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The Exhibition Opens
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The exhibition is now open for public viewing and the conservation of the painting begins. Conservator Joan Gorman explains the first stages of the restoration to museum visitors.
Much of the day will be spent removing old layers of varnish, dirt and grime from the painting.
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David Marquis begins his first day on the project. He starts with the lower right corner of the painting, an area that from technical examinations was known to be in fairly poor condition.
The painting has been restored a number of times in the past. The conservators have found that earlier restorers did not remove the previous layers of restoration before adding their own varnish and overpaint. In some areas of the painting, up to four layers of fill material and old repaint are present.
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David and Joan introduce the concept of art conservation to a group of children. Like the last in-gallery conservation project in 1999, the exhibition is viewed by visitors of all ages.
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Canvas Inserts
by David - Conservator |
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Beneath layers of varnish, old discolored retouching and generations of fill material are several canvas inserts. The inserts were prepared to fill losses in the primary canvas. In this case, the canvas for the insert was taken from a discarded painting, The fragment appears to be 17th century and there is a horses head, water and some foliage visible.
This insert is located just above the young boy's shoulder on the far right side of the picture.
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Patrick Noon, MIA Curator of Paintings, visits the exhibition gallery to discuss the painting with Joan and David. Patrick will be involved in all aspects of the project, assisting with critical decisions regarding the removal of the many layers of varnish, fill materials, and earlier restorers' overpaint.
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