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Q&As since 1989


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Restore painting on copper

Our church is the beginning stages of remodeling and one of the problems we've encountered is the beautiful "Stations of the Cross" that were originally painted on copper. Unfortunately, they are in a faded and flaked stage. The figure of Christ is still brighter, but the background and the other figures in the paintings are dull and hard to see. The details are quite beautiful and show lovely fine features. We've been told that they cannot be restored. And I don't want to believe that. Can you shed any light on our problem? Or point us in the right direction? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Ann Unger
- Wabash, Indiana
2002

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2005

Hello, yes, you can restore oil painting on copper. You can be sure about it, I'm doing several courses on restoration and one of the points is how to restore oil painting on copper.
Be happy about your Christ image, it can be restore and will be as beautiful as it was when it was painted!
Cheers!
Teresa

Teresa López Palma
- Barcelona, Spain

As on another post, I too, have a need for information on the technique to clean prep & restore the vibrant color to Stations of the Cross for our church which have been painted (in oils) on copper plate. These stations are in relatively good condition with no apparent flaking, they just seem to need color restoration. They were last restored some 20-30 years ago. Can anyone point me to a resource for this operation?

JOHN GIOVANONI
- MARTINSVILLE, IN, USA
January 29, 2009