Conserving Piero della Francesca's 'Nativity' | Art restoration | National Gallery

[@petersiwek4265]

That panel reopening must have been nerve-wracking! The results are astounding.

[@Figueiredoartconservation]

WOW, What a fabulous explanation these two Ladies did give us, such incredible information, such a beautiful painting, I am sure it will turn even more beautiful, like when Piero della Francesca did paint it.

[@jonrettich4579]

Thank you for showing the current history of this masterwork and introducing this superbly creative restorer. You present the fine art of aiding fine art and it’s value clearly and comprehensively. Thank you

[@anandai3480]

this is one of my favourite piero della francesca paintings and to be able to look at it with the curator and conservator is an amazing experience.

[@nationalgallery]

We couldn't agree more!

[@jameslouder]

I'd like to add a musicological footnote, if I may. The damage done when the old varnish was stripped included the loss of almost all details of the angels' instruments. Behind the lutenists is a vielle player with only the ghost of a bow, the bridge and strings lost in an ugly smear. The lutes retain their outlines, but strings, bridges, frets, and the details of the roses--all are lost. What survives of the roses suggests the loving detail Piero had lavished on them. And surely he would have depicted the colour and wood grain of the soundboards with the same care he brought to the drapery, the stones of the shed--and the teeth of the ass who merrily joins in the music. It's the more heartbreaking because the shape of a lute makes it notoriously difficult to depict in perspective. Thanks to Piero's mastery, his lutes are spot-on, perhaps the earliest such examples. Also intriguing--and frustrating--is the technique of the angel lutenists. The period after 1470 is the very time when the lute was transforming from the monodic medieval instrument, played with a plectrum, into the polyphonic lute of the Renaissance, plucked with the right-hand fingers. The angel on the right appears to be playing in the new style, with the little finger planted on the soundboard near lute's vanished bridge and the tips of the fingers spread to pluck the vanished strings. However, the angel on the left, with the third and fourth fingers gathered into the palm, might well have been holding a plectrum between the index and middle, it too gone with the varnish. Thus Piero would have captured the very moment in musical history when this transition was happening, soon to lead to lute's extraordinary efflorescence as the "Queen of Instruments."

[@cstz]

This was so interesting! Please keep us updated if you can, I'd love to accompany the rest of the process. Thank you for the video!

[@markgerth9115]

Kudos to the National Gallery for putting these up. They are incredible. More of them, more follow-ups, and longer please.

[@amolarteraffaella1412]

Piero della Francesca l'inventore della prospettiva, un genio dell'arte.

[@shinp0pp0]

My favourite masterpiece in National Gallery... still remember the first time seeing it, it was preserved with four other works of Piero and his teacher in a tiny room with lot of intimacy, and after they changed its place, I wonder when I will see them again. Thanks for bringing us into the conservation atelier, the story and working progress are fascinating.

[@victorg2217]

I loved every second of this video. Please keep us updated!

[@Eatwisdom]

What an amazing discussion and peek behind the scenes. I hope that the National Gallery will continue to be able to upload this kind of content!

[@lorettabertoli3736]

love love tgese videos!♥ I've been lucky enough to visit the NG a few times during the years and see Piero's works there as well as the Brera/Montefeltro altarpiece in Milan and the Flagellation and Senigallia Madonna in Urbino. He sure is perfection and I'd love to thank the conservator for her work on such a beautiful work from my country and for the wonderful explanation. thanks and season greetings to everyone.

[@fredericolourenco1972]

Wonderful! Thank you for this amazing video. I could listen to Jill for hours!

[@chrisfinlay3274]

Wonderfully informative video

[@domytar5395]

thankyou for this.

[@Figueiredoartconservation]

Outstanding explanation, just love it.

[@nicolarollinson4381]

Thank you.

[@X44J7]

A painting referenced in Downtown Abbey!

[@albertoguerra6051]

Please do a series on this restoration, as you did for Artemisia Gentileschi

[@MrPeteykins]

Badly damaged paintings can be like the most beautiful ghosts.

[@ebbelaurssoerensen3908]

Wonderfull !!!

[@favouritemoon4133]

Amazing video. That painting is so very worth restoring because it's so brilliant, but at the moment the losses - being in such straight lines - are so very distracting. Having such early records including photographs [however poor] about everything that was known about this painting in the late 1800s is just incredible. I would have *loved* a good look at each page of the documents you showed.

[@gafiasgafias]

Hi, I think it is important for you to explain to contemporary artists what they should say about their works to ease the work of future conservators. Nobody thinks about the future but, as an art lover, is it easier to redo a work by piero or a work by pollock or even emin?

[@gafiasgafias]

I say this because the materials are different as well as the techniques. You are able for example to unvarnished a painting because all the surface is painted while a Bacon is not. How is it for someone from your field to grasp that reality? Is it feasible or should they paint according to what you can do on your laboratory studio?

[@missgunst4152]

Love her…..!

[@randolphfriend8260]

❤

[@DanDan-fu6sd]

Wow, tough call. I think i would have left it alone.

[@simonevans343]

FUNNY THE RESTORER SHOULD MENTION BEING A CHILD AS IM NOW SIXTY FIVE AND WHEN A CHILD THE NEAREST THING ONE HAD TO RECREATION WAS JIG SAW PUZZELS . THIS IS THE EARLIEST ONE I REMEMBER MY PARENTS OWNING. SORRY FOR THE CAPITOLS . IM NOT SHOUTING