Old religious painting. Is it worth restoring?

[Lost&Found]

I took a $33 gamble at the TS today and bought a damaged and unsigned oil painting. Its dimensions are about 36" x 24" and its subject is Jesus leading a flock of sheep. The canvas is torn in a few place and is in need of repair and stabilization.

Why did I take a chance on this painting? Well, first I won $50 on a $2 scratch off ticket. More importantly I saw it as a test of my picking abilities.

1) The frame is old. Made out of molded plaster and wood.

2) the canvas stretchers are very oxidized and the canvas attached by nails not staples

3) signs of previous restoration work

4) the painting is executed well by an artist who has some talent

My overall impression is that it's modeled after a similar painting (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernh.../File:Bernhard_Plockhorst_-_Good_Shephard.jpg), hung in a church and was painted mid- to late 19th century.



I would like to have this painting restored but have to see if it's going to be worth it. If not I might put a mirror into the frame. Who knows the frame might be worth more than the painting.

 

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[JimDon]

I really don't see the value in restoring it but I am no expert.

 

[gino22]

Don't bother restoring. This will be a tough sell, it's just too somber to really have decorative value, and not particularly well executed IMO. There is an outside chance it was painted by a known regional artist but the time sunk into researching that is almost certainly more valuable than the painting. Would ask $100 and take the first profitable offer.

 

[Lost&Found]

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll repair and repurpose the frame. The painting I might be creative by cropping the image and the lamb he is holding onto a smaller canvas. One more project to do.

 

[diggummup]

That's funny, I just unearthed this one today in my spare bedroom.

 

[gravityrules]

From wiki:
The image of the Good Shepherd is the most common of the symbolic representations of Christ found in Early Christian art in the Catacombs of Rome, before Christian imagery could be made explicit.