Extraction of Zinc Corrosion from Beneath a Paint Layer: A Case Study

Conservation of an oil painting on a zinc support is a complex challenge that has not been covered in the literature. Oil paint and zinc support rarely form a working combination because of their chemical properties. This article discusses the conservation of an oil painting on a zinc support that was found in extremely bad condition due to harsh environmental conditions it had been exposed to. The object had to be consolidated due to flaking paint and cleaned of surface dirt and support corrosion products. Finally, the object had to be physically strengthened due to the weakness of the support. This process required conservators to combine methods from several different fields of the conservation discipline. Methods employed in the conservation process came less from the literature, due to the lack thereof, and more from the everyday experience of the department and vernacular working practices. The overall methodology of the process has been reconstructed and critically evaluated in the broader field of conservation ethics and the discipline as a whole.