First the picture was faced. With the goal of realigning uneven
fragments of the picture adjacent to the cracks, different resins were used.
The areas ofpaint 1.25 cm wide on either side ofthe main split were faced
with small pieces of Eltoline tissue and Paraloid B72 in xylene. The pieces
were shaped to support and protect the edges of paint along the split and
some islands of paint and ground within the split, while allowing the split
and other cracks to remain accessible. Two further complete layers of fac-
ing were applied over the whole surface with the Paraloid B67 in white
spirit. This facing protected the painting during cradle and veneer removal,
but when it was necessary to remove some parts during the crack conser-
vation, it could be done without disturbance to the B72 facings.
The mahogany cradle was removed by the procedures of sawing
across the glued battens at 2.5 cm intervals and chipping away with a
gouge or chisel.
This treatment exposed a mahogany veneer approximately 5 mm
thick, which was removed with hand gouges and scalpels. Once the
mahogany was removed, the back of the thinned panel could be seen
(Fig. 10). Many open cracks in the back of the panel had not been visible
from the front. The procedure also exposed the many worm channels, seen
in the X ray , that had been filled with pigment. The fillings were removed
where necessary to enable realignment and securing of the cracks and old
joins. In some areas where the fillings were removed, there was no panel
fabric left, and the back of the original gesso was exposed. It is not certain
when the picture was thinned: it could have been when the first cradle
wasapplied, or possibly when the panel arrived in England. However, it is
thought more likely to have been during the second intervention; during
thinning, the panel collapsed in some of the worm-eaten areas, the infills412 Reeve
Figure 8, above
X ray before treatment of Cosmè Tura, The
Virgin.Fragment of the Annunciation,1475–80.
Oil and egg (identified) on panel, 45.1 334
cm. National Gallery (NG 905), London.
Figure 9, right
Cosmè Tura, The Virgin.After cleaning and
before panel treatment, the painting shows
cracks, losses, and wooden infills.
Figure 10
Cosmè Tura, The Virgin, reverse. The bottom
right corner ofthe back of the panel shows
worm damage exposed after the cradle and
mahogany veneer were removed.