Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-03-13
THE RESTORATION OF PAINT
INGS.
A Difficult Task-The Story of Van
Dyke Portrait.

| One of the cleverest reservations of
"a painting ever made %as that con-
! Quoted under the supervision of a
| New York expert not long since. By
| reason of the great age of the picture
| the canvass. which was about six
| feet square had become rotten. The
| first step in the work of restoration
was the bluine by means of vege-
| table compound of Il thick piece or
manila paper over the face of a paint
| ing The picture was then turned
over and from its back there was
| picked. thread by thread, all the rot
| ten canvas. This delicate operation
required four days for its completion.
AT the end of that time all that re-
manned of the original work was a
delicate shell of pigment glued by its
face 10 a piece of paper
The rest of the task was compare
lively easy. The expert covered the
bare back of the painting with strong
fish blue and fastened to it a new
piece of canvas. The manila paper
was then. by means of hot water, re-
moved from the face of the painting.
There was the picture the same as
before. but now upon a strong, new
canvas.
The commission appointed some
time ago by the Italian Minister of
Public instruction to ascertain wheth-
er several pointings by old masters
i'll the Florence galleries, which have
been washed or restored, have suf-
fered any damage had accomplished
lis task, but as the three commits
sioners failed to agree in their con-
illusions they nave drawn two separ-
ate reports.
The painter Sartorio, deplores the
restoration He states that the var
nish or outer coating of paint in the
old paintings constituted. as a rule.
an execution of the work. and very
often the aspect of the painting de-
pended upon the varnish. Hence, he
contends. it is a mistake to remove it,
as invariably the characteristic fea-
lures of picture are thus altered.
The other commissioners. Canevaghi
and Pagliashi, defend the restoration
They admit that some of the washed
paintings have lost their original pa
tina and the special tone of the color.
bat, on the other hand. they have not
been damaged. These commissioners
examined each painting restored and
reached the conclusion that slight mis-
takes in the treatment adopted may
have been' committed. as the restor-
ers did not succeed in preserving the
original harmony of colors, but that
the washing was necessary to save
the paintings from decay.
Despite the TACT that the restoration
has been practically approved by two
commissioners who are both experts
in the art of restoring old paintings.
the fine arts departments decided not
to allow other paintings to be washed
in the future unless the proposed re-
storations are fully approved by the
Superior Council of Fine Arts.
OF the strange vicissitudes through
which many of the worlds famous
pictures have passed, perhaps none
WAS sdder than that of THE Picture
in Disguise" Il magnificent painting
which now adorns the resident of
Lord Leigh in Warwickshire, Eng
land.
This remarkable picture for many
years appeared tn be merely n paint
ing of flowers. The floral study was.
however. finally pronounced by an as
tute art dealer to be in reality a mask
of another painting. With the per-
mission of the owner he caused the
painting of flowers gradually To be re-
moved whereupon there was diseoy
cred underneath a very fine portrait
of Charles | by Vandyke
While no authentic record of this
masterpiece has been found, il is sup
posed that the portrait was disguised
by some RoyaliSt in order to guard
against its destruction by Roundheads
during the revolution.-From Har-
per.s Weekly.