CODART, Dutch and Flemish art in museums worldwide

The Rubens Ceiling at the Banqueting House, Whitehall Palace

Symposium: 10 June 2019

NB the symposium takes place at Banqueting House, Whitehall.

This one-day symposium on the 17th century Rubens ceiling will be of interest to art and architectural historians, curators, conservators and heritage scientists. It will showcase the results of recent technical investigations to understand and develop methods to preserve and present the ceiling’s paintings and decorative scheme.

The ceiling is composed of a painted and gilded wooden coffer designed by Inigo Jones which surrounds nine extremely large paintings on canvas by Peter Paul Rubens. The ceiling has been altered by intermittent campaigns of treatment, cleaning and repainting over its history. These aged restorations now interfere with the appearance of the ceiling.

The program will be in 3 parts focusing on the decorative painted scheme, the paintings and future plans for the Banqueting House. Specialists Simon Thurley, Desmond Shawe-Taylor, Gregory Martin, Nico Van Hout, Jane Davies, Hannah Tempest and Richard Ireland will join Historic Royal Palaces conservators, curators, scientists, surveyors and creative programming/public engagement managers.

For tickets and information, see eventbrite.