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- Special Display: Adam and Eve, by Dürer, following their restoration
- Restoration in images: before, during and after
Restoration in images: before, during and after
Adam

Detail of Adam's head prior to restoration, during and after. This group of images shows how, following the removal of dirt and old varnishes from a previous restoration of Adam's face, a fine, transparent layer of more realistic flesh tone became visible.

Detail of Adam's legs prior to restoration, during and after.

During the restoration of the Adam panel, cracks in the wood became visible, as well as wear to the glazes and abrasions to the pictorial layer, in addition to losses of the pigment. At the end of restoration the original tonalities, brushstroke and volumes once again became visible.
Eve

Detail of a lock of Eve's hair prior to restoration, during and after. The instability of the paint layer is reflected in these images, which show localised areas with the craquelure detached, forming blisters and presenting a serious risk of paint loss, in contrast with the evident improvement and consolidation of these areas following restoration.

The first detail shows a crude repaint in oil to the hair and to the two holes left by the screws with which the support had been attached in a previous restoration. Once cleaning had been carried out and this repainting removed, the texture of the hair and the erosions and wear to the paint surface become visible. The damage to this part of the painting was resolved with the application of gesso to the losses resulting from the screw holes, in addition to a reintegration of these losses and their subsequent varnishing.

Detail of the central leaf on Eve's body prior to restoration, during and after. The way that the screws from the old support had been attached from the front literally split the layer of preparation and paint surface. The restoration of this area involved cleaning, filling the whole left by the screw with gesso, reintegrating losses and varnishing.














