WATCH: Art expert cleans off old varnish without damaging the painting
Image: Twitter/@philipmould
A short video uploaded online and attracting netizen attention shows an art expert seemingly melting an old Jacobean painting, when in fact he was restoring it.
The video uploaded by art dealer and host of documentary show “Fake or Fortune” showed an art restoration expert at work in cleaning off old paint varnish.
A remarkable Jacobean re-emergence after 200 years of yellowing varnish 1/2 pic.twitter.com/yBGNGDcNd7
— Philip Mould (@philipmould) November 6, 2017
Artists used paint varnish as a protective layer to keep the actual art piece safe from damage. However, the varnish takes on a yellowish tint over time, so restoration experts have to clean it off and apply a new layer.
Image: Twitter/@philipmould
Cleaning off varnish may look easy but it actually involves extensive chemical knowledge. Experts would generally test solutions on different parts of the painting first to make sure that the chemical does not burn through the canvass.
Commenters were amazed and started discussing their insights about art restoration.
Image: Screen grab of comments from Twitter/@philipmould
As of this writing, the post has already been retweeted over 50,000 times, and has garnered over 129,000 likes. JB
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