Overcleaning?

Karin Wells · 05-23-2002, 11:45 PM

I saw the Sistene Chapel after they cleaned the ceiling. I wanted to cry....I think that they removed a lot of the "atmosphere" and important parts of the painting that were meant to be there.

I have seen other works in Museums that I felt were "overcleaned"....like Vermeer's "Girl with a pearl earring." It is as if an entire layer of delicate finishing glazes were removed.

Ouch.

Karin Wells · 05-24-2002, 12:29 AM

I wish I had a better detail, but you can see how the relationships in value have been altered to an extreme.

There was one section that I saw where the "light" on an object had been removed by an over zealous cleaner! I can understand how a "shadow" might look like "dirt"....but certainly NOT "light"!

Top pix: before & Bottom pix: after cleaning

Michael Georges · 05-24-2002, 12:53 AM

Karin:

I also feel that they over cleaned the ceiling removing the unifying glaze that tied the entire piece together as a single piece of art. Now it looks like a jumble of different panels stuck together.

Thing is, a simple glaze would not unduly dull the colors at all and would go a long way to make it work as a single piece of art again.