RESTORATION OF THE SPANISH PANELS
FROM CASTLE DE HAAR
PART 1: INTRODUCTION

Castle de Haar is in possession of nine Spanish panels from the 15th century. These beautiful and rare paintings hang in the Main Hall and the Knights' Hall. They have always hung there as well. The paintings were probably purchased just after the castle was rebuilt at the end of the 19th century. It is possible that Pierre Cuypers (the castle's architect) tipped off Baron Etienne van Zuylen van Nijevelt and his wife Hélene de Rothschild to buy these panels as appropriate furnishings for the castle. The panels fit nicely into the medieval/neo-Gothic style Cuypers envisioned for his design.

Unfortunately, the paintings are not currently in good condition. They are old and have multiple damages. They have been restored once before, and this restoration has become visible again: the relatively newer paint has aged/discolored differently than the original paint and thus become visible. In addition, the panels hang in the castle with fluctuating temperature and humidity. This is something that paintings painted on wood do not like very much: wood reacts to humidity, causing it to move and warp and putting stress on the paint layers. As a result, the paint can start to come off. Unfortunately, this happened, in some paintings more than others. In addition, the paintings were very dirty: a dark gray layer of dirt had formed on the surface. So it was time for a restoration. Last summer we started with the first 5 paintings. The treatment consists of cleaning the paint surface and fixing loose paint.

Seven of these paintings most likely belong together and thus belong to the same altarpiece dedicated to Mary. These seven panels can be dated to around the 15th century and are probably from Catalonia. The paintings are not attributed to any painter/atelier, so the maker is unknown. Hopefully through research during the restoration we will be able to learn more about the provenance of these seven paintings.

Detail flight to Egypt: left cleaned, right is still dirty.

Flight to Egypt

Photo dirty wadding during cleaning.

Overview of dirty cotton wool: a lot of dirt comes off the surface.