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Works by Rubens Presented to the Public following Restoration On 3 February 2005 two works by the great Flemish artist which recently underwent restoration work - Mars and Venus, from the State Hermitage collection, and Tarquinius and Lucretia, from the private Moscow collection of Vladimir Logvinenko - were placed in the permanent exhibition of 17th century Flemish art in the Rubens Room. The canvas Mars and Venus (1618-1620) was kept in the Old Palace in Berlin during the 19th century and was later moved to the Konigsberg Castle; ever since 1945 it has been in the State Hermitage. The subject of the painting is taken from Antique mythology. The God of War kneels before the Goddess of Love and Beauty. Four cupids “pacify” Mars, taking away his martial equipment. Rubens makes use of an allegorical motif embodying the idea of all-powerful love that was popular in the art of Western Europe. The pair of doves included in the composition symbolizes the embrace of the lovers. In October 2004 the canvas was turned over to the State Hermitage's Laboratory of Expert Restoration of Easel Paintings. The painting was found to be in satisfactory condition and underwent only technical treatment to maintain, strengthen and restore transparency to the surface varnish and also some other minor work. An X-ray examination revealed the artist's signature in whiting under the upper layers of paint in the lower left corner of the composition. The signature resembles the artist's handwriting towards 1620. The specific features of the painterly manner and palette also correspond to this period in the artist's work. The restoration work was carried out by A. G. Rakhman, a member of the staff of the State Hermitage's Laboratory of Expert Restoration of Easel Paintings who is an art restorer of the highest category. Rubens' canvas Tarquinius and Lucretia was kept in various palaces in Berlin during the course of the 17th - 20th centuries. In 1926 it was moved to the picture gallery of the Sans-Souci Palace in Potsdam. The subject of this painting comes from the legendary history of Ancient Rome as set out in The Fasti by Ovid and Titus Livy's History of Rome from the Founding of the City. Legend speaks of a certain virtuous Lucretia, who was the wife of one of the patricians and was dishonored by Sextus, the son of the tyrant Tarquinius the Proud. Tarquinius and Lucretia is one of the important works painted by Rubens in the first years after his return from Italy. In its style the composition approaches other works by the artist such as Sampson and Delilah (National Gallery, London, circa 1609) and Susanna and the Elders (Academia San Fernando, Madrid, 1609-1610). Tarquinius and Lucretia is usually dated to the period 1609-1610. In September 2004 this painting by Rubens entered the State Hermitage's Laboratory of Expert Restoration of Easel Paintings in order to continue a restoration process that was begun in Moscow. When it arrived the work had undergone a series of treatments by Moscow specialists which included technical restoration: strengthening the paint layer; removing deformations; mounting on a new, second canvas and application of a restoration priming. The varnish, which had yellowed and lay unevenly on the painting, was restored and partially evened out. There also had been initial work done to fill in missing places in the pigment layer. At its 16 September 2004 session, the State Hermitage's Restoration Commission decided how to complete the restoration. Very demanding work was carried out to finish the task of evening out the surface varnish and filling in the lost patches of original painting. The execution of this task was entrusted to a group of employees of the State Hermitage's Laboratory of Expert Restoration of Easel Paintings: A.V. Kuznetsov, who is an art restorer of the highest category and director of the Laboratory; and first category art restorers V.Yu. Brovkin, and A.S. Nikolsky. |
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