A Peek at Potter - Investigating the Bull

Now on view

Drop on by for A Peek at Potter at the Mauritshuis! Our conservators are currently restoring the world-famous painting The Bull by Paulus Potter, the largest painting in the Mauritshuis. And that's quite the operation.

So, how does one exactly restore a painting? What choices do our conservators face? And why does it all go so slowly and carefully?

During this presentation, you'll learn all there is to knowabout the restoration process. Ofcourse we'll also share everything we know about one of the most famous paintings in the Netherlands. You can witness the entire process live and stay in the loop online as we unfold the magic. We're making the research accessible, light, and captivating for everyone.

The restoration of the painting started in March 2024, after an extensive preliminary investigation in 2023. We expect the restoration to be completed in 2025. Stay tuned!

Crowd favorite

Before the Girl with a Pearl Earring took center stage, The Bull was the main act at the Mauritshuis. What makes it special? Paulus Potter painted a quintessentially Dutch scene on a massive canvas (235.5 x 339 cm).

During its makeover, we're bringing out the latest tech. You, as a visitor, get an exclusive front-row seat to witness the restoration live!

Too complicated? No way! We aim to tell the story of the restoration process and the history of the painting in a fun and accessible way.

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Restaurateurs Abbie en Jolijn restaureren de Stier in het Mauritshuis.

Every Friday: Q and A with the conservators

Every Friday afternoon at 14:00, our art restorers will come to the Golden Room in the museum for an exclusive Q&A session. Feel free to ask them anything about the art restoration process: Are they ever nervous? What is the most fun thing to do during restoration? And how does it actually work?

Abbie and Jolijn will be more than happy to tell you all about this huge project.

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Update: How is it going?

We are now halfway through the spec-ta-cow-lar restoration of Potter's Bull! Abbie and Jolijn are working hard to make old damages invisible, but a lot of work has already gone into this:

Every restoration process begins with extensive research. This helps the conservators understand the condition of the painting better and allows them to come up with a plan of action.
The painting itself is thoroughly examined. This includes using X-rays and infrared technology to see through the many layers of paint.
Additionally, other works by Paulus Potter are studied.
In March 2024, the painting was moved to 'the stable', as we call it, the restoration studio in the museum.
From this point on the actual restoration can truly begin, and visitors of the Mauritshuis are more than welcome to visit the work in progress.

De röntgenfoto van De Stier van Paulus Potter, gemaakt door René Gerritsen — Röntgenfoto van 'De stier' van Paulus Potter René Gerritsen

A painting is built up in layers. The top layer on The Bull is varnish, applied during the last restoration. It protects the paint and provides the beautiful gloss and the stunning saturated colors. Over time, the varnish turns yellow. Bit by bit, Jolijn and Abbie are removing the yellowed varnish. The difference is immediately noticeable!

During the varnish removal, you encounter the retouching paint from previous conservators. Most of this old restoration paint is removed so that the conservators can rebuild The Bull from the ground up. In this phase, all the damages are exposed.

The removal phase is now complete! The painting receives a new layer of varnish that will discolour less quickly. Now, the conservators can start retouching (filling in the damages). By working on top of the varnish, our restoration work is always reversible.

And now, back to work! Come and visit us soon!

Twee handen in handschoenen halen heel voorzichtig het vernis van de kop van De Stier met grote wattenstaafjes.

Restoration dilemmas

Chest hair or waxing?

When restoring a painting, you constantly make new discoveries. For example, during restoration work in the 1970s, we discovered that the chest hair of “Farmer Teun” had been repainted to be fuller than Potter had originally intended. Completely in line with the latest fashion! Farmer Teun has now had a light “wax”: the hairs have been repainted to be much more subtle.

French branch or no French branch?

Another restoration dilemma is that of the “French branch”. The canvas is badly damaged at the top. When the painting was looted by the French in 1795, it ended up in the Louvre. There, they also noticed the damage and solved it by painting an extra branch over it. The branch was never Potter's intention, but it is part of the painting's history. Would you leave it as it is, or paint over it so that it is no longer visible?

Stormy or summery?

During the restoration, we discovered that the sky had been painted over many times. At first, it looked as if a storm was brewing, but after the restoration, it looks completely different: we see an early summer's day, around May or June. We discovered that Potter had painted the weather much more realistically and subtly than we had thought. The restorers are going to “fill in” a number of areas in the sky as they think Potter intended.

Detail of the vertical damage in the tree. The twig in the middle of the damage is the non-original “French branch”.

Want to learn more?

Would you like to learn about everything there is to know about the restoration process? For example, why exactly does it need to be restored? And where was it painted? Then quickly browse through our latest Art Story, featuring exciting ins and outs about the world-famous Bull.

Check out the Art Story