The Staircase Ceiling in the Senate: Preserving a Monumental Eighteenth-Century Stucco Ceiling in the Senate at the Binnenhof, the Centre of the Government of the Netherlands in The Hague

This article places the stucco ceiling in the stairwell of the Senate of the Binnenhof in the context of other stuccowork in The Hague in the eighteenth century. Northern Italian stucco artists occupy an important place in the execution of ornamented and figurative stuccowork in The Hague in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. After a preliminary phase of non-destructive investigation into the damage to the stucco ceiling in 2013, the restoration in 2020 revealed what damage was actually present. It also revealed layers showing that the stucco ceiling had been repaired and added to at different times. Various colour finishes were also found. During restoration, observations were made that have contributed to the discussion of repair and finishing.