THE KING’S MANTEGNAS

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 July 1931, Page 12

THE KING’S MANTEGNAS

MENACED BY FUNGI. The great series of paintings by Alantegna, which are hung in the Orangery in Hampton Court, are, I learn, threatened by fungi, writes the art critic of the London “Daily Telegraph.” So serious is the position that the King, after taking the considered opinion of Mr C. H. Collins Baker, keeper of the King’s pictures, has placed the task of examination and conservation of the pictures in the hands of Mr Kennedy North, the Eng-* lish pioneer of X-ray examination of Old Alasters.

The King has further decided that when this work has been completed all the Mantegnas at the Palace shall be removed to one of the corridors upstairs, where they will be seen to much bettei* advantage than in their

present position. His Majesty’s action will be applauded by all well-informed art experts. He was one of the first to have recourse to the X-ray examination of Old Masters, at a time when that system was an innovation not by any means universally accepted. In October, 1930, as announced by .the “Daily Telegraph,” he had his famous picture by Duccio at Buckingham Palace photographed by the X-rays and thoroughly cleaned in accordance with the data thus provided. Some ten years ago the King in-

vited Mr-Roger Fry to overhaul his Mantegnas, and at that time I accompanied the famous expert on a visit to Hampton Court. Mr Fry expressed to me the opinion that the pictures were in an imperfect state of l preservation, and that not every detail in them was by the hand of Man- i tegna himself. He suspected that an assistant of the great master was responsible for certain parts. Mr Kennedy North has discovered serious damage caused by fungi, which have penetrated from the backs of the pictures, through the pigment to the outer surface. He is making it his business to locate t'he threatened portions, and by a special treatment to conserve the ancient paint. Mr North has shown me a number of most interesting microscopical photographs of the fatal growth. The pictures, which are of huge dimensions, are painted in distemper upon linen. Mantegna began the work in 1485 and finished it about 1491. The pictures were brought by Charles I. with the rest of the Duke of Mantua’s collection in 1628. After the death of the King they were rescued by Cromwell, together with Raphael’s cartoons.