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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.,
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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,' -