Pietro Candido Lunette Conserved for Cinquecento Exhibition in Florence
A lunette belonging to St. Paul’s United Church of Christ in Walnutport, the family church where Samuel Kress was baptized, was restored and reframed in preparation an exhibition at the Palazzo Strozzi, Florence.
Pietro Candido, Humility, before 1586, St. Paul's United Church of Christ, K1208.
Animation of the conservation treatment process. After removing multiple different campaigns of discolored varnish, dirt, and overpaint, the vibrant colors of the original paint are now visible again.
Image credit: Shan KuangHumility by Pietro Candido is one of six lunettes within a known series, with each allegory executed by a different 16th-century Florentine artist (e.g. Santi di Tito). The loan of this panel was requested for an exhibition at the Palazzo Strozzi devoted to the art of the 16th century in Florence (The Cinquecento in Florence: From Michelangelo and Pontormo to Giambologna, 21 September 2017 – 21 January 2018). It is the last in a trilogy of exhibitions curated by Carlo Falciani and Antonio Natali which began with Bronzino in 2010 and was followed by Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino in 2014. Given the restored state of other lunettes in the series, it was appropriate to clean this painting in preparation for the important reunion of the works.
The original paint was buried under at least four different layers of disfiguring varnish and dirt. Each discolored coating had a considerable, differential effect on the colors and tonality of the picture. Therefore, a very methodical approach was taken to cleaning where each layer was unpacked and removed, one-by-one. This was to ensure the tonal balance could be continuously assessed throughout the process. The cleaning reveled Pietro Candido’s bright, yet subdued, color palette. Cross section analysis showed the use of bright green malachite, deep red lake pigments, and blue smalt (that had since de-colorized). Certain paint passages developed networks of traction craquelure, which disrupted the reading of subtle modeling. Retouching helped knit these areas together and restore the forms. The frame was restored by Cynthia Moyer, frame conservator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
