Frank Lawton

The art of art restoration    

The former chief restorer at the Vatican reveals the pitfalls of his profession

The newly restored ‘Nativity’, 1480s, by Piero Della Francesca. © Photo: The National Gallery, London 
issue 28 January 2023

When I first saw ‘The Triumph of Death’ (1562-63), by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the painting throbbed: this land was sick, smothered in smoke; the fires on the horizon had been burning for ever, turning earth into dirt, air into haze. All was dull, lethargic, ill.

When I saw the painting again some years later, the smoke had cleared.

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