One of the most iconic images of the first president of the United States is ready for its close-up. The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC, has announced plans to conserve and X-ray Gilbert Stuart’s iconic 1796 Lansdowne portrait of George Washington in 2016.

Conservators hope to remove a coat of yellowed varnish from the painting’s surface, which has become discolored and uneven over the years. The treatment, funded by Bank of America, is expected to take a full year, following a six-month period of analysis of different types of X-rays and digital imagery.

The high-tech examination will mean that the monumental, eight-by-five foot painting will be missing from the museum’s galleries for a time. In earlier portraits, Washington had been depicted in his military uniform, while the Lansdowne portrait is considered the definitive depiction of Washington as president.

The restoration is scheduled to be completed in time for the museum’s 50th anniversary, in 2018. “We are preserving this painting forever, for posterity,” stated chief curator Brandon Brame Fortune.