Camassei's Cain and Abel

Description

This painting by Andrea Camassei (Bevagna 1602 - Rome 1649) depicts the famous episode described in the book of Genesis of the killing of Abel by his brother Cain, the sons of Adam and Eve.  The sacred text tells that Cain, full of wrath against God who preferred his brother to Cain himself, drew Abel in the countryside and killed him. The artist captures the climax of Cain’s fratricidal violence when he kills Abel with his club.  At the bottom of the work is a landscape.  To the left, there is a fire burning on the sacrificial altar.
Cain and Abel, variously represented in the act of sacrifice or murder were the subjects of numerous works of art. This painting is similar to the work of masters like Reni and Domenichino in its purified classicism and clearly demonstrates the evolution of Baroque virtuosity.  An ancient allocation refers to the painting as completed by Andrea Camassei who was active in Rome from 1626, when he arrived, until his death in 1649. Pascoli, the author of a biography of the artist, recalls Camassei’s apprenticeship at the workshop of Domenichino, where he shared the ideals and style of the famous painter. Camassei worked for the Barberini family in Rome, and his style was oriented to follow masters like Correggio and Raphael, whose styles he merged with the lessons of contemporaries Nicolas Poussin and Pietro da Cortona. Camassei completed two more paintings on the same subject: Cain kills Abel (Edinburgh, National Gallery of Scotland) and the Curse of Cain (Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Palazzo Barberini). Ironically it seems that Cammasei himself was killed by a "treacherous and fratricidal hand." The version in the Vatican Collections is characterized by a uniformity of colors and an almost unreal composition.

State of Preservation

After a full examination of the painting, it was discerned that the canvas had been heavily restored and repainted in the past.  The original subjects by Camassei were difficult to read due to the many alterations of the pictorial surface. Unfortunately, at some point, the entire surface of the painting was varnished with a transparent glue which progressively yellowed over time. Previous, unsuitable restorations additionally compromised areas of Camassei’s original handiwork. Also, a past treatment—a new fabric glued to the original and reinforced with a wood structure—was found to be negatively affecting the original fabric, causing fissures and tears. The chief goal of this restoration was to recover the readability of the original work, giving restorers the opportunity to clarify the attribution of the painting.

Restoration Procedures

The first step of this project was to remove and replace the lining of the canvas.  As mentioned above, a new fabric had been glued to the original canvas fabric and reinforced with a wooden structure during a previous restoration.  This intervention, thought to strengthen and support the painting, actually ended up adding stress to the original canvas.  Restorers immediately found a safe way to detach this harmful lining.  First, a “facing” tissue was applied to the surface of the painting, to protect it and to temporarily hold any loose pigment in place.  Next, the additional wooden support was mechanically dissembled with extreme care, and the added fabric lining and glue were worked off upon a “hot table” that expedited the removal process.  A new, supportive lining was applied using the technology of this “hot table” and the heat-sensitive BEVA adhesive solution, joined with Hollytex, a dimensionally stable, non-woven polyester fabric interleaf, to add structural strength to the original canvas.

Next, the painting underwent a total surface cleaning.  This began with the removal of the yellowing varnish, followed by a gentle cleaning of the original surface using soft brushes and a special solution created by the Scientific Research Laboratory.

The painting canvas was then touched up with inpainting in the areas where small fissures and tears had occurred.  These restored sections were then reintegrated with the rest of the pictorial surface, in order to achieve readability as close to Camassei’s original as possible. In cleaning and reintegrating the painting’s surface, a clearer view of the original work and a closer study of the paint application in original, unharmed areas made Restorers certain of the painting’s attribution to Camassei.  To ensure its conservation, a new protective coat, one that has been tested and is understood chemically to not have the potential of yellowing the surface like the past varnish, was applied.

Cain and Abel underwent photographic documentation before, during, and after restoration to preserve a visual record of the process. To complete the restoration, the painting was carefully reassembled and returned to its original frame.