The Louvre Museum has announced a four-year restoration project for Peter Paul Rubens's monumental 'Marie de' Medici Cycle,' comprising 24 large-scale paintings. The works will be removed from public view starting this fall as the museum transforms their dedicated gallery into an on-site restoration studio to address yellowed varnishes and discordant past retouching.
The project, described as the Louvre's 'most ambitious' painting restoration ever, is critical due to the cycle's status as a high point of Rubens's career and a key Baroque narrative work. The museum's own analysis found the paintings in an 'unsatisfactory state' for display, with the restoration funded in part by a $4.64 million contribution from the Society of Friends of the Louvre, aiming to preserve this significant artistic heritage for future appreciation.