Conservation

Following its donation to the House of Lords, the painting has undergone a comprehensive programme of cleaning and conservation.  The entire painting was coated with a thick layer of varnish, which over the years had darkened considerably, hiding from view the rich colours of the original paint below. The artist’s use of bitumen glazes to give depth to the darker areas of the painting, a popular technique in 19th century painting, had caused drying cracks giving a disfiguring “alligatoring” effect to the paint surface.  Conservation has stabilised these cracks and significantly approved their effect on the appearance of the painting.

A detail from the painting before conservation, showing the face of Bulstrode Whitelocke, illustrates the “alligatoring” effect (paint losses caused by the drying cracks of the bitumen glazes) and old over-painting on the left-hand side of the face.

A detail showing the face of Bulstrode Whitelocke after conservation. The first task for the conservators was to stabilise the paint surface in order to stop any further paint from flaking off the canvas. The surface and the back of the painting were then cleaned and ingrained dirt was removed using a specially prepared solution. Organic solvents and scalpels were used to remove the old varnish and over-painting. When some of the overpaint was removed it revealed areas which had been severely over cleaned in the past. The least aggressive techniques were used to gradually thin the overpaint until it was completely removed. The painting was then removed from its wooden stretcher, the old lining canvas was lifted away, old tears in the canvas were reinforced with fine nylon gossamer patches and the entire painting was mounted onto a lining of new unbleached canvas. The canvas was then re-stretched onto its cleaned stretcher. Paint losses and damage were sensitively retouched using dry pigments and resin varnish. The re-painting of missing areas was undertaken with reference to historical images of recognisable figures, and the architectural features were taken from Westminster Hall.  All of the figures which needed reconstruction were completed with reference to Woolnoth’s technique and style and incorporating the remaining paint left on the surface. The entire painting was then varnished to protect it. All the new conservation is completely reversible and fully documented so future curators and conservators will have a full record of the work.