The mystery figure in the NGV Crossing of the Red Sea

Detail of NGV  Crossing of the Red Sea   by Nicolas Poussin

Before the cleaning of  Crossing of the Red Sea   took place, there was one figure in it which had attracted attention from observant viewers. This figure in blue, nestled in among the throng of agitated Israelites, looked over her shoulder directly at the viewer. She drew attention because there was something odd about her in comparison with the figures nearby: the modeling of the paint in her face was much less refined than those of her companions, and she seemed contorted in a rather unusual way. There was a suspicion that the face was either severely worn or else the work of a restorer.

The rediscovery of a “lost” replica

In the previous post we looked at Etienne Gantrel’s engraving and the Gobelins tapestry as tools for identifying some of the changes which have occurred to the NGV Poussin.They certainly suggested that a considerable amount of change has occurred in the sky of our painting, however they are of limited use for a conservator attempting to recover or reconstruct lost passages of original paint. So though Horace Buttery may have been aware of them when he restored the painting in 1960, he may well have chosen not to rely on them for his treatment.

Using copies to learn about lost information

When Horace Buttery cleaned the   Crossing of the Red Sea   in 1960, he encountered a painting which had suffered surface damage from previous cleaning attempts.He knew his job would be to reconcile the well preserved parts of the painting with those areas which were permanently affected by paint losses and abrasion to the surface, particularly in the sky. He was faced with the task of trying to recover some of the lost appearance of that crucial component of the painting. It is possible, but not likely, that he had access to copies of the painting that were made in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.These copies could have provided him with some help in retrieving certain details which were now lost from the original.

Removal of varnish and old retouchings

Cleaning tests had revealed that the old varnish - applied by Horace Buttery in 1960 - could be removed using standard cleaning solutions without risking Poussin's paint surface. So what do we mean by a standard cleaning solution?

Crossing the Red Sea - literally!

It is a delightful quirk of fate that Poussin's  Crossing of the Red Sea   has actually crossed the Red Sea - three times in fact.

Previous restorations

Has the   Crossing of the Red Sea   been restored before? Certainly. You could say that most Old Master paintings have been cleaned at least once during each century of their existence, so it is quite possible that our painting has been cleaned at least four times.

Do we know when and how it was cleaned? Not entirely. The thorough documentation of conservation treatments is a rather recent phenomenon. Only a handful of art museums around the world have concise records of treatments carried out before World War II, and many do not have much in the way of reporting before the 1960s. For works in private collections, conservation records have been almost non-existent.

The revelations of UV photography

As we draw closer to the cleaning of the  Crossing of the Red Sea   we turn our attention to UV photography. A quick glance at an image of the painting under ultraviolet light is enough for a conservator to learn some of the critical issues regarding its surface, especially the condition of the old varnish and the previous restorer's work.