Re-lining Old Linen
People regularly come to our gallery for advice about restoration and conservation. In some cases me recommend that the painting be re-lined. What does re-lining actually entail?
The decay of linen
The term re-lining refers to paintings with a linen support. While other materials, such as wood and copper, remain intact if the conditions are right, linen tends to decay over a longer period of time. This is why the back of a painting on canvas will eventually need to be reinforced with a new piece of linen. Good conservation measures may delay the process of decay, but after a century or two there is usually little left of the original lining. Indeed, this deterioration can lead to parts of the paint and ground coming loose. An Old Master painting on its original lining can become extremely delicate and liable to crack in a significant climate change.Method
Re-lining a painting involves attaching a new piece of linen to the back of the original canvas. This means that the earlier linings have to be removed first. Once this has been done, the restorer chooses an appropriate type of wax or glue and applies this to the lining or to the back of the painting. The two pieces of fabric are then laid over each other and a warm iron is passed over the back of the new lining, allowing the adhesive to become fluid and to penetrate both fabrics. Once properly attached, the re-lined canvas can be fixed to a stretcher.Instead of re-lining by hand with an iron, it is also possible to use a specially designed machine. The lining and canvas, with the adhesive between them, are placed in a so-called vacuum table. The whole is then covered with air-tight foil. By creating a vacuum between the foil and the table the machine attaches the two fabrics.
Re-lining should not be confused with transferring. The latter involves removing the actual original canvas and applying a new support directly to the ground. This highly risky method is no longer used today.
Danger
Re-lining is a specialized skill in the world of professional restoration. One of the main dangers when re-lining a painting is that raised areas of paint are flattened; this effect is referred to as a bad, or 'hard' re-lining. Part of the restorer's art is therefore to ensure a successful adhesion while at the same time leaving areas of impasto in their original state.Woman with Pearl Necklace
An example of a painting which has been successfully re-lincd is the magnificent Woman with Pearl Necklace by Rembrandt's famous pupil, Ferdinand Bol. The work is owned by Philips Electronics NV in Eindhoven and was lent to the gallery for the 1992 exhibition, Rembrandt 's Academy, which we organized to mark the Rembrandt Year.The restoration by Erika Mosenbacher of The Hague revealed that the painting had been re-lined twice before. Both earlier linings were still attached to the canvas although the adhesive was no longer fully effective. The best solution was to remove the linings and to re-line the painting afresh. Having completed the process, the paint and ground were once again firmly attached and the surface of the painting could be cleaned. After the yellowed varnish and the centuries of grimc had been removed, the Woman with Pearl Necklace emerged in all the original glory with which Ferdinand Bol had painted her in 1649.