Studying and Conserving Paintings

This is the first volume of Occasional Papers on the Samuel H. Kress Collection and was published in the memory of Mario Modestini who died on January 28th 2006 in New York. The book marks the tenth aniversary of the advanced training in Old Masters conservation sponsored by the Kress Foundation at the Conservation Center of the institute of Fine Arts of New York University The first part of the book is an overview of historic approaches to the conservation of European paintings and the conservation history of the Kress collection of paintings (which was formed between 1929 and 1961). The second part gives the results of scientific and humanistic research gained in the process of conserving specific Italian and Dutch Old Masters. CONTENTS 1. Overview The Samuel H. Kress Collection: Conservation and Context – Marilyn Perry The Samuel H. Kress Program in Paintings Conservation at the Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University – Margaret Holben Ellis Introduction to the Volume – Michele Marincola Acknowledgements – Michele Marincola 2. Historical Papers Philosophies and Tastes in Nineteenth-Century Paintings Conservation – Wendy Partridge Stephen Pichetto, conservator of the Kress Collection 1927-1949 – Ann Hoenigswald Mario Modestini, Conservator of the Kress Collection 1949-1961 – Dianne Modestini 3. Technical Studies & Treatment A New Leaf: Recent Technical Discoveries in the Goodhart Ducciesque Master’s Madonna and Child with Four Saints – Jennifer Sherman Botticelli’s Nativity – Charles R. Mack The Re-use of a Desco da Parto – Mika Okawa & Dianne Dwyer Modestini The Triumphs of Petrarch: An Analysis of a Renaissance Decorative Cycle – Wendy Partridge A Portable Triptych in El Paso – Dianne Dwyer Modestini Guidoccio Cozzarelli’s Scenes from the Life of the Virgin – Dianne Modestini School of Pietro Perugino, Saint Sebastian – Annette Rupprecht & Sheri Francis Shaneyfelt The Master of the Manchester Madonna: Restoration, Technique, and a Context for Attribution – Molly March Portrait of a Lady and Techniques in the late Paintings of Nicolaes Maes, and Painting Techniques in the Late Paintings of Nicolaes Maes – Laurent Sozzani with Christopher McGlinchey View of the Molo: A Canaletto Attribution Reinstated – Elise Effmann Canaletto Paints the Molo from the Ponte della Paglia – Katharine Baetjer View of the Grand Canal with Dogana and Guardi Studio Pictures – Helen Spande