AMSTERDAM.- The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF) has announced that the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, is the recipient of this year’s TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund (TMRF) in Maastricht. Established in 2012, this annual grant supports museums worldwide in the conservation and study of significant artworks, reinforcing the art community’s shared commitment to preserving cultural heritage.

With TEFAF’s funding, the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister will restore The Boar Hunt (1616-18), a monumental painting by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). This work was most likely acquired directly from the artist in 1627 by George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, before becoming part of the imperial collection in Prague. In 1749, it entered the collection of Frederick Augustus IIof Saxony and has remained in Dresden ever since, surviving wartime displacement to the USSR in 1945, a decade in storage in Moscow, and eventual return to Dresden in the mid-1950s.

The Boar Hunt is obscured by a thick, darkened multi-layered varnish (likely 19th-century) that mutes Rubens’ original palette. Technical imaging has also confirmed the presence of an upper extension into which the original underdrawing does not continue, raising key questions about when the extension was made and by whom. Early evidence suggests the addition may have been made under Rubens’ direction, while ongoing research will explore possible contributions from artists in his circle, including Jan Wildens, Lucas van Uden, or Anthony van Dyck.

The restoration forms part of a four-year research and exhibition program dedicated to Rubens’ Dresden corpus of nearly 40 works, the so-called ‘Rubens Group’, carried out in collaboration with the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), and the University of Antwerp (AXIS research group).

Dr. Bernd Ebert, Director General of the Dresden State Art Collections, notes, "The special significance of the Dresden’s The Boar Hunt is evident from the painting’s previous owners: Peter Paul Rubens painted it for himself, without commission. Years later, he sold it to the Duke of Buckingham, and it later found its way into the imperial collection in Prague before King August III acquired it for Dresden in 1749. This important work in the Old Masters Picture Gallery needs to be restored so that its high quality can be appreciated once again. We are extremely grateful to the TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund for its generous support.”

Prof. Dr. Holger Jacob-Friesen, Director of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Picture Gallery), comments, "The painting depicts a dramatic scene of life and death. The typically Baroque dynamism of the animals and people is conveyed across the magnificent forest landscape. After its restoration, this masterpiece will be a highlight of the permanent exhibition at the Old Masters Picture Gallery, and will debut in the exhibition 'Rubens in Dresden’ (25 June 2027 – 10 January 2028), which will mark the 450th anniversary of the painter's birth."

Rachel Kaminsky, TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund committee member, adds, “Restoring The Boar Hunt will reveal the painting’s vibrant colors, as well as Rubens’ dynamic style of juxtaposing precise detail with more freely executed passages. The committee is pleased to support the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in restoring and stabilizing this masterpiece, thereby making it more accessible to audiences at home and abroad.”