Research from Scientific Research

A closeup of bronze minerals
An archaeometallurgical study of the Royal Palace Bronze Workshop of Angkor Thom, Cambodia.
August 29, 2023
Detail of a large 18th-century Cuzco School painting depicting the Virgin of Valvanera. She holds the Holy Child with her right hand and a bouquet of flowers in her left
Morphological identification uncovers novel artistic patterns in Baroque paintings from Spain, and North and South America.
August 29, 2023
Microscope on a small work of art on paper
In 2022, The Met offered for the first time a fellowship designed to bridge the worlds of curatorial practice, and the scientific study of art.
May 31, 2023

Developing new approaches in assessing the use of conservation materials for displaying, transporting, or storing art.

April 7, 2023
Triptych showing a scientist at work, small glasses with colored contents, and a vitrine display.
The PCSL focuses on understanding the environmental factors that affect works of art.
January 25, 2023

Following analysis of food sources in stoneware vessels from the Old Edgefield District, South Carolina, an innovative approach probes the composition of trace food residues through close collaboration of The Met’s Department of Scientific Research and the University of Bordeaux through ARCHE.

January 20, 2023

Learn about the intensive analysis undertaken by The Met’s Department of Scientific Research to determine what foods were stored in nineteenth-century stoneware jars produced by enslaved artisans from Old Edgefield, South Carolina.

January 20, 2023
Wooden sculpture of St. John resting his face in his right hand
In conservation science, antibody-based techniques can identify and localize the various kinds of proteins used in objects of cultural heritage, generating insights into materials and techniques used by artists and craftspeople.
August 2, 2022
Bucolic scene of a garden blooming with flowers and greenery
Stanley Spencer’s King’s Cookham Rise came to the studio to be examined and treated in preparation for an exhibition.
August 2, 2022
Painting detail showing three men with hats playing cards at a small table, while a fourth man stands behind, watching them play.
In preparation for the 2011 exhibition Cézanne‘s Card Players, Met staff investigated the creation of this series of masterpieces through technical examination.
August 1, 2022
A conservator standing on a ladder working on Tiepolo’s The Triumph of Marius.
Objects conservator Deborah Schorsch recounts the long history of conservation at The Met
August 1, 2022
A painting showing Joseph, the Virgin, and the Christ Child in the foreground, while the three magi stand behind them.
A recent conservation treatment of The Adoration of the Magi provided the opportunity to examine the painting and to investigate the stages of its production.
August 1, 2022
Detail of painting of a woman in a low-cut black dress looking off to the side.
Researchers at The Met describe methods used to uncover the artist John Singer Sargent’s creative process.
August 27, 2020
Vermeer's painting Mistress and Maid, and an X-ray image of the same painting
Putting perennial misunderstandings to rest.
June 23, 2020
At the far left in the midground, men in robes walk up steps to an altar canopy. In the foreground, three quarters of the painting is dominated by a large building with an open colonnade and populated by several women in Renaissance garb.
Understanding the chemical processes of lead and heavy metal soaps informs art conservators on ways to slow, stop, and prevent the deterioration of unique works of art.
June 11, 2020
Oddy test coupons show corrosive chemicals in a foamed PVS board
The Preventive Conservation Science Laboratory is developing a new test to assess materials used in the storage, display, and transport of organic objects.
June 11, 2020
Detail of the Great Wave showing two boats on whitecapped blue waves with Mount Fuji in the distance
Scientists at The Met use modern technology to analyze the color and double woodblock printing process used to print Hokusai’s The Great Wave.
April 10, 2020
Detail of portrait showing the face of a dark-haired woman, Gertrude Stein, wearing dark brown against a brown background
Beneath Picasso‘s Gertrude Stein.
April 10, 2020
Three 3D X-ray views of the buddha: four frontal and one profile.
Explore the inside of a Gupta-style bronze statue using 3D X-ray technology.
March 6, 2019