Behind the Scenes: The Restoration of Isabella de' Medici

This restorer essentially removed the Instagram filter and gave us the real face.

The amount of comments that really show people paid no attention to the video at all. The before and after that show a younger ''prettier'' woman was the work of someone that wasn't the original painter and was done over a hundred years later. They painted over the original, the older woman, to make her face more suitable for the Victorian era. This woman did not 'ruin' or 'change' the original into the after photo for the hell of it, that was THE original before someone else tampered with it. Get off your high horses and take in information that is given to you before talking, thank you. edit: 6 years later and youtube gives me my first notif for this, what happened here lmao

Isabella's portrait is consistent with 16th century beauty standards in Italy. She is shown with pale skin, prominent features, and a lot of rouge, as well as being richly garbed. Portraits were always supposed to be aesthetically pleasing, with is why the Victorians changed it in the 19th century, so it would fit in with their style of beauty. Unfortunately a good portion of Rennasaince portraits have been over-painted by the Victorians.

When the restorer told the story of Isabella and said it was a bit of a bad ending, I thought to myself how it was sweet that this professional that cares so much about the painting's history got a chance to restore it.

She's a genius. How crazy is that that you can remove the "fake" painted-on layer without damaging the original layer?!

What an honor it would be to have your painting taken care of so meticulously so long after you finished it.

This is one very talented lady. Passionate about helping restore these paintings but also making sure not to change what the original artist created. The stories behind these old paintings are fascinating. I am blown away that they were able to remove the overpaint so effectively. It came out great

"And I realized if I continued to go farther with the inpainting, I would probably be adding myself to the painting. I'm not the artist, I'm the conservator, it's my job to repair damages and losses, to not put myself into the painting." An amazing mindset, if only translators shared this mindset, global culture would be much better off.

For a sec I thought she painted a different face until I watched the video and realized that the older looking face was the original. Thank you for fixing it. Everyone looks different and we should never retroactively change people or things to be "better or prettier". If you change history to fit what you like, then you're making fiction.

The painter who painted over the original painting performed "plastic surgery" on Isabella de' Medici..😆

I loved hearing how interested and excited she sounded as she was telling Isabella's story. I adored her passion. She did this restoration great justice, it's really a beautiful painting. Ellen is very talented, I would like to see her own work too.

I bet both the princess and the original artist would thank her for scrapping off that false restoration and bringing the true vision of the piece back into the work. ♥️

That lady is a genius. She must get a lot of satisfaction while working and discovering things in the painting while she works. Looks a very happy person in her work. I bet she is a joy to be around.

“You have to talk to the painting, too, tell her she’s going to be lovely. And she is, she’s going to be lovely,” this woman is the kind of person that inspired me to study art history, you can tell how much she loves the art she works with

Thank you for restoring this lady's personhood. Far from her story ending sadly she has found her way to this awesome restoration artist and scientist. One of the more fascinating ways to time travel imo. ♡

Omg this woman needs her own channel, she’s for some reason really soothing to listen to.

I love how the Restorer talks so tenderly and sweetly to the painting and while working. It really shows how much she enjoys and takes pride in her work.

Victorian one looks timid, original looks like a boss

The before version is cartoonish, almost unreal looking. The after, just breathtaking. Obviously, the work of the master himself, or one of his best students. She becomes a real woman of the period again after this masterclass restoration demonstration, instead of a victorian woman in costume. This restoration was done to perfection. A real accomplishment, saving a very important historical piece of art. Congratulations!

What is wrong with all of the people in the comments. The original was a portrait of an actual princess, has incredible detail, and character.