“Just Extraordinary”: Restored Rubens altarpiece on view in Antwerp

Peter Paul Rubens’ 1628 masterpiece “Madonna Enthroned Adored by Saints” has been given pride of place in the Rubens Hall in Antwerp’s Fine Arts Museum (KMSKA). A restoration of two years has revealed the painting’s long-hidden vivid colours and minute details.

“The work always felt very heavy because of a thick, dirty layer of varnish,” said KMSKA Rubens expert Koen Bulckens. “The colour nuances were completely lost. In this cleaned-up work, we really see a very bright palette. It’s as if the lights in the gallery are dancing across the painting.”

Rubens was commission by the Augustinian Church in Antwerp to create the altarpiece at the height of his career. With the frame, the 1628 altarpiece is more than six meters high, 4.5 meters across and weighs 350 kilograms. It was restored in the Rubens Hall itself as it is too large to get out of the space.

“We worked for two years with an entire team,” said Jill and Ellen Keppens, sisters who restored the painting. “It’s really going piece by piece to reveal the colours. It’s a huge, complex operation.”

The altarpiece is positioned to be seen immediately by visitors entering the Rubens Hall. “Now you see how imposing and impressive it really is, which is just extraordinary,” said the sisters. “I think that if Rubens walked in here, he’s be delighted that we have taken such good care of it. It is the perfect ending. And also a wondering beginning because the next restoration is ready to go.”

Indeed, another famous Rubens altarpiece – “Adoration of the Magi” – is now being restored by the team, also in Studio Rubens, a special atelier set up in Rubens Hall. “That’s really the climax of the project,” said Bulckens. “Because – even though we are all big fans of ‘Madonna Enthroned’, certainly following the restoration – ‘Adoration of the Magi’ is really the museum’s signature piece.”