From Ruff to Refined Part 2
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- čas přidán 19. 11. 2023
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Hiding beneath an old and heavily discolored natural resin varnish exists a stunning Elizabethan portrait of a woman telegraphing her wealth and status. But to truly see her as she wished to be seen, we must first transform her from Ruff to Refined.
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Thank you JB! This channel may have saved my life/marriage last week. Here’s the story:
Last week my wife was out of town, leaving my son and I alone. While wrestling around, we accidentally tore a pillow embroidered by my late mother in law… one with significant sentimental value to my wife. 😮 Knowing my life/marriage was in the balance, I employed the techniques learned here. I removed the stitches holding the pillow together with a scalpel, ironed the panels flat, tacked a heat-activated film adhesive to the back of the embroidered panel, placed it on a matching color cotton lining cloth, aligned the threads of the torn portion using fine tweezers, used an iron to activate the adhesive film and bond the torn panel to the new cotton lining, and reassembled the pillow…
I showed my wife upon her return yesterday, and she could barely see the damage, even when looking for it! She actually thought it looked and felt BETTER than before! My son and I went from a certain death sentence to being praised because of what I learned here. I wouldn’t have had a clue what to do if I didn’t regularly watch your videos. Thanks. 👍
NO WAY! LPL!? CZcams is awesome 😂
Just legends commenting too other legends 💯
This is the lockpickinglawyer and today I'm going to show you how to get into my own house after my wife kicked me out for destroying her embroidered pillow.
@@HJOFprojects😂😂😂😂😂
But now you need to do it again so that we can see that it's not a fluke.
LPL watching Baumgartner to repair a pillow. The crossover I didn't knew I needed. lol
Nothing gets me more jazzed than painted lace. Unless you count Julian's tiny vacuum in which case, that wins every time
that tiny vacuum does it for me. 😂
Right?!
I look forward to when he says Washi Kozo.
Its always the face that I hold out for
This is a positive reply….😂 I wish I was that easily pleased! 😅 I’m just off to slap myself! 😂
"13:25 ...with an old bristle brush that's on the last leg of its life but still wants to participate." That hits so close to home for me.
🙌🥲❤
Seeing her hair turn from dark brown to auburn with that isolation later was so beautiful it almost hurt. Stunning
These videos make me look at every museum trip differently. There are SO many classical paintings hanging up in major museums with yellowed old varnish, that would be absolutely stunning with the kind of work JB does. It reminds me a lot of when I saw a restored Sistine Chapel fresco exhibit. Seeing the actual colors for the first time in centuries must have made people fall out of their chairs and scaffolds.
The restoration team was probably awestruck!!
The church was absolutely aghast, though! Took some convincing to get them to believe that, yes, Michelangelo really did use bright reds and near-neon greens, it had just been so dirty that the colors had been muted.
i had the good fortune to see the Sistine Chapel during the restoration process. The front fresco had been cleaned as well as one width of the ceiling. I could see (with my own eyes) the dirt and soot and crud that had long been considered part of the artwork. But really wasn't. The colors were stunning the cleaned areas were mesmerizing in the beauty they revealed. The restoration did not 'remove' the cherubs/figures loin clothes, but how interesting that the clothes were not part of the original creation. To say I was gobsmacked would be an understatement.
If I remember right, there were people who were sure that the conservators had somehow damaged or overbrightened the colors of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. They couldn’t believe Michelangelo worked with such a radiant palette.
That is because they did damage the painting. Almost all fresco painters used a secco layer after the plaster was dry. The restoration team decided that Michelangelo worked exclusively in buon fresco, i.e. on freshly laid plaster, and did not come back and add details a secco (once the plaster had dried). They then used a solvent that stripped the ceiling back to its paint-impregnated plaster and removed any work Michelangelo might have completed a secco, to make changes or add further detail. There are several areas of the frescoes where eyeballs were previously discernible but have now been removed.
By stripping the painting back to the buon fresco layer; researchers assumed that all of the wax and soot were built up over years of using candles in the chapel. During the renaissance it was a common for artists to lay down bright, contrasting colours side-by-side in buon fresco, allowed the plaster to dry and then painted on carbon black in a wash of glue to suggest shadows and add definition. The effect of cleaning off this carbon black means there is a loss of dramatic intensity, shadow and definition in several places on the ceiling.
What you are left with is an underpainting. That lacks definition, depth and detail. Today we have the technology to be able to see the multiple layers that were original to the painting. If the restoration had taken place thirty years later this could have been avoided. It’s hard to argue that what is left is the actual painting finished by Michelangelo. Considering it doesn’t have shadows and figures are missing their eye balls.
I was absolutely FASCINATED when cleaning off that discolored varnish revealed the blue tint to the sitter's sclera. I was wondering whether you'd mention it- it's a tantalizing hint to her identity, and the life she may have lead. While it's true that it could be an artistic choice, sclera with a blue tint or ring can indicate several health conditions, including connective tissue disorders like Ehler's Danlos and Marfan, brittle bone disease, brittle corneas, iron deficiency or anemia, arthritis, and excessive silver exposure, among others. Several of these conditions have a genetic component, which would make sense if she was nobility and the condition was reinforced along the family line; iron deficiency or argyria could both have implications about her class, as well as other health issues she may have suffered.
This is so cool, thank you!!
This was one of the most dramatic restorations I've seen Julian do. The finished product really is stunning. I have to disagree with Julian, though, when he said the lace may look easy to paint, but it's really not. No, the lace absolutely looks incredibly hard to paint. There was never any doubt that it was difficult.
Indeed. I agree completely. It looks really hard to do.
There is a difference in making it for the first time, and remaking it. When simply remaking it, as he says he doesn't need it to be perfect. It just needs to be good enough that people standing a meter away don't notice it, while the original painter *did* need to make it perfect.
For anyone who wants to know the music when Julian is cleaning, I think it’s Sonata 12, in F Major, Kv 332, Mvmt 1 by Mozart ❤
I really wish he would list the music he uses. Thanks for doing the job for him. :)
THANK YOU!! 👏👏
I would have liked to hear music from the period of the painting.
@@tinydancer7426I feel that way about many videos but unfortunately, that music may not be available.
I knew it!! It sounded like Mozarts style 😊
That’s one of the best Elizabethan wedding portraits I’ve seen. The face is especially well modelled and painted. For what would have been an expensive commission it’s a little surprising that there’s no armorial cartouche to indicate her family line.
Thank you so much for bringing her back to life.
The fact that the very top of her hair is cropped indicates that the painting was likely much larger and probably included the missing elements such as an artist's signature and armorial cartouche.
@@Lethgar_Smith if you check out other Elizabethan portraits you’ll see that filling the canvas top to bottom was the style of the time. Rather like the industrial proportions of Venetian ceruse (white lead & vinegar) that both Queen Elizabeth and this sitter used for foundation. Both look very odd to our eyes.
Yeah but he mentioned at the beginning of part one that the painting appeared to be cropped. For one, the signature is missing and the fact that the outfit she is wearing is also heavily cropped on the sides. Not to mention the general proportions of the painting are a bit unusual which leads me again to conclude a lot of the outer edge of the painting is likely missing. Possibly as much as 3 to 4 inches from the sides and maybe an inch or two from top and bottom. The original signature was possibly small and unobtrusive and located near the very bottom of the original edge of the painting.
It's much easier to trim a painting to fit into an existing frame rather than build a custom frame to fit the paintings exact dimensions. Most paintings of this age have probably been trimmed more than once in their lifetime.@@sam1812seal
@@sam1812seal True, but there’s always still at least a tiny bit of space between the hair and the top of the canvas. This cuts off the hair at the top. You also usually see more of the sitter’s arms/hands, which makes me think this was cropped at some point over the years. There’s just a lot of evidence that this isn’t the full portrait, in my opinion.
@@Lethgar_Smith Thank you, I was wondering about that myself. I can think of a lot of reasons why a high-Elizabethan portrait might be cropped in this manner, religious, social, and political earthquakes being frequent in that era. Also, in an era before photographic reproduction, it would be a great way to conceal the identity of a stolen artwork whose identity would only be traceable through descriptions. Whatever the reason, Mystery Lady has waited patiently for a world-class restoration, and between the sitter, the artist, and the restorer, she is now back with us in her original exquisite form..
Just an instance of how art can connect the painter to a viewer countless years later: when Julian removed the varnish from the eyes at the end of the cleaning process, I saw my mother’s eyes and was filled with an indescribable emotion.
The sitter really does look very much like my mother when she was young. Her hair texture and color, her eyes and eyebrows, even her nose.
Thank you for bringing this painting to us, the work of the artist is absolutely breathtaking in its detail and care and was a joy to behold!
As someone old enough to be on the "last leg of life" I empathised with your old bristle brush!
Fabulous work, as usual. When I watch other restoration channels, I am always thinking, "Julian wouldn't do it like that..." Sometimes, I start to wonder if I slipped unknowingly into a cult! "All hail the Great Baumgartner!"
You have. And that's okay.
This is a true demonstration of skills. The lacemakers, dressmakers, the artist, the restorer. And we get to look at it all. In detail! Magical.
My cat is watching these with me. I think she's almost as entranced as I am!
Has anyone else run across other conservator channels similar to this? And if so, have you also found yourself watching their processes and thinking "That's not how you do it.". lol
Given how strongly I feel when someone uses staples, I'm kinda worried I've somehow been indoctrinated into a cult here... XD And then there was the one that put a new layer of varnish over the old, yellowed one!
@@ilfardrachadi2318 I found myself singing Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares", while reading and agreeing with your comment.
@@ilfardrachadi2318 I consider myself a logically minded person and I 'm not invested in art at all, but seeing how attentive Julian is to the finest of details has convinced me that his methods are the soundest. Others do fine work to be sure, but they're just not quite "this work". Ya know?
I have only seen one other, and found them to greatly suffer by comparison with our dear Julian!!
As another great restorer @ICWELD states, this is not how to do it, it’s just how I do it!
I don't know why but I think this is my new favorite restoration. There's something about seeing the brilliance of the gems and pearls come out from under the old varnish that is just spectacular.
I will add, that this was indeed a STUNNING transformation. I've seen you make big differences with paintings before, but this one..... Wow.
I started to worry when her face came up so pale. I thought paint must be coming off with the varnish, until I remembered this is an Elizabethan painting. Beautiful work!
I am convinced that us who watch Julian religiously could set us together and restore a painting mostly like he would. Each group focuses on their own area, be it the stretcher, the varnish, retouching etc. we could do it.
Sir, listening to you is the Bob Ross of the 21st century. We'd watch Joy of Painting every day after school just to chill out and watching today helped me keep my calm and breathe. Thank you so very much! (Plus, I learn a lot and your work is beautiful!)
Your practice of knocking out a relatively simple step, for an "easy win", is one I've incorporated into my own work. I used to tackle the worst things first, thinking there was virtue or at least efficiency in that. You've shown me a better way.
the frame tutorial took this to a whole new level. Truly one of your great videos.
As a framer, I was thinking "Heck yeah the frame changes the way you see the painting!"
The old varnish might have been too thick, but wow, it did its job. Given the age of the painting, it is in excellent condition
Edit: other than the fly poop lol
Flypoop is a b#*tch!😂
This had my nine year old absolutely riveted…even this year’s Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum couldn’t do that. Bravo!!
Now that she’s clean and varnished, she looks like she could start talking you from the frame. You practically brought her to life!
My 5 year old was so excited for this video tonight. He loves watching them before bed, ‘broken painting that’s fixed!’ he says. The painting is his favourite part
The 2nd, 4th, and 7th frame examples he gave look beautiful around that painting imo, it's crazy seeing the options back-to-back change the vibe so much 😳
What a spectacular survivor of her age! She desperately needed the TLC, but now she looks so good it's incredible to think how old she is.
It takes a master to restore a masterpiece. A work of art indeed.
I love those blacklight views of the retouching :D It's so fascinating to see the little spiderweb traceries of delicate little touches.
Doesn't matter how many of these videos I watch, this process just takes my breath away every time. It feels like such a gift, to be included in even this small way💜
Julian, it looked like her expression changed as you cleaned and retouched the painting. She looked so pleased that this was being done and happy to have it back the way it originally looked. You worked your magic on this and made this unknown lady truly smile again. Amazing.
This type of cleaning video just scratches that itch on my brain. Thanks for that!
This painting is absolutely stunning. The reflection of light, the deep colors. I’m so glad someone restored it. Excellent job.
As with the prior part receiving a special compliment of mine, you just did it again! What a brilliant approach to showcase your restoration with different frames. It truly transforms the piece! Thank you for the additional effort to add even more value to your enlightening content and gift to the art world.
You have a true gift, especially for retouching. You are currently working on a family heirloom of mine, and I can't wait to see it transformed when you are finished with it!!
I have watched other "masters" at work on restoring old paintings, and you sir are by far the very best I have ever seen. You take your time, no short cuts and working as if were your own. Bravo
I'm an artist myself (not pro or anything, but I think I'm pretty decent) and if any of my paintings were ever damaged in the future, this is exactly the kind of person I'd want them to go to!
The colour difference between the clean ruff and the dirty one is staggering. But to paint then is even a better skill!
That lace! That face! This is my favourite period in history with which I dabbled (sorry) in university. Such a beautiful painting. The sitter’s sense of. Composure. The intricacy of the artist’s execution of that delicate lace. What also strikes me every time, Julian, is your sure and certain sense of colour which is, of course, your stock in trade, but nevertheless you are always so perfect at it. This has to be one of my favourites of your restorations. How lucky the owners are to possess it. Thank you!
I'd swear her smile became a little wider and happier for being revealed again for the first time in who knows how long.
Who would have thought her pupils were so exquisitely painted under there? Gorgeous
Yeah part two 🙂Can`t wait to watch it!
The eyes are fascinating after cleaning - what a great expression they have 😮
I would like to see the face of your customer when you present them the finished painting. They must have tears in their eyes when they see the cleaned painting for the first time.
one of my favourites for sure ❤
Wow-it will be interesting if they ever get more historical information about her. The frame part really makes you understand how it can change the appearance of the presentation of the painting on the wall to look at her as a whole. Thank you for your talent
Just as a matter of interest. I make bobbin lace. In the time of this painting lace was more expensive than jewels and so by wearing that much lace she is really making a statement. I loved seeing you clean the lace part. Oh to be honest I love watching every part of your restorations. You are restoring them to their original state.
I can't believe how those frames made it look so different!
I love how he works 100 hours doing pretty flawless work and then is super proud of the way he neatly folds and tacks the canvas edges to the stretcher. "Nice painting Jules!" "Yeah sure whatevs It's fine but flip that mf around you're gonna SH*T!"
Haha!!
That pearl earring was WOW!!
I wish we could see your clients’ reactions. I often wonder if they “gasp” as I do so when I see such transformations. Another job VERY well done!❤
Oh, My Goodness. What a change. Wonderful job.
Oh oh oh! The pearls! The jewels! The gold embroidery! THE LACE! Beautiful. Amazing. Thank you for sharing this with us!
And your retouching! Julian, YOU are amazing.
Stunning!
Always a pleasure to come along. Thank you!
It's amazing how much detail is there on this ruff. imo only true gifted artists are capable of doing such things.
And even the plain muslin part is amazing
@@lazygardens Indeed.
For me it's the cleaning. I love the transformation from dark to bright.
Thank you Julian for another half hour of sanity and perfection (as close to as you can get anyway). This is a beautiful painting and it makes me wonder what history it has if it could talk.
What a beautiful portrait, I'm in awe at the skill of the artist who painted this piece.Thank you for sharing the experience with us.✌️
That painting is absolutly stunning! When you clean it the details rise up and the flat surface becomes threedimensional. Why would someone so talented not sign his work?
You are a master of your craft!
I know for a fact, had I done the schooling and learned art restoration when young, I would have LOVED this profession. I became a graphic artist instead. I just LOVE close up detail work using hands and eyes and wish I’d taken that career path, working either on my own like Julian or for a museum. I am living vicariously through you and love your channel.
I don’t know why but the cleaning of the ruff was what I looked forward to the most in this video
💙 The more varnish you took off of her face, the happier she became.
She sat in a beautiful blue room for her painting. 😁
I WISH you would make a looong compilation video of just scraping the lining and old glue off the back of paintings, not just a couple squares for demonstration, no THE WHOLE progress from start to finish, no talking, just the sound of the dull blade scraping gently through the swollen adhesive, for like an hour real time, I WOULD LOVE THIS.
Not a pearl fan myself, but wow are those some nicely painted pearls and jewelry
So interesting to see her with a variety of frames. She is beautiful in each one. I can see how they would act as a gown for her in whatever setting she calls home.
Incredible transformation helped by the fact that the source material was a masterpiece.
I legit think I could watch you clean paintings all day if given the opportunity 😅 Always a joy when you post~
The way the eye came alive as the varnish was removed and that hint of blue revealed..................exquisite.
Having made lace of various kinds I can tell you that painting this lace and getting it this correct in detail is an art unto itself.
Dang its amazing how its transformed and changed colors as you cleaned it!
Wow. This might be my favorite transformation yet. The delicacy was completely lost to the old yellow varnish. Your work brought out the true beauty the artist intended the viewer to see!
Dang, that’s one filthy painting! Those pearls! That blue reflection in her eyes… what a stunning painting!!!!
I think this might be the kost beautiful peice I've seen you work on. I don't know what it is but I just feel drawn towards her. The artists skill is insane.
Julian…you ARE an artist!🤗
The way the pearl blooms with cleaning is just so fulfilling. What an artist!!
So much skill and talent here. The restorer, the artist, and the embroiderers, jewellers and lacemakers. Beautiful.
The shading on the upper pearls is amazing. So realistic.
Bravo!! What a performance, Julian! Your talent never gets boring or rote...it is amazingly fresh and brilliant and perfect. "Ruff-ael" (😊) is gorgeous and intact once more. If she is this beautiful on video I can't imagine what she might look like in person. ❤️ What a lovely way to start a Monday afternoon!!
Thank you, once again, for bringing us along for the ride. It was a wonderful adventure!!
This one was one of my favorite transformations. Amazing work
I'm usually at work when these drop! So excited to watch it right away instead of hours or days later!
They always drop just as I should be heading in to work. Needless to say, I'm always late on Monday.
The painting of the lacework is masterful, it not only captures the essence of the work, but the detail of the stitching. And I speak as both an illustrator and a fiber artist. This is exceptional.
Edit to add: if it was me, the second frame is the one I’d choose. The interlacing echoes the lace in the painting. Elegant, and not overly flamboyant.
Agreed, the second frame suited the painting so much.
It bothers me that we dont know the sitter or the artist but because of art and its patrons they live forever. Spectacular .
A truly beautiful transformation, Julian! I feel that the painter themselves would tip their hat to you for your empathic and restrained restoration of their masterwork.
Hurrah, part two! What a beautiful young woman you’ve revealed with your skills.
The difference before and after is incredible and the amount of work to stabilize the painting before touch up was huge. Your patience is
enviable. Your videos are so satisfying to watch.
Omg thank you for showing more of the cleaning process! This makes me unbelievably happy
I'm always impressed by the mastery & attention-to-detail of these portrait painters, especially when it comes to the lighting and three-dimensionality of fabrics, jewellery, hair, etc. But my mouth dropped open in shock @ 3:10 ... not only did this artist render those beautiful & complex geometric lace designs so faithfully, but they even painted the patterns on the _inside_ folds of the ruffle! It's a detail you'd struggle to capture in a photograph, yet this artist has gone to the effort of painting the pattern where its barely visible, tucked in shadows... just to enhance the intricacy & impressiveness of this lady's attire. Truly impressive. 👏
I'm not even done watching part 1. I keep on falling asleep. 😅
What a gorgeous painting, a beautiful lady, and a wonderful paradox - your work is truly at its best when no one can tell you ever touched the painting. Bravo, once again.
That first frame is perfection! It repeats the motive of the buttons on her gown 😍
This might be my favorite. Brilliant job.
As always, it's a joy to watch each painting be returned to a place of beauty and serenity. It would be fascinating to see you complete your own painting that shows the artistry of Baumgartner. We can only imagine what the would be like ... to see a Baumgartner painting being made would be wonderful.
The painting is so beautiful. Her eyes, her smile. Breathtaking. Honestly it made me tear up. Just stunning.
What a stunning transformation! She is beautiful! Well done as always!
All that detail in the dress and lace just had me in awe.
In my opinion, the 2nd frame you showed goes with this painting nicely.
Nicely done. As you were cleaning with the swabs, I was wondering if my eyes were tricking me, or if the camera was causing something, but then you did the 2nd pass of cleaning with the gel and I realized that I was seeing correctly. You took an astounding amount of discoloration off that painting.
Thanks for sharing this process with us.
This painting just seemed so special. It's as though you set her free! Truly gorgeous! And your restoration is absolutely amazing!!!! Thank you for sharing with us!!! :)
Simply wonderful... for me the second frame is the best ...
I watched another 'conservator' on CZcams this weekend, and while I won't throw him under the bus, I will say that the way he 'conserved' the painting that he was working on included almost all of the things that you have to undo when you conserve a painting. I'm glad that there are careful, patient, and methodical conservators like yourself out there.
Bus! Bus! Bus! Criminals and frauds deserve to be exposed.
I love the way that watching your work leads me to appreciate works that I might otherwise pass over with little thought. That, sir, is a benefit to the artwork that goes beyond the singular conservation itself.
The world sends its gratitude through the generations. 🤓
I love to see a painting come alive when cleaned. This one especially, artist depth of the ruff and lace is so beautiful you can almost touch it. . She looks like a young Elizabeth 1,a shame the artist is unknown.
To see details in it, the sheen of the ruff fabric is a-mazing! It just blows my mind that it was captured with paint so well. It boggles my mind.😮
This has been one of my favourite videos. Julian is the David Attenborough of art restoration.
Amazing! This makes me sad that my Great grandmother’s confirmation 1900 painting will never be given this chance of recovery. You do such beautiful work!