Covering the Roosterman Coat of Arms

Detail of head and ruff during cleaning	When the painting was acquired it was covered with a layer of deeply discolored yellow varnish that distorted its original colors and tonal contrasts. Conservator Kenneth Bé cleaned the painting to remove this varnish and replaced it with a new layer of varnish which effectively restored the richly saturated colors. In the process, the coat of arms also became brighter and more visually prominent in the painting, distracting the viewer's attention more from the portrait of Roosterman.
Coat of arms after cleaning	The new visual prominence of the coat of arms, and the fact that the painting originally lacked this colorful addition were reasons to remove the coat of arms from view after the cleaning of the painting. Curators and conservators decided to retain the coat of arms on the painting, but to mask it with modern retouching paints that would mimic the appearance of the original background beneath the coat of arms. Because the museum's retouchings may be easily removed, revealing the coat of arms will always remain a future option. Furthermore, the coat of arms was documented with photographs for scholarly reference.
The coat of arms was masked by painting layers of color over a varnish layer that was brushed on after the painting was cleaned. First, the colors (red, white, blue, and yellow) were retouched to a light yellowish-white uniform color. Then tiny brushstrokes of color were stippled to produce the effect of the lively yellowish-to-greenish gray background color originally applied by the artist.
Cover-up process step 1		Cover-up process step 2
Cover-up process step 3		Cover-up process completed
The result of this treatment has restored the original grand effect of the composition. Without the distracting, flattening effect of the coat of arms, the subtle shadows now work to define the space in the portrait and emphasize a more two-dimensional quality in the background.
Tielemann Roosterman before treatment		Tielemann Roosterman after treatment

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