The violinist by Pablo Gargallo was in poor condition. The acceleration of its internal corrosion, caused by the incompatibility between the two materials of which it is made (the only time Gargallo worked with this combination of lead and wood), set off all the alarm bells in 2010, when it had to be withdrawn from the rooms of the Museu Nacional due to its significant deterioration.

Thanks to the crowdfunding campaign Let's save the violinist, which started on 1st April 2016, this exceptional piece will be restored and returned to its rightful place in the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya within a few months.

The crowdfunding campaign (the third in our history) was an initiative by the Amics del Museu and has managed to raise the €46,000 needed to tackle a singular restoration, which promises to be emblematic.

A total of 255 individual patrons have made donations ranging from €10 to €7,000. Over 80% of the patrons are members of the Fundació Amics dels Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya.

There were also an indeterminate number of patrons who made anonymous donations to the collection box, which was in the Museum’s vestibule until 16th July, the date on which the campaign ended to coincide with the Nit del Museu Nacional. The campaign was also supported by the special contribution of the ESMUC (Higher School of Music of Catalonia), which in May 2016 gave violin concerts in the Cupola Room at the Museum and generously donated all their profits to the campaign.

The restoration of The violinist will be led by the Museu Nacional’s Preventive Conservation and Restoration Department and may take over six months to complete. Specific stages of the complex intervention will require the use of diverse industrial technologies, such as 3D scans, computer numerical control milling, 3D printing and lead sheet treatments in a hydrogen plasma reactor.