Our Lady of Sorrows

Overall, Before Treatment

Title: Our Lady of Sorrows / Virgen de la Soledad

Media: Oil on canvas

Date: Estimated 17th - 19th century

Dimensions: 67 x 50 x 2.5 inches

Project Summary:

This Marian statue painting is characteristic of the Spanish Christian Empire and depicts the Madonna with a young Christ figure atop a pilaster. Evidence of interrupted restoration including white fills, local varnishing, and partial inpainting were visually distracting. After discussion with colleagues at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the studio formulated a treatment proposal for this non-Western painting. 

The flaking and unstable red background paint was simultaneously consolidated and cleaned. The local varnish and areas of overfilling were reduced. Areas of loss were inpainted utilizing custom Mylar cartoons to best replicate the lost imagery. Based on similar non-Western paintings, this work was varnished in order to provide limited surface protection and saturate the matte painting. Based on aesthetics of similar collections, a frame was commissioned by The Art of Framing and installed in our conservation studio. The result is restoration of visually cohesive work with a more historically appropriate surface.