Jun 23, 2020 12:00:00

A situation in which an amateur fails to restore a painting again occurs, and an expert appeals for regulation of art restoration by an amateur

Artworks such as paintings and sculptures deteriorate over time, so it is necessary to perform regular restoration work to preserve valuable works for future generations. However, sometimes the restoration work is left to a mere amateur rather than a person with specialized knowledge and skills. In Spain, where such amateurs have been repairing works of art one after another, a case was reported again in which ``artworks have been ruined by restoration work by amateurs.''

El Ecce Homo de Borja no está solo.

https://www.europapress.es/comunitat-valenciana/noticia-ecce-homo-borja-no-solo-restauradores-advierten-errores-irreversibles-intervenciones-no-profesionales-20200619175314.html

Spain Has Been Hit by Yet Another Bungling Restorer, Who Turned This Virgin Mary Painting Into an Unrecognizable Blob
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/murillo-restoration-fail-spain-1888995

Experts call for regulation after latest botched art restoration in Spain | Art | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/jun/22/experts-call-for-regulation-after-latest-botched-art-restoration-in-spain

In Spain, in 2012, 80-year-old Cecilia Jiménez, an amateur, restored

Elias García Martinez 's fresco ' Look at this man ' in a church. ” was born . The restored painting, which became world-famous, received a lot of positive and negative reviews, and ironically , tourists flooded in to see the much-talked-about painting, and even goods such as wine labels and mugs were created. increase.

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Observatorio de Restauracion

Also, in 2018, when I entrusted an art teacher to clean a wooden sculpture of St. George made in the 16th century, the art teacher used the wrong paint to repair the sculpture and ruined the sculpture. occurrence. As a result, the sculpture was entrusted to a specialized institution for restoration, and the wooden statue was almost restored to its original state.

Icons made into cartoon style by amateur restoration, almost restored to original condition by re-restoration Spain: AFPBB News
https://www.afpbb.com/articles/-/3231893

A new tragedy has occurred in Spain, where many failures to restore works of art by amateurs have been reported. An art collector in Valencia , Spain, paid a furniture restorer 1,200 euros (approximately 140,000 euros) to restore a copy of ' The Immaculate Conception of Los Venerables ' by Baroque painter Bartolome Esteban Murillo. 5000 yen) was paid.

However, the Virgin Mary depicted in the restored painting was clearly not similar to the original painting, and the owner was indignant and ordered it to be restored to its original state. However, even with the second restoration, it still failed, and it became a face like an old lady who can no longer see the Virgin Mary. The left of the image below is the Virgin Mary originally drawn, the upper right is the first restoration, and the lower right is the second restoration. You can see how it's getting worse.

Fernando Carrera, a professor at the Galician School of Heritage Conservation and Restoration, said these failures to restore works of art underscore the need for work to be done only by properly trained restorers. 'I don't think this man or they should be called 'restorers'. Let's be honest.

“Can you imagine someone who is not a doctor but is authorized to operate on others, or someone who is not licensed as a pharmacist and can sell medicine? Is it allowed to build?' Professor Carrera said. Professor Carrera argued that the Spanish law at the time of writing the article allows people who do not have the necessary skills to engage in restoration projects for works of art. While acknowledging that the protection of cultural heritage is not the same as a doctor who is involved in human life, as similar cases are repeated, stricter regulations are necessary to protect Spain's cultural heritage.

“Paradoxically, these examples show just how important professional restoration is. We should make sure that people are professionally trained,' said Carrera.

``Unfortunately, such cases are more common than you think,'' said Maria Borja, vice president of the Valencia chapter of the Spanish Association of Professionals in Conservation and Restoration. Mr. Borja says that although restoration failures of works of art get attention only when they are spread on social media, there are many failure cases by amateur restorers who do not spread around. Damage caused to a work of art by an amateur restorer may not be undone even by a professional.