Trinity Crowning the Virgin, Before Treatment
Trinity Crowning the Virgin
Artist: Unknown
Title: Trinity Crowning the Virgin
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Date: 18th-century (est.)
Dimensions: 54 1/4” x 31”
This painting depicts the biblical scene of Virgin Mary’s coronation by a pictorial representation of the holy trinity, sometimes referred to as the triplet trinity. The artist is unknown. This painting is part of a large donation to the DMA of Latin Colonial paintings.
Condition Summary
The painting is on un-stretched linen canvas with multiple holes and losses, along with flaking paint. Both canvas and paint are at severe risk of further loss even with proper handling. In its current condition, it requires horizontal storage and cannot be displayed safely.
Materials in Colonial Latin American Paintings
While Colonial Latin American Paintings are certainly influenced by their European counterparts, they are stylistically and materially distinct. Often times the nuanced differences in materials has been difficult to ascertain due to previous interventions on paintings such as lining. However, the DMA has acquired a large donation of minimally treated Colonial Latin American paintings that could serve as rich primary sources of material knowledge. Trinity Crowning the Virgin has some stellar examples of the structural and material difference between typical European paintings and the practices of the Spanish colonies now know as Latin America. These differences are illustrated below. For further reading on the subject, I recommend “Eighteenth-Century Canvases of Easel Painting from New Spain: The Case of the Apostolate Series of Atizapan, Mexico.” by Claudia Alejandra Garza Villegas and Naitzá Santiago Gómez.
Click on each image for an enlarged version.
Holes: Evidence of Previous Use
Research suggests painters in Colonial Latin America re-used canvas trade bags to serve as their textile supports. Trinity Crowning the Virgin is likely an example of this re-use of material. From the back, old holes can be seen that are distinct from the current tears. The holes are have somewhat consistent shapes and are often found in lines or distinct patterns. This lends credence to the possibility they were used to hold the fabric in shape as a bag or some other practical use item. They are also all treated with a layer of consolidant that could possibly be original to the painting.
Back of painting: previous use hole marked in red and possible paper locations marked in blue, canvas image desaturated for easier discernment of marks
An example of previous-use hole,
x10 magnification
Another example of previous-use hole, x10 magnification
Detail of back showing multiple holes, indicated by orange circles
Paper Patches
Tied to the holes seen from the back are paper strips that exist between the canvas and preparatory/paint layer on the front. These strips of paper follow the lines of holes seen on the back. This further indicates the holes were part of the textile’s structure prior to being used as a canvas. Base on what my supervisor, Laura Hartman, and her Latin American colleagues have said, these paper repairs below the paint and ground layers are almost exclusively seen in paintings from Colonial Latin America, making it a relatively understudied and unique characteristic of these kinds of paintings. The paper strips are original repairs that need to be treated carefully, as they help build a better understanding of the materials and techniques of painters of the time period.
Example of a long paper strip along the top of the painting, the paper is visible at the edge of losses
Smaller loss that shows more of the paper edge
Treatment Proposal Summary
This painting requires a great deal of structural work before display can be considered. First steps would include consolidation of flaking paint, stabilization of lifting original paper mends, and flattening canvas distortions. To allow safe access to the front and back for subsequent tearmending, an edge lining would be necessary to attach the painting to a working stretcher. As this canvas is such a treasure-trove of material information from an understudied culture, it was important to reduce the footprint of conservation intervention. In that vein, thread-by-thread tearmending would be the primary technique used to address tears and smaller losses. Larger losses would be addressed with custom inserts. Once all losses are addressed, the painting - using the edge lining - would be stretched and attached to a custom stretcher. Surface cleaning needs to be further assessed afterwards, followed by filling and inpainting.
A full treatment proposal and partial treatment report can be downloaded for further information. Please note I only completed a small portion of this overall treatment. Below are select images of the treatment process.
Click on each image for an enlarged version.
Before Treatment, Normal Light, Recto
Before Treatment, Normal Light, Verso
X-radiograph (stitched image)
Edge lining
Edge lining with hand-fringed linen and two layers of BEVA film attached to three edges, bottom edge required full access for tearmending and inserts, temporary cotton lengths attached where stable
Edge lining used to establish tension (necessary for tearmending) on a working stretcher. Duct-tape strips used to easily adjust tension, this is a temporary method (PC: Laura Hartman)
Thread-by-Thread Tearmending
I spent the majority of my summer learning to thread-by-thread tearmend on this nickel-sized L-shaped tear. I started with the traditional adhesive of 1:1 20% sturgeon glue:15% wheat starch paste, but later added use of EVACON adhesive. The EVACON was added as needed, because the 1:1 was not penetrating the fibers enough to provide adequate hold. I did some fiber ID and it seems only to contain linen, however Laura Hartman - my supervisor - has had similar problem with other Latin Colonial paintings. She theorizes the preparation method of the canvas might affect how it behaves and will not interact the same as a typical linen canvas would.
Tearmending under magnification (PC: Laura Hartman)
Before tearmending (verso)
During tearmending (recto)
After tearmending (verso)
After Tearmending (recto)
During Tearmending, blue tape used to gently hold tension as threads are added to better align the tear edges