Restoration of Zurbarán’s St Serapion almost complete

A painting by Francisco de Zurbarán that is currently being treated by Ulrich Birkmaier, the chief conservator at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut, will take pride of place in the institution’s ambitious rehang of its European art collection. The reinstallation is due to be unveiled in September, when the museum’s Beaux-Arts Morgan Memorial building will reopen. Oliver Tostmann, the museum’s curator of European art, says that St Serapion (1628) is important not only to the museum’s collection, but also to scholars of Zurbarán’s early work. “We’re better able to see the painting’s connection to other pieces by Zurbarán, and how the artist worked, now that the discoloured varnish has been removed,” he says. The work is due to finish in May, in time for the painting to travel to Madrid for an exhibition on the Spanish Old Master, which is due to open at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum on 9 June (until 13 September). The restoration has been funded by the European Fine Art Foundation, which organises the annual Tefaf art fair in Maastricht, the Netherlands.