|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
This issue of met objectives illustrates several large-scale projects, just completed or in progress, that employ the expertise of various Museum and independent professionals. It also foreshadows the future direction of this periodical, which will become a voice for conservators and scientists throughout the Museum. The technical study of a large colonial tapestry, and the painstaking treatment carried out to stabilize its structure and improve its appearance, is described by conservators in the Department of Textile Conservation and a member of the Museum's Science Group. The recent treatment and newly designed presentation of an ancient Egyptian Old Kingdom tomb called for the collaborative efforts of objects conservators, curators, designers, and engineers, as well as contracted architects and stonemasons. The final article in this issue discusses the ongoing exterior cleaning and repair of the Museum's largest work of art: the building itself.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Ranging in date from the late Roman period to the early nineteenth century, the four works of art discussed in this issue of met objectives all were acquired by the Museum more than fifty years ago, and until recently each presented serious problems related to physical and chemical stability, or elicited concerns regarding authenticity and integrity. Characterization of manufacturing techniques and the systematic study of alterations introduced during multiple restorations allowed a monumental Roman bronze and a fragment of wall paneling from an American colonial interior to be recognized as authentic works, and in the case of the latter could be used to confirm its provenience. A medieval basse taille enamel processional cross, described as being in deplorable condition already in an early-twentieth century exhibition catalogue, and the reverse-painted glass panels from an American sideboard, both suffer from glass disease as well as the ill-effects of inappropriate or ineffectual interventions. These works are discussed here in terms of damages they have sustained and the strategies implemented to ensure their preservation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three-dimensional works of art provoke viewers to contemplate volume and contour, but it is the surfaces of these works, with their colors, textures, and finishes, that most compellingly contribute to our visual experience. Articles in the current issue of met objectives illustrate several of the material aspects of surfaces that engage conservators. A comparison of blue paint layers on three French thirteenth-century polychrome sculptures reveals the varying degrees of purity and different methods of applying natural ultramarine, a pigment that became popular in Europe at that time. A Herter Brothers upholstered side chair with flake-gold finish, and an Indian seventeenth-century "mixed media" qalamdan are presented as the focus of visual and instrumental analyses, highlighting the importance of investigating surviving surfaces in order to understand and, when appropriate, evoke original appearances. A study of the deterioration of archaeological copper alloy surfaces and a consideration of artificial patinas illustrate how specificity of corrosion products and structure plays an important role in the authentication of ancient bronzes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Each year the Fall issue of the Museum's Bulletin, entitled New Acquisitions—A Selection, serves to highlight a few of the thousands of works of art that have entered the collections. The Museum's Conservation Departments all play an important role in the process of acquiring these purchases, gifts, and bequests, providing material and technological data that complements the stylistic and historic evaluation each work receives before it is accessioned. The current issue of met objectives includes articles that describe several notable acquisitions, and the unique technical questions each one presents, while illustrating how these additions often force both curators and conservators to look at the collections with new eyes. This issue also highlights the completion of the Sherman Fairchild Center for Objects Conservation at The Cloisters.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Due to the tenacity of organisms that infest and feed on works of art, and the damages they cause to the physical structure and visual character of their hosts, biodeterioration in museums is a recurring problem that needs to be addressed in a variety of ways. The Sherman Fairchild Center for Objects Conservation works actively with other museums and academic institutions in developing strategies for preventing, monitoring, and eliminating fungal and insect infestations that affect paintings, works of art on paper, textiles and three-dimensional objects in the collections of the Museum's seventeen curatorial departments. This issue of met objectives highlights some aspects of the Center's research and treatments, and serves as an invitation and appetizer to Art, Biology, and Conservation 2002, an international symposium held on June 13–15 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Color is paramount in the visual arts as a means to communicate personal and cultural values, and although we tend to think of them as purely optical phenomena, there is a physical basis for the colors we experience. This issue of met objectives focuses on how artists choose colorants and media, and the ways they are manipulated during processing and application. A study of wooden, colonial period vessels from the Andes relates changes in pigments and the use of an exotic resin medium to stylistic innovations that reflect European influence, while a survey of polychrome Egyptian antiquities provides new data to dispel early misconceptions concerning the use of the brilliant, white pigment, huntite. The role of color in communicating cultural values, as seen on the precious-metal jewelry of Tutankhamun, is considered, while in our final article, different colorants used on medieval Islamic ceramics are discussed in terms of glazing strategies.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
