Poplar and Is Presumed to Have Been Thinned.1 a 3 Cm High Horizontally-Grained Conifer Wood Board Extension Has Been Attached at an Unknown Date to the Bottom Edge
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4 NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART PAINTING CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT AFTER TREATMENT REPORT 30 August 1993 Francesco Francia Bishop Altobello Averoldi Oil on wood panel 1952.5.64 Samuel H. Kress Collection DIMENSIONS: Painted Image Alone: H 52.8 cm (20 3/4") W. 40.0 cm (15 3/4") With Unpainted Edges: H 54.0 cm (21 5/16") W. 40.8 cm (16") T 3.0 cm (1 3/16") with cradle and auxiliary support SUMMARY The painting underwent major treatment in 1993 in order to remove a discolored surface coating and discolored retouching, which were quite visually disturbing. The following information was gathered as the painting was being cleaned and inpainted. These notes should be read in conj unction with the January 1989 Examination Summary and Treatment Proposal discussing the condition of the painting as visible and interpreted before treatment. The original support, measuring approx. 49.8 cm high, is a vertically- grained wooden panel composed of a single board. The wood was identified as poplar and is presumed to have been thinned.1 A 3 cm high horizontally-grained conifer wood board extension has been attached at an unknown date to the bottom edge. Both the original support and bottom extension were backed with a single auxiliary board and mounted in a cradle in 1948/49. A shadowgraph taken in 1944 indicates that an earlier cradle was present and removed before the present cradle was attached. Worm tunneling was quite extensive throughout the original panel, and plainly visible in the x-radiograph, presumably due to filling with a lead white-containing putty. There is no worm damage in the extension. The original panel is prepared with a smooth, off white ground layer of moderate thickness. Elemental analysis by energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence (XRF) suggests it is a traditional gesso (CaS04). No ground layer is present on the later extension. Old fills of various colors and compositions were present in areas of loss in the original panel. Those that were in plane and did not cover areas of original paint were retained. Infrared reflectography revealed underdrawing using a sharp instrument, probably silverpoint, as opposed to a brush. The underdrawing is quite complete, including outlines of the present composition and shading of the areas to be shadow. Close examination of the upper lip suggested pounce marks, as would lExamination by Michael Palmer, Wood Scientist, 11 March 1993 and 26 July 1993. Francesco Francia 2 Bishop Altobello Averoldi appear if a cartoon was employed, but these were too faint to allow a firm conclusion to be drawn. Only minor alterations were visible between the initial drawing and the final painted image. In the underdrawing, the contour of the proper right shoulder was drawn higher, and the lapels of the red jacket were rolled back in a curving arc, rather than folded back and notched as they appear in the painting. The middle finger of the proper right hand was bent over in the drawing but not hooked into the jacket, and the pinky finger was wider and drawn without a fingernail. The rings were not included in the underdrawing, nor were the background landscape details. The paint medium is estimated to be oil, with paint applied meticulously in thin opaque layers overlaid with transparent glazes and scumbles. Pigment analysis via XRF revealed a simple palette based primarily on earth pigments and lead white. 2 The red jacket consists of underpainting in white lead with the possible inclusion of red lead, and a red lake glaze; no vermilion was present. The white surplice was shadowed in carbon black mixed with white lead to create an optical bluing effect. The black-appearing collar, hat and wristband had only a minimal black content, the main pigment employed being azurite, and the optical effect created by layering. The sky was painted in three strata employing azurite tinted with white lead to a light, medium, and dark blue, with the darkest layer passing under the hat and serving as an underpaint layer. The sky paint layers are now underbound which may, along with yellowing of the oil medium, create the appearance of the unusual shade of blue. Varnish removal was straightforward, but it became apparent that at least two distinct layers were present. The upper layer behaved like a natural resin, such as the dammar mentioned in the treatment record of the 1948/49 intervention. The lower layer, however, became very gummy when exposed to solvents. Samples of this layer were taken to the Scientific Research Department for analysis, to identify the components. The reports are still pending. Upon removal of the discolored varnish layer, the painting was found to be in an excellent state of preservation, with a great majority of the original fine glazing retained, and abrasion limited to the mountain at far right and an area in the sky adj acent to the proper le ft ear. The azurite sky was seen to have been medium-depleted, perhaps due to former harsh cleanings. Structurally the paint layer is sound. Most losses were small and appeared related to worm tunneling, except for the diagonal loss in the neck, which seemed due to a fall or a blow rather than worm damage. Larger losses were found along the edges, including the bottom edge of the original panel, suggesting much time had elapsed before the attachment of the extension bearing the inscription. The paint layer of the extension is not bound in oil, but rather in a medium whose extreme solubility suggests a natural resin. The rapid drying of a resin medium would cause the formation of the wide aperture craquelure that gives an appearance of age to the paint in this area. No gold leaf was found 2See Analysis Report by Barbara Berrie, Conservation Scientist, March 1993. Francesco Francia 3 Bishop Altobello Averoldi in the inscription letters. XRF analysis indicates a gold-colored paint was employed, consisting primarily of earth pigments and white lead. There is no scientific data or pigment evidence to date the extension, but the selection of materials and techniques (no ground, soluble binding medium) is consistent with an intentional imitation of an aged paint surface, rather than the creation of an original artwork. Such "gold" on black inscriptions were popular in the 19th century, and the text of the inscription was reproduced in the sales catalogue entry for the painting when offered at auction in 1872.3 Conversely, there is no evidence to indicate how much, if any, of the original panel has been trimmed prior to attachment of the extension, especially as no wood joins were available for examination. Judging by other portraits by Francia, however, it appears that some form of a simple architectural parapet would have been present below the hand, of roughly the same width as the inscription. The hand may have been slightly trimmed, but it does not appear that much of the original design is missing. Given the relative antiquity of the extension, the correct attribution of the inscription, the correct proportion of space below the hand, and the physical conjuncture of the extension and original panel in the present cradle, it was decided to leave the extension in place. Despite the excellent state of preservation, the painting had been considerably restored in the past. A hard, oil-like retouching material covered spots in the landscape and red jacket, and extended beyond losses over original paint in the face. These retouchings were removable mechanically, but left a dark stain where formerly applied. This was particularly disturbing in the red jacket. Prior retouching in the hair was left in place as it was not visually disturbing. A layer of thin, insoluble overpaint was found in the upper band of the collar, just below the neck. It could not physically be removed from the underlying paint layers without damaging the original paint layers, and the decision was made jointly with the curatorial department to leave the overpaint in place. Blue in color, this layer of overpaint along the collar appeared under the microscope to be natural ultramarine. Its manner of application was very sloppy in contrast to Francia's controlled and precise handling, and drips of the same blue overlayer were found on the dark collar and red j acket. Examination of the x-radiograph and infrared reflectograph suggest the area was originally white with shading on the left side. This is consistent with the interpretation of the white band as the exposed top of the white shirred robe. It is not known at what date the overpaint was applied, although costly natural ultramarine was not used much after the 18th c. and inexpensive artificial ultramarine was not commercially available until the 1830s. Sales catalogue of the Gsell Gallery, Vienna, 1872 sale of the Adamberger Collection. Francesco Francia 4 Bishop Altobello Averoldi A strip approximately 0.9 cm wide all along the top edge was also found to be overpainted with two distinct layers of blue paint, lying over a black paint layer. The upper layer was soluble in the same solvents as the varnish and inpainting applied during the 1948/49 restoration by Stephen Pichetto. The underlayer was not soluble, and visually resembled areas of retouching covering wormholes in the sky. Its handling was not consistent with Francia's style, and overlapped areas of original paint in the sky and losses in the sky at both sides, confirming it was a later repaint. Synthetic ultramarine, a pigment introduced in the 1830s, mixed with Naples yellow was suspected, given the appearance under the microscope, transparency to infrared light, and XRF analysis. The underlayer was removed mechanically, to expose the black paint layer, which was consistent in appearance with the original paint, did not overlap the original sky, and lay upon the original ground layer contiguous with the rest of the original support.