Wow, so I can't believe how incredibly busy I have been these past three weeks. It feels like forever since I last wrote in my blog, but I have so much to share with you all. I hope that, now I have access to the internet again (long story), I will take the next couple of days to share with you all my progress and some of the exciting things that have been happening here at Basildon Park. As there is a lot to catch up on, I thought I'd stagger my posts over the coming days until I am up to date with that has been happening.
I will start with what I think is one of the most exciting things that I've done since I have been here in Basildon. It also comes under the most nerve racking, scary and apprehensive thing I've done since I've been here. Last Wednesday it was sprung upon me that we were to move some paintings in the library in to the conservation room on the top floor. This was in preparation for an examination by an art conservator who was coming to write a report on the condition of the paintings prior to their loan in Versailles at the beginning of next year. When being told this, my mind immediately tried to imagine the library and which paintings were in there, before I realised that they were all really big pictures! I asked Neil and Emma, "Which paintings are we moving exactly?" and they replied, "The two Charles de La Fosse paintings, 'The Rape of Europa' and 'Rinaldo and Armida', the big ones by the entrance". They weren't kidding. These things were huge. They're both an impressive 163.8 by 134.6cm. Logistically, taking them down off of the wall was quite a challenge. It required 5 of us to carry it up the 2 flights of stairs to the conservation room.
Firstly,we had to clear our path in preparation for transporting the painting. This involved moving furniture in the library in order to have space to place the ladder near the paintings. We also cleared the staircase hall and made sure the stairs were free. We then lay down a series of dust sheets on the floor directly underneath the painting, as well as ensuring that at least one of us has a steady supply of foam blocks. The foam blocks are used when needing to rest the painting on the ground, or against a wall. (Trust me when I say that these paintings are *heavy* and so the foam blocks saved my back and hands as we took regular breaks in carrying it). When all of that was laid out in preparation, I was responsible for climbing up the ladder, unscrewing the electric light which was fixed to the frame, and then carefully unhooking the painting off its hooks on the wall. I say 'carefully', but that is an understatement.
I have never been so careful with anything in all my life. Then came the scary part, which involved carrying it out of the library door, in to the entrance hall, through the door in to the grand staircase hall, up the grand staircase, through the conservation room hall way door, through the conservation room door, and finally on to their pedestals in the conservation room. As the doors were barely much taller than the frames of the paintings, we had to get on our hands and knees to ensure that we didn't knock any of the gold leaf gilding off the frames in the process of moving them. We only knocked one of the paintings once. Luckily, no damage was done at all... except to my nerves as my heart was in my throat! After carrying the first painting to the conservation room, it was then that our House Steward, Neil, informed us of their 6 figure value and 330 year old age. I wish he had saved that until *after* we had taken both paintings upstairs, and not with one left to go!
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Rape of Europa - The scene shows the story of the abduction/rape of Europa. In Greek mythology, Zeus was infatuated with Europa and to get close to her, morphed himself into a tame white bull.Whilst gathering flowers, Europa came across the bull, caressed his flanks and eventually climbed on to his back. Zeus took that opportunity to abduct her and ran to sea, swimming all the way to the island of Crete. It was there that he revealed his true identity and Europa became the first Queen of Crete. Zeus later recreated the shape of the white bull in the stars,which is now known as the constellation Taurus. It is likely that this was painted shortly after 'Rinaldo and Armida' between roughly 1686 and 1702, as a pendant to it.
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| Rinaldo and Armida - The scene in this painting is taken from the poem by Torquato Tasso, 'Gerusalemme Liberata', which was written in 1574. It shows the abduction of the crusading knight, Rinaldo, by the Saracen witch, Armida. To the left you can just about see a small pillar, upon which was an enchantment which lured him to Armida's island where he was lulled to sleep by a water nymph. Armida emerged with the intent of murdering him, but was instead overwhelmed by his beauty. She then bound him with woodines, lillies and roses, before carrying her away captive in her palace. It is likely that this was painted in France in 1686. |
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| Myself standing next to 'The Rape of Europa' painting. This gives you a better idea of the scale of the painting. The best thing about having them off the wall like this was being given the rare opportunity to examine them up close and to really appreciate them in a different way. It's quite a privilege, really. |
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| Neil, our House Steward, examining our work after taking down the first painting, 'Rinaldo and Armida'. You can see the dust sheets underneath the painting, and it is also resting on foam blocks, to protect the weight of the painting from itself as it sits on the floor. Even getting it off the wall was pretty tiring. And that was the 'easy part'. |
The next day, they were examined by the art conservator. She is a lady who specialises in art conservation, and works mostly freelance but also for the National Portrait Gallery in London. She examined the paintings under a special light, and ultimately decided that they were probably not suitable for such a long journey as to Versailles. She explained that if they were left on the wall, they would most probably by okay for another few decades. However, if they were to be transported, it would almost certainly need to be relined (which means replacing the canvas on the painting), removing the cracked glaze and recolouring the areas that have faded underneath it, and cleaning the surface of the painting before re glazing it with a modern varnish. This would take an awful lot of work and, ultimately, is in the hands of the gallery in Versailles,as they are the ones who would be paying for the restoration. Why do they pay and not the National Trust? Because as a form of compensation for having to loan the paintings out for such a long time, it is generally agreeable for the other party to pay for any transportation or restoration costs that are needed to be carried out before they are given on loan. This is why it is interest for the National Trust to loan its collections wherever possible.
They were only off the walls for 24 hours, before we had to do it all in reverse the next day!
It was by far the most exciting thing I've done since I've been here. I hope there's more to come. That's all for now. I look forward to sharing with you all the rest of my news later in the week.
Until then,
Best wishes,
Craig
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