Leaf it off lads!

Six bashful male exhibits at the Crawford Art Gallery will have their fig leaves very carefully removed this summer.

The leaves, which are traditionally used to conceal nudity in art in reference to their use by Adam and Eve to hide their modesty, are thought to have been added to the Canova Casts after their arrival in Cork in 1818.

Speaking to the Cork Independent, Curator of the Recasting Canova exhibition, which began in February, Dr Michael Waldron said: “Over the last two years, we've had a Heritage Council-funded conservation project to repair and clean the casts to get them ready for their 200th birthday, so this is the final stage of that work.

“When they were being conserved, it was recognised that the fig leaves had been added to the cast after they had been made, meaning they had most likely been added here in Cork to spare the blushes of the locals.”

This unusual conservation work, which is part of Cork Midsummer Festival, is to be undertaken by conservator Eoghan Daltun who hopes to solve the mystery of what lies beneath the leaves.

It is unknown whether the pieces, which are casts of original marble statues in the Vatican Museums, will require some sensitive re-modelling in order to restore them to accurately reflect their stony doppelgangers.

Dr Waldron said: “It's a bit like working in the dark. We've had an assessment of the fig leaves themselves and our conservator believes that he can remove them with minimal intervention. We'll have to just wait and see.”

The six lucky plaster candidates to receive conservation treatment are Adonis, Apollo Belvedere, Laocoon and His Sons, and the Belvedere Torso.

Born out of the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, the casts were a gift to the Prince Regent, who later became King George IV, and who in turn gifted them to the people of Cork.

Visitors are invited to drop in to watch the conservation work live in the sculpture gallery on weekdays from 17-21 and 24-28 June.

A talk will take place at 1pm on 20 June where the public can join conservator Eoghan Daltun and curator Dr Michael Waldron to discover the secrets behind the Canova Casts.

After the 'fig reveal', the plaster leaves will be retained and placed on display as archival objects in their own right.