Cleaning an old painting?

[Steven Rosati]

Hi all,

This is a great forum! Portraiture can sometimes be a lonely profession/hobby but a forum like this makes one feel not alone in the painting struggle! My question is about cleaning old (19th century) portraits. I have 5 and they have small cracks or splits where dirt has collected. What would be safe to use to clean the surface without causing damage?

Best regards,
Steven

[William Whitaker]

Best to leave them entirely alone or find a professional restorer. I wouldn't mess around with them at all.

Bill

[Cynthia Daniel]

Here's a page from the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works at Stanford University. I only glanced over it and probably does not answer your specific question, but definitely had some interesting information. Such as the fact that feather dusters can scratch a painting.

http://aic.stanford.edu/treasure/paint.html

Web designing can be a lonely profession also.

[Peggy Baumgaertner]

Steven,

I'm with Bill. I am not afraid of heights, flying, snakes, tarantulas, the boogie man or even (shudder) applying a final varnish. But I quake in horror at the thought of touching an old painting. That's why God created conservationists.

Peggy