Saint Cecilia
Saint Cecilia (originally attributed to Annibale Carracci) has
been left in the darkness of storage since the 1950s. The painting
originally hung in the Skylight Room at Desenfans and Bourgeois’
Charlotte Street house in the esteemed company of Veronese, Reni,
Murillo, Rubens and Reynolds’ Mrs. Siddons: the largest and most
celebrated paintings in the collection.
Saint Cecilia, even if not by Carracci, is probably an important
Italian seventeenth-century work (perhaps even a small-scale
altarpiece), but the layers of dirt and yellowed varnish make it
impossible to reach a plausible attribution. Large parts of the
picture were ‘improved’ by Bourgeois who also added wide strips of
canvas around the original painting to enlarge it. Indeed, the
putti in the top right corner looks slightly incongruous and may be
part of the additional scheme.
Conservation work required
This painting has numerous tears and the lining canvas is
delaminating causing a rippling effect on the surface.
Encouragingly, cleaning tests have already been carried out on this
painting revealing bright and well preserved paint underneath the
thick and discoloured varnish. It would seem therefore that
cleaning would reveal a striking painting.
How much will it cost?
£30,000