TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund

The National Gallery of Ireland has received funding from the TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund to restore The Crossing of the Red Sea (1521), by Italian Renaissance artist Ludovico Mazzolino (c.1480–1528) which has been part of its collection for over a century.

This biblical artwork is remarkable for its size and rarity and because it departs from the conventional rules of perspective. While the artist typically worked on a modest scale, specialising in small devotional paintings, he later began to experiment with larger and more ambitious compositions, exemplified by this rare work. The Gallery’s hope is that the technical and historical research treatments carried out during the course of the project will contribute to a broader understanding and appreciation of Mazzolino’s artistic techniques in 16th century
Italy.

In its current fragile state, the painting cannot be safely displayed; with severe delamination of the paint layer and soiling to the cracked surface, The Crossing of the Red Sea requires extensive conservation efforts. With TEFAF’s funding, the National Gallery of Ireland will collaborate with
experts in Mazzolino’s work to better understand his artistic practice so that this rare large-scale masterpiece can be sensitively restored and made accessible to the visiting public. We look forward to sharing the progress of this exciting project over the coming months. 

About TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund

The TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund was established in 2012 to support and promote professional restoration and related scholarly research of significant museum artworks. Championing art in all its forms, applications for its grants are open to museums from all over the world and artworks of any age. Each year, a maximum of €50,000 is allocated to projects. The committee of independent experts usually selects two winners to each receive up to €25,000 to support their restoration project.