Maria and acid

[SergeiSK]

in Germany has opened a unique exhibition: a work of Albrecht Durer in it is presented in its original form, how it has not been seen for more than four centuries. However, to provide the altar "The Seven Sorrows of Mary" the way he thought of the artist, it was not enough simply to bring together its parts. The restorers had to save the image from the action of acid, which is poured out on the image of the Virgin most famous serial vandal.
 
"The Seven Sorrows"
Albrecht Dürer created the Seven Sorrows and Seven Joys of Mary "in the 25 years of age, in 1496, it is possible that the altar of the church in his Wittenberg Palace ordered the Elector of Saxony Frederick III the Wise, who later - a powerful supporter of Martin Luther (according to some sources, sympathetic to his ideas and the artist himself).
Subsequently, after the beginning of the Reformation, the shrine to the track in height 1,8 meters divided. Seven panels devoted to episodes from the life of Jesus, from circumcision to removal from the cross, turned out to be an artist Lucas Cranach the Younger, whose father was a painter with the same Saxon court. After the death of Lucas Cranach the Younger "The Seven Sorrows" were sold in Dresden, and soon found themselves in the picture gallery of the city. The image of the Virgin, situated in central part of the altar, went to Bavaria, in the monastery Benediktbeuern. In 1804, as a result of the secularization of the monastery work Durer transferred to Munich, in the end, she was in the Alte Pinakothek. What happened to the rest of the altar - "Family Happiness" - unknown, they are considered lost and known only by sketches middle of the XVI century, made in the workshop Cranach.
Over time, knowledge of the altar of Durer's loss, and that the Munich "Maria" and Dresden "Tribulation" is represented by a single track guessed only critic Ernst Buchner (Ernst Buchner) in 1934. However, the reunited parts of an image has not been: first, because of the war, then because of the separation of Germany. And then because of the acid.
Vandal
In 1988, the "Virgin", along with other works by Durer was attacked by serial vandal. His name was Hans-Joachim Bohlmann (Hans-Joachim Bohlmann). Bohlmann from adolescence suffered from mental illness and passed numerous courses of treatment, but without much success. In 1974, the 27-year-old patient was made lobotomy, but it brought no relief.
In 1977, tragically lost his wife Bohlmann - she fell out the window when washed it. As later stated Bohlmann, just after it happened he came vandal tendencies: the art of earlier he treated quite well. Now he has to buy sulfuric acid and pour her paintings at exhibitions. The first blow he struck in March 1977 in the Hamburg Kunsthalle, destroying the painting of Paul Klee. After this short period he has committed acts of vandalism in 10 German cities, in Lübeck, he even set fire to the altar. In August 1977, he poured acid several paintings at the State Museum in Hanover, including a portrait of Martin Luther and his wife's hand by Lucas Cranach the Elder and Rubens damaged portrait of Albrecht VII of Austria in Dusseldorf. In October the same year in Kassel he poured acid four pictures total value is now estimated at 25 million euros, among them - two works by Rembrandt and one - by Willem Drost.
After that, Bohlmann caught, and in 1979 was sentenced to five years imprisonment. However, coming out of prison, the German continued to engage in vandalism, for one of the acts, not works of art, he received another three years. In March 1988, vacated maniac somehow got hold of two liters of acid (its sale has been banned), and in April visited the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. This time his aim was Dürer: In addition to familiar to us "Virgin" was doused with acid "Lamentation of Christ" and the triptych altar Paumgartner. Damage was estimated at about 35 million euros.
After a short period of detention Bohlmann was placed in a psychiatric hospital, where for 9 years, he underwent a course of art therapy, drawing almost a painting a day. Treatment, however, passed to him a gift: a final blow he struck in 2006, almost immediately after leaving the clinic. At this time the crime scene was the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, and the victim - the picture "Banquet at the conclusion of peace of Munster in 1648, Bartholomeus van der Helsta. In June 2008, Bohlmann out of the Dutch prison, and in January of 2009, died of cancer. A total of nearly 30-year "career" has damaged some 50 works worth 138 million euros.
Restoration of the "Virgin"
As is the case with other paintings, Bohlmann threw acid in the face dyurerovskoy Mary; was damaged and the blue robe of the Virgin. Despite the fact that the museum staff immediately began to struggle for the image, the acid rapidly penetrated through the thin layer of varnish in the paint and wood. Neutralize acid was using ion exchange resins - resins can exchange their ions on the ions of the neighboring material.
During the restoration of the damaged areas were filled with an array of wax and chalk, and touch-up was carried out using powder paints mixed with synthetic resin. And the complexity of the work, and its volume (five drenched acid Durer! ") Means that the restoration will last very long. And so it happened - the experts have completed work on only the image of Mary in 2009, 21 years after the act of vandalism.
After that museum workers have decided to restore the work of Dürer in its original form: to collect the altar of "The Seven Sorrows of Mary" together. Seven images from Dresden with "Virgin" studied by X-ray and infrared reflexograph, and the analysis of art finally confirmed: eight parts of one piece. After that, all parts of the altar were finally gathered together: now in time frame they are in Dresden. However, "The Seven Sorrows" reunited not last forever: a unique exhibition will last only until November 7, after which the image of Virgin Mary will return to Munich, to the rest of Dürer Alte Pinakothek.
(Cyril tadpoles and The Art Newspaper )