Connections: Virtuosity

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

Michael Gallagher

January 24, 2011

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

Art Mentioned

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
Armorer 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)
Attributed to Martin Carlin
Manufactory Sèvres Manufactory
Decorator Central plaque decorated by Edme François Bouillat père
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. 1386–1330 BCE

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