Sometimes conservation isn’t about beauty restored, but strength renewed. Not every conservation treatment results in a dramatic visual transformation. When conservators work with an artwork, one of our main goals is to make sure it stays stable and strong enough for handling and mounting, not to mention the time it spends on view. For a large textile, such as a 15-foot-by-11-foot tapestry hung along its top edge, we carefully consider how gravity might affect it. If it’s not properly supported, the weight alone could cause it to stretch, sag, or even tear. That’s why planning the right support is a critical part of the process.

The textile conservation team is preparing The Story of Theagenes and Chariclea (ca. 1634–1635), a complete series of six tapestries designed by Simon Vouet (1590–1649) and woven under the direction of Raphael de la Planche (1629–after 1661). Individual tapestries from the series have been on view at our museums over the years, but have not been shown together as a complete set. 

In order to prepare them to go on view, we reviewed their conservation history by studying the reports that document past treatments. During this initial review, we noted that a few of the tapestries had full linen supports, which means fabric had been added to the reverse of the tapestries to provide a foundation for repair stitches. Since the treatments had been carried out over 30 years ago, the first step was to assess how they have held up over the intervening decades.

For Chariclea Led Away by the Pirates, our work began with a careful assessment using the studio hoist. We let the tapestry hang similarly to how it would be exhibited, allowing gravity to reveal how the textile naturally responds to its own weight — a process captured strikingly in this raking light photograph.

What became clear is that the linen lining used to support repair stitches has aged differently than the wool of the tapestry. While this pairing worked initially, wool stretches subtly, while linen remains rigid. The result? The tapestry has extended, while the lining remains taut between the conservation stitches, creating diagonal bulges and puckering across the tapestry’s surface.

This imbalance creates areas of stress where the tapestry is essentially bearing too much weight in too small a space — particularly beneath those bulges. If left unaddressed, these vulnerable spots could eventually tear under the strain.

But how to resolve this problem? The conservation stitches are doing their job, and removing the previous repair might cause more harm than good. We tested an area by cutting through the support fabric, which relieved the tension between the stitches. It was as if the tapestry let out a sigh as the careful incisions opened in the lining fabric allowed the tapestry to realign itself. The new openings in the lining were stitched to the back with zigzag stitches, securing everything in place.

Now the tapestry is stable and ready to take the next steps toward going back on view: having a dust cover added to protect the back (which cannot be easily monitored while the tapestry is on view) and Velcro attached to the reverse along the top edge for mounting.

This conservation project is generously supported by Bank of America.