Damaged, Icon, Fix It 

Great response! ☺️ Just to make sure, from left to right the letters are omicron, omega, nu (all lower case). The nu is very visible at 15:46 for example. Keep up the good work and transparent attitude!

...and love your integrity!

Thank you very much for the comment! I'm looking forward to the second video.

One thing to add: While I can't tell 100% from the video, I think that a faint cross in the halo may have also been painted over. It would be expected in an icon like this. Please make sure that, by the time you correct the retouching, you know what should be there in the image, and what shouldn't (and if it should be there but isn't, that it is truly an anomaly in the image).

Thanks Julian! Really appreciate that you’ll be taking care of this icon and making the correction.

laughing far too hard on that :'D would definitely need that fix as well ;)

When he discovers you tried stitching your soul and spirit back together yourself using staples...

Watch out for the hot table....🤣

Oh, so much same.

Lol. Can I be next in line?

Thanks for the added info!

@@margeryk000 Thank you!!

thank you so much. i am part Greek and i really wanted to know what the words meant. Alexa from New York :)🇬🇷

@@feralbluee Hello Alexa!!!Alexandros here from Greece!! Την αγάπη μας και τα φιλιά μας από την Ελλάδα!!! Αλέξα να είσαι πάντα γερή και δυνατή!!!Σε ευχαριστώ πολύ!!

@@alexalexiadis sweetie, i can’t read Greek! wish i could. but i love whatever it is you’re saying. efcharistó :) 🌷🌱🌼

When the person who is a restorationist are not versed in Orthodox iconography

I came here to say this 😜😂

*Jesus 😊

Well he is a dad so we must permit him a few dad jokes.

😅

🤣🤣🤣🤣

We all knew Julian "wood" have to add one or two puns!

English isn't my native language, so i stared at your comment for around 4 minutes before getting the joke

Right?!

And the way it's always informative and it feels fresh !

I can't even imagine the planning and scheduling that goes into doing all of these big conservative all while filming them, voicing them over, editing, AND getting the videos out regularly??🤯 idk how he does it all

Do you think he is cutting and editing the videos himself? I dont think so....but if yes its actually impressive, and something I would definitely let somebody else do if I was him

I get the impression that Julian is a rather pragmatic sort of guy. I'm sure he uploads exactly as much as is practical for him to at least break even on it. With Patreon and sponsorships I'm sure this is not an insignificant part of his income, and I'm happy that he chose this second career avenue.

That’s amazing!! Really proves how important it is to share techniques that might not otherwise reach public spaces. What techniques of his have you found that apply to your work?

I noticed that too☹️

This was a big loss in the restoration of this piece. It belongs in the Christ child’s halo. I am usually impressed with Julian’s work, but he missed this important symbol

I would watch awhole video about this topic! GREAT idea!!!!!

He is to busy….he has not time to answer!!!LOL

He did comment once that, if I remember correctly, he had some paintings in his home that were done by friends.

My guess it would be like the cobblers children and shoes situation. When you perform this level of highly skilled work, the last thing you would want, would be to stare at your own work in your home and think about spots you might have missed or want to do over.

Great Question

He did read the conservators code of ethics in one video.

@@kathyjohnson2043 do you remember which one?

I believe it is titled “vows” and depicts a bride in the thumbnail

Yeahhhhh me tooo

I find his videos so interesting, but his calm voice makes me so sleepy that I struggle to keep my eyes open 😅

Exactly, I'm surprised he didn't notice!

I’m Greek and I didn’t knew that ,thank you 💜

I am very impressed by your work. Glad you restore where needed and don't make it "new". That balance between retaining age and patina yet restoring the damage comes from your obvious skill, but also appreciation and restraint. Now THAT impresses me most! Thank you so much!

And figures? He didn't recognise Mary and Jesus? Wierd.

Could you explain more, I can't read that at all? Actually on Jesus' halo? I can read "Mother of God" above Mary, mu, (tau)?, rho (mater mother) theta, sigma (theos God) then above Jesus iota, sigma short for Jesus, chi, sigma short for Christos, Christ. Excuses for my rusty transliteration ( it was never perfect to begin with😊)

Yeah, Julian's gone on at length before about how paintings and icons don't have "patina". I had thought they did. I thought that was something they aged with and made them look better because people seemed to go on and on about the old paintings not needing cleaning. But he explains it's just dirt, grime, soot. Learn something new every day. Some people like the look of the dirt, I guess

The owner wanted it cleaned, and that's their right. I think the original painter wanted it to look the way he originally painted it, and would be happy to see it in it's original lovely colors.

This reminds me of the “Black Madonna” of Einsiedeln (CH), an icon in a monastery near where I live, created in the 15th century that was originally painted in flesh tones. The accumulation of soot from the constantly burning candles darkened the wood so that as far back as the 17th century, the icon was known as the “Black Madonna”. The statue was removed before the arrival of the Napoleonic troops, hastily buried in the earth and later brought to Austria, where it had to be restored. The conservator remarked that there were old paint flakes that were flesh toned, but he decided to remove them and paint everything in the black colour that was already dominant. So the icon was permanently given the colour that it accidentally had for most of its existence.

Even icons where not made to look dirty. They where made with love to look like what they are representing. And that "Patina" is just taking away from it

@@gl15col Not really. Icons are supposed to acquire smoke and wax and olive oil and patina. Remember these are not “art” they are windows and spiritual tools. Some are the loci of miraculous interventions by the saint. Icons are not supposed to be cleaned or restored. The accumulation of dirt and wear is the normal result of years and generations of veneration

Saint, as in patience of as Saint!! LOL

I do like his carpentry..unexpected pleasure.

Customer service, accountant/estimator, investigator, buyer ($ vs needed product), showman, janitor....Many MANY hats!

You missed CAD

@@IreneWY I don’t believe you know what the definition of the word “cad” is. How has Julian “behaved dishonorably towards a woman”?

Yes!!! More cleaning and varnish removal pls!!! 🙏

Julian prefers the right tool for the job. In this instance he gives us his reasons for this selection.

@@CorwynGC I know, I more meant it was a very odd sensation to see him pull out something he historically isn't fond of

Technically, Julian seems to prefer things that can be readily removed if someone in the future wants to treat the original artwork differently. Both hide glue and, say, Titebond can be undone, but the process is easier for hide glue.

Yup, i imagine it was just like vangoghs bedroom painting. According to his letters, the floor was red, not pink-ish. Seems like red has quite bad lightfastness

​@@capuchinosofia4771 a lot of red paints used to be made with lake pigments, from organic sources like the madder plant and later cochineal insects. In fact it was through analysis of van Gogh's paintings that we were able to learn a lot about lightfastness and the breakdown of pigments when exposed to light. van Gogh was poor, and likely could not afford to use lightfast pigments like vermillion, so instead he used lake pigments - most commonly we find evidence of eosin and cochineal used for reds by van Gogh. Red lake pigments are notoriously terrible in terms of fading, many of his paintings lost their hue within his own lifetime, something he remarked upon in letters to his family. Interestingly with van Gogh, he knew his paintings would fade and intentionally (by his own words) painted them more boldly and vividly knowing that it would not last. Despite knowing the paints would fade he used them anyway because he loved the vibrant colours. Perhaps that played a role in why so many of his works went unappreciated until more recently, now that they're faded. There's been some effort to digitally restore some of van Gogh's works to how they may have looked when he originally painted them, and my god were they vivid to say the least. The floor of the bedroom was a most likely salmon pink colour, so still not a vivid red but certainly not a dull pinkish brown. Also, the walls were purple! Look up the Revigo project if you're curious to learn more and see the examples of digital restorations.

@@madiis18account ah what a lovely comment! Yes, i had read about the Revigo project recently which sparked my comment lol Thanks for the info!

@Billy White Jr. van Gogh knew; many of his red paints faded in his own lifetime, and we know that he knew cos he wrote letters to his family about it. But yes, he was also particularly poor and even if he did want to paint with lightfast reds, probably could not afford them.

@@madiis18account Not to mention the light fast reds were very poisonous.

I’m glad for you, keep going! All the best! :)

Letters in the gilding? That would be inconsistent with the other white-on-blue text. Edit: I see what you mean at 15:18, very very faint pearl lettering in the gold halo

Correct "W" "O" "N"

Yes, I noticed that too. Maybe neither the owner nor Julian were aware of their theological meaning and importance to the icon.

I think it says: "GOD"? But I only see the O & D. ...SOD, WOD, MOD & BOD seem outta the question. 🤔

@@popcorny007 At 23:01 when he starts on the baby, you can see it clearly. There is a letter to the left and above in the halo. It does appear that he gilded over them.

These were "ό ών", "I Am". Incredibly obvious and important detail.

Same

Yes the Icon is called "Theotokos with child". The child is Christos or Christ. There are many variations on this theme.

I was disappointed in the color of the gold retouching... To me it was too bright orange/yellow and didn't match.

No mention of it so far. Two of the three symbols were completely obvious before he painted over them. In the past, Julian has consulted with experts in order to do the best restoration possible. Why not in this instance?

I guess he took it in blindly, assumed it was a normal painting, then ignored that it was iconography because he never even thought it could be iconography.

I just can’t imagine that Julian would miss this. There’s got to be a reason for him doing this.

@@Rene_Voortwist I think it's just an honest mistake.

@@Rene_Voortwist they’re incredibly cracked and jagged, it’s hard to see the letters in the video. It’s most likely just a mistake

@@savegalkissy Yes. Sadly, these letters are present in all icons of this type, and are important to the image's content. I hope Julian reads this comment.

This is INCREDIBLY important. Without those symbols the depiction is not of Jesus.

He definitely knows that. He's worked on other icons

@@slbarbieri1725 just wanted to point that out because he said: "that child" in the video and I wasn't sure if he knew😁

He’s Jewish, so maybe he actively chooses not to name them, as Jews don’t recognise the divinity of Jesus Christ as the Messiah.

Yes, as icons refer to paintings of religious characters I would HOPE most people are aware of the subject matter. Then again, when I took art history 101 I was the only person that seemed to know anything about the Bible so I guess I shouldn’t hold my breath

@@skulldon9 I'm not Buddhist, but I wouldn't neglect saying a picture of the Buddha is the Buddha.

Like bro, you have kunshaus, national art museum or just shoot a mail to SKR. You have good, even excellent people, in Switzerland they just don't have a youtube channel hence you aren't as "starstruck" with them

Ah, you can hardly see it until 23:55 the W is evident, then. It's difficult otherwise to make out.

I saw that, I cringed. I'm not even Christian and I know it's important.

@@alexalexiadis He covered up the ὁ ὢν in the halo.

​@@alexalexiadis This is absolutely incorrect. Christ is almost always depicted with ὁ ὢν in his halo, which also usually has a cross inscribed. This example lacks the cross, but not the lettering. My reply with a link to a Google search isn't showing up; perhaps they get filtered here. But Googling for "greek icon christ" will show you numerous examples. If you've never noticed this, you've been almost unforgivably inattentive in church.

@@the-chillian You have absolutely right..sorry my mistake!!!I didn’t notice (my eyes betrayed me!)he covered it!!! It’s obvious I see it clear now with my glasses on!! No hard feelings…thank you!

for someone pretending to be smart you would think you'd know it's spelled eschew

@@vertigo.frog2110 Since misspelling has offended, Lately It has been amended. Let no more snarks be here appended, And now with smiles let all be ended.

@@vertigo.frog2110 since their post wasn't made maliciously and they arent pretending but you're just being pedantic about a positive post, upon thyself may thy accusations lay.

I love it too! Does anyone know what this song it is? Finding classical pieces is so hard and I’d love to be able to listen to it again.

Julian is still waiting for the Messiah, mind you.

Because they were clearly visible. No sections missing.

He covered them, though.

Like the outline of the fingers comes before the fingers end?

Channel name?

I like listening to his voice. If he runs out of things to say he could start talking about the history of the painting