Putto op de Opera van Antwerpen

Lead putti, Opera house of Antwerp

An ode to poetry. The crowning jewel of the Antwerp Opera house studied from nearby.

The early, 20thcentury Opera House in Antwerp is crowned by a monumental kithara (snare instrument), flanked by two putti with music instruments serving as personifications of poetry. All parts of this impressive ensemble are made out of driven and soldered lead slabs.

Thanks to our material-technical study of the objects, we could deduce that some parts of the statues were filled up in order for them to hold true to their shape. The kithara was assembled using a wooden support system, the putti were filled up with reinforced concrete. Only the festoon was made using only lead.

De putti voor het snaarinstrument op de Opera in Antwerpen.
Putti during material-technical research.
De achterkant van het snaarinstrument, de 'kithara'
Backside of the kithara during the research project.

The lead slabs of the putti showed concerning cracks and tears, presumably caused by concrete decay of the filling. Because of their alarming state of decay, a decision fell to treat the putti. The statues were dismantled and treated in our own workshop. All concrete filling had to be removed in order to repair the cracks and tears in the lead slabs. We constructed a new supporting structure using metal staves and perforated plate which was introduced in the statues during dismantling the concrete filling, in order to prevent sagging of the lead.

Finally, the putti were reintroduced and securely anchored on top of the Opera House using a crane.

Demontage van een van de putti van het dak van de Opera met een kraan, met uitzicht op de Antwerpse skyline op de achtergrond.
Dismantling of one of the putti.
Detail van het gewapend beton in een van de putti.
Inner structure made out of reinforced concrete.
Detail van de nieuwe steunstructuur die in een van de putti werd toegepast.
New supporting structure.
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