S A L L Y W O O D C O C K

P A I N T I N G S C O N S E R V A T I O N

St Peter's church, Great Totham Conservation treatment of The Adoration of the Magi

July 2014

Sally Woodcock, MA, Dip. Paintings Conservation, ACR, FIIC 130 Coleridge Road Cambridge CB1 3PR

Tel: 01223 562244 Mobile: 07939 261895 mail@sallywoodcock.co.uk

CONSERVATION OF THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI

Contents • Acknowledgments • Condition • Conservation treatment • Materials used • Plates

Report no.: GRE/03 Date: 28 July 2014 Author: Sally Woodcock 130 Coleridge Road Cambridge CB1 3PR Tel. 01223 562244 Photographs: Sally Woodcock, 2014 Sally Woodcock 2014 This report is submitted subject to the following conditions: 1. That it is not used in legal proceedings without the express permission of the author 2. The author does not hold herself responsible for any use that may be made of this

report, or for any consequences, legal or otherwise, that may arise from its submission.

CONSERVATION OF THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI

St Peter's church, Great Totham (diocese of Chelmsford) Conservation of The Adoration of the Magi Ref: GRE/03 Acknowledgments The author is most grateful to James Bettley for his enthusiastic support of this project, to Radek Chocha for his careful work and to those donors whose generosity has funded the treatment of this painting. Condition The painting was in very poor condition when it arrived at the conservation studio with numerous holes, tears and punctures in the canvas as well as both concave and convex dents and deformations. The lower edge of the canvas was detached from its four-member strainer and pieces of canvas were missing and there was an extensive branched tear running parallel to the right hand side of the frame. The paint layer had suffered numerous losses in connection with the structural damage to the canvas although otherwise was well adhered and in stable condition. The painting had a discoloured natural resin varnish made up of several layers and there was extensive surface dirt on all surfaces of the painting. It was held in the frame with bent nails and had been attached to the wall using mirror plates, which remained attached to the upper and lower edges of the frame. Conservation treatment Budget limitations determined the scope of the conservation treatment and as the structural stability of the painting was of paramount importance, this was made the priority for treatment. It was therefore decided to leave the discoloured varnish in place and to concentrate on ensuring that the painting would be structurally sound on its return to the church, with an associated improvement in appearance. The mirror plates were removed. Three matched and were sufficiently robust to be reused. The fourth was considerably smaller and weaker and the metal had torn around the screw holes; this was therefore replaced. The painting was unfitted from its frame. The reverse of the canvas was vacuum cleaned and then cleaned again with a chemical sponge. A large quantity of debris was removed from where it had become lodged between the reverse of the canvas and the strainer. Planar deformations around the tears were treated with damp blotters and weights to flatten them. In most cases the canvas was responsive and easily returned to plane. The canvas around two smaller tears to the left of the Virgin had distorted and stretched considerably and these were more difficult to persuade to remain flat.

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The front surface of the painting was extremely dirty. Surface dirt was removed using dilute ammonia and accretions such as fly spots and paint splashes on top of the varnish were removed using a scalpel under low magnification. Insecure paint was consolidated with Lascaux 4176 medium for consolidation. Tears and holes were mended using Lascaux 256 textile welding powder and canvas threads for bridging gaps were taken from an aged canvas to match the colour of the painting's support. Once the tears had been mended they were lightly reinforced on the reverse using nylon gossamer impregnated with Beva 371. New pieces of canvas were inserted at the lower edge and in a few isolated holes elsewhere. The canvas was sized with Paraloid B72 and attached with Lascaux 256. Some of the original canvas at the lower edge was rotten and had no strength; therefore it had to be replaced. The painting was strip lined using polyester sailcloth adhered with Beva 371 to allow it to be attached to a new stretcher. The canvas was found to be in sufficiently good condition not to require loose lining and had retained a good degree of flexibility and strength. An isolating varnish of Paraloid B72 in Shellsol A was applied by brush. Losses to the paint layer were filled with a chalk-gelatine putty with the addition of stand oil as a plasticiser and Metatin 906 as a biocide to inhibit mould growth. The canvas was attached to a new four-opener stretcher using stainless steel staples. The canvas was keyed out to the correct tension and the stretcher keys were secured with nylon line attached to brass cups and screws to prevent the keys from becoming dislodged in transit. Losses were retouched using dry pigments ground in Paraloid B72. A varnish layer of Laropal A81 was applied by brush in order to produce an even saturation and a final spray coat of MS2A semi-matte varnish was applied to create an even surface. The frame was dusted and then surface cleaned using a solution of 1.25% sodium tri poly phosphate in deionise water. Rusted nails and mirror plates were removed from the edges. The reverse was sprayed with Constrain in order to kill any residual woodworm. The lower rail of the frame had been overpainted with a lemon-coloured modern paint, which was largely removed using a 2.5% solution of ammonium bicarbonate in deionised water. This was also used to clean the gilded sight edge of the frame, which was then cleaned again with dilute ammonia. The rough rebate of the frame was lightly sanded to smooth it and the rebate was lined with brown gumstrip and felt to avoid abrasion of the paint surface. A loss to the wood at the upper right edge was filled with hardwood and putty and retouched with Paraloid B72 and dry pigments. Other losses were also filled and retouched and the frame was varnished with Paraloid B72. A hardwood build-up was attached to the reverse of the frame to accommodate the slight increase in depth of the stretcher. The painting was secured in the frame using custom-made framing plates and Tyvek back protection fitted with stainless steel staples. The mirror plates were replaced in their original holes to allow the painting to be rehung; however, these are considerably eroded and therefore ideally new locations should be used for long-term security. 2

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Materials used Beva 371 A heat seal adhesive dissolved in mineral spirits: Blend of

ethylene-vinylacetate copolymers, Ketone Resin N, paraffin, toluene, white spirit.

Chemical sponge Vulcanised natural rubber dry sponge. Constrain A conservation-tested water-based residual insecticide

containing permethrin. Laropal A81 Urea-aldehyde resin. Lascaux 256 A polyamide heat seal welding powder designed for

adhering textiles. Lascaux 4176 Medium for consolidation, a finely dispersed, aqueous

dispersion of an acrylic copolymer. Metatin 906 Non-toxic, broad-spectrum micro-biocide. MS2A Reduced Cyclic Ketone (Cyclohexanone) resin. Paraloid B72 Ethyl Methacrylate co-polymer acrylic resin. Tyvek High-density spun-bonded polyethylene fabric.

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Plates

Plate 1. Front before treatment

Plate 2. Reverse before treatment

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Plates 3. & 4. Detail of front and back of tear

Plate 5. Detail of long tear to right hand side

Plate 6. Detail of loss to canvas at lower edge 5

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Plates 7. & 8. Cracked and discoloured varnish on Virgin's face and unvarnished edges of painting protected by the frame rebate

Plate 9. Detail of loss to frame

Plate 10. Front after filling 6

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Plate 10. Front after retouching

Plates 11 & 12. Figures after treatment

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Plate 13. Reverse after framing and before application of back protection

Plate 14. Front after treatment