Tensioning of the canvas
Relining or lining
In restoration, it is the operation aimed at consolidating the canvas of a painting by applying a new canvas on it, using adhesive materials. The methods used vary in relation to the composition of the layers of the painting (from the canvas, to the ground preparation, to the color) and in any case tend to act taking care not to alter the characteristics of the surface (brushstrokes in relief) and those due to the normal aging of the work (craquelure). The most common methods can be traced back to the so-called paste relining (see glue-paste lining), wax-resin lining, or relining with synthetic materials.
See also hot table.
Francese: Rentoilage – Inglese: Relining – Spagnolo: Reentelado – Tedesco: Rentoillierung.
Painting that had been used to make a screen
Wax-resin lining
Lining technique documented since the end of the 18th century and typical of the Nordic countries, where it spread favored by the characteristics of the climate, rigid and humid. It is characterized by the use of an adhesive consisting of wax mixed with resin, which, spread on the verso, is made to adhere by ironing with an iron or by using a hot table. The technique therefore avoids the seeping of moisture to the painting, characterized by a good permanence of the adhesive characteristics over time and by resistance to microbiological attacks. However, in addition to the risk of a modification of the chromatic aspect of the work, the operation does not ensure complete reversibility, since, although it is possible to remove the new canvas by heating the adhesive, it is not possible to act on the wax resin that has impregnated the original support. For these reasons, the technique has now been mostly abandoned in favor of methods that involve the use of synthetic adhesives.
Francese: Rentoilage à cire résine – Inglese: Wax-resin lining – Spagnolo: Reentelado a cera resina.
Impregnation of the canvas with animal glue
Glue-paste lining
Lining technique documented as early as the 17th century. It is characterized by the use of a glue paste which, in the Florentine tradition, is made from wheat flour, rye flour, linseed flour, water, Venetian turpentine, fungicide and strong glue. The technique therefore uses materials that have a good compatibility with the original ones, it is easily removable and provides a moderate adhesive power. However, in addition to acting negatively on moisture-sensitive materials, the glue paste loses its adhesive power over time and tends to vitrify and therefore stiffen. Particular attention to the environmental conditions in which to preserve a painting treated this way is therefore essential, also to prevent any microorganisms attacks.
Francese: Rentoilage à la colle de pate – Inglese: Glue-paste lining – Spagnolo: Reentelado a pasta de harina – Tedesco: Kleisterentoillierung.
Strip lining
Strip lining, false margins
Application of strips of canvas along the edges of the original canvas to facilitate a mounting operation without having to resort to relining – because it is considered unnecessary.
Francese: Pose de bandes de tension – Inglese: Strip lining – Spagnolo: Reentelado a bandas.
Mounting
Operation (generally following a relining) which consists in replacing an old frame deemed no longer adequate with a new one, more suited to the needs of the painting.
Francese: Remise en extension – Inglese: Mounting – Spagnolo: Refaerzo – Tedesco: Rahmung.
Manfredi Faldi – Claudio Paolini
Excerpt from:
Claudio Paolini, Manfredi Faldi, Glossario delle tecniche pittoriche e del restauro, edizioni Palazzo Spinelli,
Firenze 1999
