Leonardo Painting’s Restoration Bitterly Divides Art Experts

PARIS — Leonardo da Vinci’s “Virgin and Child With Saint Anne” does not enjoy the same star status as his Mona Lisa. But for the Louvre, it is an equally treasured masterpiece.
Now a battle is raging over the painting’s restoration, pitting the museum and some experts who defend the project against others who believe the cleaning of the 500-year-old canvas has been too aggressive and may already have caused irreversible damage.
Two of France’s leading art experts have resigned from the advisory committee supervising the painting’s restoration to protest the way it has been conducted, according to art specialists have spoken to them.

Jean Louis Bellec/C2RMF (Detail of Leonardo's “Virgin and Child With Saint Anne,” after restoration.)

Neither of the two experts, Ségolène Bergeon Langle, the former director of conservation for the Louvre and France’s national museums, nor Jean-Pierre Cuzin, the former director of paintings at the Louvre, has publicly disclosed the precise reasons behind the resignations; the Louvre has not commented except to confirm their departures. 
“At every step along the way I prepared detailed reports in writing to the Louvre to explain my views, my wishes, my concerns” regarding the restoration of the Leonardo, Ms. Bergeon Langle said in a telephone interview. “I took the position for a long time that I would leave if certain red lines were crossed.”
Mr. Cuzin, meanwhile, was widely said to be unhappy that more rather than less work was done on the painting.
The cleaning of the painting was completed in mid-December, leaving a brighter, crowd-pleasing image. The resignations, particularly that of Ms. Bergeon Langle, who is regarded as one of the world’s leading experts in painting conservation, have rattled the Louvre and trained the spotlight on the work of its obscure committee of restoration advisers.

“Their departure is an extremely regrettable loss,” said Jacques Franck, consulting expert to the Armand Hammer Center for Leonardo Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a member of the advisory committee. “Bergeon Langle has always been considered a goddess in the field. There is no better expert than she. She is irreplaceable.”
It is common for experts to disagree over how far to go in restoring important masterpieces. The restoration of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel in the 1990s, for example, was criticized by many art experts who argued that much of his original work was lost in the removal of grime and candle smoke.


“The Virgin and Child With Saint Anne,” by Leonardo da Vinci, at the Louvre, before restoration work was started.

But the disagreements over the Leonardo restoration are unusual in that it comes from within the Louvre’s advisory body, a group of 20 experts without decision-making power but with global reputations.
“There is no unique truth, but it is fair to say that we haven’t shared the same views about what should and should not be suppressed, the degree of cleaning,” said Mr. Franck, who has written extensively about Leonardo’s painting techniques. “I would have felt quite happy and at ease with a dirtier picture — without bright hues.”
Museums like the Louvre are under pressure to attract audiences with blockbuster shows, often including showy masterpieces whose colors brighten up after thorough cleanings.
The Leonardo painting was acquired by Francis I of France in 1517 and is regarded as perhaps second only to the Mona Lisa among Leonardo’s later works. It is scheduled to go on display in an exhibition at the museum in March, so there is a rush to finish the restoration work.
A negative perception of the restoration of one of the most complex paintings by Leonardo could damage the museum’s reputation as a prudent, nonintrusive restorer.
Among other issues there were disagreements within the committee over whether a varnish on the painting was a glaze applied by Leonardo himself, something left by later restorers, or a combination of the two.

Source:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/arts/design/clash-over-restoration-of-leonardos-virgin-and-child.html?_r=1&ref=design

A version of this article appeared in print on January 4, 2012, on page C1 of the New York edition with the headline: Leonardo Painting’s Restoration Bitterly Divides Art Experts.