Yahoo News Masterpiece damaged in National Gallery screwdriver attack is restored and back on display
AThomas Gainsborough masterpiece that was slashed with a screwdriver has been restored and returned to its spot in the National Gallery.
An attacker entered the gallery on a busy Saturday afternoon earlier this month and defaced The Morning Walk, a 1785 portrait of William Hallet and Elizabeth Stephens.
The National Gallery’s East Wing was evacuated and closed for two hours following the incident, which took place at a spot featured in the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall.
The painting is now back on display in room 34, which is also home to two of the gallery’s most famous paintings: The Haywain by John Constable and Whistlejacket by George Stubbs.
Commonly referred to as The Morning Walk, Mr and Mrs William Hallett were painted shortly before their marriage in the summer of 1785, when they were both 21 years old.
According to the National Gallery, “William is in a black, silk velvet frock-suit. His apparent carelessness is actually a studied pose. The undone jacket and with one hand tucked into it is a stance seen in many fashionable 18th century informal portraits.
“Elizabeth is in a dress of ivory silk - perhaps her wedding dress - caught at the waist with a black silk band. A frilled muslin kerchief covers her breast, with a knot of grape-green ribbon under it.
“The light, feathery brushstrokes used to describe the landscape are typical of Gainsborough's late style.”
The Morning Walk, which sold for £30,000 in 1954 thanks in part to a £5,000 Art Fund grant, will return to its spot immediately adjacent to An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, a 1768 work by Joseph Wright of Derby, and opposite Joseph Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire (1839).
Staff and gallery-goers rushed to detail the man, who was restrained until members of the police arrived at the scene on the second floor of the museum.
“The public is tremendously helpful in these situations. Visitors get very upset when somebody does something of this kind and immediately come to assist,” said the gallery's director, Dr Gabriele Finaldi.
“It was a very busy day in one of the busiest parts of the gallery. The man was initially approached by a member of the public after he had done this. Then the gallery assistant came up, the man was held and taken over to the other side of the room.”
The masterpiece, which was acquired for the nation from Lord Rothschild in 1954, was removed from display while conservation experts assessed the damage, after it suffered two long gouges which penetrated the paintwork.
Dr Finaldi said conservation staff were working to repair the painting and promised “it will immediately go back on display in the same place”.
Questions were raised over whether staffing cuts, or the outsourcing of security to a private company, had made the collection more vulnerable, but Dr Finaldi said he disagreed with the suggestion.
He added: “It is very difficult to protect yourself against that sort of situation. It is always difficult to understand why anyone should want to damage a picture, particularly one that belongs to the public and is there for all to see.
“All our security protocols worked exactly as they should have.”
Keith Gregory, 63, of no fixed abode, has since appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court charged with causing criminal damage.
