The Peace of Münster: a sponsored restoration
We seek the necessary funds in various ways. You can support part of a restoration through an online donation, but some companies sponsor the restoration of an entire project.
Thanks to such project sponsorship, we are able to restore Maximiliaen Pauwels’ The Proclamation of the Peace of Münster at the Grote Markt in Antwerp. The project sponsor has chosen to remain anonymous.
The Proclamation of the Peace of Münster at the Grote Markt in Antwerp - Maximiliaen Pauwels, KMSKA
The Proclamation of what?
Tens of thousands of relieved Sinjoren gather on the Grote Markt. Antwerp celebrates peace in 1648. After 80 years of war, Spain and the Netherlands finally sign a peace treaty in Münster, Germany. The proclamation is officially read from a stage in front of the city hall. The city celebrates. Maximiliaen Pauwels immortalizes this historic moment on canvas. It provides a clear view of what the Grote Markt looked like at the time: the guild houses on the left and right with their typical stepped gables, and, bathed in sunlight, the stately city hall.
Pauwels captures the Grote Markt in the 17th century. He did so with such accuracy that restorers of historic buildings still refer to this painting today.
Equally important as the historic peace proclamation is the realistic portrait that Pauwels created of the Grote Markt in the 17th century. So accurate that restorers of historic buildings still refer to this painting today. The KMSKA acquired the canvas in 1857. In 2009, it was part of the major International Baroque exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. It was only during the research conducted for this exhibition that the work could be attributed to Maximiliaen Pauwels.
Maximiliaen who?
We don’t know very much about the 17th-century Baroque painter Maximiliaen Pauwels. He was born between 1615 and 1625 in Antwerp, where he lived, worked, and painted until his death. Around 1643–1644, the twenty-year-old was admitted to the prestigious Antwerp Guild of St. Luke. It was during this period that he began his masterpiece. In 1656, his first wife passed away, leaving him six children. Five years later, Pauwels remarried, with a fellow guild master as witness. Two weeks later, the couple welcomed their only son, Martin. His baptism is the last trace Maximiliaen left in the history books.
What needs to be done?
- The painting shows localized craquelure. The restorer will need to consolidate any flaking paint.
- Lining is a technique where a restorer applies a new canvas to the back of the existing one to reinforce it. This was also done in the past on this painting using a wax/resin mixture. As a result, the canvas shows some localized deformations and dents. To remove these, the restorer will likely need to take the canvas off its stretcher.
- The thick, yellowed varnish layer has been applied unevenly and disrupts the readability of the painting.
- The restorer will remove old, discolored retouches—mainly in the sky area. The current infills of the lacunae are not level with the rest of the canvas and must therefore be removed. After applying an intermediate varnish, the lacunae will be refilled. Where necessary, local retouching will be carried out to restore the legibility of the work.
- Finally, the painting will receive a final varnish made with damar resin.
The painting shows localized craquelure.
An old, discolored retouch is clearly visible in the sky area.
The current infills of the lacunae are not level with the rest of the canvas.
