Art experts are to begin the delicate repair of a Monet painting extensively damaged as it hung in the National Gallery of Ireland.
The 1874 work, Argenteuil with a Single Sailboat, was ripped and perforated while on display in the Millennium Wing in what the institution described as an unfortunate incident on June 29th.
Director of the National Gallery, Sean Rainbird, said the conservation would take about a year.
“Conservation work on the Monet is our primary concern given the extensive nature of the damage,” he said.
“The gallery’s conservation department will begin a thorough assessment of the work to be carried out in consultation with colleagues in sister institutions.
We anticipate the process of conservation could take up to a year.”
A 47-year-old man was charged earlier this month with criminal damage to the painting. A court heard he would deny the charge.The Director of Public Prosecutions has directed trial on indictment, meaning the case will go before a judge and jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The gallery said the Monet painting was under Garda control since the incident but has been handed back to allow urgent conservation to begin on Monday.
The work will be intricate and delicate. It is understood the first step will be to stabilise the painting in order to contain and eventually reduce the structural distortion of the canvas support.
Head of conservation at the National Gallery, Simone Mancini, said: “Our theoretical and technical conservation approach will be dictated by retaining the integrity and originality of the painting and it will encompass the application of the principle of reversibility, deceptivity and minimum intervention.”
Additional reporting: PA