A “devil-like figure” appearing in a painting by a renowned artist that is more than 230 years old has been rediscovered after a recent restoration.
The discovery came as a result of conservation work carried out by the National Trust on a painting of a Shakespeare scene by 18th-century artist Joshua Reynolds, who died in 1792.
The painted figure, referred to by the Trust as a “demon”, an evil spirit or demon, proved controversial at the time.
The figure, covered in layers of paint and varnish, was included in Reynolds’ painting based on a Shakespeare death scene, which was titled “The Death of Cardinal Beaufort.”
Specifically, the painting shows a scene from Shakespeare’s “Henry VI, Part 2” with the king witnessing the death of Cardinal Beaufort.
The figure, which included fangs and a sinister expression, was painted on the headboard of the bed, just above the dying Beaufort’s head.
“It didn’t fit with some of the artistic rules of the time to have a poetic figure of speech represented so literally in this monstrous figure,” said John Chu, senior national curator of photography and sculpture at the Trust.
“While it was considered acceptable in literature to introduce the idea of a demon as something into a person’s mind, including it visually in a painting gave it too physical a form. There were even people who argued that it should have been painted, although records of conversations with the artist show that he resisted such attempts to alter the work.
Reynolds’ painting, first exhibited at the Shakespeare Gallery in 1789, is one of four preserved by the National Trust to mark the 300th anniversary of the artist’s birth.
The painted figure, referred to by the Trust as a “demon”, an evil spirit or demon, proved controversial at the time. National Trust
Reynolds’ artwork was created late in his career as a commercial commission for the Shakespeare Gallery in London’s Pall Mall, which paid 500 guineas for the painting, according to the Trust.
“The gallery also created prints for sale and export, something Britain was dominant in at the time. “The engraver Caroline Watson produced the plates for prints of Reynolds’ painting; the first copies showed the demon, although a second print run in 1792, after the artist’s death, showed an attempt to remove him from the printing plate,” he noted. the Trust.
“Perhaps it is not a surprise that he has been left so far behind in the shadows of the painting. It seems that early conservators misunderstood it,” Chu said of the figure’s disappearance. “Some decades after the painting was made, that area appears to have deteriorated into small islands of paint and become less clear due to the constituent parts of the painting. The degradation of successive layers of varnish over the years made it even less visible.”
The figure, which included fangs and a sinister expression, was painted on the headboard of the bed, just above the dying Beaufort’s head. National Trust
After being examined by painting experts from the National Trust, it became clear that the artwork had been painted over by several people and included six layers of varnish.
“Reynolds was always difficult for conservators because of the experimental way in which he worked, often introducing unusual materials into his painting medium, striving to achieve the effects he wanted to achieve,” said Becca Hellen, senior national conservator of paintings at the Trust.
“The area with the demon was especially difficult. Because it was in the shade, it was painted with earthy browns and dark colors that always dried more slowly, causing shrinkage effects. …With the layers added by early restorers, it had become a mess of misinterpretations and multiple layers of paint.
“This is a large painting, and we wanted to make sure it still represented what Reynolds originally painted, which included allowing the demon to be discovered by removing all non-original darkened varnishes and making sure it still correctly showed its shape and perspective with the paint. . work we did.”
The painting is now on display again at Petworth House in West Sussex following the treatment.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn