In a glass case at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, examining the smallest details using microscopes, specialists are publicly restoring one of the most famous paintings in the Netherlands: Rembrandt's “The Night Watch” is being skinned new.
A team of eight art restorers has begun painstakingly removing layers of varnish from Rembrandt's 17th-century masterpiece, depicting a company of Amsterdam's bourgeois musketeer militia.
Called “Operation Ronde de Nuit”, the restoration of the painting is of such magnitude that specialists do not know when the work will be finished.
Many layers of varnish have been applied over time to this painting, 3.62 meters high and 4.37 meters wide, painted by Rembrandt in 1642, at the height of his career.
Successive restorers have sought in the past to preserve its beauty and to repair the canvas after several attempts at damage.
The last layers of varnish were applied in 1975, after the action of an insane person who had slashed it with a knife, then in 1981 and in 1990 after an attempt to degrade it with acid.
“We have seen that in recent years the varnish has yellowed and become less transparent in places,” observes Rijksmuseum director Taco Dibbits.
“Previous restoration projects have happened very, very quickly,” Dibbits says.
“Operation Night Watch” aims to remove the varnish and expose the original paint, before a new specialist varnish is applied to achieve a result that “comes closest to its former glory”, he explains.
– The naked “Night Watch” –
In an enclosed space, but in view of museum visitors, Anna Krekeler carefully applies a small piece of highly absorbent cloth to part of the painting representing the sleeve of a militia drummer.
In a delicate operation that takes barely a minute, she applies the fabric, soaked in solvent, to the painting, before covering it with a square of flexible plastic.
“When we remove it, all the varnish is absorbed by the fabric and comes off,” explains Esther van Duijn, restorer and conservator of paintings.
Conservators then use a cotton swab to remove any varnish residue remaining on the surface of the painting.
“I think the most exciting and maybe the scariest thing is that people are looking over our shoulder, but once we start working, we tend to forget that,” laughs Ms. Van Duijn.
“During this process, the public can come and see something exciting and exceptional,” says Mr. Dibbits.
“You'll be able to see the Night Watch naked, sort of without makeup, it's an incredible thing to see,” he adds.
– “It’s the table that decides” –
Curious visitors film and comment on the work taking place before their eyes.
“It’s my first visit to Amsterdam and I didn’t expect to see the Night Watch in a room behind glass,” says Daniela Bueno, a 57-year-old Brazilian.
“But it’s such delicate work and it’s incredible to witness the restoration process which will still take years,” she told AFP.
Removing the old varnish on this work is the third stage of a research and conservation project that began five years ago.
After that, the picture will look grayer than before, but it will be “temporary,” the curators said.
The next step will then be the application of a new layer of varnish, the retouching of damage and finally, a new frame.
“I hope it will then be almost as beautiful as in its former glory,” says Ms Van Duijn.
Nobody knows when the work will be finished, according to the museum director. “It’s the table itself that decides how long it will take, what pace to take,” he says.
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