Category: Conservation
Städel Museum to conserve Rembrandt's The Blinding of Samson
October 1 2025
Picture: Städel Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Exciting news from Frankfurt that the Städel Museum are embarking on a conservation project on Rembrandt's The Blinding of Samson. The latest campaign is expected to take 3 or 4 years and has been funded in part by the Bank of America Art Conservation Project. The article linked above has more details regarding technical examinations undertaken on the picture a few years ago.
To quote the article linked above:
“Our goal is to restore Rembrandt’s painting to its original intensity while ensuring the long-term preservation of the painting’s substance,” Stephan Knobloch, the Städel’s head of art technology and restoration, said in a statement. “Every measure is carefully tailored to the original techniques and materials in order to preserve the work as the artist intended.”
Simone Martini's St. Louis of Toulouse to be Restored
September 29 2025
Picture: Museum and Real Bosco di Capodimonte
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte have announced the upcoming conservation of Simone Martini's monumental St. Louis of Toulouse. Dated to around 1317, the painting was last restored in 1966. The new campaign of work will be undertaken by the company Opificio delle Pietre Dure and will last approximately 6 months.
Royal Collection Clean Giulio Romano
September 29 2025
Video: Royal Collection Trust via Instagram
Posted by Adam Busiakeiwicz:
The Royal Collection Trust have published the following video showing the results of conservation on Giulio Romano's The Nurture of Jupiter. The painting is now on display at Windsor Castle, the first time it has been in 60 years apparently.
Moving the Bayeux Tapestry
September 24 2025
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Earlier this summer it was announced during President Macron's State visit to the UK that The British Museum would be borrowing the famous Bayeux Tapestry for a special exhibition opening in September 2026. There have been growing concerns in both the French art press (1) (2) and some commentators in the UK (1) that the tapestry's unique conservation considerations have been overridden for political purposes and not been given adequate thought.
Yesterday the French Ministry of Culture's website published preliminary reports into the questions of how the UNESCO historical monument (as it is designated) will be moved, including outlines for a new study commissioned by the French state. In other words, there's a long way to go to establish how movement and vibrations will affect this ancient textile.
More news as and when it appears.
Rubens Restored in Antwerp
September 19 2025
Picture: CODART
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
CODART (the international network of curators of Dutch and Flemish art) have shared news of the completion of the first phase of restoration of Rubens' Enthroned Madonna Adored by Saints, a gargantuan painting in the collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA). Click on the link to follow the progress and see more images at various stages of cleaning.
Gerard Seghers Pictures from Wentworth Woodhouse to be Conserved
September 18 2025
Picture: Burlington Magazine / Martin Drury
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Exciting news that a set of paintings from Wentworth Woodhouse by Gerard Seghers will be conserved in the upcoming months. An appeal for their restoration, in honour of the late Alaistair Laing who reattributed to set to Seghers, was published in the Burlington Magazine back in May.
Click on the links above for more details including the project's fundraising page.
Michelangelo's Last Judgement to undergo 3 month Restoration Project
September 10 2025
Picture: Wikipedia
Posted by Adam Busiakeiwicz:
News from Italy that Michelangelo's Last Judgement will undergo a 3-month restoration project beginning in January 2026. The work will fall to Paolo Violini, who heads up restoration projects at the Vatican, to undertake a 'lighter and shorter' campaign of work than the previous one that took place between 1979 and 1999. The work is apparently due to finish at the end of March and in time for Holy Week.
John Michael Wright – Conservation and Context at Hatfield House
September 9 2025
Picture: Hatfield House
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Hatfield House in Hertfordshire will be hosting a lecture on 17th October 2025 on the recent conservation and research of John Michael Wright's Portrait of James Cecil, 4th Earl of Salisbury, and his sister Catherine (pictured). Speakers will include Nicole Ryder, Susan North, Karen Hearn and Holly Tatham.
According to their website:
The event will feature a panel of experts who will explore the painting’s restoration within the broader context of Wright’s oeuvre and 17th-century British material culture. This is a rare opportunity to view an important example of Wright’s work, which is not normally on public display.
Click on the link above to find out how to book tickets.
George Villiers Study Day
September 4 2025
Picture: leicestershirecollections.org.uk
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Leicestershire County Council Museum Services are hosting a study day on George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, at the Melton Carnegie Museum in Melton Mowbray on Thursday 18th September 2025. The study day follows new research and restoration on a previously neglected portrait of the Duke, which has now been attributed to Paul van Somer and dated to about 1619 (see above).
Here's a list of the speakers and topics covered:
- Lucy Hughes-Hallett, author of The Scapegoat: The Brilliant Brief Life of the Duke of Buckingham;
- Dr Megan Shaw, University of Auckland, on Katherine Villiers, Duchess of Buckingham;
- Professor Karen Hearn, UCL, on the early portraits of George Villiers, including the little-known Melton Carnegie portrait of c.1619;
- Jon Sleigh, Learning Curator & Alison Clague, Senior Curator, Culture Leicestershire, on Villiers Revealed;
- Professor Maria Hayward, University of Southampton, on George Villiers’s clothing in the context of the Jacobean court.
Here's a video published on YouTube which explains more about the restoration of the painting.
Joan Carlile at Freize 2025
September 4 2025
Picture: Philip Mould & Co. / lawsons.com.au
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The dealers Philip Mould & Co. have announced on their website that they will be revealing a rediscovered work by Joan Carlile at Frieze 2025 (which opens on 15th October). Regular readers will remember the painting which came up for sale in Australia at the beginning of this year.
Click on the link above to see a better image of the freshly cleaned work, which is rather beautiful in the details.
New Conservation Studios at Princeton University Art Museum
July 11 2025
Picture: Princeton University Art Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Princeton University Art Museum have shared details of their new state of the art conservation studios, which are due to open later in October.
It seems that they have done a brilliant job in designing the spaces to allow members of the public to get a glimpse of what goes on in such places:
Adjacent to the galleries, on the second floor of the new building, visitors will encounter the conservation vestibule, a space where conservation-related installations will be displayed. Visitors will also be able to catch a glimpse of the conservators at work through the two windows in the double doors to the studios. The 2,000-square-foot space behind the doors will house both paper and objects conservation. Each area will have ample room and highly specialized equipment to carry out day-to-day treatment and research activities.
Click on the link above to read more and have a glimpse of the new studios.
Harewood House clean Lawrence
July 10 2025
Picture: Harewood House via Instagram
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Harewood House, the ancestral home of the Lascelles family, have shared some nice images on Instagram of the recent conservation of Sir Thomas Lawrence's full-length portrait of Henry Lascelles, 2nd Earl of Harewood by Critchlow & Kukkonen Ltd. Regular readers will remember the full-length portrait of Lady Worsley which was sold from Harewood earlier this year for a reported £25m.
Petit Palais cleaning Greuze ahead of Autumn Show
July 7 2025
Picture: Nicolas Milvanovic on 'X'
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Louvre curator Nicolas Milovanovic has shared this rather pleasing mid-clean image of Greuze's Jeune berger in the collection of the Petit Palais. The conservation project is in anticipation of the museum's autumn exhibition on the artist entitled Painting Childhood which will run from 16th September 2025 until 25th January 2026.
Restoration Projects at the San Gennaro dei Poveri
June 27 2025
Video: Pupi Campania
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Naples that the city's San Gennaro dei Poveri, an historic monastery / hospital complex, is in the process of a €100m restoration and conservation project. This includes the restoration of several of the site's historic works of art, which are being conducted on public view behind glass (as the beginning of the video above shows).
Hall of Constantine Conserved after 10-year Project
June 26 2025
Video: Musei Vaticani
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm slow to news that a 10-year project to conserve the Vatican's Hall of Constantine had been completed earlier this year. The work, undertaken by the Gabinetto di Ricerche Scientifiche under the directorship of Fabio Morresi, has focused on the study and conservation of these vast frescos undertaken by Raphael's workshop including collaborators such as Giulio Romano, Gianfrancesco Penni and others. Watch the video above to see some of the painstaking work undertaken as part of the campaign of restoration.
Titian (?) in the Dark
June 25 2025
Picture: AB
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I was visiting the Wallace Collection yesterday morning and came across their 'Ascribed to Titian' Venus and Cupid hanging in the Medieval & Renaissance galleries. The lighting of the glass cabinets below appears to have been updated recently, however, the painting is now sans any light whatsoever (I seem to remember it at least having a very old dedicated lamp back in the day).
Is it time AHN reignited Bendor's campaign from 2015 to encourage the museum to have the picture conserved?
Uffizi Painting Damaged
June 23 2025
Video: La Nazione
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The accidental damage of the Uffizi's Ferdinando de' Medici by Anton Domenico Gabbiani by a tourist has made the headlines in Italy. The portrait has been removed from display by conservators for restoration. Follow the link above to see a detail of the damaged canvas.
Fra Angelico Crucifixion Conserved
June 19 2025
Video: Italia7
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Italy that Fra Angelico's Crucifixion in the Convent of San Domenico in Fiesole has been conserved. The work was undertaken by Cristiana Conti and Alessandra Popple with funds from the Friends of Florence, Gerhard De Geer and the Belacqua medical group.
Conserve the King's Pictures
June 10 2025
Picture: Royal Collection Trust
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Royal Collection Trust are hiring a Paintings Conservator.
According to the job description:
Our team of talented Paintings Conservators is responsible for all conservation activities relating to the paintings displayed within the Royal residences as well for loans from the Paintings collection.
Immersing yourself in this fascinating collection, you will assess, repair, and conserve a group of stored paintings, preparing them for photography and safe transport, using the most appropriate methods and materials.
The job comes with an annual salary of £34,000 and applications must be in by 29th June 2025.
Good luck if you're applying!
Conserving Michelangelo at The British Museum
June 9 2025
Video: The British Museum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The British Museum have published this interesting long-form documentary regarding the conservation of Michelangelo's The Epifania which they revealed in 2024.
