Filippo Lippi’s altarpiece “The Adoration in the Forest” from 1459 in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin is undergoing a comprehensive restoration. The two-year project is being funded by the Ernst von Siemens Art Foundation and the Schoof Foundation. At the end of the project, the findings will be presented to the public in a specially designed special exhibition.
When mounting a new frame in 2023, conservators at the Gemäldegalerie discovered that there were numerous tiny flaws in the layers of paint and the protective coating on top. The cause is a varnish that was applied in the 19th century and whose ageing processes are now becoming increasingly problematic. Over the decades, the formerly transparent coating has turned yellowish, is riddled with microscopic cracks and is detaching from the painting ground in places. In some areas, it breaks off in small particles and damages parts of the original paint layer, which also breaks off. As the damage is irreversible, restoration is urgently needed to halt the process.
Elaborate examination methods in use
Before the actual restoration can begin, extensive preliminary examinations are on the agenda. The restorers must first understand the exact damage mechanisms in order to develop suitable methods for removing the varnish. Various imaging techniques are used for this: X-ray and UV fluorescence imaging as well as infrared reflectography are used to examine the surface in detail. These methods are supplemented by an examination using a powerful stereo microscope, which makes particularly fine details visible at high magnification. Material science analyses are carried out in the Rathgen Research Laboratory of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, among others. In addition to the conservation benefits, the restoration also promises aesthetic gains: removing the yellowed coating will restore the original luminosity of the colors. In addition, those involved hope to gain new insights into Lippi’s working technique, which will expand 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, was one of the most influential figures of the early Italian Renaissance. As a pupil of Masaccio, one of the founders of modern painting, he acquired a deep understanding of spatial representation and naturalistic figure design early on. Lippi worked mainly in Florence and was closely associated with the patronage of the Medici, who made him one of their preferred court artists. His work stands at the interface between the late Gothic tradition and the new humanistic image of man of the Renaissance: he combines religious content with a sensitive eye for physicality and emotional depth. His well-known works include the fresco cycles in Prato Cathedral and in Spoleto. Lippi’s biography was also characterized by personal scandals: As a Carmelite monk, he left his order to marry the nun Lucrezia Buti. Their son Filippino Lippi also became a respected painter in Florence. Lippi’s most famous pupil was Sandro Botticelli, who translated his teacher’s stylistic impulses into some of the most famous paintings in art history. Botticelli may even have been involved in the creation of the “Adoration in the Forest”.
The altarpiece, created in 1459, was originally painted for the chapel of the Palazzo Medici in Florence, where it served as the focal point of Benozzo Gozzoli’s fresco cycle. The depiction of the Virgin Mary with the newborn Christ Child in a forest setting lends the scene an unusually meditative, almost mystical character. The floral ornamentation in the foreground anticipates thematic and formal motifs that would later become central to Botticelli’s works. The painting has been in Berlin since 1821, when it was acquired by the Prussian King Frederick William IV as part of the purchase of the collection of the art dealer Edward Solly. Since the opening of the Royal Museum in 1830, it has been part of the permanent collection of the Gemäldegalerie. The work was saved during the Second World War, but the 19th century frame was lost. It was not until 2023 that the painting was given a new frame by the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museumsverein, which is stylistically based on its original presentation as a Renaissance altarpiece.
