Oil on wood
Portrait of Riccardo Gualino: The painting is in a good state of preservation. The work is made on a thin board with no preparation with a pictorial film spread with a spatula in small strokes, in some parts full-bodied and in others transparent, deliberately leaving the medium visible.
Restoration Lab of the Galleria NazionaleLa Galleria Nazionale
The material parts are subject to a build-up of dust deposits as they are more protruding, while the lack of preparation makes it more delicate for the film to adhere to the support. Delicate dusting with a particularly soft brush is therefore needed. The golden metal leaf frame is naturally oxidised, solvent cleaning is required.
Tempera on canvas
Aniene near Tivoli: the painting is in a good state of preservation. The painting is a fat tempera whose mixture is similar to another work, also in tempera by Dionigi, made on paper, glued to a board and treated with wax.
Restoration Lab of the Galleria NazionaleLa Galleria Nazionale
The work in question was restored in the 1980s as it was in poor conditions due to the pictorial film lifting and falling, at times coinciding with the preparation, due to the loosening of the canvas from the original unsuitable frame which was replaced for the occasion. Tempera paint is more sensitive to dust build-up and has been protected with a methacrylate plate.
Bronze
The Orc: the sculpture is in excellent state of preservation. The surface has been treated to provide a glittering effect and chromatic variation. The colour is affected by the ratio of alloy metals on which the artist also experimented through the use of glassy material.
Restoration Lab of the Galleria NazionaleLa Galleria Nazionale
The innermost parts are opaque due to the surface deposit that easily accumulates in these areas. Maintenance requires interventions aimed at preserving its brightness and removing the deposit from the innermost parts by means of painting brushes of different sizes.
Photograph
Statue de femme: the photograph is in a good state of preservation. The support is smooth and has no folds or deformations. The surface shows small circular white spots likely due to manufacturing defects.
Restoration Lab of the Galleria NazionaleLa Galleria Nazionale
The focus on photographic works is especially related to exposure and concerns the control of direct light which must be artificial and LED and which must fall within the conservation parameters. They are usually displayed with acid-free cardboard passepartout for correct placement and to prevent direct contact of the photographic film with the glass.
Le char du couronement II (1950) by Chaun ClaudeLa Galleria Nazionale
Le char du couronnement II: the photograph is in a good state of preservation. The support is smooth and has no folds or deformations. For exposure it is crucial for the image to not be in direct contact with sunlight, which accelerates the ageing process of the materials by altering the colours of the photographic surface.
For the exhibition the image is usually inserted in the frame in acid-free cardboard passepartout for correct placement and to prevent direct contact of the photographic film with the glass.
Por um fio (Series fotopoemação): the photograph is in a good state of preservation. The support is smooth and has no folds or deformations. The work is placed against the light to prevent excessive exposure to solar radiation.
Restoration Lab of the Galleria NazionaleLa Galleria Nazionale
The focus on photographic works is especially related to exposure and concerns the control of direct light which must be artificial and LED and which must fall within the conservation parameters.
Photograph and drawing on cardboard
Apollo and Daphne: the work consists of 5 elements, a photograph from the Alinari archive and four cardboards drawn with ball-point pen and marker. It has preservation problems relating to fixing the cardboards inside the frame when using an adhesive that has locally stained the support and caused the development of biological alteration and deformations along the corners.
Restoration Lab of the Galleria NazionaleLa Galleria Nazionale
The support of the two central cardboards is more chromatically altered than the side cardboards with a shade that tends to ivory presumably due to incorrect past exposure or a different mixture of the paper, more acidic than the side supports. The work is placed against the light to prevent excessive exposure to solar radiation.
Text by Paola Carnazza and Fulvia Bartolone, National Gallery's art conservators.
