40mc01-AL-2015_Venaria, Royal Palace, Pair of wall lamps with mirror, inv. 1172-L – 1173-L (ownership of the Museo Civico d’Arte Antica di Torino – Palazzo Madama)

Facilitated description:

 

The two sconces are candle holders that hang on the walls.
The appliques are made up of a candle holder and a mirror inside a golden wooden frame.
The appliques were made during the 1700s.
The appliques are kept at the Reggia di Venaria.
The La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the sculpture in 2015.
The restorers cleaned the candle holders from dust and repaired one of the broken candle holders.
They filled the missing color parts with a layer of putty (plaster and glue).
They colored the putty with watercolors.
Eventually they painted the candle holders to protect them from sunlight and dust.

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

The pair of appliques of Palazzo Madama has been the subject of an extraordinary maintenance intervention on the occasion of the insertion in the visit path of the Reggia di Venaria (granted on loan). 

Intervention

The two appliques in the Piedmont area were in a very poor state of conservation (previous restoration work altered, decoese portions of the preparatory layer, oxidation of the imitation gold leaf). In addition, they had a considerable deposit of fatty powders and the functionality of one of the two artifacts was compromised due to the fracture of the candle holding arm. Therefore, the maintenance intervention aimed at the recovery of the compromised parts and a more suitable aesthetic presentation of the works. Among the operations carried out were the relocation of the iron arm, the structural reinforcement of the support and the consolidation of the pressing film lifts. In addition, the chemical cleaning of the surface and the chromatic integration of the plastering with watercolours, the correction of altered touch-ups and the application of a final protective varnish were carried out.