Paintings from Hull Maritime Museum Have Decades of Grime Removed

The poppy sculpture Weeping Window by artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper is unveiled outside the Maritime Museum as part of a UK-wide tour. Anthony Devlin/PA Wire/Press Association
The poppy sculpture Weeping Window by artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper is unveiled outside the Maritime Museum as part of a UK-wide tour. Anthony Devlin/PA Wire/Press Association
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Paintings from Hull Maritime Museum Have Decades of Grime Removed

The poppy sculpture Weeping Window by artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper is unveiled outside the Maritime Museum as part of a UK-wide tour. Anthony Devlin/PA Wire/Press Association
The poppy sculpture Weeping Window by artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper is unveiled outside the Maritime Museum as part of a UK-wide tour. Anthony Devlin/PA Wire/Press Association

Conservation work to bring 13 historic maritime paintings back to life by removing years of grime and varnish has been finished in England, according to the BBC.

The Hull Maritime Museum art was sent to Lincoln University's conservation studio for expert treatment. Specialists spent more than 1,000 hours working on the paintings and frames which illustrate Hull's maritime past.

Rhiannon Clarricoates from Lincoln University said: "We were able to reveal the details and colors of the original paintings".

Clarricoates noted that the paintings covered part of Hull's maritime history, from the 18th to the 20th century, and many of the pictures were painted by local artists.

"By removing the dirt and old varnish, and repairing tears and losses, we were able to reveal the details and colors of the original paintings, so that sense of place can be appreciated by visitors,” she added.

The special treatment included cleaning the surface and removing dust, dirt and discolored varnish.

On some paintings, extensive tears were repaired and then the surface finished by filling in and retouching the paint layers.

Gillian Osgerby of Hull Maritime, said: "These paintings were chosen as the most in need after decades of being on display or in storage.”

"The conservation of these paintings has breathed new life into them, bringing them back to their former glory to shine for our visitors for years to come."

A total of 51 paintings have been repaired and conserved. The artworks are in storage until they can be displayed again in Hull Maritime Museum which is currently closed for refurbishment.

The major redevelopment of the museum is under way as part of the city's £27.5m maritime city project. The painting conservation work was funded by Hull City Council and The National Lottery Heritage Fund.



Rwanda and WHO Declare End of Marburg Outbreak after No New Cases Reported

In this Oct. 8, 2014 photo, a medical worker from the Infection Prevention and Control unit wearing full protective equipment carries a meal to an isolation tent housing a man being quarantined after coming into contact in Uganda with a carrier of the Marburg Virus, at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. (AP)
In this Oct. 8, 2014 photo, a medical worker from the Infection Prevention and Control unit wearing full protective equipment carries a meal to an isolation tent housing a man being quarantined after coming into contact in Uganda with a carrier of the Marburg Virus, at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. (AP)
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Rwanda and WHO Declare End of Marburg Outbreak after No New Cases Reported

In this Oct. 8, 2014 photo, a medical worker from the Infection Prevention and Control unit wearing full protective equipment carries a meal to an isolation tent housing a man being quarantined after coming into contact in Uganda with a carrier of the Marburg Virus, at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. (AP)
In this Oct. 8, 2014 photo, a medical worker from the Infection Prevention and Control unit wearing full protective equipment carries a meal to an isolation tent housing a man being quarantined after coming into contact in Uganda with a carrier of the Marburg Virus, at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. (AP)

The World Health Organization and the Rwandan government on Friday declared the outbreak in Rwanda of the Ebola-like Marburg fever over after no new cases were registered in recent weeks.

The country first declared the outbreak on Sept. 27 and reported a total of 15 deaths and 66 cases, with the majority of those affected healthcare workers who handled the first patients.

Without treatment, Marburg can be fatal in up to 88% of people who fall ill with the disease. Symptoms include fever, muscle pains, diarrhea, vomiting and, in some cases, death through extreme blood loss.

There is no authorized vaccine or treatment for Marburg, though Rwanda received hundreds of doses of a vaccine under trial in October.

An outbreak is considered over after 42 days — two 21-day incubation cycles of the virus — elapsed without registering new cases and all existing cases test negative.

Rwanda discharged the last Marburg patient on Nov. 8 and had reported no new confirmed cases since Oct. 30.

However, WHO officials and Rwanda's Health Minister Dr. Sabin Nzanzimana on Friday said risks remain and that people should stay vigilant.

“We believe it’s not completely over because we still face risks, especially from bats. We are continuing to build new strategies, form new health teams, and deploy advanced technologies to track their movements, understand their behavior, and monitor who is interacting with them,” the minister announced during a press conference in the capital, Kigali.

Like Ebola, the Marburg virus is believed to originate in fruit bats and spreads between people through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals or with surfaces, such as contaminated bed sheets.

“I thank the government of Rwanda, its leadership and Rwandans in general for the strong response to achieve this success but the battle continues,” said the WHO representative in Rwanda, Dr. Brain Chirombo.

Marburg outbreaks and individual cases have in the past been recorded in Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Ghana.

The virus was first identified in 1967 after it caused simultaneous outbreaks of disease in laboratories in the German city of Marburg and in Belgrade in the former Yugoslavia. Seven people died after being exposed to the virus while conducting research on monkeys.