Rembrandt van Rijn (1606 - 1669)
The Mill
1645/1648
oil on canvas
34 1/2 x 411/2”
National Gallery, Washungtin, D.C.
W
aves of controversy continued. In 1978
the National Gallery, Washington, D.C., was
beset with complaints of “tasteless” cleanings. A
moratorium was declared. Paintings receiving the
most severe criticism included Bronzino’s Young
Woman with Her Little Boy and Rembrandt’s The
Mill. A panel of experts was called in, affirmed
trust in the museum’s conservation staff, and
work went forward. In his essay on cleaning
controversies, private conservator Sheldon Keck
expressed why some were initially shocked when
The Mill was freshly cleaned. Compared with
uncleaned Rembrandts, it appeared “slightly
naked,” though the sensibility was entirely
different when it was viewed alongside cleaned
ones.
What had once been “radical cleaning” was becoming
the norm. But a game change was fomenting behind
the scenes. Enter English conservator John Brealey,
who would eloquently insert a humane balance into
the debate.
Conservator Dianne Dwyer Modestini begins her
essay “John Brealey and the Cleaning of Paintings”
by describing the conventional method of picture
cleaning in which she had first been trained. The
painting was laid on a table beside several bottles of
solvent mixtures, from mild to aggressive. Cleaning
was done systematically in small squares, which were
considered “clean” when no dirt or resin appeared
on the swab: “scientific” and mechanical, in place of
treating a painting as a work of art.
March | April 2019
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