Restoration

For the future

The restoration studio at the Frans Hals Museum is one of the oldest in the Netherlands. The studio focuses on the preservation and restoration of the museum’s collection, so that it is kept in the best condition possible for future generations.

The conservators regularly carry out condition checks and advise on climate control within the museum, transport and storage. In addition, the restorers carry out material-technical research; this provides the museum with knowledge about the way artists work, the original appearance of paintings and the extent to which they have changed over time as a result of natural aging and earlier restorations.

Saint Luke Painting the Virgin (1532)

One of his masterpieces has been restored for the Maarten van Heemskerck exhibition: Saint Luke painting the Virgin (1532). During the research and restoration, it became clear that the painting originally consisted of two parts. These parts were joined with an intermediate piece in the late 16th century, after the Iconoclasm. It also turned out that the painting's background was painted over in the 17th century. It is technically complicated to remove a 17th-century overpainting from a 16th-century paint layer. After extensive research, this has succeeded, which can be called groundbreaking. Now that the overpainting has been removed, the original colours can be seen again, giving the work much more depth and spaciousness, making it even more exciting. The restoration also gives more insight into the artist's studio practice and how innovative he was for his time. The painting will be shown in two parts in the Maarten van Heemskerck exhibition for the first time in four centuries.

In the videos below, our restorers Jessica Roeders and Mireille te Marvelde explain more about this important restoration.