As we prepare for our upcoming Capital Redevelopment Transforming Crawford Art Gallery, we have started to decant over 3,500 works of the National Collection housed at Crawford Art Gallery. These works will be moved to secure storage, and to other institutions for Touring and Sharing.

The removal of the friezes from our Sculpture Galleries was a monumental undertaking. Positioned high on the gallery walls, they were among the most challenging pieces to safely decant.

Following meticulous planning and consultation with specialist technicians, we employed heavy equipment—including forklifts, scissor lifts, and scaffolding—to ensure their secure removal.

Photo by Joleen Cronin

Once detached from the walls, the works were carefully enclosed in custom-built crates, then safely loaded onto trucks and transported to secure off-site storage.

Photo by Chloé Griffin

Some of these friezes and relief sculptures had remained in place for over a century, including memorial works by Irish sculptor John Hogan and plaster casts of the Parthenon Frieze. During their removal, we were surprised to discover pine leaves tucked behind them—an early form of pest control commonly used in 19th-century museums.

Photo by Chloé Griffin

Watch as our Curator of Collections and Special Projects, Dr Michael Waldron takes us behind the scenes to see the process involved in decanting our collection of friezes and relief sculptures from our iconic Sculpture Galleries.