The conservation of the monumental painting and frame of Signing of the Constitution by Howard Chandler Christy, which was installed in 1941, has been completed. Because of the difficulty of access, they have only been worked on once before, in 1968, following the 1967 vandalism of the painting along the lower edge. At that time, the frame was removed in sections and then the canvas was detached from its stretcher and rolled up in order to get it out of the building. The frame unfortunately was "restored" by having bronze powder paint applied over the original gold leaf. The bronze powder paint darkens and dulls with time and was damaged along the bottom.
The eight sections of the 20-by-30-foot frame and the eagle crest, hand-carved by Azeglio Pancani were again separated and removed for conservation off site. Professional fine art conservators who specialize in historic gilded frames tested to see if they could safely remove the non-original bronze powder overpaint. Unfortunately, the original metal leaf proved to be darkened and damaged. The decision was made to regild the frame using gold of a similar color, which was given a subtle tone to set off the painting. The gold will never tarnish and should stay beautiful for generations to come if properly cared for.
The oil painting was conserved in place by conservators working from scaffolding on four levels. Dust and grime were cleaned off and discolored varnish was removed from every inch of the 18-by-27-foot stretched oil-on-canvas painting (486 square feet). Care was taken to leave intact Howard Chandler Christy's thinly painted layers of vivid color. The expressions of each individual portrait and details of clothing can once again be seen. The area where the canvas was vandalized and then repaired and repainted was given special attention and now can barely be seen. Finally, a new coating of clear protective varnish was applied.
Work on the painting was completed at the end of December 2006; the frame was reinstalled and the scaffold was removed in early January 2007.
