Continuing the update of 5 December, the secretariat received another email on 22 May from Rien de Graaf, churchwarden of the Reformed Church in Stavenisse:
Since the beginning of this year, the sculptor has continued to build the back wall and grout it, as well as to restore the broken parts. Meanwhile, the last parts, including the effigy of Hieronymus have been brought back from the studio of Tobias Snoep from Amsterdam in the church of Stavenisse. The top black plates have now been mounted, allowing the back wall to be rebuilt in its entirety, then the scaffolding can be removed, and the back wall can now be finished off. The tomb will then be bricked up so that it can be covered with the marble slabs again.
On 30 April, there was a meeting between the architect Erik Jan Brans, Hendrik Jan Tolboom of the national office and the sculptor Tim Kemperman about the progress and the front slab.
The sculptor hopes to be ready by the end of May, early June. The only thing left then is to wait for the front plate, as the shipment in combination with the Great Church of Breda has too little volume for the IBACH treatment, so it is a matter of waiting for more parts to arrive for the same treatment, as otherwise it will not be profitable for the IBACH company. It has now been agreed with the Rijksdienst and the architect to temporarily place a photo copy at the location of the front plate, this is obviously unfortunate but regrettably there is no other possibility.
Sander Snoep has also filmed in full again, including the visit of the college of mayor and aldermen of the municipality of Tholen to Tobias Snoep’s studio in Amsterdam and the return of the last rinsed parts including the effigy of Hieronymus, this day there was even a certified drone pilot present, who is also a sound technician and had come along from Amsterdam to record everything in minute detail, splendid work!
Herewith the report by Erik Jan Brans, one of the restorers:
Friday 6 December: left pilasters installed.
Thursday 12 December: black plate of coats of arms placed.
2025
Tuesday 7 January: pilasters on the left.
Wednesday 15 January: pilasters on left next to text plate.
Thursday 23 January: anchoring pilasters.
Wednesday 5 February: anchoring pilasters.
Monday 27 January: anchoring pilasters.
Wednesday 29 January: placing black pilasters.
Thursday 30 January: continuing placing black pillar.
Thursday 20 February: left black pillar placed and parts of tomb and top frames returned from Amsterdam.
Friday 28 February: last shipment from Amsterdam with film and drone.
Thursday 6 March: meeting Tim Erik Jan Hendrik Jan David.
Friday 6 March: preparation of text plate.
Tuesday 11 March: black side pilaster placed next to text plate.
Wednesday 12 March: text plate placed and black top frame placed.
Thursday 13 March: ornamental frame above text plate placed.
Friday, March 14: preparing weapon shields.
Monday 17 March: polishing plates of coats of arms.
Tuesday 18 March: restoration of broken pilasters.
Wednesday 19 March: meeting with Erik Jan, Hendrik Jan and David and preparing hanging coats of arms.
Thursday 20 March: start hanging coats of arms.
Friday 21 March: continue with coats of arms.
Monday 24 March: continue with coats of arms and restore them.
Tuesday 25 March: restore coats of arms and frame above text plate.
Wednesday 26 March: put extra dowels in the top of the pilasters as additional reinforcement for the cornices.
Thursday 27 March: visit B&W and broadcasting Zeeland and polishing black marble.
Friday 28 March: further finishing touches.
Monday 31 March: restoration of text plate and preparation for placing cornice.
Tuesday 1 April: continued preparation and raised cornice.
Thursday 3 April: cornice anchored and side frames prepared.
Friday 4 April: preparation of left and right cornices.
Monday 7 April: prepare cornices.
Tuesday 8 April: prepare cornices.
Thursday 10 April: cornices placed back except for the corner pieces.
Monday 14 April: corner pieces of cornices placed.
Tuesday 15 April: prepare semi-circular black plates above cornice.
Wednesday 16 April: continue preparing black plates above the cornice.
Thursday 17 April: make wooden frame for the black plate.
Friday 18 April: finishing and grouting the cornice.
Report by Erik Jan Brans:
Unpleasant news about the front plate. Last week, a shipment of blocks from Zottegem, where the front plate is located, was supposed to be taken to Germany, but I did not receive notification that this had happened.
Enquiries were made and it appears that IBACH stopped the shipment. The shipment is too small for the autoclave it has to go into and IBACH wants to wait to treat the blocks until they can fill the autoclave with blocks from other projects.
It is not cost-effective for them to handle such a small shipment and they do not have enough stock at the moment. When I asked when the autoclave would fill up, they had no answer. It’s a laborious process and in retrospect it might have been better to take it to Germany ourselves.
It is holiday time in both Belgium and Germany, but I will try to get more clarity next week. In any case, I will keep you informed.
The annoying thing is that soon the monument will be ready for quite some time without a front plate. I suggest having a photo printed 1 on 1 and pasted on a plate and placed temporarily in the gap. We have good photos of the front plate, I think. Does anyone have experience with this and how much will it cost? At Rothuizen’s, we can print an A0-size photo and can also stick it on a plate, but I don’t know if that will come out well enough and not bulge under the influence of moisture.
That’s all for Erik Jan Brans.
Thursday 24 April: grouting.
Friday 25 April: grouting and tidying up.
Monday 28 April: black semi-circular boards placed.
Tuesday 29 April: grouting.
Wednesday 30 April: meeting.
Thursday 1 May: prepare to place alliance weapon.
Friday 2 May: prepare savages placing next to coat of arms.
Monday 5 May: skulls and angels placed.
Tuesday 6 May: prepare placing of hourglass.
Wednesday 7 May: touch up stucco in back wall.
Thursday 8 May: prepare bows above the coats of arms.
Friday 9 May: place bows and the like.
Tuesday 13 May: finish cornice.
Wednesday 14 May: finish cornice.
Thursday 15 May: finish rear wall.
Friday 16 May: finishing rear wall.
Monday 19 May: finishing rear wall.
Tuesday 20 May: finishing rear wall.
Wednesday 21 May: scaffolding removed and bottom of back wall finished.
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