Building Committee Update - Dec. 7, 2022

07Dec

St. David’s altar triptych paintings are in the process of restoration at the shop of our specialist. According to him these are “high quality copies of the original paintings by Pietro Perugino, (Italian, ca. 1450-1523), originally painted for the Duke of Milan in approximately 1499, and presently in the collection of the National Gallery, London.” According to Daisy Barrett Tanner’s The History and Treasures of St. David’s Church, they were donated in memory of Fanny Chalmers Roberts (1847-1883) by her three sons and installed on New Year’s Day, 1933. The date when our copies were painted and who painted them remain unknown.

The paintings had a number of problems which the conservator will try to repair: patterns of cracks and “cupping” in the paint surfaces (apparent in the photo details of the head of St. Michael and the hand of the Angel Raphael), mismatched previous retouching, overly-harsh cleaning attempts, and adhered candle wax. The current lighting on the paintings makes the cracks more noticeable, especially when viewed from below while kneeling at the altar rail.

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