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Laser cleaning of black panel painting
During the exhibition "The Art of Conservation" in the Rijksmuseum Twenthe in Enschede, the Netherlands, a wooden panel painting was cleaned with the laser cleaning station of Art Innovation. This painting, from a small pilgrim chapel in the south of the Netherlands (Chapel of the Holy Mary of Genooy), was completely covered in soot due to smoke from candles and oil lamps over many years. Underneath the soot an illustration of the "Entombment of Christ" was obscured. The image shows the figure of Christ removed from the Cross supported by Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, Saint John and a fourth male figure. Two female figures are placed in the left background, while Mary Magdalene is kneeling before Christ in the foreground.
Step by step the soot was removed from the panel. The layer of soot had a thickness of approximately 2-4 um. This layer was removed with a low laser fluence (energy per area) and only two pulses. The thick varnish layer underneath the soot protects the paint material, resulting in a safe laser cleaning setting.
The painting was cleaned by the SRAL (Stichting Restauratie Atelier Limburg) under supervision of conservator Kate Seymour. The size of the panel is approximately 1.4 by 2.0 meter.
Result during the first day. First the soot was removed from a part on the right side of the panel.
Result during second and third day
Result during fourth and fifth day
Last cleaning days
