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26Completed removal of the degraded varnish and overpaint from the top half of the painting. At this stage of the treatment the entire surface has been consolidated and cleaned.
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27In May 2014, the project Conserving a Giant: Resurrecting Pietro da Cortona's "Triumph of David" was awarded a substantial grant from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. These funds helped to support acquisition of the X-radiograph of the gigantic canvas and to support research travel associated with the project (specifically to Rome, Italy). The Kress foundation praised the interdisciplinary nature of the project, which had thus far involved a number of department and offices at Villanova and surrounding institutions, engaging scholars and students of art conservation, chemistry, history, and art history. The grant also supported the collaboration between members of the conservation team, Villanova University's Falvey Library, and UNIT (the IT Department) to create a "webexhibit" exploring the Triumph of David. Finally, remaining funds from the grant would support a symposium at the completion of the project, an event that will involve a number of scholars and students from various fields who have contributed to the Conserving a Giant project (proposed date October 26th, 2015 (Pictured here: Dr. Anthony Lagalante, Kristin deGhetaldi, and Dr. Timothy McCall<br/><a href="https://thetriumphofdavid.com/news/generous-support-from-the-samuel-h-kress-foundation-allows-conservation-team-to-x-ray-triumph-of-david/" target="_blank">Click here to read more in our blog</a><br/><a href="http://www.kressfoundation.org/" target="_blank">Click here to read more about the Foundation</a>
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29The team continued to apply inert, stable fills throughout the bottom section of the painting and to tone old and new fills with red-brown gouache paints
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32Conservation interns/volunteers and Villanova students were able to study the collection for the first time since the collection's arrival in the 1950's. The top image features graduate Chemistry student Kirsten Watts and project intern Allison Rabent performing non-destructive pigment analysis using X-Ray Fluorescence. The bottom image features Villanova student Alexandra Stump and Professor Timothy McCall examining a triptych.
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33Several paintings in the Ruspoli collection were also examined using x-radiography. The x-ray image of the Madonna (artist unknown) shown above shows that the artist made almost no changes to the composition during the painting process (the wooden plugs on the back of the painting are also visible in the x-ray image). The painting depicting a dark church interior (attributed to Peeter Neefs?) showed a hidden painting beneath the visible image. The artist cut down a larger composition and turned the canvas sideways (the image of a kneeling nun can be seen) before he began to paint the church scene on top.
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34Outside scholars and Villanova faculty/staff were invited to examine the collection as well as Art History Departments from nearby institutions like Dr. Marcia Hall's class from Temple University (Also pictured in the Top Image: University of Delaware Professor Brian Baade, Professor Anthony Lagalante, Professor and Dean Adele Lindenmeyr, and Professor Timothy McCall)
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