The Salon de la princesse Mathilde, produced shortly before the untimely death of Giuseppe De Nittis (1886-1884), is characteristic of his art. The Italian impressionist painter, living in Paris, mixes worldly subjects and the search for an atmosphere. In his artistic practice, if he uses a lot of oil paint and watercolor, De Nittis is renowned for having been one of the great experimenters in the pastel technique, innovating in his preparations as well as in his formats. . Baron de Rothschild bought this painting from the artist, then offered it to the Beaufort museum in 1896, in a donation that also included La Petite Châtelaine, a famous bronze sculpture by Camille Claudel.
First restoration in 2012
The intervention carried out here aims to definitively solve the problems of upheavals and the risk of loss of material which had required a first restoration in 2012. Indeed, the layer of pastel is partly applied to a wooden board screwed on the top of the frame of the canvas to enlarge the drawing; however the wood deforms according to the rate of humidity. The work was therefore first laid flat for a long time, in a room with a constant climate. Then the restorer specializing in pastels Leïla Sauvage, who works mainly for the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, refixed the uprisings. Finally, the art restorer-cabinetmaker Gilles Tournillon made a climate chamber, inserted into the old frame, to insulate the work so that it remains at a constant and suitable temperature and humidity. Here he applies a technique comparable to that which he helped implement for La Joconde at the Louvre. And as with Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, which Gilles Tournillon regularly monitors, an electronic probe will in the future make it possible to control the climate inside the frame of the pastel by Giuseppe De Nittis at the Joseph Denais museum. The work thus stabilized should therefore no longer deteriorate in the coming decades and, for more precautions, can no longer be loaned for exhibitions outside the museum. The scientific management of this restoration is provided by Florian Stalder, Departmental Curator of Museums.
The financing of this restoration, at a total cost of 13,066.98 euros excluding taxes, is subsidized up to 25% by the Department, 20% by the Pays de la Loire Region and 20% by the State (DRAC Pays de la Loire), the remaining 35% being borne by the municipality of Beaufort-en-Anjou.
Giuseppe De Nittis, The Salon of Princess Mathilde, 1883, pastel on canvas and wood, 80 x 71 cm (with frame: 121 x 112 cm), Joseph Denais museum (Beaufort-en-Anjou), gift of Alphonse de Rothschild in 1896.