Willem van de Velde the Younger

As a final year student at the University of Northumbria at
Newcastle I am currently carrying out research on a marine painting
attributed to Willem van de Velde the Younger ("A Calm"). The
support is made up of six pieces of canvas, one of which has been
cut around the contours of a ship. The painting seems to have been
damaged at some time, trimmed and some of the original canvas pieces
rearranged and rejoined. The painting is glue paste lined onto a
double lining. A crack pattern has been painted (in some areas also
incised) over the entire surface of the painting, probably to create
a unified image of the five additions with the main canvas.
Stylistic elements and the use of smalt and the presence of a double
ground indicate that the painting could very well date into the late
17th/early 18th century.

I would be interested in any information regarding the following aspects:

    *   Painting techniques of and materials used by Willem van de
        Velde the Younger.

    *   Any information on restoration treatments of the 18th and
        early 19th century regarding trimming of paintings and
        rearranging and rejoining of canvas pieces. Also information
        on trimming a painting following the lines of the painted
        image.

    *   Information on double linings (two lining canvases attached
        with the glue paste method).

    *   Applying a fake craquelure pattern over the entire surface
        of the painting as part of a restoration treatment.

Thank you very much,

Elizabeth Wigfield
Conservation of Fine Art
University of Northumbria, Burt Hall,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:82
                 Distributed: Thursday, March 20, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-10-82-007
                                  ***