Seventy miles north-west of the National Gallery lies the bucolic National Trust property, Upton House. The 1930s aristocratic country retreat is home to a fabulous art collection but one particular painting has made its way to the National Gallery Conservation Studio. Joshua Reynolds's portrait of the Earl and Countess of Ely is a classic in the 18th-century idyllic marriage portrait genre. However, the painting's picturesque nature has been blurred as the varnish yellowed over time, so it's in need of cleaning. This is no straightforward task as Reynolds's paintings are notoriously difficult to conserve due to his wild experiments with paint. We assembled Jon King, Hayley Tomlinson and Nelly Von Aderkas from the National Gallery, along with Upton House’s Curator Michelle Leake, to explain what's happening both on, and beneath, the surface. This painting's restoration is still ongoing.
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The National Gallery
