He is not on the throne, nor does he breastfeed his child. He is seated on a cushion and with his left arm he holds the child standing on one of his knees. The boy pressed his cheek to his mother’s face and watches her devotedly. In her hand, a lily symbolizing the purity of the virgin, in a red tunic and a large blue cloak framed by a gold background, two angels playing a lute and a small organ at their feet. dir-dir ‘The Virgin of Humility’, one of the most important works of the Renaissance and masterpiece of Fra AngelicoThyssen Museum presents this Monday long restoration process and that will be exhibited in circular installation until 12 December 2023 An explanatory video of the intervention performed with two musical instruments similar to the one seen in the work, “inviting to remember” and also showing the reverse of the painting.
The table, one of the greatest jewels of the Thyssen collection, It has only been seen three times in the museum. Madrid (in 2006, 2009 and 2021), after its exhibition in the Capital as it forms part of some 80 works from the Italian and German schools that have been stored in Barcelona since 1992, first in the Pedralbes Abbey and since 2004 in the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC), to which he will return. ‘La virgen de la Humildad’, dated between 1433-1435, The beginning of the maturity period of the Italian painterIt was part of the collection of King Leopold I of Belgium and the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York between 1909 and 1935. It was bought by Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza in 1935 and after his death, it was inherited by his daughter, Countess Margit Batthyáni, until her brother Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza bought it from her in 1986.
Restoration of the work funded by Bank of America, A year’s worth of work led by Susana Pérez, a member of the museum’s restoration team led by Ubaldo SedanoChemical analysis, x-rays and infrared reflectography were carried out, along with a technical review of the work and an identification process of the materials used by Fra Angelico. Focused studies clean the frame by removing old varnish and accumulated grime for years and also restore frame, by Maria Jofre. A process that proves the extraordinary technique of this methodical and meticulous painter, who first draws with a brush and then makes cuts that serve as references as he applies the layers of paint.
Guillermo Solana, Thyssen’s artistic director, stressed that this work of Fra Angelico, “despite the extraordinary appearance of harmony that dominates it, is in fact a picture full of tensions: first, because our virgin is not an enthroned maiden, but rather an iconographic image that emerged at the end of the 13th century.” A type of maiden of humility was encouraged by the beggar cults of farming Franciscans and Dominicans. a new religious sensibility that is more naturalistic, more emotional and closer to believers”. Solana said, “When this new icon spreads across the Florentine Quattrocento, the artists will glorify the female figure, and Fra Angelico will no longer place her on the grass but on a cushion, framing her with a veil of honor, making her a symbol of honor. kind of a queen of humility”.
Restorer Susana Pérez noted that the restoration of the table also discovered “minor regrets” by the painter, such as “the change in the height of the virgin’s eyes or the position of the angels’ wings”a complete artist“Using the technology of the time highlight details that angels use extremely rich pigments like eyelashes or “lapis lazuli” and can create lighter or darker tones with them: if you grind too much, the tones of the garment are lighter, and on the other hand, in darker areas, the pigment has a much larger grain.
The restorer also underlined Fra Angelico’s handling of gilding techniques “with a mastery and refinement that he inherited from the Gothic but had already put into that Renaissance realm”, conceding that it is the most sensitive and difficult area to treat. the virgin’s face is a “delicate and difficult area” where they have to make improvements eroded and eroded areas. Besides this difficulty, the greatest satisfaction with what has been achieved has been “from the mantle of the Virgin, from which a large number of unexpected nuances appear.”
Pointing out that “at least 40 more years will pass without the need for a new restoration” after this intervention, Pérez announced that Jordi Savall will organize a concert at the museum in October. Fra Angelico and his work.