The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp or Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten (KMSKA) has completed the restoration of Peter Paul Rubens’ ‘Enthroned Madonna Surrounded by Saints‘, one of the highlights of its collection. The two-year project took place in the Rubens Gallery itself, in the specially created Studio Rubens, where visitors were able to observe the process live.
The monumental altarpiece, painted in 1628 for the high altar of Antwerp’s Augustinian Church, is a key example of the Counter-Reformation. The restoration has revealed the original colours and details of the 400-year-old canvas, partly by removing a yellowed varnish. Modern techniques such as macro-XRF scanning also uncovered hidden layers and adjustments made by Rubens and his workshop.
The project has offered new insights into the painter’s practice. While it is usually assumed that Rubens prepared the studies for his monumental altarpieces and the studio carried out the execution, this work showed the reverse. Several preparatory studies were probably made by assistants, while Rubens himself painted most of the finished work. This finding sheds new light on the operation of his studio.
The conclusion of this restoration does not mean the end of Studio Rubens. The museum will now begin work on another major canvas, the ‘Adoration of the Magi‘. Visitors will again be able to follow the restoration process in real time.
If the schedule proceeds as planned, the masterpiece will be ready for Rubens Year 2027, marking the 450th anniversary of the world-renowned painter, designer and diplomat.
Art and museums in Antwerp
- ANTWERP | Museum Plantin-Moretus highlights 300 years of women’s stories in ‘Women’s Business / Business Women’.
- Antwerp fashion museum MoMu will mark 40 years of The Antwerp Six with exhibition.
- ANTWERP | Museum Mayer van den Bergh opens exhibition ‘Public Favourites’, from Mad Meg to Delft Blue, look at art through other people’s eyes.
- ANTWERP | Museum Night 2025 on Saturday 2 August.
- ANTWERP | Middelheim Museum celebrates 75 years with a summer full of new ways to experience the art park.
- M HKA 2025 | Bruno Zhu – Panamarenko – ‘The Situation is Fluid’ – Today’s Place – Hugo Roelandt.
- ANTWERP | ‘These Branching Moments’ – ‘.tiff 2025′ – ”OM/MOTHER’: 3 new exhibitions at FOMU, from 28 June 2025.
- ANTWERP | ‘Panamarenko. Infinite Imagination’ exhibition until 4 May 2025 at KMSKA.
- ANTWERP | ‘Compassion’ in the MAS: the many faces of compassion.
- 2025 at the museums of Antwerp.
- 2025 at Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Antwerp (KMSKA): René Magritte, Marthe Donas, Panamarenko, Hans Op de Beeck.
- ANTWERP | Graphics Museum De Reede ft. Francisco Goya, Edvard Munch, Félicien Rops and Albrecht Dürer.
- ANTWERP | Rubens Experience and Rubens Garden at Rubenshuis.
- Antwerp will have a new Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp M HKA.
- ANTWERP | Innovations in the Middelheim Museum provide a completely new visitor experience.
- A visit of the Flemish Tram and Bus Museum – Vlaams Tram- en Autobusmuseum (VlaTAM) in Antwerp.
- ANTWERP | Discovering queer(ed) art with the Queer Tour at the KMSKA fine arts museum.
- REVIEW | Illusion Antwerpen, an active and photogenic museum.
- Antwerp museums and sports facilities team up with European Disability Card for accessible leisure activities.
- Museum Mayer van den Bergh.
- ANTWERP | Inside Rubens House.
- Museum Plantin-Moretus in Antwerp.
- ANTWERP | Museum Vleeshuis up for restoration.
- BOOK | ‘Antwerp. An Archaeological View on the Origin of the City’ by Tim Bellens.
- Red Star Line Museum.
- Paleis op de Meir.
- DIVA, Antwerp Home of Diamonds.
- ANTWERP | Red Star Line Museum of (e)migration.
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