Carpaccio’s Knight: Restoration and technical study
With the collaboration of:
Following completion of the restoration of one of the museum’s most celebrated paintings, Young Knight in a Landscape (ca. 1505) by Vittore Carpaccio, the results of the work carried out will be presented in a special installation in Room 11 of the permanent collection where the restoration took place on view to the public throughout 2020 and part of 2021.
The restored painting will be shown alongside a video which explains and illustrates the work undertaken and the results obtained from the technical study of the type that accompanies all restoration projects. On this occasion the results are also the subject of a monographic publication. Materials analysis, X-radiographs, reflectographs and other research techniques have permitted a detailed study of the painting with the aim of learning more about the artist’s creative process and working method and obtaining the information necessary for undertaking the restoration with the maximum rigour and respect for the work.
The restoration process firstly consisted of stabilising the painting’s support and consolidating fragile zones of the pictorial surface. Restorers also removed the layer of aged, yellowed varnish which covered the surface, completely altering the effect of light and the chromatic combinations created by the painter. The frame, which emphasises and protects the work, has also been restored. All these procedures have made it possible to correctly read the painting as it was conceived by Carpaccio and will help ensure that this masterpiece of painting will survive over time in the best possible state of conservation.
Includes footage both related to the technical study and conservation, as well as related to the work from the Artistic Director, Guillermo Solana; from the Head of Restoration department and the conservators in charge of the project, Susana Pérez and Alejandra Martos.
