The Structural Conservation of Panel Paintings

operation was accomplished with the double-block system used in the

tracks ofthe original crossbars. The original tracks were widened into a

new track, which maintained the trapezoidal section of the original. The

new crossbars were made out of laminated oak assembled on a precon-

structed negative form; they were fashioned with the same curvature as

the track in the panel (Fig. 23). The crossbar dimensions were determined

by the large size of the entire work and by the design’s likely stability over

time. The frame will regain its important structural function, completing

the support of the painting as it did originally.

The back of the painting was next protected with a thin coating of

beeswax, paraffin, and rosin spread on with a spatula. Isolation from the

environment was further guaranteed by placement of the work inside the

original frame and installation of a backboard. This feature will make it

possible to improve the climatic factors in contact with the support.

One additional example completes the presentation of the various operat-

ing methods that can be applied to the restoration of painting supports.

Changes are not introduced for their own sake but as a study of solutions

to the problems of individual works. This flexible attitude is vital and is

based on the understanding that every intervention that changes—even a

little—the original construction, if not required by the state of preserva-

tion of the work, is to be considered a loss of evidence and cultural patri-

mony. The restoration presented briefly here was recently concluded on

the triptych, The Annunciation,by Lorenzo Monaco (Fig. 24). This work

was executed in the period from 1424 to 1425 for the Bartolini Salimbeni

family; it came from the Church of Santa Trinità in Florence, where it

hadbeen installed in the fourth chapel on the right side of the nave. As

with the preceding examples, the particular choices that governed the

The Annunciationby

Lorenzo Monaco

334 Castelli

Figure 21, right
Francesco Salviati, The Deposition from the
Cross. Reassembly of the planks.

Figure 22, far right
Francesco Salviati, The Deposition from the
Cross. Reassembly. Seen from the front.

Figure 23
Francesco Salviati, The Deposition from the
Cross. End viewofthe inserted crossbar.