Restoration of the painting by Jacopo del Sellaio Sts Francis and Jerome Kneeling Before the Dead Christ and the Russian icon The Theophany

In 2005 the Laboratory for Scientific Restoration of Tempera Painting completed restoration of a painting by the Italian artist Jacopo del Sellaio, Sts Francis and Jerome Kneeling Before the Dead Christ, a work of the 15th-century Florentine school (Igor Permyakov, art restorer) and of the Russian icon The Theophany, dating from the 17th century, from the Northern school of icon painting (Svetlana Osipova, art restorer). Both works were executed in tempera technique on wood and are typical examples of the art of their time.

The works entered the laboratory with the paint layer and ground coming off in some places, with abrasions, crumbling, numerous old "restoration" attempts at renovation that had changed over time in colour and tone. The paintings were done in the same technique but the works have integumentary films of different composition. The painting of Sts Francis and Jerome Kneeling Before the Dead Christ (tempera on wood; 65 х 99.5 х 5.7 cm) was under layers of thick and uneven yellow-brown lacquer. The icon of The Theophany (tempera on wood; 107.2 х 91.5 х 3.2 cm) was under a layer of blackened drying oil. The true colours of the works were highly distorted. Therefore it was necessary to carry out a full complex of restoration work.

Detailed research was performed on the exhibits: photographs were made under visible ultraviolet luminescence; the paint layer was investigated with X-rays and reflected ultraviolet rays; and photographs were taken of the paintings. In the process of restoration, the paint layer and ground of the painting by Jacopo del Sellaio were strengthened and the latest accumulations of darkened lacquer and painting were removed. Old restoration fillers were thinned and leveled, while missing places in the painting were covered with restoration ground. After it was coated with lacquer, the painting was tinted with pigments. The composition of the icon of The Theophany could be seen only with great difficulty given the thick and blackened film of drying oil. After strengthening the paint layer with ground with sturgeon-based glue according to traditional methods, the wooden boards that had moved apart over time were brought together and fixed in place. In the course of the restoration, the original painting was freed of the blackened drying oil, while the missing areas were filled with restoration ground that was tinted with watercolour.

After the multifaceted restoration measures were carried out, the original bright painting emerged. The high artistic level of the execution is surprising.

The process of investigating the painting under a microscope
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Sts Francis and Jerome Kneeling Before the Dead Christ
Jacopo del Sellaio
The painting in the process of restoration
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Sts Francis and Jerome Kneeling Before the Dead Christ
Jacopo del Sellaio
Before and after restoration
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Icon of
The Theophany
17th century
Before and after restoration
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