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Restoration of a series of portrait miniatures
In preparation for the exhibition of the Collection of G.D. Dushin, the restoration artists of the Laboratory for Scientific Restoration of Works of Graphic Works (V.A. Kozyreva, director) worked during 2002 on a large series of portrait miniatures from the late 18th and 19th centuries. The miniatures were executed on ivory sheets using watercolour and gouache by the noted artists I.A. Vinberg, K.F. Edlinger, V.M. Vankovich, F. Kronewetter and L.I. Solovyov, as well as a number of unknown artists. The miniatures came to restoration with varying degrees of damage: their frames had suffered considerably (the glass was sometimes broken or lost); the ivory plates had become strongly deformed and engrained with dust; some of them had split into separate pieces; there were spots, cracks, chips, separation of the base and flaking off of the paint layer. On the reverse of the miniatures there were partial repetitions, multiple layers of paper, cardboard and leather pasted on. In the course of time the glues had become hard, fragile and brittle, and shrank in size. This led to a warping of the material with consequent abrasion of the paint layer. Many of the miniatures were lacking the metal foil that was applied to the reverse side of the ivory sheets to give warmth and intensity to the colours. Laboratory investigations preceded the restoration work. Using recipes, methods and approaches proven by time and practice, the restorers strove to make their work as unobtrusive as possible. When dealing with the fine, exquisite technique of miniature painting, they devoted particular attention to the preservation and reinforcement of the paint layer. For example, after dismounting and removal of the pasted material and patches of glue from the reverse, the Portrait of a Young Woman in a Dark Red Dress (by V.M. Vankovich, 1828) split apart along a fracture line into two pieces with uneven crumbling along the edges of the base. The original metallic foil had survived heavily oxidized. The negative consequences of the oxidation of the foil altered the texture of the material: the ivory sheet became rough and developed separated groove-like indentations. The main task of the restorer (Ye.V. Rudakas) was to level out the surface of the ivory sheet, to return the miniature to its unified format and to recover the integrity of the depiction. The darkened silver foil was cleaned of its encrustment using a special solution. The crumbling areas of the paint layer were reinforced. At the culminating stage the restorer performed jeweller-fine toning of the losses and abrasions to the paint layer and background using watercolour and gouache. |
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Copyright © 2006 State Hermitage Museum |
