Ridolfo di Ghirlandaio (1483-1561): Madonna and Child
tempera on wood.
The photographs of the restoration of
this panel painting serve well to demonstrate the value
of special techniques in photography. Both infrared and
ultraviolet radiation can be used to reveal valuable
information about the history of interventions to this
painting. Infrared radiation, because of its relatively
longer wavelength, has the tendency to penetrate
through the painted surface revealing the preparatory
drawing. Ultraviolet techniques have the benefit of
revealing small differences in reflectivity and
fluorescence of materials thus helping in detecting
alterations and later additions to a painting. The
restoration of this panel was a long and painstaking
process due to the complexity of many previous
restorations.
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| Normal
light photograph of the painting. |
Infrared
photograph before cleaning. The underdrawing is
quite evident on the panel. |
Ultraviolet
fluorescence photograph showing uneven vanishing.
The bright vertical bar is the beginning of the
cleaning process. |
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| This ultraviolet
reflectance photograph demonstrates further the
different varnishes. The oldest layer is fairly
transparent, a newer synthetic varnish appears
almost black. |
The panel was
once broken in two and crudely glued and joined.
The old retouching was peeling off and filling
material falling away from the surface. |
Following
several months of delicate work the painting is free of the
many layers of overpainting that obscured its original beauty. |
Your comments and
inquiries are invited and much appreciated. Please leave
a note at artsleuth@sympatico.ca
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