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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (May 21, 1916)
4 TTTE RUNT) AT " OTJTSOO'NTATi', PCVRTLAXD, MAT 21, 1916. nffwwnrlrfnWvc((r APith 1JXS1 VL1LLL;11 IXjiJUIAUL JLvYltl UllltUUV VUIX WtH I i.r-. - st r- XSX . : 1 v :i Amu -?r n - I J . . 'V' 'Jilt n f'pr ' .l A A ' M lit - ' -IS' ' r' ' - viit&b&it A i liV JLJT X , Z - SM I "fiN M - eir Artists. "1 NX, 1 "V- 'm-'.-' ' ' H-? f ' ;TZ . ' i ' ;s - M rv z 7 z, 4: S i !.! w f is-te . 7i M VHR' r57T7T ri" 1 --vdiJtV 7i- ' i:ih&& ylPS-'n fif r $ !s,5i'wki- T I i i jn-,-w r'V -iS"- zs24" v r ' IS -: I , J BY GUSTAV EOBBE. NOW you see it and now you don't but you see something: else. This might well be applied to Irofessor Pasquale Farina's "dry" method of restoring- old masters. For on several notable occasions, while restoring a canvas that supposedly had .but one picture on it, he has discovered, under the painting he was working on, an old painting an older master. Pro fessor Farina's studio ' is at No. 1314 Arch street, Philadelphia. He has carried out work of restoration for eeveral of the great collectors in the city of his residence, notably for Mr. John G. Johnson, one of the great art collectors of America; the Wilstach Gallery, in Fairmount Park, and for several other widely known public gal leries, including the historical paint ings in Independence Hall. Specially j interesting cases of dis covery by this restorer of older paint ings under old ones, or of partial over painting that has destroyed the entire meaning of the original subject, in clude the revelation through his method of restoring, in which no chem icals are used, of the head of John the Baptist . under a basket of fruits and flowers that, painted over the bead, had entirely altered the signifi cance of the picture. There was thus revealed a canvas by Carlo Dolci, in its original state. "Salome with the Head of John the Baptist," for which some subsequent painter had substituted the basket of fruits and flowers. Probably this painter, or the owner of the picture, did not like the grim story told by the original, and so made the change or ordered it. . This picture, in the Wilstach collec tion, showed a dish of fruit conspicu ous on a table. Two women were standing at the table and a. cherub keld a garland draped along a staff. . . A deeper study of the subject, a closer examination of the general phys ical condition of the painting, followed by an analysis of some of the pig ments and a deeper fctudy of the prob able meaning the painting was intended to convey, convinced the, restorer that there was no relation between the dif ferent details of the composition.' and Ib&t. somehow, Uar unity of . tb fa- ceptlon had been disturbed by the in troduction of the fruits -and . flowers in a composition to which they were . not appropriate. The elimination of this detail proceeded gradually.- As it slowly disappeared under his hand the result was that in place of the fruit and flowers he found portrayed; the head of John the' Baptist in a won derfully good ; state of preservation -not a scratch on it, not the slightest indication of the color fading, the tint . cracking or peeling.- "Superbly drawn. delicately painted, highly finished, psychologically ex pressing the calmness of a martyr who died with a good conscience and was in life a devoted,' faithful Christian." said Professor Farina the other day, "this ' head is the best part of the whole com position,-viewing it from the technical, artistic and : psychological standpoint. The picture, thus restored to the com pleteness and unity of the' original con ception, has reacquired its dramatic effect. Its historical importance, its rea son for being. ' The garland of flowers along 'the staff was also removed and. there appeared in the angel's hands a white" scroll with the inscription, Parate Viam Dominici.' This explained the raison de'etre of the angel in the composition. " It . turned out to be a 'Salome with the Head of John the Bap tist,' by Carlo Dole!.";. This restorer's' achievements number ' among them his discovery of a "Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane," over which there had been painted another picture which completely hid it- The picture painted over the "Gethsemane" was a "Madonna" by Carueci. This art ist, called also II Pontormo, because of ;. the suburb where he lived, lavished all his skill on this Madonna. ' The re storer states that the painting was crit ically regarded as one of the finest ex amples of .Florentine pictorial art. But traces. of a dim figure in the- In ner angle of . the left . elbow of. the "Madonna" caught the artist's eye, and, carefully delving beneath II Pontormo's heavy Impasto. lie found an old man's head painted with miniature-like care, the head of St. Peter. This was, for Professor Farina, the last of Carucci's work. (For he surmised that the paint-" 1&S - beneath -U-wasavea-rarer-aacl' s ; 1. - Restorer m Suspected That- the Fruits and Flowers Had Been. Painted Over an Old Picture. 2. Their Elimination Disclosed Carlo JDolci's " Salome with tTte Head of John the-Bavtist." r 3. Picture aslt Was When First. Seen by Professor Farina. 4. - Discovery of jinother .Pict ure Under It. 5. Full Disclosure of a Fif teenth Century Florentine Painting., t-- - ,-W y 7is i i J , i . .-" ... , -. Z"Z 'y'-rfv-A mm I . century older. With the zeal of an antiquary he proceeded at once to elim inate the Pontormo picture in order to reveal an unknown artist's conception of "Christ in the Garden of Gethsem ane." Fainted at least five centuries ago, the restorer considers it an atistic landmark, denoting -the beginning of that amazing movement in Italian art which culminated in the immortal nasterpieces of the Venetian. Umbrlan and Neapolitan schools in the 16th cen tury. He first saw the panel in Naples in 1910. Not only was there an old pic ture painted over one from. 75 to '00 years older, but the later picture It self had taken on layer after layer of grime and had become dark, dirty and muddy brown. As to the "Gethsemane" beneath It, Pontormo himself evidently had thought nothing of making use of it for a painting of his own over it. And to think that the "Madonna" he did paint over It remained untouched for 400 years, until Professor Farina dis covered traces of the old picture under it and proceeded to reveal tho original. This earlier painting was done in dis temper, which is now as hard as ena mel. In the restorer's opinion it is an extremely rare example of art in the earlier period of the Italian renais sance. His view is that Pontormo, at the moment the Inspiration to paint the "Madonna" came over him. looked about his studio for a suitable canvas. Prob ably, however, he failed to discover any with proper sizing or ready primed, so that he could at once proceed to paint on it. Casting about, it is most likely ,hls eye searched some corner where stood a large panel on which something was painted that did not especially ap peal to him. This panel, perhaps 75 or 100 years old, was well seasoned. The picture already on it for so long a period would serve for a priming. The surface of the panel was compact and smooth. Here was just what he wanted for the purpose of quickly dashing off his conception and especially without the loss of time involved in making a new panel ready. So he simply took the old picture and painted over it the "Ma donna." which on being removed, dis closed the "Gethsemane." "I was then demonstrating in the Na tional Museum, Naples, how pictures can be restored to their original fresh ness and beauty without the use of any chemicals whatsoever," said Professor Farina. "When I revealed parts of the original color of this picture, preserved Intact under coatings of dirt and stain, the contrast between these dirty strata and the brightness of the original colors THE IRON CLAW BY ARTHUR STRINGER (Continued From Pass 3.) L quickly as possible! " Every one,", re--peated that authoritatlve-volced in truder as Da Espares and the tall man In the Arabian burnoose rose to their feet, "except these two gentlemen here." "Get back, both of , you," the clear voice behind the yellow mask had called out. "or before God I'll shoot you down where you stand!" That sudden threat, of violence, was the spring which released, the tension. There were mingled shouts of resent ment and fear, followed by a quick and unreasoning rush for the door, courtiers and ' nuns and peasants and . Apaches and Geisha girls in. contending flurry and finery and frightened faces. For a minute or two the master of the bouse struggled in. vain to stop them. Then his attention was directed toward tbe-Laughing Mask, Xor tU latter., ad vancing with a quick stride to the man in the burnoose, Jerked aside that flow ing garment and revealed Legar him self. Legar with a sinisterly seared face and an iron claw at the end of his right arm. At th,e same moment that this movement was taking place Da Espares himself, with his eyes always on the Laughing Mask, stole quickly step by step toward the door on his left. He had reached that door before his enemy detected him. The man with the revolver, wheeled about and fired as the Spanish knight in silk and lace dived through the open ing. Legar, seeing his chance in that division of interest, charged bodily' through the damask-laden table, scat tering silver and glass and flowers as he went. In another breath he had reached the conservatory, where, a sec ond or two later, his iron-shod arm could be heard flailing through the. fragile barrier of glass between him and the outer world. And by the time Enoch Golden reached the spot his en emy had vanished. Tet in almost the same breath the Laughing Mask had leaped in the oppo site direction, in pursuit of the fleeing Da Espares. But that flight, wherever it led or might have led. was inter rupted by . a sudden detonation that shook the great house to its foundation. There was a roar of fall fog girders, the splintering of wood, the rumble of a great avalanche, as the seven-ton steel vault, deprived of its supports, crashed down through the flimsy flooring, car rying dust and debris and tumbling pieces of household furniture as it went. Nor did that massive thing of metal stop until it bedded Itself In the broken cement . flooring of the cellar below. - Then, above tha rattle -of tali- ing plaster and echoing showers of scattering bric-a-brac rose the quick cry of human voices calling for help. Golden, staring dazed at the great room through which sudden ruin had erupted, was scarcely conscious of the frightened girl clinging so forlornly to his arm. "Is anybody hurt?" asked the white faced girl. The ever-dependable, old butler looked at Manley. who In turn looked away. "I'm sorry. Miss Margory," Wilson hesitatingly explained, "but it -is the Count Da Espares!" , "You mean he Is " " "I'm afraid so. Miss Margery. They have Just found his body, crushed un der the vault!" (To be continued next week.) Inverse Ratio. Judge. Mrs. Featherby I simply can't dress on $500 a year! Mr. Featherby Why, wear less. ' Mrs. Featherby -The. less I wear-the more: It costal - was startling. The directors of the National Museum and many other con noiseurs who were present simply were astounded at what I was accomplish ing." What Professor Farina's method Is he naturally does not reveal. But as it does not involve the use of chemicals or even of soap and water I have con cluded that it must consist in the care ful erasure, by light friction of the strata which. In the course of time, have been formed by the accumulation of dust and dirt or by deliberate over painting and ignorant retouching upon the original surface of the picture. It is Professor Farina's firm conviction that the paint on genuine old masters still is nearly as fresh and bright as on the day it was applied. "The pigments used by the old mas ters," he said in speaking of his work, "were permanent. They do not fade. Present-day colors are made of animal, vegetable and mineral products, where as the pigments used by the old mas ters were made entirely of mineral. -They were made in fewer colors than now and artists mixed their own col ors far more than they do today. For this reason when a picture by an old master is gradually and properly re vealed, the dirt deposits having been removed, ' the original colors will be seen almost in their first vividness. Pictures painted by the old masters need not look old. The much-vaunted golden tone looked .for and prized by collectors is not a sign of age and originality. It is a sign of dirt and bad care. There can be no real ap preciation of the paintings of the old masters until they are seen in their true colors. .All chemicals Injure these col ors. Even water. Instead of flowing off a picture gets into and ' under the minute inequalities of surface and adds to the process of slow disintegration. Substances ' accumulated through ages or even .purposely added to paintings do not combine with the old pigments chemically, but adhere to the painted ' surface in strata and, therefore, must be gradually eliminated and without the use of any chemicals whatsoever. For chemicals, instead of aiding in the restoration of paintings, are absolutely injurious to them,' -
