Rough Surfaces 

Last Thursday I have learned what sharks...

...have to do...

...with certain altar pieces...

...of medieval northern European sacral art.

But let me start from the beginning. Some time ago my museum buddy and me, we have realized that Landesmuseum of Hanover is offering exclusive tours in the restoration workshop of the facility. Two weeks ago, we went there searching for a new adventure in the world of art history.

Information about the guided tours on the door of the workshop

It is apparently not quite easy to get a place if you want to attend the tour. The number of people allowed at once in the workshop is small and the information is more likely to be found on the door of the workshop itself rather than on museum's home page or in the print media. Still, the regulars of the museum (and there are plenty of them, especially pensioners, well educated, most likely teachers) show a high interest to the subject. The tours are completely booked out a long time in advance. 

The workshop is just one long room and you can gain your first impression on what is going on inside already by visiting the regular exposition. The door to the workshop is closed, but transparent so every visitor can have a glimpse into the inside.

Dr Köllermann explains the history of the altar piece, grandma in the middle. On this picture you see one of the four wings of the altar.

Serena and me, we have joined a small group of people who were lucky and got a place on the list for the tour in the middle of April. For just 2,50 € extra in addition to the museum ticket, we were allowed to enter the temple of restoration, in company of two specialists involved in the current project: the conservation of Goldene Tafel. Our group contained as always almost exclusively former teachers and us. Us who look too young to be a part of the gang. 

It is indeed our good tradition to observe secretly the older museum goers as they mostly represent a certain stereotype. And it is fun when they are trying to be smart asses. In comparison to many other events we attended, this one had a most pleasant kind of retired groupies of medieval art, no annoying monologues under a pretext of a question. There was only one directionally challenged most lovable old lady who during the entire tour managed to place her folding chair just in the middle of the way of the two guides. Well, I guess you need a little slap stick in everything you do.

Conservator Eliza Reichel explains the techniques of medieval wood paintings. 

The tour was structured into two parts. As first thing, the art historian Dr Antje-Fee Köllermann explained the historical background of the huge altar called Goldene Tafel. The altar comes from Lüneburg which is a hanseatic city, still a beautiful touristic target for its medieval core. The masterpiece must have been accomplished around 1400, +/- 20 years. This is what the research is - among other questions - aiming at - finding the precise lapse of time. The second part was focused on the methods of researching the crafts, materials and working techniques of medieval artists and artisans.

Lüneburg during the International Hanseatic Days, July 1st, 2012, on the back of St. Michaelis, the church for which the altar had been ordered and accomplished.

What makes the project of the Landesmuseum so special is the fact that only rarely medieval altar pieces are preserved in their original shape, including original colors of the painting and polychromy. Restoration as a discipline made its first baby steps in the 19th century. Back then, it very often meant overpainting the piece of art. Nowadays, of course, this method is out. Apart of the small Spanish place called Borja - most of you will probably remember this story:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/9491391/Elderly-woman-destroys-19th-century-fresco-with-DIY-restoration.html

Miniature model of the altar, today a historical document with a museum value: first pair of wings open, second pair closed.

What previous generations of conservators managed to do is a very valuable documentation of the altar concept. Landesmuseum is in possession of a miniature of the masterpiece from the beginning of the 20th century. You can see on the picture above how the story telling on the wings works - it is very similar to the modern comic stripes - you follow the story of the lives of St. Mary and Jesus from the left to the right.

The best part to show how perfectly the flow of the story telling on the painting works is the low left corner on the outside wing. The composition of the three scenes goes consequently along, all lines of the landscape and people in movement continue on the following sector as belonging to one composition. And yet, all three parts represent individual stations of the cross. 

On the back of the outside wings, the saints have been removed revealing the layers of the first coat. Also here a nice discovery - the archangel Michael's wings were never attached to the statue - the statue was attached to the wings. On the x-ray picture that was shown to us during the tour, we saw St. Michael's wooden structure with gaps on the height of the shoulders. The spots where his wings fit in. 

And by the way, it is a good moment to reveal the shark thing going on on the beginning of this post. The preparation of the surface for the paintings on wooden panels demanded abrasion. Abrasive papers were not known yet. In the northern European countries it was common to use shark's skin to fulfill the task. This little detail that I learned during the tour made me very happy.

In the meantime, Saint Michael and all the other Saints can have their beauty nap after centuries of standing at attention for the mess ceremonies. Apart of their bunk bed that reminds me of school trips, they enjoy a necessary dosage of x-rays now and then.

I will not tell you all the details about the Goldene Tafel and the tour. In case you have interest, you will easily find more on the internet and maybe you are able to join one of the tours at Landesmuseum. Both, the art historian and the conservator are brilliant guides, the story is interesting, informative and not at any moment boring. And they manage the groups of pensioners with charm and routine. Good job! 

I am including only two more pictures now: the one above, I owe you to accomplish the collection of the Last Supper depictions, I have confronted you  with on March 28th, this year. And there is this picture below of my museum buddy. We decided to take the picture because in our love for art history, we enjoy how arts correspond with the real life. I do not have to tell any art historian why my friend stands in front of this particular fragment of the altar.

For people who are not so much into the art history, it is all about the Visitation - a scene from the life of Mary, her being pregnant, visiting pregnant St. Elisabeth.

So this is how we crazy girls get our entertainment. Wild times!

The front facade of the Landesmuseum in Hanover

This post is dedicated to Antje-Fee Köllermann and Eliza Reichel with special thanks for the tour.

No sharks have been harmed when making this post. The fat fish belong to the Aquarium of Barcelona.