Scene in the park

Title Scene in the park
School France
Date First half of the XVII century
Material Linen, silk, silver thread
Technique Embroidery, applique
Workshop Objects Conservation
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A rather unique conservation treatment of a of XVII century French embroidery and applique panel Scene in the park took place in 2006.

The panel arrived to the workshop in an extremely bad condition. The surface of the piece had numerous blemishes on it. The base of the panel ­– a linen canvas with appliques made with silk fabrics like satin, damask, velvet, muslin, as well as lace and embroidery, was badly damaged. Adhesives dried the silk out and made it fragile, which led to numerous losses and cuts. Elements of embroidery made with silk and metallic threads had many losses as well. The piece lived through several renovations and conservation treatments.

The central piece of the panel and its decorated margins were made at different times. Given the piece's large scale the decision was made to treat the parts separately, and then put them back together.

After cleaning the piece with water, plasticizing, and fixing the deformities at the vacuum table, the panel was consolidated and lined with silk fabrics of different density, coloured in appropriate tones with metallic and acidic dyes. When needed, the silk fabrics were covered with synthetic thermoplastic acrylic adhesive. The areas of losses and cuts were lined with silk, sprayed with adhesives on both sides, after that the background of each coloured fragment was covered with thin translucent silk. The elements of the floral pattern were also covered with toned tiffany fabric. The lining was attached to the piece with a thin silk thread.

Aside from the Pushkin Museum conservators, specialists from other museums and institutions of Moscow took part in the structural and technological analysis of the piece. The conservators who took part in the studies were N. Sinicyna, I. Borodin, O. Popova, A. Kurnyshova, T. Cherkasova, A. Rebrova, A. Shulinina, O. Lantratova, and O. Orfinskaya.