Judith (Giorgione)

Infobox Painting

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image_size=150px
title=Judith
Юдифь
artist=Giorgione
year=circa 1504
type=Oil on canvas (transferred from panel)
height=144
width=66.5
city=Saint Petersburg
museum=Hermitage Museum

"Judith" is a painting by the Italian painter Giorgione. It is one of the few authentic works by Giorgione owned by the Russian Hermitage Museum.cite web|url=http://www.jstor.org/pss/877353|title= The History of Giorgione's "Judith" and its restoration|author=T. Fomicieva |accessdate=2008-04-22] The painting, originally attributed to Raphael, came to the Hermitage in 1772 from Paris. Like many other paintings, it refers to the Judith and Holofernes motif.

Restoration works

In the late nineteenth century, a thick layer of dark yellow varnish covered "Judith", which completely distorted the original painting; in addition, restorations conducted at different times had falsified the artist's intentions. In 1893 the Hermitage restorer A. Sidorov accurately transferred the painting from panel to canvas. In 1967 it was decided to clean it, and the task was entrusted to A.M. Malova, a highly qualified restorer under the supervision of A.V. Brianzev, head of the easel paintings restoration workshop. General control consisted of experts from Leningrad and Moscow.

The painting was first thoroughly studied with UV rays and binocular microscope. UV and infrared images were taken, as well as X-rays. The examination showed that most of the damage was on the grass, ground and trunk. The old repaints covered broader areas than was necessary to restore the inflicted areas. The varnish was removed with a cotton tampon wetted in a special solution; other additional material was cleaned out using a very sharp scalpel under a microscope. Between two and six cm² of original painting was restored per day

The restoration was finished in 1971. The paints became bright and deep, and a tower and hilly landscape on the background were revealed.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/03/hm3_3_1c.html Hermitage website entry]