Rembrandt and His School: Masterworks from the Frick and
Lugt Collections
February 15, 2011, through May 15, 2011
See a Virtual Tour of the paintings in the Oval Room.
The cleaning of Rembrandt's Self-Portrait, 1658
Rembrandt van Rijn is highly admired for creating paintings that are unsurpassed in achieving superb depth and translucency. This quality, however, can be compromised by layers of old varnish. Perhaps even more disfiguring than yellowing is the increasing opacity of varnish layers, which, as these coatings age and degrade, causes a dull and flat appearance. For this reason Rembrandt's Self-Portrait of 1658, his largest self-portrait and surely among the best of its type, called out for attention. Not cleaned in more than sixty years, the numerous varnish layers applied in the intervening period had contributed to a regrettable visual diminishment of the picture's appearance. The Frick's curatorial files indicate that the painting had been varnished and re-varnished at least nine times since its last cleaning in 1948. These multiple, superficial treatments were no doubt performed to refresh and regenerate the surface as previously applied varnish layers began to degrade and lose clarity. While this conservative approach is a very good preservation policy, eventually the time arrives when it becomes necessary to remove what has become an enormously obscuring accumulation of varnish.
A thorough examination of the painting was carried out before starting the most recent treatment, which took place at The Metropolitan Museum of Art between September 2010 and January 2011. A new X-radiograph was made, and the surface of the painting was examined carefully under high magnification. To ensure that the painting would not be harmed during the removal of the varnish layers, a detailed assessment of the physical condition of the paint layers was conducted prior to performing small cleaning tests. These tests revealed that the multiple varnish layers were not only discolored but had also developed a murky opacity that resulted in the perceived flattening of Rembrandt's richly modeled forms. It was important to determine if the increased opacity of the paint layers was mainly due to varnish degradation or if a deeper and more serious degradation had developed in the paint layers. A degree of microscopic degradation occurs over time in all oil paintings. Although a chemical deterioration in paintings by Rembrandt has been observed in recent years, in this case the diminishment in appearance was primarily owing to the deterioration of the thick, multiple varnish layers. During all stages of the investigation, Colin B. Bailey, Associate Director and Chief Curator, was keenly involved in discussions leading to the decision to proceed with the treatment.
Rembrandt's uniquely personal way of manipulating quite ordinary painting materials achieved a result that was considered astonishing in seventeenth- century Holland at the time. . It is not surprising that many painters were attracted to work with him in order to learn how to imitate his style and technique, particularly his vibrant and dramatic late style of which the Self-Portrait of 1658 is a supreme example. The resulting confusion in distinguishing between the master and his imitators has posed challenging questions for generations of art historians, who, and, in recent decades, they along with conservators and scientists have conducted detailed stylistic and technical investigations in collaboration with conservators and scientists. Technical information gathered from The Frick Collection's magnificent Self-Portrait of 1658, a painting that has never been doubted as entirely by the hand of Rembrandt, will contribute to the growing technical findings on this artist. Microscopic analysis of mMinute paint samples gathered during the treatment will be analyzed investigated, in connection with ongoing technical studies of paintings by Rembrandt in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in order to determine the degree to which possible chemical alterations have resulted in visual changes. Studies such as these will increase our understanding of the artist's oeuvre and will also aid in developing improved methods of preservation of the works of art. Visual imaging such as x-radiography provides insight into the evolution of the creative process, a discussion of which is included in the publication that accompanied the recent exhibition Rembrandt and His School: Masterworks from the Frick and Lugt Collection (February 15 through May 15, 2011).
Overall, the condition of the Self-Portrait is excellent. This was wonderful to discover considering the extent to which past treatments and circumstances of history can be reflected in the surface of a painting. Attached to the reverse are two relining canvases, which were in place when Henry Clay Frick acquired the painting in 1906. The rigorous and often brutal procedures to which paintings were subjected during relining in the past involved the use of heavy hot irons. This undoubtedly compromised the rich texture of Rembrandt's original paint surface, which is now somewhat flattened. In addition, there are minute losses distributed throughout the surface. Whether these small clusters of losses were caused by exposure to excessive heat during the process of relining or from a fire cannot be determined. However, since it is recorded that the painting hung over the fireplace in Melbury Park, Dorset, the home of the previous owners, the Earls of Ilchester, it is fortuitous that the net effect of the damage from any heat-related incident is minor.
After it was determined that it was absolutely safe, the cleaning proceeded in a straightforward manner. It was possible to distinguish with absolute certainty the original surface from the later varnish coatings because the type of varnish used in the last restoration and all subsequent re-varnishing was a synthetic resin manufactured during the twentieth century. Small cotton swabs wetted with organic solvents were rolled over the surface to dissolve and remove the varnish, a procedure that took several months. It cannot be overstated how exciting this stage of the treatment is for those who are privileged to witness firsthand as the masterful hand of the artist emerges in full glory. Cleaning recaptured the nuances of the artist's touch and the superb depth and luminosity that Rembrandt alone was capable of achieving. The overall improvement was vastly more astonishing than could have been predicted from the small preliminary test cleanings. Freeing the paint film of the extremely thick varnish revealed once again the lively surface texture. And, despite the multiple past restoration campaigns, the painting surface exhibits very little evidence of having been subjected to strong chemicals and harsh cleaning in the past.
After cleaning, the portrait was varnished with a thin layer of a natural resin varnish in order to isolate the original paint from the subsequent restoration. Following photography to document the state of the painting's current condition, abrasions and minor losses were retouched with dry pigments bound in a non-yellowing synthetic resin. The portrait was given a final layer of natural resin varnish to achieve optimum saturation, recapturing its original depth and luminosity. Advances in conservation practice, including the addition of chemical stabilizers in the varnish, will ensure that this, the most important and certainly the most regal painting by Rembrandt in America, can once again be admired and enjoyed looking its best for generations to come.—Dorothy Mahon, Conservator, Department of Paintings Conservation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The catalogue is made possible by the Robert Lehman Foundation, Inc. It is also underwritten, in part, by public funds from the Netherlands Cultural Services and by the Netherland-America Foundation. |
