Filippo Lippi’s altarpiece “The Adoration in the Forest” from 1459, housed at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, is undergoing extensive restoration. The two-year project is funded by the Ernst von Siemens Art Foundation and the Schoof Foundation. Upon completion, the findings will be presented to the public in a specially designed special exhibition.
While fitting a new frame in 2023, conservators at the Gemäldegalerie discovered numerous tiny areas of loss in the paint layers and in the protective varnish coating above them. The cause is a varnish that was applied as early as the 19th century and whose aging processes are now becoming increasingly problematic. The once-transparent coating has yellowed over the decades, is riddled with microscopic cracks, and is peeling away from the painting surface in places. In some areas, it is flaking off in small particles, damaging parts of the original paint layer, which are also flaking off. Since the damage is irreversible, restoration is urgently needed to halt the process.
Comprehensive Examination Methods in Use
Before the actual restoration can begin, extensive preliminary examinations are on the agenda. The conservators must first understand the exact mechanisms of the damage in order to develop suitable procedures for varnish removal. Various imaging techniques are used for this purpose: X-ray and UV fluorescence imaging, as well as infrared reflectography, are employed to examine the surface in detail. These methods are supplemented by examination using a high-performance stereomicroscope, which reveals particularly fine details at high magnification. Materials science analyses are conducted, among other places, at the Rathgen Research Laboratory of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. In addition to the conservation benefits, the restoration also promises an aesthetic improvement: Removing the yellowed overpaint will restore the colors’ original luminosity. In addition, those involved hope to gain new insights into Lippi’s working techniques, which will advance the state of research on this painting.
Filippo Lippi: A Key Figure of the Early Florentine Renaissance
Filippo Lippi, born around 1406 and died in 1469, is considered one of the defining figures of the Italian Early Renaissance. As a student of Masaccio, one of the founders of modern painting, he acquired an early and deep understanding of spatial representation and naturalistic figure rendering. Lippi worked primarily in Florence and was closely associated with the patronage of the Medici, who made him one of their favored court artists. His work stands at the intersection of the late Gothic tradition and the Renaissance’s new humanistic view of humanity: he combines religious themes with a sensitive eye for physicality and emotional depth. Among his best-known works are the fresco cycles in the cathedral of Prato and in Spoleto. Lippi’s life was also marked by personal scandals: as a Carmelite monk, he left his order to marry the nun Lucrezia Buti. Their son, Filippino Lippi, also became a renowned painter in Florence. Lippi’s most famous student was Sandro Botticelli, who incorporated his teacher’s stylistic influences into some of the most famous paintings in art history. Botticelli may even have been involved in the creation of “The Adoration in the Woods.”
Created in 1459, the altarpiece was originally painted for the chapel of the Palazzo Medici in Florence, where it served as the thematic focal point of Benozzo Gozzoli’s fresco cycle. The depiction of the Virgin Mary with the newborn Christ Child in a woodland setting lends the scene an unusually meditative, almost mystical character. The floral ornamentation in the foreground foreshadows thematic and formal motifs that would later become central to Botticelli’s works. The painting has been in Berlin since 1821, where it was acquired by the Prussian King Frederick William IV as part of the purchase of the collection of the art dealer Edward Solly. It has been part of the permanent collection of the Gemäldegalerie since the opening of the Royal Museum in 1830. The work was saved during World War II, but its original 19th-century frame was lost. It was not until 2023 that the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museumsverein provided the painting with a new frame, stylistically modeled after its original presentation as a Renaissance altarpiece.
