Restoration of National Gallery’s 18th century scagliola table top at Russborough.
In 1902, Lady Geraldine Dowager Countess of Milltown gifted to the National Gallery of Ireland the contents of Russborough, Co. Wicklow, in memory of her husband, Edward Nugent, 6th Earl of Milltown (1835-1890). The gift was so extensive and varied – it included paintings, furniture, sculpture, mirrors, silver and objets d’art – that it was necessary to construct a new building (The Milltown Wing) to accommodate the collection.
Included in the Milltown Gift were 3 eighteenth-century scagliola console table-tops, the largest of which is currently on loan to Russborough, and now in need of conservation. To this end the National Gallery of Ireland has commissioned two conservators, Chiara Martinelli and Francesca Toso of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence, who have the specialist expertise in the restoration of this medium.
