Collections Online | British Museum

Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to get the best experience.

Treatment; 26 Feb 2004; Consolidate loose paint and tears, flatten to reduce canvas undulations, strip line with new fabric and or line, and stretch around support system. Clean painted surface and in-paint losses disruptive to the image.

Reason: Storage
Description: Loose paint around the cracks and tears was consolidated and re-attached with dilute Sturgeons Glue and a hot spatula set to 40 degrees centigrade. Areas of original ground preparation that had come through to the reverse were then pared away with a Scalpel before commencing with flattening treatment.Three flattening treatments were done on the low-pressure suction table with moisure and heat at 40 degrees centigrade and 25mbar pressure. Treatment removed canvas undulations and reduced raised crack lines. Some wrinkles remained along the bottom edge of the red border. The tears in the canvas support were repaired with a PVA (polyvinyl acetate) aqueous dispersion adhesive. Inserts of a new canvas were used to repair holes at the bottom right and smaller gaps and losses were filled with a structural filler of Cellulose Powder and PVA dispersion adhesive. A tear at the top left corner was reinforced at the reverse with a patch of fine polyester gauze and Beva 371 (polyethylene vinyl acetate) adhesive because the tear coincided with the position of the subsequent strip lining. Strip lining was carried out using a linen canvas, cut with the weft threads running perpendicular to each of the paintings edges. The edges of the painting and the strip lining fabric was coated with BEVA 371 and heat sealed together (65 degrees centigrade). The painting was then stretched on to an Aerolam F board (glass fibre,epoxy laminate on aluminiun honeycombe), the board being prepared with Cedar Wood inserts at the edges to facilitate attachment of painting with Galvanised stainless steel tacks. The strip lining edges were then attached to the back of the board with BEVA 317. The image was surface cleaned using Saliva and the damages were retouched using Paraloid B72 (ethyl methacrylate copolymer) resin in Xylene without any preliminary filling. (Paul Ackroyd, Conservation Department, National Gallery, London. February 2004)
Details: Treatment

1 related objects

oil painting

Title: Battle of Adwa |
Museum number: Af1974,11.34 |
Production date: 1940-1949 |
Production place: Made in:Ethiopia |
Findspot: Found/Acquired:Ethiopia

Free entry

Opening hours