David’s first victory
William Strutt David’s first victory 1868 after conservation treatment and in its new frame
William Strutt David’s first victory 1868 after conservation treatment and in its new frame
More than two metres high and a metre wide, David’s first victory 1868 is a large-scale oil painting by English artist William Strutt (1825–1915). It was purchased by the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1974, and in 2010–11 underwent conservation treatment and received a new custom-built frame, in a project generously supported by Hyperion Asset Management.
Born in England, Strutt studied in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, before coming to Australia for a period, where in 1856 he became a founding member of the Victorian Society of Fine Arts. One of the first artists in Australia to produce large-scale history paintings, he also painted religious subjects, exhibiting these works regularly at the Royal Academy after his return to England.
Painted in fine classical style, Strutt’s monumental David’s first victory draws on a well-known narrative from the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. It depicts the biblical hero David triumphant over a dead lion and bear, while bleating sheep and goats express their gratitude. (David would later defeat the giant Goliath.)
In a composition that has been constructed according to academic conventions, David stands at the apex of a triangle, the base of which is formed by the lion’s body. Strutt was an excellent draughtsman and, in the academic tradition, made detailed preparatory drawings and sketches before embarking on large paintings. The Art Gallery holds several of these related studies.
Before Art Gallery of New South Wales paintings conservator Andrea Nottage began treatment on the painting, technical analysis was undertaken to examine its condition. Long-wavelength infra-red (IR) imaging revealed Strutt’s skill in depicting the human form. Below the paint layer, invisible to the naked eye, the artist’s underdrawing of David’s upper left arm, below the garment, shows Strutt’s understanding of form and drapery. IR imaging of the right arm reveals a shift in the final composition, with Strutt raising the arm and elbow from the drawing lines.
The painting is very carefully and thinly painted. The artist chose a canvas of very fine weave on which to paint his composition. Over time this support has become brittle and fragile, and the top edge had torn. The structural integrity of a work is paramount in preserving it for future generations, so conservation treatment was necessary to strengthen the support and stabilise this damage, which was causing uneven tension and canvas distortions to occur in the top corners.
To gain access to the torn folded edge, the canvas was released from the stretcher along the top edge. A strip of very thin but strong supporting fabric was adhered to the back in this section only so even tension could be applied when re-attaching the canvas to the stretcher. Supporting the canvas in this way and removing the distortions prevents the paint layer from moving, cracking and potentially falling off in the future.
Surface dirt was also delicately removed from the front, allowing the gloss and saturation of the varnish layer to fully enhance the true colours of the paint layer and accentuate the fine details.
A new reproduction frame was made for David’s first victory by the Art Gallery’s frame-maker David Butler. As a suitable frame original to a Strutt painting from a similar period could not be located, a Watts frame was deemed to be sympathetic to the painting, both in scale and style.
Watts frames – named after English artist George Frederic Watts (1817–1904), whose works are often framed in such style – originated in the 1860s and rose in popularity in the last third of the 19th century. Typically a Watts frame combined Renaissance elements, such as the acanthus leaf ornament, with avant-garde features, like the gilded raw oak frieze, in a relatively simple form. For the new frame for David’s first victory, a raw oak frieze was paired with an acanthus leaf ornament and an inner leaf bud pattern. The frame retains its original slip.
The painting before (left) and after (right) conservation treatment
IR image showing the underdrawing of David’s upper left arm, below the garment
IR imaging of David’s right arm, revealing a shift in the final composition