Csornay Boldizsár - Dobos Zsuzsa - Varga Ágota - Zakariás János szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 97. (Budapest, 2002)

FORRAI, KORNÉLIA HOÓS, MARIANNA-SOMOS, ÉVA: The Research and Restoration of a Painting on Panel, Transferred to Canvas, by Domenico Puligo. Madonna and Child with Saint Sebastian and Saint Roch

32. Radial section of the body of the wood. Polarized microscopic photograph, magnification x5 revealed that black poplar (Populus nigra L.) had been used to construct the panel (figs.29-32).

15 The technology of picture transferring was described as early as in 1752,

16 followed by a number of subsequent publications dedicated to the subject.

17 Considering the descriptions in these works in the light of our observations, it appears quite likely that the principal reason for the transferring of the Budapest painting was that the panel might have been infested with woodworm. First the surface of the deteriorated and weakened painting was pasted over with some material (presumably glue and linen), and then the panel was sawn or chiselled off from the back. According to one of the early descriptions,

18 this process used to be followed by scraping off the ground and the subsequently surfaced underdrawings. This source offers a possible explanation of the absence of any underdrawing on the infrared reflectograms. (Italian paintings of the 15 The examinations were carried out by Ildikó Boros, woodcarver-restorer. 16 See Kiss, op.cit. (n. 7.) 18. Gautier d' Agoty wrote an article on the so-called Virtuoso de Marseille, discussing the transfer method of the Italian restorer. 17 Ibid. 2-23. 18 Ibid. 60—64 (Appendix). This summary, discussing the restoration of Raphael's Madonna of Foligno, was translated from the French original of 1801 and appended to the 1803 book of J. Q. Jahn. 31. Chordal section of the body of the wood. Polarized microscopic photograph, magnification x5