Prethodno priopćenje
Multidisciplinary Research and Valorization of Copies as Exemplified by The Rape of Europa from Rijeka
Pavao Lerotić
; Hrvatski restauratorski zavod, Odjel za štafelajno slikarstvo, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Tea Zubin Ferri
; Centar za istraživanje materijala METRIS
Sažetak
The paper brings forth results of a multidisciplinary research carried out in the course of conservation work on a copy of the painting by Paolo Veronese, The Rape of Europafrom the Doge’s Palace in Venice. The as yet unpublished copy is nowadays kept at the Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral in Rijeka. Mu-seum inventory books, however, reveal that it originated from the collection of Baron Georg Hütterottt, which used to be housed on the islet of St. Andrew, just off Rovinj.
Laboratory investigations of the painting were carried out as part of the conservation procedure, aimed at exa-mining the chemical composition of the materials used, identifying the pigments and determining the sequence of paint coats in the painted layer of the original, as well as the relation of a subsequently added and painted piece of canvas to the rest of the composition. The information obtained was most valuable in establishing the time-frame from when the painting had originated to when its format was enlarged. We were able to identify: gypsum and traces of chalk in the preparation, lead white, barium white, Prussian blue and red ochre as well as dark earth pigments in the painted layers. A description is given of the laboratory, analytical methods: microanalysis of the chemical compounds using a scanning electron micros-cope, SEM/EDS and FT-IR micro-spectroscopy. By corre-lating the visual characteristics of the copy from Rijeka with the information on the pigments used, obtained by laboratory analyses, it was possible to date the paintingfrom the end of the 19th to the first decades of the 19th century, to the time when Veronese’s original was returned from Paris, reviving the public’s interest in this renowned piece of the Venetian cinquecentoart. The enlarging of the right-hand portion of the composition, albeit later in date and inferior in execution, followed soon after the painting had originated. The added portion was now folded and preserved, using a specially constructed stretcher frame, but only the original copy of the composition was presen-ted, matching the Veronese’s original.
The multidisciplinary character of the team, made up of analytical chemists, art historians and conservators, pro-vided us with more reliable answers as to the technology and dating of the painting, the relation of the copy to the original and other 18th- and 19th-century copies, as well as the most favourable choice of conservation procedures and materials. The copy from Rijeka was put in the context of European artistic practice of repeating and citing notable paintings, and questions were raised as to the relation between the original, the copy and the facsimile, which is an ongoing issue to this day.
Ključne riječi
Paolo Veronese; The Rape of Europa; Rijeka; Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral; workshop; replica; copy; facsimile; Georg von Hütterott; barium sulfate; Prussian blue; scanning electron microscope; infrared micro-spectroscopy
Hrčak ID:
122564
URI
Datum izdavanja:
20.12.2013.
Posjeta: 1.706 *