BackHeritage conservation and restoration paintings: cleaning
Among the processes governing the restoration of paintings, cleaning is perhaps the most complicated and delicate one, given that this involves an irreversible step. If it is not carried out by specialized personnel with a deep understanding of the techniques required, the artwork could be ruined for ever. It is also the most striking of the steps as this is the process that brings a fresh image of the work to light, with more vivid colours which have remained altered, and sometimes hidden, over time. The final varnishes applied to paintings end up oxidising, turning yellow and brittle. All kinds of dirt accumulate on them: dust, pollution, smoke from candles or tobacco, etc.
Eliminating these is no easy task and requires testing with combinations of different solvents in a very controlled manner.
It is true that the removal of old oxidised varnishes returns a renewed look to the artwork, restoring its original appearance, but this may not always be the case. Throughout history, many artists and even art schools, have used glazing as a painting technique. This consists of applying semi-transparent layers of coloured varnish to achieve a depth effect which is impossible by just mixing solid colours. As an example, we all know that the colour orange is obtained by mixing red with yellow. In order to achieve the same colour using the glazing technique, several layers of reddish varnish would be applied over a yellow base.
Therefore, the total removal of varnishes should be avoided without a thorough study and prior analysis of the artwork, as this could irreversibly remove layers of paint intentionally varnished by the artist.
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Short clip of the recent restoration of one of our Roman amphorae
March 21, 2020
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The restoration of the 16th Century St. Jago's Arch
March 25, 2020
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