Conservation: dramatic transformation of a huge royal portrait

Watch Senior Conservator Laura Ledwina as she conserves an imposing royal portrait from Iran, painted in 1810, bringing it back to its former glory, ready for display in the galleries.

The painting is of Fath 'Ali Shah Qajar, a 19th-century ruler of Iran, and the portrait itself is huge – a whopping 233.9cm high x 118.4cm wide! Depicted with gold, jewels, thousands of pearls and an impressive bushy beard, it aims to show the Shah's power and splendour, as well as his masculinity – but why?

Listen in as Senior Curator Tim Stanley tells us why the painting is so important, and follow Laura as she uses infrared and RTI imaging to reveal previous conservation work, as well as the possible shadow of a second nostril (suggesting overpaint may have been used to give the Shah a nose job!).

00:00 What is this painting and why is it interesting?
02:23 Problems with the painting – overpaint, cracks
03:07 Conservation – removing surface dust, dirt, inactive mould
03:26 Examining with UV light
03:50 How to remove varnish sustainably?
04:18 Protecting the sensitive pigment
04:34 Peeling off a tissue loaded with solvent to reveal a ghost image
05:37 Fath 'Ali Shah's public image and retouching the crown
06:50 Consolidating raised cracks and applying new paint
08:01 Why does the Shah have so many jewels?
09:41 The Shah has a nose job?!?!
10:32 Applying new varnish
11:16 Before and after conservation

See the painting in the galleries: https://www.vam.ac.uk/features/digita...

Watch more transformational conservation:    • Conservation & restoration  

See more objects from the Islamic Middle East: https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/isl...