Articles
At The Conservation Center, we love hearing the stories our clients share about their artworks, and learning more about family histories. This was certainly true in the case of a portrait that was recently treated by our Painting Department. The sitter in the portrait is Marshall Field II, and the piece was brought to us for conservation treatment by his great-grandson, Marshall Field V.
This portrait was one of a series of artworks brought to The Center after a destructive home fire. The painting showed signs of severe fire-related damage: the
ordeal left a heavy, dark layer of oily and acidic soot on the surface, obscuring the painted surface completely. Additionally, the stretcher had been charred, and undulations were present throughout the canvas.
This painting was brought to our studio after having sustained fire damage. The work is an early, well executed copy, circa mid 19th century, after Titian’s “A Portrait of Aretino”. The original is housed in Palazzo Pitti, Florence. Pietro Aretino was a well known playwright, poet and satiric, who had significant influence on contemporary art and politics in Europe in the 1500s. Because of this influence, he became a close friend to Titian.
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