Boston art lovers are getting a rare front-row seat to a masterpiece in the making. From December 9, 2026 through February 14, 2028, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston presents Unvarnished: Conserving a Dutch Group Portrait, a joyful behind-the-scenes exhibition in the William A. Coolidge Gallery (Gallery 243A) of the Center for Netherlandish Art.
At its heart is a remarkable painting from 1625: The Founders of the Amsterdam Wine Merchants Guild by Nicolaes Eliasz. Pickenoy, one of the most successful portrait painters in 17th-century Amsterdam. Large group portraits were just taking off in the Netherlands at the time, celebrating the collaborative spirit of guilds and civic groups — and Pickenoy made them come alive, placing his sitters dynamically and using gazes and gestures to show unity rather than lining everyone up in a row. The MFA picture is one of the few Dutch group portraits of an organization, rather than a family, held by a museum outside the Netherlands.
The best part? Visitors can watch the restoration happen live. In a pop-up conservation studio inside the gallery, MFA conservators will study and treat the painting in public view — removing accumulated grime, discolored varnish and darkened overpaint, then revarnishing and retouching areas of paint loss. Along the way, guests learn the scientific techniques conservators use to understand a work of art, and by the end of the treatment the portrait will look much closer to what Pickenoy intended four centuries ago.
It is part exhibition, part live performance, and a wonderful reminder that great art is a team effort — in 1625 and today. The MFA is at 465 Huntington Avenue.
Photo: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Nicolaes Eliasz. Pickenoy, The Founders of the Amsterdam Wine Guild (detail), 1625.
