The National Gallery recently released a series of fantastic behind the scenes videos illustrating the restoration process of one of the Gallery’s new painting acquisitions, Artemisia Gentileschi’s ‘Self Portrait’. And we’re happy to see that the videos feature Willard conservation equipment. Our conservation tools and equipment are used in the most famous galleries, museums and studios in the world so when we get to see our equipment in action, we like to shout about it!
To assist with applying a moisture treatment to the painting, our multi-function vacuum table was used to flatten the painting while also using one of our heated spatulas to further smooth out any smaller surface lumps and bumps.
In the video, it is explained how accurate pressure and heat is required which is achieved with our custom engineered heated vacuum table. Our heated spatulas are also desirable to this effect, providing precision heat exactly where it’s needed.
In the second part of the video, you can see our lining irons in action smoothing beeswax onto the tissue layer of the surface of the painting. The weighted irons provide just the right amount of pressure needed for this task.
Stay tuned for more blogs posts showcasing Willard In Action!
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Part 2:
Video credit: The National Gallery