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French experts in row over restoration of DaVinci's Saint Anne

A row in Paris over work by the Louvre to restore Leonardo Da Vinci’s masterpiece The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne has seen the resignation of two art world heavyweights from the committee set up to oversee the project. 

Wikicommons/Web Gallery of Art
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French national heritage curator, Segolene Bergeon Langle and the former chief curator of the Louvre’s painting department, Jean-Pierre Cuzin, both raised concerns over the type of solvent being used to dissolve the yellow-brown coat of varnish convering the painting.

They say it is too harsh and could remove the actual paint.

Previous restoration of the painting, which Da Vinci began in 1503 and was unfinished at his death in 1519, had left it disfigured by stains, particularly on the Virgin’s dress.

The Louvre decided to restore the work in 2010 and it is due to be unveiled to the public in March as the highlight of a major exhibition.

Experts fear there could be damage to the faces of Saint Anne and the Virgin Mary and especially to the sfumato layers of clear paint used by Da Vinci to produce smoky, softened contours on this work as on the Mona Lisa.

Bergeon Langle was received by the head of the Louvre, Henri Loyrette earlier this month with another meeting planned with the head of the museum's painting department, Vincent Pomarede.

She told the French news agency she still has doubts over the progress of the work.

But Pomarede says he has no regrets and the Louvre has not put the work at risk.
 

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