Maintenance Panorama

A major job

The last cleaning of the Panorama was in 2017. Then, the entire canvas was cleaned and cleared of dust and soot particles, however, this was not the first large-scale maintenance. In the late 1980s, the world-famous Panorama of Scheveningen, painted by Hendrik Willem Mesdag in 1881, was in poor condition. The 114.5-metre-long canvas was showing considerable wear and tear and action had to be taken quickly. A large team of conservators, art historians and technical experts joined forces to prevent Mesdags artistic highlight from being lost. Since then, every five to seven years the enormous painting has been cleaned, checked and treated where necessary. By maintaining the Panorama properly, we ensure future generations can visit Mesdag's Panorama!

Snippet from the film Restoration of a painting without borders, 1996.

Tip: The film of the major restoration in the 1990s can be seen at the museum during the cleaning period.