RECONSTRUCTION OF PROCESSION OF THE MAGI
TREATMENT
University of Delaware, Nikolas Lokhoff, egg tempera, gold leaf gilding on asbestos panel
ARTC 464 is a class of the Undergraduate Conservation Program at the University of Delaware that allows students to acquire conservation experience throughout the semester. For the paintings internship, donated panel reconstruction of Gozzoli's Procession of the Magi, reconstructed by Nikolas Lokhoff. The panel painting was deaccessioned from Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum. During this internship, students were tasked with compiling an annotated bibliography, a blog post on their progress, a condition report, and the treatment of their assigned panel. The original painting came to the University of Delaware in section. I examined, treated, and documented the gilded section of the painting.
Photo taken by Undergrad Angie Lopez
Benozzo Gozzoli, Procession of the Magi, 1459, tempera and oil
Nikolas Lokhoff, Procession of the Magi, 20th century
THE ARTISTS
The Procession of the Magi, originally, was painted by artist Benozzo Gozzoli, a well-known Italian painter during the Renaissance. Gozzoli was especially interested in fresco painting, which we see in the Procession of the Magi. The panels that consist of this original Procession of the Magi were painted with fresco for the chapel in the Medici Palace.
The painter of this reproduction of Procession of the Magi was an artist known as Nikolas Lokhoff, a Russian artist born in the 20th century.
DAMAGE KEY
Missing
Staining
All losses
Areas of loss
I chose the gilded section of the panel. This is the panel before treatment.
As this mock-up highlights, the panel has multiple losses and is covered in dirt and grime. There is also a big piece of the panel missing.
I chose the gilded section of the panel. This is the panel before treatment.
Gilded Panel
Before Treatment
Surface Cleaning
During Treatment
TREATMENT
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Document before, after and during the treatment process
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Create photographic map of damaged areas
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Losses, stains, missing areas, etc. will be color coded in order to navigate what must be treated
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Use UV to see if any repairs have been done previously
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Dry cleaning
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Acid free makeup sponges will be used in order to avoid driving dirt into the painting any further
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Aqueous Cleaning
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Spring water with cotton swab
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5% EDTA chelator was utilized in order to remove chemically bonded grime on the surface of the painting
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AQUEOUS CLEANING
After surface cleaning with cosmetic sponges, I moved to aqueous cleaning. First, I used cotton swabs dipped in spring water (not too wet). Finally, for the areas of grey and brown, I used 5% EDTA chelator with water to remove chemically bonded grime.
Water Aqueous Cleaning
Before
Water Aqueous Cleaning
After
Before
After
Chelator DI Water Cleaning
During Treatment
Before and After Chelator
During Treatment
THE BLOG POSTS
As a part of ARTC 464: Paintings Internship, students were tasked with writing a blog on their progress with the treatment of Nicholas Lokhoff's Procession of the Magi. As undergraduate social media representative, I collected the student's blogs and designed posts that were posted to UD's Art Conservation Instagram.
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I wrote the final blog post which outlined the internship so far, the work the students have done and future treatment for students to consider. After careful aqueous cleaning, future students may consolidate the losses and proceed to inpaint on the surface.
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For a more thorough treatment report of the Procession of the Magi, Click here: