This monumental print, made up of 18 woodcuts and measuring 3.6 metres long by 50 centimetres high, is the oldest known view of Leuven. Thanks to the support of the Abbé Manoël de la Serna Fund, it was restored for the exhibition In Search of Utopia.

Jacob van Maerlant’s Rijmbijbel (Brussels, KBR, ms. 15001), a 13th-century codex containing a rhymed Bible, is considered the oldest illuminated manuscript in Dutch. Thanks to this funding, KBR was able to begin a conservation treatment using appropriate technology.

The Chalcography collection preserves more than 6000 old and modern engraved plates (wood and copper). Some of the wooden blocks date back to the 16th century and are sometimes affected by wood-boring insects and their larvae. They must be treated to ensure their preservation.

The condition of a significant part of the books in the “City of Brussels” collection is critical. This collection includes books from the former Royal Library of the Netherlands, established by Philip II, King of Spain, as well as books from the convents and abbeys of the former Duchy of Brabant, which were dissolved by the French during the Revolution. The damage is linked to the storage conditions in these religious institutions more than two centuries ago.

Jacques de Deventer’s atlas (c. 1500–1575) contains 74 watercolour town plans of the former Netherlands, commissioned by Philip II and mounted on acidic cardboard. These plans are of exceptional scientific, geographical, cartographic and historical value. The restoration programme aims to remove the acidic cardboard supports to improve their long-term preservation and reveal any inscriptions hidden on the back.