{"id":354851,"date":"2025-12-19T05:43:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T05:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/354851\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T05:43:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T05:43:12","slug":"watch-julian-baumgartners-satisfying-and-precise-process-of-restoring-a-historical-portrait-colossal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/354851\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch Julian Baumgartner’s Satisfying and Precise Process of Restoring a Historical Portrait \u2014 Colossal"},"content":{"rendered":"

A little more than ten years ago, a particularly\u2014shall we say\u2014interesting painting restoration went viral, spawning memes and earning the piece the cringeworthy nickname \u201cMonkey Christ<\/a>.\u201d The work, known as \u201cEcce Homo,\u201d is a century-old portrayal of Jesus in a church in Borja, Spain, that a local octogenarian attempted to restore.<\/p>\n

The attention \u201cEcco Homo\u201d brought, which could be viewed as positive or not depending on your perspective, actually bolstered the town\u2019s struggling economy<\/a> and raised tens of thousands of euros for charity as people pilgrimaged to see the infamously bungled attempt. But it\u2019s far from the only aging artwork to meet disastrous results when someone tried their hand at an update.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

For Julian Baumgartner, a second-generation art restorer and owner of Baumgartner Fine Art Restoration<\/a>, there\u2019s little he hasn\u2019t seen. Crackling varnish? Check. Deteriorating stretcher bars? Check. Stapled edges? Say no more.<\/p>\n

When an oval-shaped portrait fell into his hands, with its structural framework crumbling and its canvas stained, that wasn\u2019t even the worst of it. This particular painting had also been unskillfully painted over to freshen it up, despite\u2014as Baumgartner discovers\u2014the fact that the \u201cfix\u201d actually completely changed the entire feel of the work. As he works, he illuminates how the amateur attempt to restore the work actually eliminated the subtle nuances of the artist\u2019s original intention, and by extension, the sitter\u2019s personality.<\/p>\n

Baumgartner is based in Chicago and runs what is now the oldest restoration studio in the city. Using archival and reversible materials, he conserves and restores artworks by removing discoloration, camouflaging cracks, repairing holes, and much more.<\/p>\n

Via his popular YouTube channel<\/a>, Baumgartner chronicles the satisfyingly meticulous, step-by-step process he employs to breathe new life into paintings, whether made by anonymous artists or titans of art history. See more updates on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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