have rarely been adopted in Florence. New problems for future interven-
tions are created when materials such as wax cannot be removed com-
pletely; their residues can prevent the effective use of PVA or epoxy glues.
Some previous attempts to straighten poplar panels were made by
thinning them down to less than 7 mm and attaching heavy cradles to the
backs, as in the case of the Madonna and Child with Musical Angelsby
Gherardo Starnina in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California
(Fig. 10). The effects—such as severe cupping or flaking of the paint film—
of these radical interventions can often be seen on the front of the paint-
ing (Fig. 11). In cases in which the original support has been severely
altered, it may actually be beneficial to attach the panel instead to a rigid
support, such as a laminated strip board, rather than to let it move freely,
as previously described (Fig. 12). For example, a painting attributed to
Giovanni Bellini, The Presentation in the Temple(private collection, Venice),
which has a severe flaking problem, had been thinned to less than 5 mm
and cradled. It was decided to attach the panel painting to a laminated
strip board after it was evenly planed to a thickness of about 4 mm. The
glue used was Vinavil, a PVA emulsion, although today (as was used on
the Starnina) an epoxy adhesive such as Araldite is preferred in order to
avoid the excessive absorption of water from the PVA emulsion. Since
treatment in 1966 the Bellini has been exposed at various times to a com-
pletely uncontrolled environment (Tintori and Rothe 1978). As with the312 Rothe and Marussich
Figure 10
Gherardo Starnina, Madonna and Child with
Musical Angels,ca. 1410. Tempera and gold on
panel, 92 x 51.3 cm. The J. Paul Getty
Museum, Los Angeles. The pronounced
cracking of the paint film was caused by
excessive drying of the back following an
intervention of more than sixty years ago. At
that time, the poplar panel was reduced from
its original thickness of more than 25 mm to
less than 5 mm.