The Conservation of a Renaissance Altarpiece
Commissioned to adorn the altar of a church and the conditions under which the painting was first displayed were surely less than ideal—hot in the summer, cold and damp in the winter—eventually leading to the deterioration of the painting.
The poplar wood panel has warped and split and has been seriously damaged by insects. At an unknown date, a mahogany cradle was attached to the back of the panel in order to strengthen and stabilize it. This only worsened the structural problems, causing the paint surface to buckle and flake. The resulting losses were covered by extensive repainting and subsequent attempts to remove it damaged the delicate egg tempera of the original surface even further.
By the time the painting entered the museum in 1951 as a gift from the widow of Indiana author Booth Tarkington, it was already in a precarious state of preservation. In 1961 the museum’s conservator characterized its condition as “extremely hazardous.” Its fragile condition resulted in its removal from public view in 1965. The extent and complexity of the conservation treatment it required meant that it would remain in storage for more than forty years.
The conservation of this painting has been made possible by a generous gift from Ms. Jane Fortune.