The same sensibility prevailed in a 1979 intervention on
L’Annonciation,a w ork by the Master of the Altarpiece of Arceteri (Musée
duPetit-Palais [MI 446], Avignon). In this work, the worm-eaten old cross-
bars were preserved, consolidated, and hollowed to receive two metal
I-shaped pieces. The function of the crossbar has been reestablished and
the old wood preserved.
With respect to insect damage, carbon tetrachloride is used to dis-
infect worm-eaten wood, on the advice of the Centre Technique du Bois.
Consolidation with Paraloid dissolved in xylene has been standard from
1965 to the present.From the first half of the eighteenth century, France enjoyed an excellent
reputation with respect to the “mechanical” area of restoration—that is,
in the treatment of the supports of painting.^76 Ever since the advent of
those great innovations—the sparing transfer and the sliding cradle—
French artisans of painting supports have been highly regarded. The art
of the cradler has always seemed specialized and was generally admired,
despite the facts that the work sometimes seemed undifferentiated and
that some interventions were performed by specialists who described
themselves as reliners.
The tradition of excellence in craft has continued. Cradles can still
followartistic standards, even if their functional role is now subsidiary to
the aesthetic value they contribute to paintings; this is particularly true for
cradles of the best period, which are especially prized since the art market
has expanded.
The desire for the presence of a cabinetmaker in the Louvre
devoted solely to wooden supports began tentatively, but by the 1960s the
ground was ripe for a thorough consideration of the importance of having
such expertise near at hand. There had been regular demands for the
restoration of newly acquired works that previously would have been
restored with the indispensable assistance of Italian colleagues. This assis-
tance, however, became a keen indicator of the need for such skills in
France. The need would eventually be filled by the Claude Huot studio,
when the vast project arose of repairing the three hundred panel paintings
in the Campana Collection, which was destined for a new museum in
Avignon. This challenge was an extraordinary opportunity to initiate a
policy of restoration on a technically homogeneous group of works, and
it would compel Germain Bazin to seek the requisite technical, financial,
and human resources for the task. The latest Italian thinking in this regard
was combined with the excellent French techniques of cabinetmaking
mastered by Claude Huot and his head compagnon and teacher ofappren-
tices, René Perche, resulting in important new progress in the restoration
of wooden supports.^77
Cabinetmakers specializing in wooden supports, with their ever-
lively curiosity, now constitute an important part of the studio team, and
they work alongside curators who are highly interested in this technical
subject and who have, in fact, specialized in restoration. The treatment of
many different works has allowed the progressive evolution of methods,
the pursuit of research informed by a dialectic between observation and
thought, and the refinement of atelier practice—a combination indispens-
able to the progress of the proper care of works of art.Conclusion
W P S: T H Y H F 281