We are delighted to share the conservation story of two cartoons of Thomas A Becket and St. Margaret of Scotland painted by Benjamin West and preserved by Fulham Palace. Conservation of objects and collections of historical and cultural significance is a large part of our Preservation and Conservation grant programme. It’s a pleasure to bring this process to life for those new to heritage and conservation. Thank you to Fulham Palace for sharing these words with us.
Benjamin West (1738–1820) was the first American artist to achieve an international reputation and to influence artistic trends in Europe. He came to England in 1763 and never left. In his time, he became the most progressive and successful proponent of history painting in the country.
The cartoons (another term for preparatory drawings or paintings) of St. Margaret of Scotland and St. Thomas à Becket were designs for stained glass windows for William Beckford’s mansion Fonthill Abbey in Wiltshire. The paintings themselves are large-scale, romanticised, religious depictions of St. Margaret and Becket. St. Margaret was Queen of Scotland and an educated woman and prominent figure in the reformation of the Church in Scotland. Thomas à Becket was a former Archbishop of Canterbury who was brutally murdered by knights of King Henry II’s court.
The cartoons were one of the few items left behind when the Bishops of London left Fulham Palace, which had been their country residence since the 11th century, in 1973. They were initially stored on site and then hung in the museum established in the 1990s. The cartoons have long been associated with Fulham Palace – possibly obtained by the Bishops Blomfield 1828-56, Tait 1856-68 or Jackson 1869-85.
St. Margaret of Scotland painting hanging in the great hall after restoration. (Credit: Fulham Palace)
Why did the objects need conserving?
Roxane Burke, collections and conservation assistant at Fulham Palace, describes the problem conservators faced with these paintings:
“It is quite remarkable that these paintings were able to survive until today since it is unknown if they were meant to be retained or disposed of after they were copied. Nevertheless, from a preservation perspective, paintings on paper are more challenging than those on canvas. The type of media is more vulnerable and prone to damage from its surrounding environment, particularly from changes in humidity levels and temperature. This leads to warping and cracking, affecting overlying layers (such as primer and paint) resulting in flaking and loss of material. Age and composition are contributing factors leading to deterioration. The portraits have visible signs of instability around the edges of the paper sheets where sections have lifted from the support and deformed.”
Thomas à Becket painting hanging in the great hall after restoration. (Credit: Fulham Palace)
The conservation journey
Conservation processes differ depending on the object being conserved. However, in all cases, it’s important to employ an accredited conservator that has experience of preserving and protecting heritage objects. For this project, conservator, Jim Dimond, and intern, Luz Vanesco, worked together to preserve and restore these paintings. Jim is a paintings conservator and restorer with 35 years’ experience working in both public and private sectors in the UK. Luz is a paintings conservator, who graduated from the Courtauld Institute of Art in 2020 and is currently working at the Tate Gallery. Together, they worked on this project for 6 months from February to July 2021.
They started with an initial cleaning of both cartoons. The cleaning removed a layer of surface dirt, and two varnish layers. They stabilized paint flaking using an application of acrylic adhesive and heat. However, the real challenge was improving the surface of the painting on paper. To mend the many damages, Jim and Luz gently removed both the panel support and the lining, and then created a better support for the fragile paper. The whole complicated structure was carefully dismantled layer by layer, starting by carefully separating the lined painting from the panel using a long palette knife and then cutting away the lining itself in thin strips.
Conservation treatment before (left) and after (right) the painted surface of St. Margaret’s face was cleaned and stabilised. (Credit: Luz Vanasco)
Once down to the original paper support, Jim and Luz were able to undertake tear and damage repair. There were numerous paper losses in the paintings that needed to be filled. The conservators used a new approach to solve this issue by filling the losses with carefully cut out pieces of medium weight paper, followed by re-lining. After varnishing the Jim and Luz filled and re-touched the painting to disguise the losses in the old paper support where the new paper inserts had been put in. The cartoons were returned to hang in the great hall at Fulham Palace in November 2021.
We are thrilled that our grant helped these two cartoons come back to life for Fulham Palace. As you can see, conservation is a timely endeavour that needs specialist skills. Our mission as a Trust is to help preserve the best of the UK’s diverse heritage for future generations to enjoy – that’s why projects such as this and investing in conservation skills is so important to us. Without supporting conservation expertise, we risk losing valuable pieces of our past. Find out more about grants for care of objects and collections.
Don’t forget – Fulham Palace is open to visitors for free!
Feature image: Reinstallation of the restored paintings in the great hall at Fulham Palace. Credit: Fulham Palace.