There are stages that are more significant than others. And trainees whose name is easier to remember. This is what the Royal Library of Belgium and Margaux Nogues, a French student on an internship this summer at the print restoration workshop of the institution located at Mont des Arts, must be saying to each other.
A month ago, while restoring an engraving by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (16th century) entitled “The Witch of Mallegem”, Margaux Nogues noticed that another engraving was hidden on the back of the first print, under a old glued cardboard that had to be removed to proceed with the restoration.
“I immersed the document in a bath of hot water“, explains the budding restaurateur today.The cardboard came off very easily. When I removed it, I discovered that there was actually another work on the back: a second engraving by Bruegel.“