1/3 Caitlin and Maxime restore a church wall (photo: Alice van der Plas).
The paint is peeling off nicely in some places in the Helmondse Lambertuskerk. Previous restoration work was suddenly halted, leaving the church a hodgepodge of unfinished paintwork. Quite a task for 19-year-old Caitlin Lobbia and 23-year-old Maxime van de Rhee from Helmond. “It is so beautiful to work in the church, which I have seen all my life,” says Maxime.
Caitlin and Maxime study at SintLucas in Boxtel at the secondary vocational education course for decorative painter and restorer. Their heroes are Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Vincent van Gogh.
Caitlin: “What I love about Michelangelo is that he never thought he was good enough. He was always looking for areas for improvement, so you stay curious.” Maxime adds: “Van Gogh’s style is revolutionary. His touch is unmatchable.”
But much to Caitlin and Maxime’s chagrin, their future profession is under heavy pressure. “There is a lot of aging among Dutch decorative painters and restorers,” says their teacher Joep Dirckx. “It’s very important to have new recruits, but that’s also difficult, there are shortages everywhere.”
In the Netherlands, several hundred restorers and decorative painters are still active at the craft level. If there is no new growth, the heritage is in danger of being lost. This year SintLucas has 40 students in training.
“Working in the Vatican? I think that would be fun, yes”
“It’s also a great opportunity for us,” Caitlin said. “So a lot of work. But it is such a shame that a lot is forgotten in this era. Everyone is in their own world and often online. You only have to look outside to see that we have a beautiful world, with beautiful art. And that threatens to disappear.”
According to the students and their teacher, graduates are well placed in the labor market. “Many have a good job at a company or have started as self-employed,” says Dirckx.
Caitlin wants to continue studying. Restoring frescoes and paintings is her dream. She really wants to go to school in Italy for that. Her education may take another ten years. “Working in the Vatican? That sounds like fun, yes.” Maxime is going to do an internship in Great Britain. “There are a lot of monumental buildings there, a lot of painting, restoration and gilding, really cool.”
“We don’t work hurriedly, you take the time to do something right”
The students are busy in a side portal of the Lambertus Church. It’s their exam project. They investigate the church, advise the parish council and carry out the work. They have discovered a pattern by the painter Emmanuel Perey under a layer of gray paint. That pattern has to be conjured up again. Students delve into the archives, do historical research and know everything about the paint and techniques from that time, around 1924.
“It’s like going back in time,” Caitlin says. “We don’t work in a rush, you take the time to do something right.” Everything is done by hand, just like in the past. “But we do check everything well with the laser,” says teacher Joep Dirckx. “It has to be right down to the millimeter. The pattern has to come out just right, on walls that are often crooked too.”
“We flew a drone through the church”
Mistakes are allowed. “It’s handcrafted, just like it was back then,” Caitlin says. The students never try to do better than the original painter. Although they do use modern techniques. “We have had a drone fly through the church, so that students can also see how things look from above,” says Joep Dirckx.
The wall Caitlin and Maxime are working on is now painted yellow. The pattern is set up with templates. “The satisfaction is that you get one step further every time,” Caitlin says. “And every step is beautiful.” Maxime: “And when you take off the stencil and the pattern appears, that’s so satisfying.”