In the Works at Winterthur...

The paintings conservation laboratory at Winterthur museum is humming, with work by faculty, volunteers, undergraduate interns, 2nd-year WUDPAC students and a limited term researcher. The types of projects undertaken by this group are as varied as those who are involved. Current projects include a 17th-century oil sketch by a Florentine painter, a portrait of a woman in Elizabethan-style dress, a landscape including a local covered bridge, a Harrison B. Brown waterfall scene, an American copy of a famous painting by Géricault, a portrait of Winnie Davis, “daughter of the Confederacy,” a large Charles Willson Peale painting and a research project dedicated to better understanding the aging properties of traditional painting media and varnishes. With so much activity there is much to write about and thus this will be a series within a series. There will be several articles describing the various projects being undertaken by these individuals.

Research from both an art historical and an analytical standpoint is vital to the work of conservators. The current 2nd-year WUDPAC paintings majors, Erica Cooney, Louise Groll, and Cynthia Schwarz, are learning the research tactics, hand skills, and treatment methods needed to be a practicing professional art conservators. One such project undertaken by Louise Groll included detective work and a varnish removal treatment. The painting came to the lab at Winterthur via the monthly clinic offered to the public by conservation staff to assess the care and preservation needs of their personal treasures. The owner of the painting knew very little of the history of the painting; however, the painting was signed with the name “Rossi.” Groll searched for a painter of the style and suspected period of this work by an artist named Rossi but was unsuccessful. David Stone of the art history faculty at the University of Delaware was consulted; he recommended speaking with Miles Chappell, and the painting was determined to be an original 17th-century oil sketch for a larger work by Florentine artist Fabrizio Boschi. At this time art historians and conservators feel the Rossi signature to be a later, spurious addition, most likely applied by a dealer trying to add a note of authenticity to this small preliminary study. After this initial research Groll proceeded with the treatment to remove the discolored varnish obscuring the painting. After treatment the painting will return to the owner with a history and a vibrant image. The owner agreed with Groll’s proposal that the added signature will be documented but then gently and carefully inpainted out. It will still be present for future research, but since it is misleading it will not be readily visible.

This is part one of a series of articles about the current projects and activities in the Winterthur Conservation Labs.