Restoration Thyssen

It strives to restore the integrity of works by applying treatments that prolong the life of these cultural assets and to remedy the damage caused by the passage of time and the ageing of materials.

Discover the Restaurabits

Secrets and curiosities of the works
Comparativa del anverso y reverso de la obra “Autorretrato", de Münter
Restaurabit
The face revealed

If you look at the reverse of the work, you will be surprised to see a design sketched in black. It is a face with the eyes, the line of the nose and the outline of the right side clearly marked. More curious still is that the same design is repeated on the front of the painting. Münter used a very similar type of stroke on both sides of the support, reproducing the forms and proportions, as if to create an identical design on the back and front of the painting.

 

Restaurabit
The composition concealed beneath Picasso’s Harlequin

Concealed beneath the paint layers of the composition visible today in Picasso’s Harlequin with Mirror is a different creation.

 

Restaurabit
Saint Catherine’s enigmatic dress

Can you imagine Saint Catherine dressed in red? That is the colour we discovered during our research when the work’s materials were analysed. It would have been part of an initial version of the clothing of Caravaggio’s figure.

 

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Technical Studies and Conservation Work

Conservation/restoration projects and technical studies reflect the results of the examinations carried out by the department. This work helps glean new information and rediscover the pieces in the permanent collection
Self-Portrait by Gabriele Münter. Technical study
Technical study
Self-Portrait by Gabriele Münter. Technical study
In connection with the Gabriele Münter retrospective at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, the department of conservation/ restoration decided to study the works by this artist in the collection to learn more about her technique.
Fra Angelico, The Virgin of Humility.
Restoration and technical study
Fra Angelico, The Virgin of Humility.
Results and conclusions of the technical studies conducted on The Virgin of Humility, one of Fra Angelico’s most iconic paintings.
Carpaccio’s Knight
Restoration and technical study
Carpaccio’s Knight
Carpaccio’s Knight is a painting that is as dazzling as it is enigmatic. We still do not know the man’s identity, even though historians have been coming up with various hypothesis for the past century. The most recent proposal, put forward by Professor Augusto Gentili, is that he is a Venetian captain stationed at a naval base in Greece who was defeated by the Turks and beheaded in Istanbul.
Georgia O'Keeffe in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collections
Technical study
Georgia O'Keeffe in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collections
To mark the first Georgia O’Keeffe retrospective in Spain, the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza decided to carry out research on the five paintings belonging to its collections, dated between 1921 and 1957, in order to examine the artist’s technique in depth.
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Meet the Restoration team

Research projects

Approach the restoration process

Visits to the workshop
Visits to the workshop
Aimed at professionals and postgraduate and master's degree students
The visit shows how professional conservation and restoration work is carried out in the institutional environment through the various activities involved and complements academic training with a view to the students' professional future.   
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Guided virtual tour
Guided virtual tour
A virtual experience for all audiences
A tour of the works from the point of view of the museum's restoration team. You will learn about some of the treatments that are carried out on the paintings and we will reveal secrets and curiosities that hide a selection of our masterpieces.
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Supports restoration projects
Collaborate actively with the museum in its studies and projects
Join us!