February 2014

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Date: 2014-03-03

February IMAGE

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Date: 2014-03-03

March 2014

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Date: 2014-03-05

March IMAGE

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Date: 2014-03-05

Continued with Cleaning Upper Half

Continued with removal of varnish/overpaint throughout the top half of the painting (Pictured here: Ellen Nigro).

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Date: 2014-03-07

King Saul

Beautiful, subtle details in King Saul's face as well as the colors of his vibrant red robe were revealed after removal of the discolored, degraded varnish.

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Date: 2014-03-07

Goliath's Head

Goliath's head was executed skillfully and fairly quickly, using a darker palette to convey a somber effect. Many of these details were revealed during the cleaning process as well as old tears and abrasion to the paint layer that had occurred during a previous restoration attempt.

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Date: 2014-03-07

Female Head

This particular female head was applied directly atop the blue sky during the final painting stages (please refer to the X-radiography section). Unfortunately, this area eventually suffered from significant degrees of blanching in the varnish and darkened overpaint due to previous restoration attempts. During varnish removal, many of the original details in the face were successfully recovered

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Date: 2014-03-07

Continued Applying/Toning Fills

Fills continued to be applied to areas of loss throughout the bottom half of the painting. The team began to tone the white fills (both new and old) with red-brown colored gouache paints (Pictured here: Tia Polidori)

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Date: 2014-03-16

Continued Applying Fills and Began Toning

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Date: 2014-03-16

Before

A detail of the left edge during fill application. Note the presence of both old and new fills; areas of loss where the canvas has been left exposed have yet to be filled.

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Date: 2014-03-16

Before IMAGE

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Date: 2014-03-16

After

A detail of the left edge after fill application and during the toning process. Red-brown colored gouache paints were applied to all areas of fill in order to match the original stratigraphy of the painting, Cross-sectional analysis revealed that the artist applied at least two coats of red-brown paint to the canvas to serve as a ground layer before working up the composition.

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Date: 2014-03-19

After

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Date: 2014-03-19

Public Outreach

Dr. Timothy McCall and Kristin deGhetaldi host art history classes in front of the picture (Pictured here: Dr. Timothy McCall, Kristin deGhetaldi with Villanova University students).

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Date: 2014-03-24

VIS/UV Sample 11

This sample was collected from a white-blue highlight on Abner's helmet after the removal of the degraded surface coating. The red-brown ground can be seen followed by several layers of paint, indicating that multiple adjustments were made to this area of the composition (visible light/ultraviolet light/100x magnification). Ultraviolet illumination helped to reveal the presence of a double red-brown ground as well as several colored layers of paint beneath the light-colored highlights. These yellow and red colored layers may correspond to initial position of Abner's head and helmet as later examination with x-radiography confirmed that major changes were made to this area during the final painting stages.

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Date: 2014-01-22

VIS/UV Sample 12

This sample was collected from the green-colored mountains in the distant background after removal of the overpaint and degraded surface coating. The red-brown ground can be seen followed by a thin layer of green paint rich in yellow/green earth and lead white (visible light/ultraviolet light/100x magnification). Ultraviolet illumination helped to reveal the presence of a double red-brown ground.

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Date: 2014-01-22

VIS/UV Sample 13

This sample was collected from the green-colored leaf from the flower garland after removal of the overpaint and degraded surface coating. The red-brown ground can be seen followed by a thin layer of green paint rich in yellow/green earth and lead white with a trace of vermillion from the edge of the red flower (visible light/ultraviolet light/100x magnification). Ultraviolet illumination helped to reveal the presence of a double red-brown ground as well as a curious auto-fluorescent glaze layer between the paint and ground layers. This layer may correspond to a pigmented glaze/varnish layer that was applied to this area before the artist(s) began the painting process.

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Date: 2014-01-22

VIS/UV Sample 14

This sample was collected from the green-colored cushion on King Saul's throne before removal of the degraded surface coating. The red-brown ground can be seen followed by a two thin layers of paint (visible light/ultraviolet light/100x magnification). Ultraviolet illumination helped to reveal the presence of a double red-brown ground, green earth particles in the paint layers, and the thick nature of the degraded surface coating in this particular section of the painting.

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Date: 2014-01-22

Public Outreach

Dr. Amanda Norbutus hosting an "Art and Science" class in front of the painting (Pictured here: Dr. Amanda Norbutus with Villanova University Students).

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Date: 2014-01-28