The Exhibition

Reprinted from the ARTS Magazine September, 1999

This unusual exhibition project in the U.S. Bank Gallery will demonstrate in a dramatic and immediate fashion the Institute's significant commitment to the preservation of its collections in collaboration with the Upper Midwest Conservation Association. Over a six-week period, MACC Paintings Conservators Joan Gorman and David Marquis will conduct a major conservation treatment of Castiglione's magnificent Immaculate Conception altarpiece during public viewing hours. Acquired by the Institute in the 1960s, this masterwork of Roman Baroque painting has been, together with Poussin's Death of Germanicus and Rembrandt's Lucretia, one of the cornerstones of our 17th-century European paintings collection. However, restorations performed prior to the picture's arrival in the Twin Cities have not aged all that gracefully and consequently detract from the great beauty of this work. The conservation treatment to be performed will involve relining the original linen support and removing discolored in-painting and varnish. The working space will include multiple viewing areas to promote maximum interaction between the public and the conservators. A didactic presentation at the entrance to the gallery will include information on the artist and the commission, photographs of Castiglione's preparatory drawings and oil sketches, and technical documentation in the form of X-ray and raking-light photographs that relate to the treatment and its objectives. Video recordings and a special Web site feature, both accessible in the gallery, will allow visitors to review each stage of the treatment.

–Patrick Noon

Patrick Noon is the Patrick and Aimee Butler Curator of Paintings at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts.