127 The painting „Death of St Joseph“ original strainer. With the polyester wadding ”sandwiched” between the original canvas and the new polyester sailcloth, the additional frame provides gentle and reversible support to the original canvas and improves stability overall. Restoration The approach of the restoration was to preserve the painting as an historical object with respect to its aged condition. By addressing all disturbing lost areas, the treatment aimed to restore the painting to an aesthetically pleasing condition, thereby regaining its function as a devotional painting. Since the “Death of St Joseph” painting is positioned very closely to the viewer, the visual integration of the lacunae was an important part of the concept. Filling of lacunae Many smaller and larger losses, where the paint layer had flaked, had to be filled. For the fillings, a recipe already used for the treatment of the Annunciation painting in the church Gospa od Šunja was chosen. A mixture of 15% Plextol B500 and 3% Methocel A4C in a 2:1 ratio with champagne chalk was prepared into a highly viscous filler.83 This consistency enables an efficient and fast working process. The filling was applied with a small spatula and modelled in order to match the texture of the surrounding original surface. Initially, the decision was made to keep two very large areas of the old filling and to reintegrate them during the retouching process. However, after filling all other losses, the very uneven and rough surface of the old filling in these two areas looked even more unpleasing. In Fig. 199: Painting after the filling of lacunae
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