Restoration Studio Visit

Today for my art history class I went to an art restoration studio. They placed so much emphasis on not making things look new. It seems like that would be the goal of restoration, but instead the goal is to make the piece look as old as it is while still being legible. We got to see some paintings and sculptures in the process of being restored. With a black light you can actually see where things have been patched or worked on. We learned about a fine line that art restorers have to walk. If a section of a painting is damaged, they can only fix it if it doesn't require any imagination to replace what was lost. It is hard to explain without talking about it but something like a whole face missing would be beyond restoration. One of my favorite parts was learning that they actually take statues and paintings to the hospital to get mri and x rays done. It helps them see what objects are made of and what restoration has been done before. I learned so much but unfortunately can't type it all and don't want to bore everyone lol.Læs mere