AIC's 51st Annual Meeting

One of the largest prints ever made, Albrecht Dürer’s Triumphal Arch is a wall-sized (about 10’ x 12’) architectural woodcut intended as imperial propaganda commissioned in 1515 to convey Emperor Maximilian I’s magnificence and illustrious lineage. The 1799 printing was a re-print from the majority of the 190+ wood blocks, with a few lost or damaged blocks recreated as etchings. The New York Public Library’s copy was on long-term display in the library’s Astor Hall from the 1930s until 1984, when it was removed due to its “advanced state of deterioration.” The muslin mounting onto which the over 80 individual pieces of the print were adhered was cut apart and the print remained in storage until 2019, when it was brought to conservation to be prepared for NYPL’s Treasures exhibition.

Treatment included removing the muslin backing, washing, light bleaching, lining, and filling losses, including digital fills. In addition to preparing the print for exhibition, the goals of treatment included planning for ease of storage, accessibility, and digitization. The talk will also describe how the print was mounted, transferred, and installed into the main gallery of the Library’s iconic 5th Avenue building for exhibition (short-term this time).