Restoration of end of XV Century Wooden Crucifix Paper Halo

Notes about the restoration project

This interesting restoration was carried out on a painted paper halo, part of a wooden crucifix from the late 15th to early 16th century. The crucifix was attributed to the master Giovanni Tedesco. The place of location is the Church of San Gregorio in Atri, Municipality of Cascia. 

The intervention was carried out in parallel with the restoration work on the wooden crucifix, carried out by my colleague Andrea Giordani.

The conservation status of the paper support was generally good. There were gaps between the layers and undulations, the paper was felted. In some places there were touches, detachments and undulations, mostly due to the thermo-hygrometric variations to which the work had probably been subjected over the centuries. The pictorial surface was in poor condition: in some points of the back and along the outer edge there were areas with loss of color.

The analysis with infrared thermography, kindly performed by prof. Fulvio Mercuri of the Laboratory of Non-Destructive Diagnostics and Thermography of the Industrial Engineering Department at the Torvergata University of Rome, highlighted the presence of a preparatory drawing of which the traces of the ruling, probably made with a compass, hardly visible to the naked eye.

This data has provided a valuable contribution to the understanding of the technique of execution of the artwork. The analysis also provided the mapping of the adhesion areas and / or areas in which the paper support had undergone detachment.

The restoration intervention started with an overall surface cleaning, performed to eliminate deposit substances. The layers and touches of the paper support have been consolidated, as well as the pigments, after the chromatic retouching. Finally, the assembly of the halo was performed in the original position.

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