A remarkable Renaissance ceiling painting dating back to 1563 has been uncovered in a former supermarket in Lüneburg, Germany, where bags of chips were once stored for decades. The nearly 500-year-old artwork, which was discovered in the 1970s but remained covered until now, is currently being restored by a team of specialists who are working on scaffolding to carefully unveil this historical treasure.
"This ceiling painting is something very special, it is executed with very good quality," explained restorer Markus Tillwick, who is leading the restoration efforts alongside his wife and a colleague. According to Tillwick, Lüneburg possesses a great treasure trove of ceiling paintings, though many are located in private rooms and not accessible to the public. The discovery highlights the city's rich architectural heritage and the ongoing potential for historical finds.
Heike Düselder, Director of the Museum Lüneburg, emphasized that such discoveries are not uncommon for the city. "It's not so unusual for Lüneburg, we are an undestroyed city with much building substance from the 16th and 17th centuries," Düselder confirmed. "Whenever you renovate, it happens that you discover something new." She explained that the historical building structure of the brick houses has been well-preserved in many cases, as there was never a large-scale city fire and no destruction of the old town during both World Wars.
The artwork is particularly significant due to both its artistic quality and excellent state of preservation, representing typical Renaissance painting techniques of the era. Düselder expressed great joy that the painting is now being uncovered and will be accessible to the public. The restoration team is carefully cleaning the 1563 artwork, removing dust and debris that accumulated over the centuries while it remained hidden.
Intriguingly, the painting bears the initials "AK," though the artist remains unknown to historians and art experts. Tillwick noted that having both the year and the artist's initials preserved on the work is extremely rare for 16th-century pieces. "We still don't know who that was," Tillwick admitted. He explained that ceiling painting during that historical period would not have been considered artwork but rather decoration, and "the term artist didn't exist yet, painting businesses took over such work."
The ceiling painting depicts Christian virtues as its primary motifs, including the fundamental virtues of faith, love, and hope. "In addition come the virtues of strength, moderation, justice, and prudence," the Lüneburg restorer explained. The artwork also includes the virtue of patience, creating a comprehensive representation of Christian moral teachings that were common in Renaissance decorative art.
The existence of the painting has been known since renovation work in the 1970s, when it was sealed off according to the building owner, which ironically helped preserve it for proper restoration decades later. The restoration work is expected to be completed in approximately five weeks, after which the rooms will be converted into a bakery. To protect the special painting from steam and cooking vapors, the bakery's kitchen area will receive extra protection and ventilation systems.
Building owner Ernst-Joachim Petersen, whose property is located on Am Sande street, described the decision-making process about the painting's future. "It was a long thought process, do we have to show it, do we want to show it," Petersen reported. He expressed excitement about the project's completion, saying he is already looking forward to enjoying a cup of coffee next year while contemplating the finished artwork in its new setting as part of the bakery's unique atmosphere.
