Marcel Gibrat Works

Assyrian bas-relief from the palace of Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 B.C.) at Nimrud

Article from April 1960 shortly after the 1959 renovation of the MMOA when Marcel was a restorer there. The cover of the relevant MOMA Bulletin in which it was contained is pictured as well.

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has recently acquired an Assyrian bas-relief from the palace of Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 B.C.) at Nimrud, a city in what is now northern Iraq. A relic of a grand and barbaric era, it depicts a winged spirit with the head of an eagle, blessing a sacred tree.
The museum’s director, David Carter, announced the purchase without revealing the price, remarking only that “it is very rare to find on the world market a relief of such historical value.”
The Assyrian bas-relief shown above was photographed before restoration began in the museum’s basement, under the supervision of M. Gibrat, an internationally renowned restorer.

M. Gibrat’s hand-written notes mentioning the piece above:

notes: “The Aphrodite Affair— Montreal Museum”; “230”

I decided to send him a summary of all the operations, telling him that Jollan had sent the same summary to the museum. He told me not to; he didn’t want to lower the value of the piece now that it was almost sold. My strategy worked perfectly: within forty-eight hours I received a check for six thousand five hundred dollars (Inflation adjusted $70,000 USD). This long story ends here. I had to move on to other restorations that were waiting. A fourth volume would be needed to describe all the restorations I did from 1972 to 1991. I will skip the small commissioned restorations that took no more than a day’s work. I had been called by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts to restore a large Assyrian relief from 650 B.C., a winged genius before the tree of life. I went in the autumn to Canada to do this work. I had to reglue the different pieces, then make a polished aluminum frame to contain the panel. I brought my tool crates and my leather bag, which held what I needed to make the transparent cement, as I had done at the M.M.A. in New York. Until the start of winter I was based in Montreal; I slept at…

notes : « suite et fin de l’Aphrodite — Montreal Museum » ; « 230 »

Je décidai de lui envoyer un résumé de toutes les opérations en lui disant que Jollan avait envoyé au musée le même résumé. Il me dit de n’en rien faire ; il ne voulait pas abaisser la valeur de la pièce maintenant qu’elle était presque vendue. Ma stratégie réussit pleinement : dans les quarante-huit heures je reçus un chèque pour les six mille cinq cents dollars. Cette longue histoire finit ici. Je devais passer à d’autres restaurations qui attendaient. Il faudrait un quatrième volume pour décrire toutes les restaurations que j’ai faites depuis 1972 jusque en 1991. Je passerai sur les petites restaurations de commande, qui ne prenaient pas plus qu’un jour de travail. J’avais été appelé par le Museum of Fine Arts de Montréal pour restaurer un large relief assyrien de 650 B.C., un génie ailé devant l’arbre de la vie. J’allai en automne au Canada pour faire ce travail. Je devais recoller les différentes pièces, puis faire un cadre d’aluminium poli pour le contenir. J’emportai mes caisses d’outils et mon sac de cuir qui contenait de quoi faire le ciment transparent, comme j’avais fait au M.M.A. de N.Y. Jusqu’au début de l’hiver je cantonnais à Montréal ; je dormais chez…