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These paintings have been packed and lined against the walls
in preparation of their transfer to Lier and other museums.
It saddens me to see all these pieces removed from the galleries.
After all, the museum will remain closed for several years.
[Music]
Some of the paintings in this next room
will serve as centrepieces in an exhibition in Lier,
including The Adoration of the Magi by Pieter Bruegel the Younger.
The exhibition will feature a broad selection of paintings
illustrating Bruegel’s influence on subsequent Flemish artists
right up into the 20th century.
We’re also collaborating on some international exhibitions,
including in the United States.
And a number of loans have been arranged to museums
here in Belgium and in the Netherlands.
So quite a few paintings will remain on public display.
Inevitably, though, many will not.
That also saddens me.
As a curator, I prefer to see paintings hanging on museum walls.
That speaks for itself.
These barcodes are a way of identifying the paintings
and facilitating the transfer of the collection.
You see, the museum holds several thousand works of art.
Obviously it would be impractical for all members of staff
to have to memorise their titles.
It’s much simpler to scan the code before transportation,
so that we know precisely what comes in or goes out of the museum.
The collection includes quite a few paintings on panel.
Not all of these panels are in equally good condition.
And when you move a painting to another location,
the climatic conditions may vary or fluctuate.
Moreover, back in the 19th century,
many panels were fitted with a cradle,
as in these examples.
Battens were glued to the back of the panels to keep them straight or flat.
But in fact such interventions were ill-advised,
because the cradle restrains the wood.
This can cause the panels to split.
So it’s important to unfasten the battens prior to transportation,
so that the wood could react to changing conditions.
Here we have a system to unblock panels
or to fix any splits that may have appeared.
That’s what we use these tables for.
During the closure of the museum,
many of the large altarpieces by Rubens will be kept in safe storage.
These hatches will be opened and the paintings
will be lowered into a kind of bunker.
Below, there is a large vault with very thick walls,
where the altarpieces can be safely stored
without moving them out of the building.
So they will stay inside the museum,
protected behind massive walls,
while the building is converted.
We’ll be unable to continue our research
on the altarpieces during the closure.
In the past years, we’ve been using raised platforms
to study details in the paintings from close by
as part of our ongoing Rubens research.
The results have been published.
Details are also available on the museum website.
As these large paintings will soon be locked away
during the years of renovation work to the building,
we’re trying to finalise as much of the research as possible.
The smaller paintings will be available for study elsewhere.
But these monumental pieces will be inaccessible in their safe storage.
[Sound of a camera taking a picture]