Stories tagged oil paint

Madonna of the Goldfinch: Raphael's painting is known in Italy as Madonna del cardellino.
Courtesy WikipediaAfter surviving centuries of damage, previous patchwork, and a major catastrophe a painting by Italian Renaissance artist Raphael has been brought back to its former condition thanks to science, technology, and a lot of long-term microscopic care. About 10 years of it!

Raphael painted the masterpiece titled Madonna of the Goldfinch around 1506 as a wedding gift for a local wool merchant. The 42 by 30-inch oil on wood panel depicts the Virgin with two children (representing Christ and John the Baptist) holding a goldfinch. It’s an amazing this thing isn’t languishing in some Florence landfill, because in 1547 the collapse of the owner’s house shattered the painting into seventeen pieces.

A contemporary of Raphael salvaged the artwork by nailing the pieces back together and painting over the breaks. Subsequent owners made further restorations to it, patching them with glue and more paint, and obliterating even more of Raphael’s original brushstrokes, On top of that four plus centuries of dirt and grime covered the image with an ugly yellowish hue that obscured Raphael’s original colors and added to the painting’s deteriorated condition.

When the cobbled-together painting arrived at Florence's Opificio Delle Pietre Dure, it was - needless to say - nothing to behold. Opificio Delle Pietre Dure is one of Italy's finest art restoration laboratories established by the state to protect Italy's many art treasures. The laboratory is set up with the cutting edge technology and expertise necessary to carefully restore many kinds of artwork including tapestries, parchments, stonework, jewelry, textiles, and paintings. The condition of Raphael's ailing painting was so bad; it was first x-rayed from various angles to determine the best way to approach its restoration.

"We spent two whole years studying it before deciding whether to go ahead because with the damage it suffered in the past -- which was clearly visible in the x-rays -- a restoration attempt could go wrong," said Marco Ciatti, head of Opificio’s department of painting.

Watch a video report on the restoration

Chief restorer Patrizia Riitano spent most of the last 10 years with her eye to a microscope poring over the painting while carefully removing layers of added paint and gunk to reveal more of Raphael’s original image. Earlier restorations had used paint similar to that used by Raphael, making it difficult to distinguish one from the other. But Riitano’s work wasn’t solitary. She headed a team of more than 50 technicians and specialists who used CAT scans, lasers, and infrared photography to revive the work of art back to its former glory. Fractures were sealed, and wood experts determined the large nails holding the pieces together should be left in place because removing them would cause more damage. But smaller deteriorating nails were removed.

The lab's efforts seems to have paid off, because the restoration's results are stunning. Vivid blue, red, and golden colors long obscured by the paint of previous restorations radiate once again from the canvas, and in some cases unknown background elements buried under centuries of gunk have re-emerged into the light of day.

Three panel comparison with before, during, and after images

The painting will go on display later this month in the Palazzo Medici in Florence, the centerpiece of an exhibition about the restoration. After that it will be returned to its home the Uffizi Gallery.

LINKS

Artdaily report
Softmedia story
Acadja Art Magazine story

Tags : art, art restoration, science and art, oil paint

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Oil painting by Vincent Van Gogh (Art Institute of Chicago): Did Vincent know his new way of seeing things was made possible by using an ancient medium?
Courtesy Mark RyanOil painting, long considered a European invention dating from the 15th Century, appears now to have originated in Asia and from as early as the middle of the 7th Century.

Tests done on a series of wall murals discovered in caves in the Afghan region of Bamiyan show that the paint used is composed of resin and oil probably extracted from poppies or walnuts.

"This is the earliest clear example of oil paintings in the world, although drying oils were already used by ancient Romans and Egyptians, but only as medicines and cosmetics," said Yoko
Gathering samples for analysis: Yoko Taniguchi and team members collect paint samples from one of the cave murals at Bamiyan.
Courtesy National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo (Japan), who led a team of scientists from the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties in Tokyo, the Centre of Research and Restoration of the French Museums, and the California-based Getty Conservation Institute.

The caves are located behind the site of the giant Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban in 2001 because they were deemed “un-Islamic”. The Taliban also damaged the cave walls.

Close-up of Buddhas on mural
Courtesy National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo (Japan)Many of the cave paintings depict the robed Buddha sitting among mythical creatures, and are thought to have been painted by itinerant artisans traveling along the Silk Road, an ancient trade route linking China and the West.

Pigment layers under the microscope
Courtesy National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo (Japan)Samples of the ancient pigment were tested at the European Synchroton Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France. The team used a combination of synchrotron techniques including mass spectrometry and gas chromatography to analyze several paintings from twelve of the caves and also from fragments of the toppled Buddha statues. The paint turned out to be composed of a mix of layered inorganic pigments and organic binders, such as natural resins, gums and protein. The latter indicates the possible use of egg or hide glue. Concentrations of lead carbonates known as lead whites were also detected.

"The use of drying oils in painting clearly shows an understanding of the properties of this material," said Ioanna Kakoulli, a materials archaeologist at the UCLA/Getty Conservation Program in Los Angeles. Although Kakoulli was not directly involved in the analysis, she confirmed it was of some of the earliest identified examples of drying oils used as a binding media in painting.

"Due to political reasons research on paintings in Central Asia is scarce," said team leader Taniguchi. "We were fortunate to get the opportunity from UNESCO, as a part of conservation project for the World Heritage Site Bamiyan, to study these samples."

Results of the study are published in the Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry.

LINKS
ESRF site story
What is a Synchrotron?
NewKerala.com (India) story
Reuters.com story
National Geographic story

Tags : oil paint, Silk Road, archaeology, Bamiyan Buddha statues, chemical analysis, Synchrotron, ancient cultures

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