“We worked for two years with an entire team,” said Jill and Ellen Keppens, sisters who restored the painting. “It’s really going piece by piece to reveal the colours. It’s a huge, complex operation.”
The altarpiece is positioned to be seen immediately by visitors entering the Rubens Hall. “Now you see how imposing and impressive it really is, which is just extraordinary,” said the sisters. “I think that if Rubens walked in here, he’s be delighted that we have taken such good care of it. It is the perfect ending. And also a wondering beginning because the next restoration is ready to go.”
Indeed, another famous Rubens altarpiece – “Adoration of the Magi” – is now being restored by the team, also in Studio Rubens, a special atelier set up in Rubens Hall. “That’s really the climax of the project,” said Bulckens. “Because – even though we are all big fans of ‘Madonna Enthroned’, certainly following the restoration – ‘Adoration of the Magi’ is really the museum’s signature piece.”