This object was certainly a delight to work on! This painting had sadly seen better days; the paint surface was cracked and flaking, there was tearing to the upper-left corner of the canvas, and the original varnish layer had yellowed to the point that the original colours of the painting were completely obscured. 

 

The first and most satisfying job was to remove the original varnish layer. Thankfully this was easily removed and revealed the original colours of the painting were actually rather vibrant. However, the paint layer was sadly in a very poor state and had delaminated from the canvas material - the paint layer was consolidated with a diluted adhesive to attach it back to the canvas and prevent further damage. The canvas around the tearing was thin, so this was reinforced with a small patch of canvas on the reverse to strengthen the area.

 

Once consolidated and repaired, the areas of loss were filled and retouched to match the surrounding area. The painting was lastly coated in a layer of conservation grade varnish.