25.11.2024

The world-famous Isenheim Altarpiece requires the skills and knowledge of restorers

Building design

The restoration of the icon of Western art history is being resumed. A process that will take four years. Yesterday, a major press conference was held in Colmar to mark the occasion. It is regarded as the highlight of the Musée Unterlinden in Colmar and will be on display there in a […]

The restoration of the icon of Western art history is being resumed. A process that will take four years. A major press conference was held yesterday in Colmar

It is considered a highlight of the Musée Unterlinden in Colmar and will be presented there in a very prestigious setting following the extension of the museum by Basel architects Herzog & de Meuron: The Isenheim Altarpiece, which is one of the icons of Western art history. Matthias Grünewald created the elaborate altarpiece after 1512 for the church of the Antonite hospital in Isenheim, a small village on the edge of the Vosges mountains. It consists of several paintings – they are among the masterpieces of German panel painting – and has a total painted area of almost forty square meters. The sculptures in the altar shrine were created by the sculptor Niklaus von Hagenau, who was active in Strasbourg around 1490. Guy Guers, preceptor of the Antonite Order, commissioned the polyptych. When closed, the Isenheim altar shows the crucifixion of Christ, St. Sebastian and the Order’s patron saint Anthony on the sides and Christ’s burial place in the predella. The altar was opened on high liturgical feast days.

Following the final work in 2011, the restoration of the world-famous altar is now being resumed – work that for the first time includes the entire retable, i.e. the paintings and sculptures. A period of four years has been set aside for this. The skills and knowledge of the restorers are now in demand. Not only the darkened panels, but also the carvings and the cassette are on the program. First, the sculptures and the carvings by Niklaus von Hagenau belonging to the altar will be cleaned. A major press conference on the restoration campaign was held yesterday in Colmar. A panel of experts presented the 1.2 million euro project and announced the names of the two lead restorers for the first time: Juliette Lévy will work on the carvings with the support of ten experts, Anthony Pontabry on the panels with a team of 21. Both are characterized by decades of experience in their respective art genres. At the Museé Unterlinden yesterday, the experts presented the first restoration phase of the sculptures, which includes fixing, cleaning and repairing defects in the polychromy of the decorative elements such as the canopy and tendril ornaments, the structural parts and the modern altar box. A scientific committee of experts chaired by Blandine Chavanne, head of the administrative authority for French museums, and Thierry Cahn, president of the Societé Schongauer, is overseeing the restoration work – actively supported by the Centre de Recherches et de Restauration des Musées des France and recognized international museum experts from the fields of 16th century German painting and sculpture as well as conservators and restorers. The Comité Scientifique will meet regularly to evaluate the progress of the work.

The Isenheim Altarpiece has a long history of restoration work

The work itself will take place in the museum under the eyes of the visitors. The restorers work on one of the three sides on display at a time, while the other two remain completely visible. Since the end of the 18th century, the Isenheim has been repeatedly restored and repainted. “Over the last twenty years, we have carried out a lot of research into the Isenheim Altarpiece,” explains Pantxika de Paepe, Director of the Musée Unterlinden. “Various works have been published, and the research includes style and art-technological analyses.” The first measures to protect the altar were taken shortly after the French Revolution. The most recent art-technological examination revealed a general soiling of the altar, a strong clouding of the glazes on the panels and the lifting of the paint layer on both the panels and the frame of the carvings. The restoration campaign is only possible with the financial help of numerous sponsors. Ten percent of the sum is to be financed via crowdfunding.

What is known about Matthias Grünewald?

In 1792, the monumental altarpiece was brought from Isenheim to nearby Colmar. It has been on display there in the Musée Unterlinden, in a former Dominican convent, since 1852. The late Gothic structure of the carved altar, which was once over five meters high, remained in Isenheim and was later lost. Probably due to a mix-up by Grünewald’s biographer Joachim von Sandrart, the painter has been listed as Matthias Grünewald since the 17th century. His first dated work dates from 1503, and from 1508 he worked for the Archbishop of Mainz, Albrecht von Brandenburg. Apart from the Isenheim Altarpiece, the artist left behind only a few works.

Read more about the first restoration phase of the Isenheim Altarpiece in our focus on sculptures (RESTAURO 8/2018)

17.01.2025

Procuratie Vecchie: Chipperfield in Venice

Building design

David Chipperfield Architects, Procuratie Vecchie, Venice, exterior view, photo: Richard Davies

David Chipperfield Architects have extensively renovated the Procuratie Vecchie, the oldest part of the Procuratie on St. Mark’s Square in Venice. At the same time, they created new rooms under the roof of the historic building, which will be open to the public in future.

Less than a year after completing the highly acclaimed restoration of the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, David Chipperfield Architects have completed the refurbishment of another highly significant building. A few days ago, the Procuratie Vecchie, the northern wing of the Procuratie on St. Mark’s Square in Venice, was opened to the public. This oldest part of the complex, which frames Piazza San Marco on three sides, is also one of the most important examples of Renaissance architecture in the city. The Florentine Jacopo Sansovino in particular, who took over the project begun by Bartolomeo Bon in 1517 in 1529, ensured that the High Renaissance, which was already in full bloom in Florence and Rome, also gained a foothold in Venice. The Procuratie Vecchie, however, still show the Venetian style of the Renaissance.

The Generali insurance company has been based in the Procuratie Vecchie since 1831. The new company rented its first offices on St. Mark’s Square as early as the year it was founded. Today, the north wing of the Procuratie is fully owned by the insurance group. In 2017, David Chipperfield Architects were commissioned to comprehensively renovate the Procuratie Vecchie and at the same time adapt it to new usage requirements. A significant part of the renovations served the purpose of creating publicly accessible areas in the old Procuratie, which are used by the Generali Foundation “The Human Safety Net”. To this end, exhibition rooms, event areas, offices and an auditorium were created on the third floor of the Procuratie Vecchie.

The majority of the new rooms were created on the top floor of the building. As light had previously only reached here through small oculus windows in the Renaissance façade, David Chipperfield Architects inserted large skylights into the gently sloping roof surface. The brickwork was exposed on the walls and the rooms were connected with a representative enfilade.

To open up the newly designed top floor, the architects built a new staircase into the historic building. It is located between the courtyards of the Procuratie Vecchie in the center of the wing building. The staircase ends at the top in the new “Central Pavilion”, which David Chipperfield Architects inserted into the roofscape of the Procuratie. On the one hand, it brings light into the new staircase with its large windows. On the other hand, it provides access to the two large roof terraces – a typical Venetian element – that flank the pavilion.

To open up the newly designed top floor, the architects built a new staircase into the historic building. It is located between the courtyards of the Procuratie Vecchie in the center of the wing building. The staircase ends at the top in the new “Central Pavilion”, which David Chipperfield Architects inserted into the roof landscape of the Procuratie. On the one hand, it brings light into the new staircase with its large windows. On the other hand, it provides access to the two large roof terraces – a typical Venetian element – that flank the pavilion.

As far-reaching as the renovations to the Procuratie Vecchie are, David Chipperfield Architects attached great importance to working in the spirit of Venetian architecture. This is particularly evident in the surface materials used. The walls, for example, were plastered with Marmorino or given a scialbatura finish where they are not exposed to stone. The floors are made of terrazzo or pastellone. The door reveals of the newly broken passages are made of artificial stone. The exterior of the Cental Pavilion is painted using the cocciopesto technique. For the roof terraces, the architects chose paint made from ground terracotta tiles.

David Chipperfield Architects followed the findings even more meticulously than in Venice when renovating the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin.

As far-reaching as the renovations to the Procuratie Vecchie are, David Chipperfield Architects attached great importance to working in the spirit of Venetian architecture. This is particularly evident in the surface materials used. The walls, for example, were plastered with Marmorino or given a scialbatura finish where they are not exposed to stone. The floors are made of terrazzo or pastellone. The door reveals of the newly broken passages are made of artificial stone. The exterior of the Cental Pavilion is painted using the cocciopesto technique. For the roof terraces, the architects chose paint made from ground terracotta tiles.

David Chipperfield Architects followed the findings even more meticulously than in Venice when renovating the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin.

25.11.2024

Municipality of Rotterdam

Building design

Public construction

OMA developed a highly flexible modular system for Rotterdam, making it the most sustainable building in the Netherlands.

The public client demanded nothing less than the most sustainable building in the Netherlands. OMA developed a highly flexible and insulated modular system for Rotterdam’s city administration with units that can be used as both offices and apartments – right in the heart of the city center. After all, it is to be redensified.

Once again, the architectural metropolis of Rotterdam is in the throes of renewal. After years of crisis, the current motto is: “Urbanization of the port area and densification of the city center”. Two years ago, local hero Rem Koolhaas and his office OMA set the direction when they erected the high-rise complex “De Rotterdam” on the banks of the Maas (Baumeister 1/2014). This was followed last spring by the spectacular market hall (Baumeister 3/2015), which was placed next to the weekly market and next to the medieval Laurens Church by local rival architects MVRDV in the form of an oversized cookie roll. Incidentally, the architects from MVRDV will soon be striking the next blow: They will realize a walk-in, spherical art depot for the renowned Museum Boijmans van Beunigen in the middle of the Museumpark.

Port and city center – two focal points

The second part of the city administration’s slogan, redensification, can now be easily verified on site. Shortly before the turn of the year, OMA’s latest superstructure, the “Timmerhuis” (carpenter’s house) designed by Reinier de Graaf and Rem Koolhaas, opened not far from the town hall on the Coolsingel and the new market hall on the Binnenrotte. Reinier de Graaf, the project architect responsible for the Timmerhuis, comments on the increasingly clear urban dual strategy as follows: “OMA pursued different urbanistic goals with the two large-scale projects, both of which are multifunctional: De Rotterdam was intended to create a new city center south of the Maas. In contrast, the Timmerhuis was transplanted into the existing inner-city center.” Léon Wielaard, who was specially appointed project developer of the Timmerhuis by the city council, also announces this strategy: he wants to promote the development that began when the elevated railway line running along the Binnenrotte river was tunneled under in 1993 and the Blaak metro station was built. This meant that the severe disruption to city life could finally be reversed, as many of the houses built after the Second World War were affected by the location of the viaduct. It was only thanks to the route-shaped Binnenrotte square, designed by West 8 in 1996, that many later urban projects became possible. “The Laurens district in particular has benefited significantly from this,” Wielaard is convinced and believes that, in addition to the new market hall, the Timmerhuis will now also offer plenty of urban activities. The Rotterdam project developer is thinking primarily of the public passage in the Timmerhuis, which was deliberately advertised with store concepts that have also been successful in the market hall: small businesses – restaurants, cafés or specialty stores with unusual offers. Since February 6, the Timmerhuis has also been home to a city history museum, the “Museum Rotterdam”, which tells the story of the city on the Rotte from its medieval beginnings to the present day.

You can find out more about this in the current Baumeister 3/2016