Restoration of Peter
Head of Peter - mural
Reconstruction of Peter's head
The remaining drawing layer of Peter's head in the mural is fragmentary and scattered around the area, and there are few continuous parts, making it impossible to find the outline of the face.
Under these circumstances, the outline of Peter's head has been restored in the mural, but the clearly distorted shape of the head makes it impossible to recognize that it was drawn by Leonardo. In fact, when you superimpose a reproduction of Peter's image from Leonardo's time on a mural, you can see that the outline of his face is quite misaligned. In particular, the angle of the face is completely different, and this part is a part where you can immediately see the difference without superimposing the images. I feel that the conservator who was in charge of restoring Peter probably restored this Peter's head without considering the information from the reproduction.
Pinin Brambilla, who was in charge of restoring everything up to the image of Jesus Christ in the center of the painting, almost single-handedly, always kept the information in the reproductions in mind, and when restoring missing parts, he always gave priority to the information in the reproductions. Judging from the remaining repair results, there is no doubt that this is the case.
Study for Peter's garments from the Windsor Castle collection
The image on the left is a drawing of Peter's clothing by Leonardo. The detailed shapes and shadows are drawn very well. It seems like it could be used as is for the mural Peter, but the shape is actually quite different, and many parts need to be modified to make it fit the mural Peter.
The image below is a drawing superimposed on a mural.
The biggest difference is especially in the shoulders. In the drawing, this part is greatly overhanging the top. The shape of the folds of the clothes is also quite different.
The bent angle of the elbow and the area around the base of the arm will also require considerable modification.
In the completed mural, the structure of Peter's body will be hidden behind Judas' head, making it difficult to notice, but there is an obvious anatomical contradiction in that his shoulders are too far away from his head. I am.
Such anatomical discrepancies are a common feature of most of Leonardo's figures.
Restoration process
The depiction of Peter in the mural has major problems with his face and left hand.
The angle of Peter's face in the mural is tilted to the lower right, but the correct angle is actually tilted to the lower left.
The depiction of the left hand also fails to capture its original shape.
Reconstruction of Peter's head.
Almost all reproductions depict Peter's head at this angle.
There is a clear difference in the outline of Peter's face left in the mural.
Restoration of the blue garment.
Bright blue was never used in Leonardo's paintings.
Most of the blue is a dark blue with low saturation.
Although it is thought that the original brightness has been lost due to deterioration over time, when drawing the restoration map, the clothes of the apostles are reproduced in the dull blue color that is often seen in Leonardo's works.
Restoration of hands and yellow clothing.
Most of the hand depictions have been restored based on reproductions.
The yellow clothing around the waist is very different between the mural and the reproduction.
In the reproduction, it is depicted bending downward, but in the mural, it is depicted diagonally as an extension of the body.
Also, the knife held by Peter is held in a sheath rather than with the blade exposed.
Comparison of reproductions
Vatican tapestry
Giampietrino reproduction painting
The depictions of Peter in the two reproductions are nearly identical.
There is no doubt that Leonardo's Last Supper was also depicted in this way.
Restoration of Peter's feet
In the mural, you can faintly see the tip of Peter's left foot, but the traces of his right foot are not clearly visible.
Also, the traces on the hem of the clothes are too faint to be discernible.
http://leonardoresearch.jp/ August 30 2014
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