Schedule of Conservation Events and Progress Reports

View Marta Oriola's Introduction

Week One Consolidation of Paint The first step when conserving a painting, is to make sure that the paint layer is secure. The paint layer along the check was consolidated with animal glue. View the Progress Report

Week Two Varnish Removal: Solubility Tests The layer of varnish has discolored. To remove it, "solubility tests" of the varnish and paint layer were done with different organic solvents. View the Progress Report

Week Three Cleaning: Green Areas By removing the varnish layer and some of the old repaints, old damages are made visible. The green areas on the Bishop were cleaned. View the Progress Report

Week Four Cleaning: the Bishop's Throne: oil paint removal (Solvent gel) The Bishop's throne has many old repaints made with oil paint. These were removed with "solvent gels". View the Progress Report

Week Five Cleaning: The Donor The figure of the donor has many areas of loss, one of them right across his face. Old repaint on this area might not be removed. View the Progress Report

Week Six Cleaning: Gilded Areas Gilded areas are very sensitive to water and to organic solvents. Therefore, the varnish layer might not be able to be fully removed but only thinned down. View the Progress Report

Week Seven Cleaning: The Bishop's Face The Bishop's face has been extremely abraded in previous conservation treatments. A sensitive approach to clean this area will have to be decided. View the Progress Report

Week Eight Summary Description of the conservation process up to present and of what else will be done in the following months (varnishing, infilling and retouching). View the Progress Report

Video progress reports to date:

Page 4 of 6 | On the next page: The Latest Progress Report