64-TE-2012_Biella, Palazzo La Marmora, Equestrian portrait of Prince Eugene

Facilitated description: 

 

The equestrian portrait of Prince Eugene is a painting on canvas made during the 1700s. 
The painting is kept at Palazzo La Marmora in Biella (Centro Studi Generazioni e Luoghi, Archivi Alberti La Marmora). 
The La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the painting in 2012 for an exhibition. 
The restorers cleaned up behind the painting.
They have eliminated the folds of the canvas. 
They reinforced the canvas by inserting canvas patches behind the painting. 
Then they lined the painting (mounted a reinforcement canvas behind the painting). 
The restorers saw that the painting was of larger sizes. In fact, during the restoration they found a piece of painted canvas folded behind the painting. 
Together with those responsible for the painting they decided to leave this part of the painting folded and not to show it. 
In this way the painting can be mounted in its frame. 
The restorers mounted the painting on a new frame (wooden structure that stands behind the painting and serves to support the painting). 
After the restorers cleaned in front of the painting. 
They eliminated the dust, the yellowed paint and the paintings of the old restorations. 
They filled the colorless parts with a layer of putty (plaster and glue). 
They painted the putty with watercolors and paint. 
Eventually they painted the painting to protect it from the sun's rays and dust. 
 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention: 

 

The painting was restored on the occasion of the exhibition The King's Paintings held at the Reggia di Venaria (Sala delle Arti, 5 April 2012-13 January 2013) and after being exhibited at the Museo del Territorio Biellese in 2013 he returned to Palazzo La Marmora.

Restoration

The intervention began with the operations to be carried out by the support. First the canvas was cleaned from the deposits and the constraint system (nails) was dismantled. Subsequently, the folds of the canvas were smoothed out thanks to the contribution of humidity with a low-pressure diner and the support consolidations were carried out. The cuts of the canvas were compensated with thermocautery and canvas patches. Rintelo operations were followed to reinforce the textile support, lining and tensioning on the new expansion frame. On the upper side, where the painting was in ancient times resized, at the explicit request of the property, the re-dimensioning was maintained, so that the work re-entered the wooden frame to which it belonged, even if not original. The painted part of the canvas was then turned over on the back, fixed to the canvas to be replaced and to the frame and covered with protective canvas.
At the level of the pictorial film, cleaning was carried out from deposits, yellowed paint and retouching on overflowing grouting. The abrasions and small gaps were then grouted and chromatic integration was performed with watercolor colors and paint finishes. Finally, a protective coating was applied. 

 

Bibliography

- S. De Blasi, Sheet 1.2, in The collections of Prince Eugene, leader and intellectual. Collectionism between Vienna, Paris and Turin in the early eighteenth century, edited by C. E. Spantigati, Silvana Editoriala, Cinisello Balsamo (MI), pp. 173-174