Repainted a '59 oil painting over church's baptismal; it dried 'crackled'. How do I correct?

Reasons for an oil painting to crackle;


- The top layer (either paint or varnish) has dried faster than the layer beneath - was the painting varnished before the paint was completely cured? Or a lean (no oil) layer was painted over a fat (oil-rich) layer which dried faster than the underpainting?


- The painting was painted over a non-absorbent ground such as a varnished or acrylic substrate, thus the paint has not adhered properly to the substrate.


- The wrong varnish was used (acrylic or polyurathane varnish over oil would do this, especially if the oil paint was not cured).





In any case, this cannot be corrected except in the case of improper varnish; assuming you know what varnish was used, the varnish could be removed with the solvent used to thin the varnish. This may damage the painting beneath, so not really recommended unless done by a conservator.





Sorry for the bad news...