The Conservation and Restoration of Veronese’s The Anointment of David

Michael Odlozil, Sabine Stanek, Václav Pitthard, Martina GriesserKunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Picture Gallery and Conservation Science Department, Vienna, Austria

michael.odlozil@khm.at, sabine.stanek@khm.at, vaclav.pitthard@khm.at, martina.griesser@khm.at

The painting before treatment; darkened varnishes and dirt cover the surface

Introduction

The large canvas (173 x 364 cm) by Paolo Veronese shows thebiblical scene of David being anointed as King of Israelsurrounded by a group of figures and animals in front of alandscape, buildings and ruins in the Roman style. It is datedaround 1555 and was acquired for the collection in 1649. Thisexceptional painting was recently treated before it took part inthe exhibition Masters of Venice in San Francisco in 2011.Before conservation treatment the painting`s appearance wasaffected by discoloured varnishes and dirt, the surface seemedbrittle due to old, overpainted losses and areas of cupped paintlayers. The size of the canvas was changed several times, inhistoric inventories of the Kunsthistorisches Museum it isshown with far more background than today.The support consists of two strips of a strong fishbone weavecanvas. Probably during the format changes the canvas wasdouble relined. The shrinkage of the textile during the reliningprocess caused an overlapping of the paint chips. So thesurface we see today is very much influenced by theoverlapping effect and not only by the strong canvas weaveand Veronese's brushwork.The grounding is a light reddish brown, the adhesion to thecanvas was in general good, only a few areas showedpronounced cracks and slightly cupped paint.The surface was covered by old, degraded varnishes and dirt inthe depth of the paint surface.Veronese used different brushes and a very economicalapproach to achieve the result. He layers the colours, butseldom more than two layers on top of each other: a basecolour and a highlight or definition.

Optical Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

In the cross-section the ground layer of the Anointment is ofreasonable thickness and consists mainly of gypsum. Itsbrownish appearance is a result of browned binding media.In the sky we have an additional, thin layer of lead whiteunder the sky colour built of lapis lazuli and only traces ofsmalt. Due to this reason the blue of the sky is still very brightand not as greyish as in many other Venetian paintings, wheresmalt builds the better part of the palette.Under the area of the dark curtain lies an additional dark layerconsisting of ochre, probably carbon black and traces of leadwhite. It seems that this part of the composition has beenchanged from maybe green (with the SEM two layers ofcopper-based glazes were detected) to red, since on top ofthese components we find remains of red lake. The golden-yellow drapery where Veronese used orpiment appearsseverely altered. Only an idea of its original brightness hassurvived.The varnish consists mainly of oxidized dammar, we could alsodetect traces of various other components like Venetianturpentine, drying oils and even amber. It is very likely that allthese are traces from later treatments.

X-Ray radiography

The X-ray image shows some bold white lines that could formthe first positioning of the figures on the canvas. The legs ofthe left man had been altered to a more flexed position, aswell as David´s foot had been shifted several times. A personin the left background had been erased. The definition of thecurtain, that can also be seen in the IRR, is here also verydistinct. A line that runs through the shoulder of the prophetindicates that the today hardly visible person above himmaybe once was meant to hold a drapery of the curtain. Quitehumoristic appears the first creation of the goat: who wouldhave faced us directly – as the only one in the painting.

Infrared reflectography (IRR)

The underdrawing of the work is very sparse. Only very littlelines could be found, executed with a brush, that only markthe positioning of the figures. Obviously Veronese creates thefinal form while painting it onto the canvas. He does, however,sketch the figures and composition on paper before he workson the canvas, as we can see on the sketch that is associatedwith both the Viennese Anointment and the frescos at VillaBarbaro in Maser.We also find a remarkable detail: a collection of brushstrokesthat does not correspond to the visible composition. It is – at alarger scale – an underdrawing for the group of women thatwe see on this picture. It seems to me that Veroneseintroduced this group without creating it on a paper before.

Conservation and Restoration

First of all the surface was cleaned.To improve the tension of the support, the painting wasremoved from its stretcher and a strip-lining was attached tothe tacking margins. The areas of cupped paint wereconsolidated using sturgeon glue and a heated spatula. Thisimproved also a bit the appearance of the surface-relief.The numerous small losses were filled and afterwards thevarnish was reduced step by step, a very thin layer of varnishremains on the surface as a protection, but also to achieve amore soft and subtle cleaning result.During varnish reduction it was also possible to remove mostof the inpaints and retouchings. Blanchings and greyness ofthe varnish disappeared. The bright colours reappeared afterthe removal of later additions.The structure of the surrounding paint was imitated withgouache colours onto the fillings. A layer of varnish wasapplied and on top the retouching was first continued withwatercolour and at last with resinous glazes of oil colour,according to the Viennese tradition.A final varnish of mastic in turpentine was sprayed.

X-ray radiography image of the painting

Infrared reflectography images sparse underdrawing; e.g. the shape of the head is indicated with a single line

The painting after treatment

Ferdinand A. Storffer, Inventar Bd. III, 1733, 156

Francisco de Stampart, Prodromus, 1735, Bl. 19

Details before treatment: losses and pronounced cracks, discoloured retouchings and raised paint

Paolo Veronese, detail of a sketch on paper forthe frescos of Villa Barbaro in Maser and theAnointment, before 1560. New York, privatecollection.

Detail during cleaning of the surface. Surface dirt could easily be removed.

TIC chromatograms of the varnish from upperright corner (a) and varnish from sky (b)(Note: fatty acids from pre-polymerised linseed oil: Su…subericacid, Az…azelaic acid, Pa…palmitic acid, Ol…oleic acid,St…stearic acid); E, A…monoterpenes of an essential oil/amber; VT…components of Venetian turpentine; P…diterpenesof pine pitch; D…triterpenes of dammar)

Cross-section of the dark background under visible and blue light illumination(1. brown ground: ochre, lead white, carbon black; 2. red-brown layer: ochre, lead white; 3-5. green glazes: copper-pigment, lead white, ochre; 6. remnants of organic layer;7. red glaze: red lake, possibly cinnabar or ochre; 8. darkerglaze: chalk, ochre, possibly carbon black; 9. varnish;10. organic dark glaze)

Cross-section of the sky and yellow drapery under visible light(Sky: 1. gypsum ground; 2. lead white layer; 3. blue layer: lapislazuli, smalt, lead white; 4. blue layer: ultramarine, lead white;5. varnish)(Drapery: 1. gypsum ground; 2. organic coating; 3. yellowlayers: orpiment, ochre, chrome yellow, lead antimony yellow)