Be Greeted, the Blessed Spring of Health, Alphonse Mucha
L’11 dicembre raccontiamo la straordinaria storia di Be Greeted, the Blessed Spring of Health, capolavoro di Alphonse Mucha, tra furto, danneggiamenti e restauro.
Fonte: (c) ensanahotels.com
Questo celebre dipinto Art Nouveau, ora custodito nel Grand Restaurant dell’Hotel Thermia Palace a Piešťany, Slovacchia, è simbolo dello spirito eterno dell’arte e della maestria artigianale.
La storia del dipinto sembra uscita da un romanzo giallo. Commissionato dalla famiglia Winter negli anni ’30 per adornare il lussuoso Thermia Palace, l’opera fu il ringraziamento di Mucha per le cure ricevute dalla figlia presso la spa, raffigurata nel quadro accanto a due ragazze locali che le offrono fiori. In quel periodo, Mucha affrontava un senso di oblio, poiché la sua serie Slav Epic era stata ampiamente respinta. Tuttavia, la famiglia Winter riconobbe il suo genio, assicurando che la sua eredità impreziosisse il loro hotel.
Nel 2000, la serenità del dipinto fu spezzata quando due ladri dilettanti lo rubarono. Tagliandolo dalla cornice e arrotolandolo in modo improprio. Causarono gravi danni, tra cui crepe nella vernice e la perdita dello strato pittorico originale fino al sottofondo. Il quadro fu successivamente recuperato in Repubblica Ceca durante un’operazione di polizia, ma tornò all’hotel in condizioni disastrose.
Il restauro, affidato a Jan Hromada, restauratore slovacco formatosi in Italia, richiese tecnologie avanzate come fotocamere a infrarossi e analisi chimiche dei pigmenti. Il processo fu meticoloso e complesso. I bordi della tela, danneggiati durante il furto, dovettero essere ricomposti, mentre le sezioni mancanti vennero ricreate basandosi su fotografie storiche. Il lavoro delicato comportò il rinforzo della tela con un adesivo speciale chiamato Beva e il riempimento delle parti danneggiate in modo impercettibile.
Hromada ha descritto la parte più difficile del restauro: “I bordi erano rimasti all’hotel e le due parti dovevano essere riassemblate. Alcune piccole parti della tela erano completamente sparite. È stato necessario rinforzare l’intera tela prima di restaurare le sezioni mancanti.”
Dopo dieci mesi di lavoro, il dipinto è tornato al suo splendore originale. Oggi, Be Greeted, the Blessed Spring of Health non è solo emblema della cultura termale di Piešťany, ma anche un potente promemoria della resilienza dell’arte e della dedizione di chi si impegna a preservarla.
On December 11, we recount the extraordinary tale of Alphonse Mucha,’s Be Greeted, the Blessed Spring of Health, a painting that faced theft, damage, and eventual triumph in its restoration. This masterpiece, created by the famed Art Nouveau artist, now hangs serenely in the Grand Restaurant of the Thermia Palace Hotel in Piešťany, Slovakia, a testament to the enduring spirit of art and meticulous craftsmanship.
The story behind the painting reads like a mystery novel. Commissioned by the Winter family in the 1930s to adorn the luxurious Thermia Palace, the artwork was Mucha’s gesture of gratitude for the spa’s treatment of his daughter, who appears in the painting alongside two local girls offering her flowers. At the time, Mucha was grappling with feelings of obscurity, as his Slav Epic series had been largely rejected. Yet, the Winter family recognized his genius and ensured that his legacy would grace their establishment.
In 2000, the serenity of the painting’s setting was shattered when two amateur thieves stole it. Cutting it from its frame and rolling it improperly caused severe damage, including cracked paint and loss of the original paint layer down to the underlayer. The painting was later recovered in the Czech Republic during a police operation but returned to the hotel in dire condition.
The painstaking restoration fell to Jan Hromada, a Slovak expert trained in Italy. Hromada utilized cutting-edge technology, including infrared cameras and chemical pigment analysis, to revive Mucha’s vision. The process was both meticulous and challenging. The edges of the canvas, damaged during the theft, had to be reassembled, while missing sections were recreated based on historical photographs. The delicate work involved reinforcing the canvas with a specialized adhesive called Beva and filling in the damaged areas seamlessly.
Hromada describes the most difficult aspect as repairing the damage from the theft itself. “The edges were left behind at the hotel, and the two parts had to be put back together. Some small parts of the canvas were completely gone. It required reinforcing the entire canvas before restoring the missing sections,” he explained.
Ten months of labor later, the painting was restored to its original splendor. Today, Be Greeted, the Blessed Spring of Health stands not only as an emblem of Piešťany’s spa culture but also as a powerful reminder of the resilience of art and the dedication of those who preserve it.
