Restoration of The Virgin of Humility

With its restoration now complete, Fra Angelico’s The Virgin of Humility is once again on display to visitors in a special installation in Room 11 of the permanent collection which presents the results of that project.

The restored painting is shown alongside two musical instruments similar to the ones depicted in the composition and an explanatory video on the work carried out by the restoration team. Over the past months the museum’s restorers have undertaken a complex process of technical study, identifying the materials used in the work’s creation, taking chemical analyses and obtaining technical images such as X-radiographs and infrared reflectographs, together allowing for a detailed study of the painting. This prior research revealed Fra Angelico’s creative procedures and provided the necessary information for embarking on the restoration with the maximum rigour and respect for the work. Following its presentation in Madrid the painting will return to the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC) where it is habitually on display as part of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection on deposit at that museum. This project has been made possible with support from the Bank of America, which included it in its Art Conservation Project programme as the recipient of one of the 19 international grants awarded in 2022 for the restoration and conservation of works of art.