The Virgin Mary as Queen of Angels

A photograph from around 1897 or 1898, i.e. from before the church tower was remodelled in Gothic style, shows that it was not in place at that time, so it was brought to the church only when it was renovated as a museum, and perhaps also to be used as a functional liturgical space. The development of events, with the end of the war and victory of socialism in the Czechoslovak Republic, is the likely reason that the church remained abandoned. Until at least 1960, the work was affected by weather, humidity, dust, and dirt, with birds settling on its upper part and covering it in a thick layer of droppings. We do not know from where, in about 1943, the Clarissine Church obtained this monumental painting, which makes it difficult to determine its authorship, the painting workshop, or circuit. We do know that with its impressive dimensions (28.25 m2) it represents the largest known Baroque painting in Slovakia. Iconographically, this is a rare type – the baby Jesus with a bow as part of the dense Marian content; this suggests that the commissioner of the work, as well as its place of destination, must have been a monastery or church of the patronage of the Queen of Angels, or a religious order whose Marian veneration was an essential part of its spirituality. The objective of sacred images of this type is a visualisation of concrete theological content with all the characteristics of its canonised form. This was facilitated for artists by the various iconographic manuals with graphic models that were particularly widespread during the Baroque period, or by pre-existing works of art. In this case, it was possible to find an almost identical depiction of the archangel Raphael in a painting by Sebastiano Ricci (1659–1734).

The compositional structure of the work depicts at the apex God the Father enthroned with the Holy Spirit, and centrally beneath them the Holy Mother with the Son of God worshipped by angelic choirs. The adoring angelic choirs are hierarchically arranged (nine in total, four to the left and five to the right): seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominions, powers, forces, archangels, principalities, and angels. In the lower left is the archangel Raphael, helper of those in distress, saving man from the fall, the loss of God's grace, and the snares of the devil. Towards the centre, the archangel Gabriel hovers as a guardian over a desolate globe encircled by a serpent, an apple symbolising that it remains within the power of evil because of original sin. Jesus' arrow shoots through the serpent's head, symbolising the ultimate triumph of the Son of God over Satan and his work (the second coming of Jesus at the end of the ages, when all, including death, will be definitively subjected to him). On the right, the archangel Michael – quis ut Deus / who is like God? – triumphs over the forces of hell, casting them into eternal fire. Enthroned in the clouds is the Holy Mother, without blemish, Immaculata as a collaborator in the work of salvation, chosen by God from the ages, REGINA ANGELORUM, QUEEN OF ANGELS.

For decades, the work was kept in the repository of the Bratislava City Gallery, where its condition gradually deteriorated. Intervention was required. By obtaining financial support from the grant system of the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic, we were able to carry out the first three stages of the restoration.

In the first stage, we stabilised the work by means of a full-surface overlay, even covering the layer of dirt and deposits on its surface. This paper overlay was applied during gradual unrolling of the image, and then during re-rolling onto a roller of a suitable diameter (50 cm). After this initial stabilisation, we were able to handle the work safely and prepare it for lining – ironing onto a new canvas. During the first stage, we had to remove a non-original layer of paint from the reverse of the work. This was practically insoluble, and, together with various patches, required laborious mechanical removal. We rewound the work and removed the paper overlay. We cleaned from the surface the thick layer of pigeon droppings that mainly covered the lower part of the painting. Fragile areas of the painting were re-covered with paper overlays for safe handling.

At this stage, we could see that the support for the work was sewn together from eight vertical strips of canvas, with the seams visible on both the obverse and reverse. The work appeared to have been folded carelessly in the past in the way that a large sheet may be folded, possibly for easier transportation. At the edges of the folds, the layer of paint had fallen away. Significant damage had also been caused by winding it onto too small a diameter cylinder, particularly as it is composed of several parts. The surface of the painting was thereby mechanically deformed, and subsequent water infiltration had caused further damage. However, despite local mechanical damage, the painting itself was well preserved. UV luminescence and analysis of samples carried out by the Chemical-Technological Department of the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic proved that the work had been secondarily repainted. The lining canvas was sewn from two parts. Hand ironing of the work onto the impregnated canvas using thermoplastic adhesive was carried out in two steps – first from the visible side for better control of the process, and then again from the reverse side. This atypical assignment required a creative approach, and original solutions needed to be found to the problems caused by the dimensions of the work and constraints of the environment in which the restoration was carried out. The third stage was preparation of a suitable subframe, and further optical research into preservation of both the original and the secondary repaintings or repairs. The fourth stage, in 2014, consisted of actual reintegration of the artwork – removal of secondary interventions on the painting layer of the original, and new sealing. Over the subsequent three seasons (2015–2017), we have been locally cleaning the work of oil overpaintings, and applying imitative and line retouching using aquarelle and gouache techniques. We then painted the surface using damar varnish with the addition of bleached wax. Finally, we transported the rolled-up painting to the chapel, and only then stretched it onto the frame.

Works were directed by Mgr. art. Barbara Davidson, ArtD. The first stage was delivered by Anna Gregová, akad. mal. and Mgr. Zuzana Jakabová, akad. mal. At the second stage, they were joined by conservator and Marica Ďuricová, akad. mal. For subsequent stages, restoration was continued by GMB conservators. GMB Collection Curator Mgr. Jana Luková collaborated on research of the work, the results of which form part of accompanying conservation documentation in the GMB archive. Research into collected samples was processed by Ing. Jana Želinská, PhD., at the Chemical-Technological Department of the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic. Photographic documentation was carried out by Mgr. art. Peter Homola, and carpentry work was performed by Ing. Peter Varga and Ing. Jozef Manco. Appreciation is due to the GMB Technical Department and to helpful individuals, not only from GMB staff, for their assistance in handling the work.

The Franciscan Order of Friars Minor provided the exhibition space and adapted the area technically for the installation. The installation was supervised by Ing. arch. Damián Berec, and implementation was directed by Ing. Ján Grega.

GMB and the restoration team would like to express sincere thanks to all who assisted in any way with the work throughout its various stages, and especially during its installation, particularly to Ing. Ján Greg and his family (without whose methodical, efficient, and material help the painting would not be here), Ing. arch. Damián Berec, Marica Ďuricová, akad. mal., Tomáš Lupták, akad. soch., doc. Vladimírov Plekanec, akad. mal., Mgr. art. Anna Nosáľová, and our GMB colleagues.