The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-04-29
$4,000 PICTURE SAVED
TRANSFERRED FROM A CRACK
ING PANEL TO CANVAS.

BOttlcelli Madonna impeddeu IN Is
sue Paper and the Inch Thick Wood
en- Back Sandpapered Off-The Lay
err of Paint Then Transferred Unin-
jured to Canvas.
A Botticelli Madonna" said to be
worth $4,000, but not for sale at any
price, has been saved to Mr.. Hay, the
secretary of state, by a resort to
delicate operation that required per-
sistent work and the most scrupulous
care and watchfulness for year,
writes the Washington correspondent
of the New York Sun. Another paint
ing belonging to Mr.. Hay, less valu-
able, perhaps, only in that some doubt
has been expressed by experts as to
whether it was the work of Botticell1
or his famous master, Fra Lippo Lppi,
the Carmelite, has been saved also
through similar efforts. If the cost OF
this work were added to the worth OF
the two paintings their value would
be increased greatly.
Sandro Botticelli, the Florentine
painter, died very early in the SIX
teenth century, so that the $4,000
work which Mr.. Hay possesses is at
least 400 years old. Lippo Lippi died
in 1868. Both works are panels, and
it was through the cracking OF the
wood, due partly to age and partly TO
the effects of the extremely variable
climate of this part of the country,
that the destruction of these magnlh-
cent products of art, each worth
princes ransom. was threatened.
The panel known to be Botticelli
original is Madonna in profile, the
figure full length, surrounded by host
of cherubims. This was a favorlte
study of Botticelli, and Mr.. Hays gem
has all the color which made the Flor
entine master stand alone among his
competitors. The panel hung Tor
years upon the wall of the main stair
way in Mr.. Hays Washington resi-
dence, facing the spacious entrance
hall.
The other panel, a smaller Madonna,
OCNSlOpCO Vi dSho IlOAlI IhO ANfSASS N-N'O
that threatened to increase and in time
break through the painting itself, thus
destroying its beauty and making 1t,
from the standpoint of art, at least,
a total loss. Slight cracks were OBJ
served, also, in the larger painting,
and Mr. Hay, after careful inquiry, re-
solved, in the hope of saving both mas
terpieces, to resort to the delicate oper-
alton necessary to insure preservation,
which he had been informed could be
done by man in New York.
Mr. Hay made arrangements with
the New Yorker to undertake the
work, but before it was begun the
artist died, and Mr.. Hay was obliged
to look elsewhere for person &C
quainted with the process, which had
been originated in Europe and success
fully applied to the preservation OF
panel paintings of some of the old mas
ters. He ultimately found the right
man, whose studio was also in New
York, and to him was intrusted the
work.
AS the smaller panel was in a
greater state of deterioration, one OF
the cracks having in fact extended all
the way through from back to front,
until the painting itself was effected,
the workman began his delicate COM
mission on it first and, meeting with
success, started upon the larger and
more valuable subject. The object of
the operator was completely to sepa-
rate the painting proper, that is the
paint itself, from the wood upon which
It had been placed 400 years ago, with
out in any way injuring or permitting
It to be scratched, rubbed, cracked
)r bent.
To shave off the paint without injur-
ng the picture was manifestly impos-
,ible. for the thin sheet of pigment |
would have broken of it's own weight |
f Once lifted from the backing. 1t was,
therefore,, necessary to attack the back
ng itself, working from the reverse
tide downward through the wood until |
he undercoating of the paint was |
cached. How this was done is an in
eresting story.
Over the painted surface were placed |
hundreds of tiny slips of the thinnest
issue paper, these being held to the
,aint by a watery paste with just
enough adhesive power to make the
issue stick. The slips of the first
aver of tissue were pressed down and
worked so as to conform correctly
O what may be called the paint
wrinkles, for Botticelli knew the art
f making his pigment stand out In
elief ridges to accentuate certain
ines More slips OF paper. hundreds