Because time changes the condition of all things, including works of art, much of the world’s great art on display today have been preserved and improved. Museums displaying such delicate artworks aim to safeguard artworks by preventing, slowing down, remedying or reversing decay and damage. These methods are practiced my conservators and restorers. Even though they both fall under the same umbrella, they differ. Conservators mainly focus on preserving the original form by cleaning, repairing, and removing old restoration attempt. Restorers, however, focus on restoring a piece back to its original aesthetic appearance.
Conservators and restorers face many technical problems trying to preserve art. The Triumph of Death, an oil panel painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, has undergone many phases of restoration to regains its original value. This exceptional painting had been affected by repainted and colored varnishes on its surface and the cradle that caused unaligned movement of the wood panel. The restorer, José de la Fuente, removed the cradle and realigned the cracks and the panels reinstating the paintings structural stability. Another great paining that undergone conservation and restoration is Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, an oil painting by Pablo Picasso. The treatment of the Les Demoiselles d’Avignon lasted up to six months. The treatment included removing surface dirt, 1950 discolored coatings, and adhesive residue. It also included reattaching lifting canvas at the edges, filling minor losses, and adjusting the gloss.
All these conservation and restoration techniques, however, have caused controversy.
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The cleaning of the Sistine Chapel, the greatest art conservation undertaking in the history of art, has heated a conversation among so many. The artistic controversy of the Sistine Chapel restoration focuses on the difference between fresco and a secco layers of the painting. When Michelangelo applied the fresco layers of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, he would have painted with wet plaster then added a secco layer after the plaster had dried. Those advocating the cleaning argue that Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel in fresco and the use of a secco would have been added later. Others argued that Michelangelo would have used a secco across the ceiling but that it has been lost during the cleaning process. Another controversy centers on the restoration level required—whether the Sistine Chapel needed this level of cleaning in the first place.
Other artistic controversies arise when a great artwork was lost for years and was suddenly rediscovered. Salvator Mundi by Leonardo Da Vinci was once believed to have been destroyed but was finally reclaimed in 2005. Its reappearance has caused the greatest artistic controversy. The controversy surrounding the recently rediscovered Salvator Mundi was due to the many changes the painting underwent. Extreme damages had occurred to to painting such as subsequent cracking and loss of pigment. The painting had multiple layers from the gesso priming, under-drawing, and upwards. When the painting was cleaned, it revealed Christ had two right thumbs. This is known as a “pentimento”, a second thought. If the artist had a second thought, it’s regarded as proof that this is an original, not a copy—as why would a copier have second thoughts? Such details caused a controversy on whether the extensively restored painting can be considered a Leonardo original.
