264

Ségolène Bergeon, Gilberte Emile-Mâle, Claude Huot, and Odile Baÿ

I

 ,the policy governing the stabilization of wooden

painting supports can be summarized by the term “supervised free-

dom,” indicating a delicate balance between restraint and freedom.^1

The evolution of this approach can be traced through two hundred years

ofpanel restoration, from the earliest work carried out for the Louvre in

the eighteenth century to the significant recent developments that are

evidenced in the work on the Campana Collection, at the Musée du Petit-

Palais in Avignon. The experience of two centuries has contributed to our

present approach of minimal intervention, and this experience informs the

choices that are currently made with respect to panel stabilization.

While the documentary sources are rich with information, they do not

shed light equally on all areas of potential interest. The two major inter-

ventive procedures—transfer and cradling—have been well documented

since the eighteenth century, but there are few references to the third

important operation—backing—which emerged in the nineteenth century.

There is even less mention of the practices of disinfection and the consoli-

dation of worm-eaten wood.

These interventions, as well as interventions on canvas, from the

simplest and most poorly documented to the most ingenious work on very

prestigious paintings, seem to have been largely the product of two major

Parisian studios—the first f ounded in 1740 by Jean-Louis Hacquin, at 4, rue

des Bourdonnais, in the First Arrondissement;^2 and the second, established

in 1841 by Paul Kiewert, at 17, quai des Grands-Augustins, in the Fifth

Arrondissement. Through each of these studios has passed a long line of

panel and canvas restoration specialists, workshop managers, and studio

owners which continues to the present day.

The studio at 4, rue des Bourdonnais, Paris:

Fr om Hacquin to Joyerot

Writing in 1779, Jean-Louis Hacquin stated that “ever since a skillful inci-

dent of lifting pictures on wood and cradling them,”^3 he decided, in 1757,

to qualify as a master cabinetmaker. These words are important for two

reasons: they show that prior to 1757 Hacquin had gained some experience

The History of the

Restoration of Painted

Panels in France from the

Eighteenth Century to 1965

The Restoration of Wooden Painting Supports

Two Hundred Years of History in France

Translated by Barbara Harshav