On 18 March 2006, one of the National Trust's most important art conservation projects in recent times came to a glorious end.
Guido Reni’s newly conserved 16th-century fresco ‘The Separation of Night and Day’ is back in situ at Kingston Lacy in Dorset. There, as the house opened for 2006, it was seen by the public for the first time in 40 years.
An extraordinary painting with a remarkable history
Italian artist Guido Reni was born in 1575 in Calvenzano and died in Bologna in 1642. He is known for the technical quality of his work on frescos and large altarpieces.
‘The Separation of Night and Day’, a rare example of Reni’s early work in fresco, was painted on the ceiling of a Bolognese palazzo around 1600.
One of the most significant paintings in our collections, it describes the first day of Genesis with the figure of Dawn separating the figures of Night and Day.
It was purchased by William Bankes in 1841 and transported to his Dorset country home, Kingston Lacy, where Bankes was building a remarkable art collection.
Once at Kingston Lacy, Bankes found there was no obvious place to hang the enormous (459cm x 417cm) painting. It was initially installed on the wall of the Dining Room and then moved to the Library ceiling.
A 1904 Country Life photograph shows the painting on the ceiling in a high moulded frame.
© Country Life Picture Library
A grand re-entrance
When we were bequeathed Kingston Lacy in 1982, the painting was sagging and pulling on the ceiling.
It was removed, faced with a protective tissue and rolled on to a large roller for safe-keeping. The painting, which is in a quadrofoil shape, is delicate and fragile. Its sheer size, complex construction and poor condition were a challenge to the conservators.
We commissioned Bush & Berry, professional painting conservators, to undertake the technically very complicated conservation treatment for the painting.
© National Trust / Angela Geary
Guido Reni’s 'The Separation of Night and Day' before conservation
© Phil Yeomans/ BNPS
Guido Reni's ‘The Separation of Night and Day’ after conservation
Bush & Berry removed the strip lining and lined the fresco onto a double canvas. They then began a lengthy process of consolidating flaking paint, removing extensive over paint and yellowed varnish, and finally retouching paint losses.
The work has stabilised the fresco and also revealed the fine quality of Reni’s original fresco painting for the first time in 150 years.
On 6 January 2006, after being packed and transported to Kingston Lacy, manoeuvred in through the Library windows, and remounted on its original stretcher, the painting was finally reinstated on the Library ceiling.
Online diary of the conservation project
You can read an online diary written by Kate Warren, Collections Manager at Kingston Lacy, about the project.
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