10-Month Restoration of a 355-Year-Old Painting

Charles Le Brun’s huge portrait of Everhard Jabach and His Family is 355-years-old and was showing its age when it arrived the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was covered in discoloured and uneven varnish, had multiple superficial scratches and structural damage had split the painting nearly in half.


Michael Gallagher, Sherman Fairchild Conservator in Charge in the Department of Paintings Conservation, lead 10 months of  retouching, structural work and re-varnishing that restored the painting to its former glory.



The Met also documented the process in some 20 blog posts  on their website.

More: Colossal

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