September 3, 2004

Docents Answer Questions

Docents Shirley Siegel and Bonnie Ulman answer questions about the restoration process.

Docent guides are available in the exhibition gallery:

Tuesdays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Thursdays, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
and Sundays, 1 p.m.-3 p.m.

September 4, 2004

While David concentrates on the badly damaged lower right corner, Joan inpaints the large losses in the sky area of the painting.

September 7, 2004

Inpainting the badly damaged sheep at the lower right corner of the painting, David often employs magnification to aid in matching colors and remain within the boundary of the loss.

September 8, 2004

Inpainting the Staff
by Joan - Conservator

These two photographs show a section of the lower right corner of the painting.

In the image on the left, remnants of the lower portion of the staff, completely covered by earlier restorer's overpaint, are visible. The red and light gray areas represent losses in the paint layer.

On the right, David Marquis has begun to reconstruct with careful inpainting the staff and details of the background near the boys' feet.

September 9, 2004

With a large painting such as the Guercino, David and Joan will inpaint all large losses to a certain level, going back later to refine and tune the work so that, at viewing distance, the damage to the paint layer is not visible.