First State Room, Boughton House, Northampton
In winter 2018 Chroma Conservation was working alongside Perry Lithgow Partnership, the lead contractor, on a prestigious wall painting project at the Northamptonshire home of the Duke of Buccleuch, Boughton House.
During this phase we carried out the treatment of Louis Cheron’s Venus interceding with Jupiter for the safe journey of her son Aeneas, which adorns the ceiling of the First State Room.
Louise Cheron (1655-1725) was a distinguish Huguenot artist. The ceilings illustrate a series of classical allegories, subjects which would have been familiar to the educated first Duke who would have been conversant both with the grammar of classical architecture as well as, as a Francophile, receptive to new and developing fashions from the continent[1] – as manifested in these works.
The aims of the treatment programme were to stabilise the paintings, prevent further loss and improve their presentation. An extensive research in regard to the previous interventions, environment and many analysis (paint analysis, material analysis etc) were undertaken before the commencement of the treatment.
[1] Boughton: The English Versailles 2006 The Living Landscape Trust, p.24