Conservation

Paintings Conservation

English Heritage is responsible for the care and conservation of 1,300 paintings and their frames as well as 15 in situ painted decorative schemes on wood, paper or canvas.

Most are located in our London properties and include key moments in western art history, such as The Waterseller of Seville by Velázquez at Apsley House, and Rembrandt’s late Self Portrait and Vermeer’s Guitar Player at Kenwood.

Explore some of our paintings conservation stories here, and learn about some of the amazing discoveries we have uncovered thanks to our experts’ work.

Behind the Scenes

Delve behind the scenes and discover how our conservators maintain and protect our fine art collection both on site and in the studio. Hear about the important considerations that must be made before any conservation is started, and see the skill, passion and dedication that goes into this work.

Conservation Stories

Explore some of the works that have been conserved in recent years and see some of the amazing transformations and new discoveries we have uncovered using the latest techniques and technology. 

Reynolds at Kenwood

English Heritage cares for many paintings by Joshua Reynolds, one of the most celebrated artists in the history of British art. To understand more about Reynolds as an artist, and in time for his 300th birthday in 2023, we have been closely examining and treating two of Reynolds’s paintings from the Kenwood collection in London. In this short video you can find out more about what we have learnt and some of the unique challenges our conservators faced due to Reynolds’s unconventional technique.

Read more about Reynolds at Kenwood

  • The Vegetable Seller

    With new conservation work, technical analysis and research, we have been able to uncover some of the secrets of this mysterious painting which had been languishing in the back of a store room at Audley End for over 40 years.

  • Titian’s Orpheus

    In Ancient Greek mythology, Orpheus was a musician so talented that his music could enchant all living things. In this short video, learn more about the Orpheus myth and go behind the scenes during the conservation of Titian’s Orpheus Enchanting the Animals from the Wellington Collection at Apsley House.

  • Botticelli at Ranger’s House

    In 2019, two years of careful research and conservation by English Heritage experts came to fruition when a painting formerly believed to be by a copyist of Botticelli was revealed to have come from the studio of the man himself.

  • Huysmans at Wrest Park

    In 2018, a 17th-century painting by Jacob Huysmans (c.1633–96) was returned to its ancestral home, Wrest Park in Bedfordshire, after almost 300 hours of conservation. The work revealed the bright and vivid colours for which Huysmans was famous for.

Saffie Patel surface cleaning Maria Verelst’s portrait of Lady Isabella Scott

Courtauld Students at Audley

The conservation studio at English Heritage has collaborated with the Courtauld Institute of Art in London for many years, supplying paintings from historic house collections for their students to work on. We recently welcomed five students to help conserve a selection of 17th- and 18th-century portrait paintings from the collection at Audley End House.

The selection of paintings were in varying condition. Their conservation history meant each painting posed a unique challenge for the students. Read more about these challenges, the paintings and their conservation.

Image Courtesy of The Courtauld, Department of Conservation

Read more

Explore more

Explore more of our paintings conservation work through the images below (click on the images to expand for more detail).

Conservators view Vermeer’s ‘Guitar Player’ by candlelight

Conservators view Vermeer’s ‘Guitar Player’ by candlelight

Conservators view Vermeer’s ‘Guitar Player’ by candlelight
Vermeer’s ‘Guitar Player’ is part of the collection at Kenwood, in London. With the painting removed from its frame and glass while a new lighting system was being installed, conservators took the opportunity to view the work by candlelight, as the artist would have done, revealing some of the hidden details of Vermeer’s techniques.
Light cleaning on a large oil painting from the collection at Marble Hill, London

Light cleaning on a large oil painting from the collection at Marble Hill, London

Light cleaning on a large oil painting from the collection at Marble Hill, London
Rachel Turnbull, Senior Collections Conservator, performs light cleaning on a large oil painting of King Charles I and his son, the future King Charles II, from the collection at Marble Hill, London, during ongoing restoration work.
Close-up of the cleaning of a large oil painting from the collection at Marble Hill, London

Close-up of the cleaning of a large oil painting from the collection at Marble Hill, London

Close-up of the cleaning of a large oil painting from the collection at Marble Hill, London
Close-up of the cleaning of a large oil painting of King Charles I and his son, the future King Charles II, at Marble Hill, London.
Conservation on the wall paintings inside the Little Castle at Bolsover, Derbyshire

Conservation on the wall paintings inside the Little Castle at Bolsover, Derbyshire

Conservation on the wall paintings inside the Little Castle at Bolsover, Derbyshire
Dating back to the late Renaissance, the Little Castle at Bolsover, Derbyshire, is filled with significant wall paintings. Many are at risk of serious deterioration due to factors such as climate or poor past restoration work. Conservation was carried out to stabilise loose plaster in the Heaven Room as well as clean old drip marks from the surface.
Courtauld Institute of Art students conduct a high-tech examination of the wall paintings at Longthorpe Tower, Cambridgeshire

Courtauld Institute of Art students conduct a high-tech examination of the wall paintings at Longthorpe Tower, Cambridgeshire

Courtauld Institute of Art students conduct a high-tech examination of the wall paintings at Longthorpe Tower, Cambridgeshire
In 2019, a project by English Heritage in partnership with the Courtauld Institute of Art saw students conduct a high-tech examination of the wall paintings at Longthorpe Tower, Cambridgeshire. They also completed much needed conservation treatments to stabilise the flaking plaster and minimise the appearance of old restorations.
Smoke drawings from the ceiling of Berwick-Upon-Tweed Barracks, Northumberland, created by soldiers in the 18th century

Smoke drawings from the ceiling of Berwick-Upon-Tweed Barracks, Northumberland, created by soldiers in the 18th century

Smoke drawings from the ceiling of Berwick-Upon-Tweed Barracks, Northumberland, created by soldiers in the 18th century
Created by soldiers in the 18th century, the smoke drawings on the ceiling of Berwick-Upon-Tweed Barracks, Northumberland, offer a fascinating insight into the everyday lives of the men living in the barracks. Discovered during conservation work in the 1970s and 80s, some of the smoke drawings have recently been cleaned and stored in purpose-made boxes to allow for more research into the stories behind the pictures in the future.
Conservation work on the chancel ceiling paintings at St Mary’s Church, Kempley in 2021

Conservation work on the chancel ceiling paintings at St Mary’s Church, Kempley in 2021

Conservation work on the chancel ceiling paintings at St Mary’s Church, Kempley in 2021
Conservation work on the chancel ceiling paintings at St Mary’s Church, Kempley in 2021.
X-radiography of a portrait of Henry, Prince of Wales (1594–1612) from the collection at Audley End House, Essex

X-radiography of a portrait of Henry, Prince of Wales (1594–1612) from the collection at Audley End House, Essex

X-radiography of a portrait of Henry, Prince of Wales (1594–1612) from the collection at Audley End House, Essex
X-radiography was carried out on a portrait of Henry, Prince of Wales (1594–1612) from the collection at Audley End House, Essex. The technology revealed that underneath the prince lies an earlier portrait, upside down and possibly of Lucy Harrington, a 17th-century courtier and patron of the arts. It’s believed that the panel was first painted with the female sitter in 1606 and quickly over-painted, possibly because the first commission was unsuccessful. (X-ray Image: © National Portrait Gallery, London)
X-ray of ‘Titian’s Mistress’ – a painting in the collection at Apsley House, London

X-ray of ‘Titian’s Mistress’ – a painting in the collection at Apsley House, London

X-ray of ‘Titian’s Mistress’ – a painting in the collection at Apsley House, London
During the conservation of ‘Titian’s Mistress’ – a painting in the collection at Apsley House, London – the work was x-rayed at the Hamilton Kerr Institute. This revealed a different painting underneath depicting a seated semi-nude woman raising one hand to pluck a veil in her hair, and an indistinct second face on the right.