Article : “The Art of Conservation IV : Public controversies in eighteenth-century painting restoration: the history of the transfer technique in France”.

Andrea del Sarto, La Charité, vers 1518, 185 x 137 cm, Paris, musée du Louvre – transposition sur toile réalisée par André Picault en 1750

Ann Massing, “The Art of Conservation IV: Public controversies in eighteenth-century painting restoration: the history of the transfer technique in France”, in The Burlington Magazine, CLVIII, april 2016, pp.283-289.

The fourth article in The Burlington Magazine’s series on conservation appears in the April issue and is written by Ann Massing, formerly of the Hamilton Kerr Institute, University of Cambridge. She explains the dangerous practice of transferring the paint layer of old masters painted on wooden panels to new canvas supports. It was particularly favoured by French restorers, the first such transfer being carried out by Robert Picault (1705-81) on Andrea del Sarto’s Charity (musée du Louvre, Paris) in 1750, which was admired by everyone, including King Louis XV. The practice was continued right up until the mid-20th century, but has now been abandoned.

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