Heavy rain in Berlin may have put some of Rembrandt’s artwork in a dripping situation. Brooklyn College music professor David Grubbs, who visited Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie today, June 23, captured a photo of the artist’s canvas “Mennonite preacher Cornelis Claesz Anslo and his wife Aeltje Gerritsdr Schouten” ( 1641) wrapped in a thin sheet of plastic. Along the sides of the work, pieces of tape appear to seal the cover to the walls and frame of the painting. On the floor below, a white bucket rests on what appears to be a black tarp.
Grubbs said Hyperallergic that he visited the museum around 4 p.m. and noticed “a leaky ceiling in the main Rembrandt room” of the Gemäldegalerie. In a Tweeterhe described “a steady patter of drops” descending from the ceiling into the bucket – just inches from the 382-year-old paint.
The heavy rains come after a historic wet spell for Germany. At the end of May, the German Weather Service (DWD) reported that the country had the “wettest spring” in at least a decade, reporting higher levels of rain in March and April. Although May saw milder rainfall than the previous two months, the northern and eastern regions of the country experienced consistent weather fluctuations this month, including thunderstorms and hail.
Heavy rain today also inconvenienced tennis fans, postponing the entire Friday schedule for the Berlin Open quarter-finals until Saturday, according to the Associated press. The press office also flooded roads reported and railroad closures due to excessive rain.
During the last years, climate change led to extreme weather conditions across Europe and the world, forcing arts institutions to adjust visiting hours and sometimes fully close For safety reasons.
The Gemäldegalerie has an impressive collection of 20 paintings by the Dutch Golden Age painter, as well as hundreds of other works spanning the 13th to 17th centuries. It is unclear if any of these works were affected by the alleged ceiling leak. Hyperallergic contacted the museum for more information.
In the section of the museum where the painting is located, several galleries have been temporarily closed for renovations while the facility installs a new energy-efficient lighting system. Since the start of the construction project in October 2021, areas of the museum have closed and reopened in phases. In the meantime, the highlighted works of art have been moved to different galleries for viewing. The final phase of the renovation is expected to be completed by September.
