Damaged Renaissance drawing unseen for 400 years is restored for Buckingham Palace show

The drawing was in such poor condition that it could not be put in show but is now restored so it can be seen as its artist envisioned it

A 16th-century drawing that has not been on display for more than 400 years because of its poor condition will finally be exhibited after a painstaking conservation project.

The work by Bernardino Campi, a late Renaissance Italian artist, is a sketch for an altarpiece painting of the Virgin and Child.

It has been part of the Royal Collection for 200 years, but it was unable to be displayed because its surface was so creased and crinkled.

Now the major project taking 120 hours has stabilised its fragile condition, allowing it to be shown in the King’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace.

It will be exhibited alongside works including masterpieces by Leonardo and Michelangelo, in a major exhibition that opens on Friday, Nov 1.

Artists’ ‘cartoons’ rarely survive

The artwork is known as a cartoon, from the Italian word “cartone” – a large sheet of paper.

They rarely survive as they were functional tools of the trade that were never intended as works of art in their own right.

Artists used poor-quality paper that often would be damaged during the transfer process, either by pricking or incising the outlines, or with a grid to enlarge the design square by square, as in this example.

Research has revealed the drawing was created for an altarpiece in a church in the town of Codogno, south-east of Milan. Campi was in particular demand for altarpieces and frescoes in churches.

Martin Clayton, the head of prints and drawings at the Royal Collection, told The Telegraph: “This cartoon gives some insight into how paintings like this were produced. Campi didn’t just stand in front of an 8ft-high panel, chewing on the end of his brush and hoping for divine inspiration.

“Although, in many cases, we have a composition drawing or a figure study that corresponds to altarpieces, cartoons survive very rarely. If you were making a cartoon for any painting, you were going to use a lot of paper, so you’d use the cheapest possible because it was an expense.”

The black chalk drawing – which spans four sheets – measures 94cm x 71cm and is about a third smaller than the painting.

Experts involved with the conservation and study of the drawing include Dr Victoria Button, the head of paper conservation at the Royal Collection Trust, and Adam Gibson, the professor of medical physics and heritage science at University College London.

Multispectral images and analysis uncovered details that cannot be viewed by the naked eye. They show, for example, how the artist changed his mind over the hand position and fingers of the Virgin Mary.

The project also revealed an early inscription – “[L]a Madona d[i]/ S.Vitore” – on the reverse of the cartoon. It may relate to a monastery of San Vittore in Campi’s home city of Cremona, which was suppressed in 1798 and its artefacts seized during Napoleon’s first Italian campaign.

The cartoon seemed to have survived because, at an early date, it had been attached to canvas and framed as a devotional object. But that had affected the paper. Mr Clayton said: “It was very crinkled and abraded.”

The conservation included lifting it from a decaying canvas and allowing the crinkling to relax. Glue that was like “an unrolled brandy snap” was removed in a painstaking process that spanned eight days, Dr Button said.

The technology used has previously been used primarily for books and manuscripts, and experts are now exploring its potential for medical uses.

The Royal Collection boasts one of the world’s most important art collections, including significant Renaissance drawings. It is held in trust by the sovereign for his successors and the nation, and is not owned by the King as a private individual. The Campi is listed in George III’s inventory of around 1810.

The exhibition, Drawing the Italian Renaissance, will open on Nov 1 in The King’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace. It will feature some 160 works by more than 80 artists.

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