Artwork
Love Scene
Love Scene is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist Giulio Romano. It dates from 1525 and is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.
About this work
It was originally painted on panel and later moved to canvas by A.
Love Scene is an oil painting by Giulio Romano, made around 1525.
It was originally painted on panel and later moved to canvas by A. Mitrokin in 1834. Because it was poorly stored and kept off public view until 1920, the work suffered serious damage, including three large breaks in the canvas that were sealed with coarse plaster on the back, plus wear to the paint and varnish. Restoration work has tried to stabilize the painting.
You can see it today at the State Hermitage Museum.
Overview
Giulio Romano’s Love Scene, executed circa 1524–1525, is an oil work originally painted on wooden panel before being transferred to canvas in the 19th century. The painting now belongs to the collection of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
Technique & Style
The composition was created with oil pigments applied to a panel support, a common practice among Italian painters of the early 1500s. In 1834 the work was relined onto canvas by the conservator A. Mitrokin, a process that involved removing the original ground and adhering the image to a new fabric backing.
Context
For more than three centuries the painting was stored in suboptimal conditions and remained out of public view, leading to extensive deterioration. The canvas suffered three major tears that were filled with coarse plaster on the reverse side, and the paint and varnish layers exhibit loss and cracking both before and after the transfer. Subsequent conservation efforts have focused on stabilising the surface and mitigating the damage.
History & Provenance
After its creation in the mid‑16th century, the work entered private collections before being acquired by the Hermitage. It was not exhibited publicly until 1920, when it finally entered the museum’s display program following the completion of early restoration work.
Artist & collection
Artist
Giulio Pippi (c. 1499 – 1 November 1546), known as Giulio Romano (US: JOOL-yoh rə-MAH-noh( Italian: ) and sometimes known in French as Jules Romain, was an Italian painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and…
