Berlin's Gemäldegalerie is digitally reconstructing hundreds of Old Master paintings by artists like Rubens, Veronese, van Dyck, and Caravaggio that were destroyed in fires near the end of World War II. The project uses high-resolution scans of glass negatives, primarily photographed by Gustav Schwarz between 1925 and 1944, to create detailed online renderings that will be publicly accessible for viewing and download later this year.
This initiative addresses a significant historical and scholarly gap, making lost artworks available for attribution, provenance, and conservation research. By digitizing these fragile photographic records, the museum not only preserves a crucial visual archive but also allows the public and researchers to engage with the full scope of the collection's historical significance in a new, interactive way.