New Insights into the Cleaning of Paintings

Preface
Paintings are among the oldest manifestations of human culture. The conservation
of this heritage has long concerned mankind, and the most critical and frequent
operation required is that of cleaning. Cleaning involves not only the removal of
accumulated dirt from the painted surface but also the removal of aged varnish that had
been applied to protect the paint layer(s).
In May 2010 a conference called “Cleaning 2010 International” was held at the
Universidad Politécnica de Valencia in Spain, in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s
Museum Conservation Institute. This was the first major international conference on
this topic in over two decades. The 20 papers and 19 extended abstracts presented at
the conference are included in this publication, grouped into four main categories: Ethics,
Aesthetics, Training, and Documentation; Traditional Media: Egg Tempera and Oil;
Modern Paints; and Cleaning Systems. Within each category, the papers and extended
abstracts are grouped by the specific topic they address to make it easier for the reader to
find all related material in one section. All papers and abstracts included in this publication
have been peer reviewed.
The opening section, Ethics, Aesthetics, Training, and Documentation, serves as an
introduction to the subsequent technical sections; it is a guiding principles section and is
complemented by those papers that address the training of conservators as well as documentation
issues during the cleaning intervention. The first paper, by Stephen Gritt of
the National Gallery in Canada, addresses the removal of patina, presenting a historical
look at the varying approaches to this issue. The second paper, by Konrad Laudenbacher,
former Head Conservator of the Doerner Institut in charge of the Neue Pinakotheke in
Munich, provides the insight of a long life devoted to paintings conservation. He discusses
the threats that accompany any conservation intervention as well as the even bigger
risks to which paintings are subjected when they are moved for exhibition. Popular
international exhibitions that circulate among major museums make these masterpieces
accessible to a large number of people worldwide, but there is a definite cost in terms of
the risk to the art, and it is feared that these costs are not correctly balanced. The third
paper corresponds to the keynote lecture presented by Stephen Hackney of the Tate Museum
addressing the art and science of cleaning paintings. This paper covers a wide area,
ranging from art historical to ethical and technical issues, and highlights the importance
of interdisciplinary collaboration.
The second and third sections are separated by the nature of the paint used for the
paintings, that is, into traditional painting media and into modern developed paints, although
they may share many of the same problems, such as the interaction with solvents.
The last section deals with different cleaning techniques, such as gels, soaps, enzymes,