Crowdfunding for restoration
Chinese Bowl with Flowers
The Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza and Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid joined forces for the common purpose of bringing the art world closer to painting lovers and continuing the work of supporting talent and creativity that the hotel announced as one of its priorities after its reopening.
For this reason, they invited the public to take part in the care and conservation of one of the most iconic masterpieces in the museum's permanent collection, Chinese Bowl with Flowers by Jacques Linard. By sponsoring one of the flowers or leaves of this magnificent work, you prolonged its life and enjoyment, had exclusive access to its research and conservation process and received a personalised certificate to endorse your support.
A flower is the beginning of a beautiful story
Flowers are part of our lives, they are the ultimate expression of beauty, they carpet nature and art galleries all over the world, and they convey the emotions and sensations that both the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid, have sought to inspire in their visitors.
The French painter Jacques Linard, aware of all this, became one of the forerunners of a genre that reached its peak in the 17th century. His first known still life dates from 1627, and four years later he was appointed painter and valet de chambre to the king of Louis XIII.
In Chinese Bowl with Flowers he presents a bouquet in a sober setting: a dark background against which the subject stands out, and on a cold stone slab with a moulded edge. The colour range is dominated by warm tones, deep reds and pinks in which the various groupings of flower petals are arranged. Linard organises this ensemble around a central axis, crowned by a large compact ball, followed by small white flowers until it reaches the edge of the container where he places a solid group of roses and a carnation.
A vital mission
One of the main missions of the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza is the conservation of the collection for its dissemination, thus creating a living museum that belongs to everyone.
The aim of the restoration of Jacques Linard's painting Chinese Bowl with Flowers was to restore its original colours, which had aged and appeared distorted due to the darkening of the varnish.
The cleaning and recovery of a work of art is a delicate process that requires a technical study in which physical and chemical tests are carried out to identify the materials used by the author and the process of execution:
- Methods of analysis for the identification of materials.
- Macro photography to highlight details.
- Infrared reflectography in order to discover underlying layers to identify drawings and possible corrections.
- Ultraviolet radiation for the identification of additions and possible repainting.
- X-rays in order to study the succession of layers used by the artist from the support to the final layer of paint.
In this way, not only do we get the painting back to its essence, but we also learn and enrich our knowledge of the work.
Preventive conservation treatment is also carried out through the adaptation of a new mounting, which allows the stabilisation of the support for the consolidation and conservation of the piece, thus guaranteeing its integ
