R 5534 (ownership of Racconigi Castle)

Facilitated description:

 

The portrait of Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy is a painting on canvas made during the 1600s. 
The painting is kept at the Reggia di Venaria. 
The painting is owned by the Castle of Racconigi. 
The La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the painting in 2009. 
In the past they enlarged the painting by adding two strips of canvas on the sides. 
The restorers cleaned up behind the painting. 
They made a treatment against insects that eat wood on the frame (wooden structure that stands behind the painting and serves to support the painting).
They removed the old restorations behind the painting.
They repaired the tears of the canvas with pieces of canvas.
They repositioned the painting on the frame taking care to eliminate the folds of the canvas. 
Then they cleaned the painting in the front. They eliminated the dust, the yellowed paint and the paintings of the old restorations.
They filled the color gaps with a layer of putty (plaster and glue).
They painted the painting to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.
In the end they cleaned the frame of the dust. 
They painted the frame to protect it from the sun's rays and dust. 

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

The painting, owned by the Castello di Racconigi (Residenze Royali Sabaude - Regional Directorate of Piedmont National Museums), was granted to the Reggia di Venaria for exhibition in the permanent visit route.

Restoration

In the past, the work has been enlarged to its original size by adding two strips of fabric on two sides. The current intervention has provided for the cleaning of the frame from atmospheric deposits with microaspirator, the disinfestation of the verso and the compensation of the missing node on the horizontal crossbar. Cleaning was also carried out on the textile support to eliminate dirt deposits and those of an organic nature.
Subsequently, the fillers were thinned and the patches were removed. The perimeter bands were then applied to allow the correct re-tensioning of the painting and the canvas inserts to compensate for the small lacerations of the upper edge.
On the pictorial surface a chemical cleaning was carried out to thin the surface layer of yellowed protective and remove the most recent repaintings.
Finally, the plastering was carried out, then chromatically integrated, the chromatic reading of the work was perfected with veils on the unremoved repaintings and a final protective was applied. 
The frame has been subjected to consolidation and surface cleaning (removal of dust deposits and altered protective). Finally, grouting, chromatic retouching and spraying of a protective varnish were carried out.