The restoration of works of pictorial arts is not an easy task and you need the patience to know what to do at all times. We are talking about masterpieces of painting whose oil paintings age over time and lose tone and color; oil painting as one of the most difficult painting techniques. That is why they have to go through expert hands such as Philp Mold.
Philip Mold, presenter and art dealer, gets that the process of restoring works of art seems very simple, especially in that series of videos that document the renovation of a XNUMXth century work. With great care and precision, it is almost magical to be a spectator of how he is giving a facelift to works of great pictorial quality.
The work in question used for those videos It dates from 1618 and represents a woman in red who must have been approximately 36 years old.. In the videos you can see how Mold gets rid of the protective layer that is responsible for protecting the painting from the passage of time. What happens is that this layer turns a yellow tone over time to the work.
A remarkable Jacobean re-emergence after 200 years of yellowing varnish 1/2 pic.twitter.com/yBGNGDcNd7
- Philip Mold (@philipmould) November 6, 2017
It is a job that if you know how to do it, it does not entail any danger, although it can always occur as the portrait of Jesus restored here in Spain by all known and left as the rosary of dawn.
It is not clear to us what type of chemicals Mold uses in his video, although turpentine is one of the solvents used in this type of laborious work. Another point to be taken into account by the restorer is to look well to determine the type of varnish used and which may be the agent that will work best to dissolve it. By using test patches, you can find the most suitable chemicals to finally move on to restoration work.