Painting conservation goes online

The National Gallery has put its ongoing conservation of the iconic painting The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife online.

While the painting, described as one of the most important historic works in the gallery's collection, is being conserved visitors to the gallery's website will be able to see into previously restricted areas, accessing updates of the work in progress through pictures and videos. There is also a document archive and descriptions of the significance of the painting.

The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife is the work of Cork-born artist Daniel Maclise (1806-1870) and is in the words of the gallery's director, Raymond Keaveney, "the size of a small lawn".

It depicts a pivotal moment in Irish history. In the late 1160s, Dermot MacMurrough, king of Leinster, was struggling to retain his throne, and after being expelled from Ireland he sought assistance from the Norman leader, Richard de Clare, the Earl of Pembroke, known as Strongbow. In return he promised Strongbow his daughter Aoife in marriage.

Strongbow landed in Ireland on August 23rd, 1170, and attacked Waterford with a force of some 200 knights and 1,000 other troops. Aoife and Strongbow were married at Christ Church Cathedral soon after Waterford was seized, and so the Normans came to be a powerful force in Ireland.

The new online resource using videos and pictures to help depict the conservation work on the painting includes a project timeline recording the various stages since autumn 2010 when conservation was initiated. Visitors to the site will be able to follow the conservation progress over the next 12 months, going behind the scenes and into rooms in the gallery that are normally not accessible to the public.

It gives a detailed visual account of the challenges presented by the scale of the painting, which measures 317cm by 515cm, including descriptions of the technical surveys and analyses of materials carried out by the conservation scientists.

The site also provides additional historical and art historical information on the painting, as well as details about Daniel Maclise's life and times. A number of short videos on the project, produced by creative agency IDEA, are also available, giving an insight into the history of the painting and the conservation challenges it presented.

Simone Mancini, head of conservation in the National Gallery of Ireland, said it was not feasible to carry out conservation and analysis on the painting in public, and so the Centre for the Study of Irish Art and the Gallery's Digital Media Team collaborated with the Curatorial Team and the Conservation Department to create "a dedicated online resource" where visitors "will have the opportunity to learn more about the background to the project and to follow online the ongoing conservation of the painting as it progresses".

Mr Keaveney thanked the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Art Conservation Project for funding the conservation. "The detailed analysis and research being carried out on the painting by the gallery's conservation team is now accessible through a dedicated section on the gallery's website. It affords an exciting opportunity for everybody to follow the work in progress on this important Irish painting, and to obtain an insight into the workings of the gallery's Conservation Department and its contribution to the management and care of the collection.

"A conservation project on this scale not only works to preserve a masterpiece, but also adds to our understanding of the artist's working method and the materials and techniques employed."

Ciarán Flanagan, managing director at IDEA, said: "The series of videos and interviews produced for the Maclise online resource has grown into a fascinating documentary about the importance of conservation, the invaluable work of the professionals and conservation experts in the National Gallery of Ireland and the incredible new discoveries that are being made about the artist's techniques, and the development of conservation techniques."