Giovanni Battista Tiepolo's 'Saints Maximus and Oswald': Conservation and Examination

Larry Keith
Technical Bulletin Volume 15, 1994

Abstract

Failure of adhesion to the lining canvas of Saints Maximus and Oswald and the restriction imposed by a replacement stretcher made conservation necessary. Removal of varnish and retouchings showed that areas of visible underdrawing had been disguised by retouching, which had discoloured and drew too much attention to these areas. A low-pressure treatment to reduce the height of raised craquelure in the paint and priming is described. After removal of the lining, the canvas was loose-lined with a Beva 371-impregnated canvas. The double ground of warm orange-brown below warm grey and the underdrawing are described. The artist's development of the composition brought it closer to existing and larger paintings, and give it a more obvious place in Tiepolo's working process.

Keywords 

canvas, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, lining (process), paint, paintings (objects)

Download article

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo's 'Saints Maximus and Oswald': Conservation and Examination, Larry Keith (PDF 5.29MB)

To cite this article we suggest using

Keith, L. 'Giovanni Battista Tiepolo's "Saints Maximus and Oswald": Conservation and Examination'. National Gallery Technical Bulletin Vol 15, pp 36–41.
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/technical-bulletin/keith1994a

Problems opening files? Get Adobe Reader [External link]