Larry Keith, Ashok Roy, Rachel Morrison and Peter Schade
Technical Bulletin Volume 32, 2011
Abstract
After several years of research into the feasibility and safety of a possible conservation treatment, in 2008–9 Leonardo’s Virgin of the Rocks was cleaned and restored. The treatment was undertaken primarily for aesthetic reasons, since the picture had become increasingly difficult to ‘read’ as the result of the severe degradation of the oil and mastic varnish applied in 1949.
Analytical study of the picture was carried out before treatment was begun, and at various times during cleaning, to clarify the status of surface layers, to provide information on layer structure and materials and to help interpret condition. As a result, our knowledge of Leonardo’s painting practice has been greatly enlarged. The details of the treatment are documented here with a full description of the materials and method used in making the picture. The article concludes with an account of the painting’s reframing and redisplay.
Keywords
Leonardo da Vinci, cleaning and restoration, varnish analysis, Lombard painting technique, panel paintings, X-radiography, infrared reflectography, pigment analysis, cross-sections, medium analysis; SEM-EDX, GC-MS, ATR-FTIR, starch, tabernacle frame
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Leonardo da Vinci’s 'Virgin of the Rocks': Treatment, Technique and Display, Larry Keith, Ashok Roy, Rachel Morrison and Peter Schade (text-only RTF 0.16MB)
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To cite this article we suggest using
Keith, L., Roy, A., Morrison, R., Schade, P. 'Leonardo da Vinci’s "Virgin of the Rocks": Treatment, Technique and Display'. National Gallery Technical Bulletin Vol 32, pp 32–56.
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/technical-bulletin/keith_roy_morrison_schade2011
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