This painting, which is believed to be the last painted by the artist, is in terrible conditions. The color of St John's cape has disappeared completely and the cross he is holding can barely be seen. This is why Sebastien Allard, Director of Paintings at the Louvre, believes it is necessary to bring light to the artwork. Although the process is quite simple, the results, specially in Leonardo's case, are not always satisfactory. Let's remember the case of "The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne".

Its restoration created such controversy that even the Director of Conservation at the Louvre,  Ségolène Bergeon Langle, presented her resignation. She said the face of the Virgin lost her volume and considered the restoration all together unnecessary. The truth is that the image now looks too saturated and has lost its charm with the new brighter colours.

With new scientific investigations, restoration processes have become a mini-industry. Almost all museums have a conservation area. But as with plastic surgery, restoration in art can also be a disaster, specially if executed by the wrong hands. Let us remember what happened with the fresco "Ecce Homo" in a church in Spain, which resulted in a complete fiasco.

For "The Virgin with Child and Saint Anne", thorough studies were carried out for 15 years, prior to reaching the restoration point in itself. Even the depth of the wood panel and the varnished were investigated. For "St John the Baptist", ten international experts have already been summoned. The idea is to bring back the painting as originally as it was done by the artist. Let us hope not to be disappointed by the result... 

The only restoration worth while is that that stops the deterioration process of an artwork. Although hard to admit, art also has a limit in time.

Source: "Should you put a Leonardo through the Laundry?", by Rachel Campbell-Johnston - The Times, Arts,  pp. 8 - 9, 4 de Febrero de 2016, UK