The science discovered that a box of Salvador Dali from 1946 started to degrade in less than 20 years due to an unstable mixture of materials within the painting.
The piece is «The Temptation of Saint Anthony»one of the best-known images that Salvador Dali He painted after World War II. The work shows the saint kneeling, with a cross in his hand, in front of horses and elephants with very long legs.
The painting did not arrive at the museum as a completely stable painting. When he entered the collection of BrusselsIn 1965, there were already sectors with visible changes on the surface.
What science discovered about the degradation of Dalí’s painting
He study on Dalí’s painting detected a combination of amber, zinc white, lead and chloride white. That mix helped explain why some parts of the play aged too quickly.
It was not an isolated stain or a common crack. In different areas of the painting, strange transparencies, loss of consistency and a rougher surface appeared.
The most important data was the amber. Dalí used it because he was interested in shine, transparencies and certain finishes taken from old recipes.
But amber within a complex painting could cause problems since its components do not always stay put. Over timethey can move and alter other layers.
To this was added the zinc white, a pigment used in many modern works. In some combinations it can make the paint more fragile and cause loss of cohesion.
He lead white added another variable. It did not act alone, but in contact with other materials it could participate in reactions that ended up affecting the surface.
How Dalí’s painting arrived at the museum
A strong point of the case is the date. The Temptation of Saint Anthony was painted in 1946 and entered the Brussels museum in 1965. By then, some alterations were already present.
That changes the reading, since everything cannot be explained by the passage of time inside a room or due to poor subsequent conservation.
The researchers compared old photographs with the current state of the painting. This review allowed see that the deterioration had started early.
They also found chlorides, compounds linked to salts. One hypothesis is that they could have been incorporated during transport or by exposure to humid environments.
How Dalí worked and why his works may present conservation problems
Throughout his career, Salvador Dali He combined classical techniques with unconventional materials, something that today forces us to study each work almost as a unique case.
The painter was influenced by the masters of Renaissancebut he did not limit himself to copying their recipes. It incorporated resins, varnishes and proprietary mixtures to achieve brighter surfaces and very controlled depth effects.
That technical freedom appears in several of his works. Not all of them show early deterioration, but they do show different behavior over time, especially in comparison to paintings made with more standardized materials.
