DRESDEN.-Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden presents “Saved – the Restoration of the Large-Format Paintings after the Flood of 2002”, on view through February 24, 2008. The artistic talent of being able to visualise large-format paintings is something that was considered an outstanding ability even in classical antiquity, since it demands both technical skill and experience in equal measure. Neither should we forget the staying power required of the painter when he sets out to create a large-format work or the vision he needs as motivation to carry the project through. It is hardly surprising, then, that the conservation and restoration of these extraordinary paintings demands a similarly outstanding degree of proficiency and expertise.

What is more, these works require a large amount of space – both for their restoration and when they are exhibited. The question of sufficient space in a restoration workshop or of adequate wall-space in the exhibition rooms of a museum is also a financial question – not to mention the funds that have to be raised in order to be able to commission highly qualified restorers to carry out such a challenging and time-consuming task.

And so it is all the more remarkable that the cabinet exhibition “Saved – the Restoration of the Large-Format Paintings after the Flood of 2002” features as many as seven large-format canvases dating from various centuries that are held in the collections of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister and the Galerie Neue Meister of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. These works have not been on public display for decades, and after this exhibition it will not be possible to show these large-format paintings again in the foreseeable future: their dimensions are just too enormous, the largest of them measuring as much as four by four metres.

What all the paintings in the exhibition have in common is that on account of their size they could not be “saved” quickly enough from the underground storerooms of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden during the flood of 2002. They could only be hung up at the highest points of the storeroom.

This year the conservation and restoration work on the damaged paintings was largely brought to completion; around 80 restorers, including trainee restorers in Dresden, Berlin and Prague were involved.

The thorough conservation and restoration work was made possible through financial assistance from the state flood fund and through the support of numerous private sponsors. The exhibition is therefore intended as a way of saying thank-you for the generous assistance that the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden received from many sources after the flood disaster.

The exhibition casts light, in particular, on the subject of large-format paintings, which always pose a challenge in cases of emergency salvage operations, during transportation, in the everyday work of museums and also, of course, when restoration is required.

After completion of the work, the results of which are truly admirable, the following paintings will be on view in the cabinet exhibition:

A painting from the workshop of Veronese entitled “The Rape of Europa”, format: 321 x 289 cm; Palma Giovane “The Visit of Henry III to Venice”, format: 272 x 409 cm; Sebastiano Conca “The Magi before Herod”, format: 249 x 464 cm; a pair of paintings by Philipp Peter Roos, known as Rosa da Tivoli “Shepherds and Herds in a Landscape with Ruins”, format: 288 x 434 cm and “Shepherds and Herds near Tivoli”, Format: 281 x 426 cm; as well as the unfinished pastel painting by the Dresden art nouveau artist Sascha Schneider “For Liberty”, in the format: 230 x 455 cm, from the collection of the Galerie Neue Meister.

The 4 x 4 m picture entitled “Hounding on the Altmarkt in Dresden” by a painter working at the Dresden court in the first half of the 17th century is representative of a group of three depictions of hunting scenes, all the same size, which have only undergone conservational treatment.

Examples illustrating the conservation and restoration work done on flood-damaged frames are presented, as well as new mountings for Baroque gallery frames which have become necessary. Panels with text and illustrations show visitors their pre-restoration state and explain the various stages of the restoration process.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue containing articles by art historians and restorers (Deutscher Kunstverlag, 176 pages, 231 colour and 12 b&w photos, ISBN: 978-3-422-06736-3 for 24.90 €).

There will be special guided tours and discussion events in the exhibition, as well as evening talks.

A one-day colloquium with talks by restorers involved in this project is planned (Date: 4th February 2008, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Gobelinsaal). Participation in the colloquium „Gerettet – die Restaurierung der großen Formate nach der Flut 2002“ (“Saved – the Restoration of the Large-Format Paintings after the Flood in 2002”) is possible subject to prior registration. Please call 0351-4914 6600 or mail ulla.paul@skd-dresden.de.