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Connections: Virtuosity

Paintings conservator Michael Gallagher talks about the appeal of technical virtuosity.
Michael Gallagher
5 min. watch

"It's like a virtuoso musical performance where the ability to throw in that extra at the right moment turns the painting into poetry."

Metropolitan Museum of Art paintings conservator Michael Gallagher talks about the appeal of technical virtuosity.

Contributors

Michael Gallagher
Sherman Fairchild Chairman, Department of Paintings Conservation

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Art Mentioned

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Madame X (Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau), John Singer Sargent American, Oil on canvas, American
Madame X (Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau)
John Singer Sargent
1883–84
Burgonet, Filippo Negroli Italian, Steel, gold, textile, Italian, Milan
Burgonet
Filippo Negroli
dated 1543
Krishna Killing the Horse Demon Keshi, Terracotta, India (Uttar Pradesh)
Krishna Killing the Horse Demon Keshi
India (Uttar Pradesh)
5th century
Female Dancer, Earthenware with slip and pigment, China
Female Dancer
China
2nd century BCE
Studiolo from the Ducal Palace in Gubbio, Francesco di Giorgio Martini Italian, Walnut, beech, rosewood, oak and fruitwoods in walnut base, Italian, Gubbio
Studiolo from the Ducal Palace in Gubbio
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1478–82
Drop-front desk (secrétaire à abattant or secrétaire en cabinet), Martin Carlin French, Oak veneered with tulipwood, amaranth, holly, and sycamore; six Sèvres soft-paste porcelain plaques and two painted tin plaques; gilt-bronze mounts; marble shelves; moiré silk, French, Paris and Sèvres
Drop-front desk (secrétaire à abattant or secrétaire en cabinet)
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1776
Alexander Danilovich Menshikov (1673–1729), Unknown Artist, Swiss, Austrian, or German, active Russia ca. 1703–4, Red pine (pinus sylvestris), with wrought-iron clips, Russian, St. Petersburg
Alexander Danilovich Menshikov (1673–1729)
Unknown
probably shortly before 1704
Bronze statuette of a veiled and masked dancer, Bronze, Greek
Bronze statuette of a veiled and masked dancer
Greek
3rd–2nd century BCE
Head of a king, Silver, mercury gilding, Sasanian
Head of a king
Sasanian
ca. 4th century
Portrait of a Man, Possibly a Self-Portrait, Velázquez (Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez) Spanish, Oil on canvas
Portrait of a Man, Possibly a Self-Portrait
Velázquez (Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez)
ca. 1635
The Penitent Magdalen, Corrado Giaquinto Italian, Oil on canvas
The Penitent Magdalen
Corrado Giaquinto
ca. 1750
Fragment of a Queen's Face, Yellow jasper
Fragment of a Queen's Face
ca. 1390–1336 B.C.