Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt cites other examples of paintings as
large as 203 3 106 cm that were split without being first divided vertically
(Wiesmann-Emmerling 1994).
No statistics about the disasters of splitting have been collected,
and it is clear that there was not sufficient interest to make accidents
public knowledge. Few reports on splitting problems exist, but enough
traces remain on the original objects themselves to provide relevant infor-
mation. In 1874 the sawing of a painting of Lucas van Leyden in the Alte
Pinakothek in Munich by a gallery attendant and joiner named Nüsslein
resulted in an unfortunate failure. The order to split the painting was
given by aretired director of the gallery who wanted to hang both sides
of the panel side by side on a museum wall. The front side of the painting
sustained some damage, and a third of the painting on the reverse was
lost. This accident is well documented in reports at the gallery (Kok,
Eickemeier, and van Asperen de Boer 1976:252–54).
Another dramatic accident happened in 1943 to a painting by
Niklaus Manuel at the Schweizerisches Landesmuseum, Zurich (Figs. 8, 9).
The painting was put between zinc plates and held firmly so that the
joiner could saw through the panel. The saw drifted to one side of the
panel and destroyed huge sections of the paint layer (Kersten and
Trembley 1994:159–78).
Little discussion of the splitting of double-sided panels appears in
the conservation literature. A very rare comment can be found in the 1912
conservation report by the conservator Kinkelin about the damages to
paintings in public possession in Bavaria and their restoration. Kinkelin
describes howdouble-sided paintings were split and discusses theH P P C A, G, S 207Figure 6, above
Bavarian master, Crucifixion,ca. 1440. Altar
wing. Painting on panel, 179.5 3 138.5 cm.
Bayerisches Nationalmuseum (inv. 2343),
Munich. This formerly double-sided painting
was split about 1804, around the time it came
into the Royal Bavarian Collections. An earlier
flat wooden cradle caused a very strong wash-
board effect. The painting is unrestored.
Figure 7, above right
Bavarian master, Saint Drusiana Raised from
theDead,ca. 1440. Painting on panel, 179.5
3 138.5 cm. Bayerisches Nationalmuseum
(inv. 2358), Munich. This painting was split
away from the painting in Figure 6. The
panel, shown during conservation treatment
and before retouching, shows the vertical cut
that divided the panel into two parts before
splitting (white line). To avoid sawing through
the head of the Christ on the other side, the
the sawyer took a small detour at the top of
the panel.