How do you gauge if you’ve removed enough dirt from the back of the canvas to start gluing material to it?

This series was so inspiring!!! Thank you for this unique restore and the history behind it! Also loved the sign lettering!!! You are so incredibly talented!

The red velvet looks rich and soft - very luxurious. I wish I could paint like that! Can't wait to see the whole painting completely restored!

Beautiful job, lovely portrait very personal

Removing the awful strokes on his cheeks throws your attention immediately to his eyes - what a difference Now it’s his left ear that looks ‘wrong’

The instant reveal if the 2 buttercup flowers gives hope for the rest of the painting

The family must have been disappointed with the previous restoration

Could possibly have been Nottingham lace ?

Im going to say 84 tck!

I can appreciate a good rabbit hole. Your RU-vid channel is that for me. Thank you for sharing.

I receive pleasure and great relaxation watching art restoration. Your voice and your explanation of the process is very pleasing. I also watch Julian Baumgartner. You are both are a pleasure to watch. Thank you

This is a bittersweet restoration. Poor little guy got scrubbed down hard. Your amazing work aside, i quite enjoy the weather reports.

England and the continent have some dissimilarities. The wearing of girl's clothing by very young boys is on the continent described as a very ancient custom. It was thought that the devil was interested in taking baby boys to the grave and had no interest in girls. Hence people disguised their little boys in girl's clothing until he was more or less physically strong enough to withstand the devil, i.e. diseases that could cost a young child his life.

I think it's a moth, possibly a Six-spot burnet moth?

What if you rolled some that you took off into a ball and used that to get a peel started? I think that might appeal to you. lol

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode! What amazing history. Heartwarming - from Canada 🍁

The child was a red head and so had very fair skin. A later artist thought he looked pallid.

Different restoration materials and techniques here, any Baumgartner's watching?

Sharing your sadness at the vandalism of this portrait (and the regency gent). Such a shame the family fell victim to an arrogant, self aggrandising person. I hope this beautiful boy will be every bit as successful as your last restoration.

Oof your audio in the left channel... that was disorienting lol but as for the painting... how stupid and careless can one be to destroy such artworks?!

Thanks for the long video, I like the restoration process, however listening to the commentary is the best part, the voice is terrific.

Yay new video, can’t wait to see how this painting turns out. 🤗

Can't wait for the next episode! Very fascinating restoration. Thank you.

I do believe it's a moth/butterfly but it could be a crocheted hankie, sometimes they made a loop to go over the finger so you didn't drop it. I would suspect that more if it were a girl and if bugs weren't already present. I do believe that brown blob is in the head area, just behind it. This one was a butcher job. Too many decisions on how to proceed

Thanks!

That varnish look not verry strong to mee!!! Paintings has a soul I think!!!

Sound off in a few places

All I want is to fix those awkward, out of scale legs emerging from some grotesque, imaginary pelvis. Trouble is, the root cause is compositional. Restoration won't address it.

I think there's a strong chance that the moth is a garden tiger moth. They are more brown than the red in the painting, but it's extremely similar. A google image search initially showed a lot of images with its wings spread, revealing the inner wings. I did find a few good images with its wings closed and I think it's a pretty good match.

James, do you have any images of your copies on line for viewing? I would enjoy seeing some of them.

Much better! Thanks again for a great video!

I vote for a moth! I love moths...so glad to see that is what it is.

Oh, oh! It's a moth!! I am so relieved; I thought he might have an injury or congenital malformation. 😅

It's still so much nicer to see what is left of the original artist than the sadder "refresh" work!

This is absolutely amazing! He didn't even look like a little boy to me until you started cleaning off the yellowed varnish and terrible overpainting. His hands look like hands now, and I couldn't even see the beautiful foliage before. My mouth literally fell open when you uncovered parts of what the original artist intended. To me, the painting turned from a caricature into a portrait of a sweet little boy. When you first began to describe this painting, I simply couldn't see what you saw, but I do now!

So beautiful❤

Such a lot hidden behind all that dirt and excess paint.He is looking so much better now.The one ear on the right in full view looks over painted,it’s too big for him. I love all the detail on and around the log stool,even the bugs.As always I am waiting patiently for the stabilising varnish and watching you make it look beautiful as if the artist had just walked away from it.And that’s what it’s all about 🥰

Looks like a butterfly on his fingers.

The more you cleaned his face, the more he looks like a little boy. It was interesting to see through your loupe. There was a lot of painting history that can’t be seen with the naked eye.

I was looking at his hand before you started cleaning it and thought it looked like some kind of damage. Then, after seeing the beetle, I saw it was a butterfly. The black looks a little big for its head, but it could be part of a flower.

This was a great video but when you were speaking directly to the camera, there was no sound. When we saw the painting, I can hear you.

I congratulate you on your professionalism. I dislike this painting so much I would find it hard to work on. Looking forward to the next steps.

Well you certainly have a lot of work to do with this one! So far so good! His eyes are intact and look quite good and the painting on the gown as well. I agree that is a moth of some sort by his hand. I’m looking forward to the next time thank you for sharing with us. 👍🏼👋🏼

the brown blob looks like the head of a moth sitting on his folded closed fingers wow

The insect in the child's hand is a butterfly, I think. Already in antiquity, the butterfly symbolised the soul or psyche (from Greek = soul), fragility and shortness of life. It commonly appears as such on engraved gems used as private amulets by the Greeks and the Romans, mounted in mourning rings put into the graves with the deceased or carried in remembrance of the death. You can also check the story of Cupid and Psyche, the latter is often depicted as a butterfly in reference to their story and again psyche = soul, that is common in paintings. The concept continues into the modern era. The picked flowers seem to me another symbol of the fragility of life. Assuming this, the portrait should be posthumous, commissioned to commemorate the child.

There are a number of UK moths featuring red on black. E.g, the Six-spot Burnet Moth of southern England (you'll have to search, if I post a link, this entire post vanishes). That's not an exact match to the painting, but there may be related moths.

Thank you for this long video and letting us come along while cleaning and discovering the depth of this painting. I really enjoyed this! Even though there is so much damage he looks so much better than before. Can't wait for your retouching!

the brown bit looks like the head of a moth.

That's what I thought it was the center of a flower. And the pedals were cleaned off

Could UV or IR photography reveal the artists signature?