David Marquis begins his first day on the project. He starts with the lower right corner of the painting, an area that from technical examinations was known to be in fairly poor condition.
The painting has been restored a number of times in the past. The conservators have found that earlier restorers did not remove the previous layers of restoration before adding their own varnish and overpaint. In some areas of the painting, up to four layers of fill material and old repaint are present.
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