63-TE-2011_Venaria Reale, Reggia di Venaria, M. G. B. Clementi (Clementina), Portrait of Vittorio Amedeo II

Facilitated description: 

 

The portrait of Vittorio Amedeo II is a painting on canvas with a frame of gilded wood.
The painting represents Vittorio Amedeo II on horseback.  
Maria Giovanna Battista Clementi called Clementina made the painting in 1728. 
The painting is kept at the Reggia di Venaria. 
The Centre for Conservation and Restoration La Venaria Reale (CCR) restored the painting in 2011-2012. 
The restorers protected the parts of the painting that were peeling off with pieces of special paper. In this way they were able to work on the back of the painting without losing pieces of paint.  
They dismantled the painting from the frame (wooden structure that stands behind the painting and serves to support the painting).
They cleaned up behind the painting.
The restorers glued the parts that were detaching and the cuts of the canvas.
Then, they removed the folds from the canvas thanks to special tools that use heat and pressure.
They mounted the painting on a new frame.
They cleaned the front of the painting from the ruined paint. 
They have eliminated the paintings and plastering (plaster and glue that serves to cover the lack of painting) of the old restoration work. 
They painted the missing color parts with watercolors and paints.
They painted the painting to protect it from the sun's rays and dust.
In the end they cleaned the frame, glued the parts that were peeling off and painted with watercolors and golden dust the parts without color. 

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention:

 

The painting is owned by Palazzo La Marmora di Biella - Centro Studi Generazioni e Luoghi Archivi Alberti La Marmora and has been loaned to the Reggia di Venaria for exhibition in the permanent visit path.

Restoration

The Portrait of Victor Amadeus II initially it was velinato in correspondence of the raises of pictorial film to perform safely the operations charged to the support. The painting was then disassembled from the frame and the back of the canvas was cleaned. Were then carried out the consolidation of the deadesioni between preparation and pictorial film with adhesive and healed the lacerations of the canvas with resin and thermocautery. The support was smoothed out by tensioning on the interim frame and adding heat to the low-pressure diner. The painting was then mounted on a new expansion frame. 
At the level of the pictorial surface, a differentiated chemical cleaning was carried out to eliminate the altered paints. Thickened form (gel) products were also used at this stage. The plastering and retouching were then removed and the chromatic integration of the gaps with watercolor and paint colors was performed. 
The surface was then painted with a protective UV filter. 
Finally, an intervention was carried out on the frame that provided for the cleaning, the consolidation of the raised scales and the chromatic integration of the new plastering with watercolors and micacea powder.