Herman Van Swanevelt 1600 – 1665: Landscape with figures of Tobias and the Angel c1630
Restoration of a painting
The painting is part of ‘s B&HM collection, it is planned to go on permanent display in the ceremony rooms of Brighton Town hall later on this year. Restoration work needed to be undertaken to make it suitable for display.
It is an oil paint on an oak panel. The panel is made up of two parts with the top section having been glued and pinned into the main section of the panel.
The glue had failed, and the top section was loose, only being held in place by two rusty pins. There was a thick aged yellow varnish all over.
There was also visually disturbing, old discoloured retouching in the sky in the area where the two oak panels joined.
The painting was removed from the frame and the two panel sections were carefully separated, and the pins removed,
It was then surface cleaned to remove the dirt. The varnish was then carefully removed using organic solvents.
Old overpaint was carefully cleaned and removed as well. The two panels were then aligned and glued and clamped using an animal glue. Filling and retouching were done along the join between the panel sections and a final varnish applied all over.
You can see the various stages of the restoration process in the gallery below.
