Tickets
DonateMembership
Tickets

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

More from The Met

A small wooden carved box featuring figures and a tree in relief.
A Likeness
The author of After Sappho offers a queer feminist reading of Eve and the serpent, reimagining sin as likeness, desire, and bodies transcending gender and species.
Selby Wynn Schwartz
January 9
A close-up detail of a painted face rendered in muted green, blue, and gray tones.
What I See or Seem to See
Author Leena Krohn reflects on Helene Schjerfbeck’s portrait of Sigrid Nyberg.
Leena Krohn
December 18, 2025
In a dim museum gallery, an artist stands at an easel painting a large portrait on canvas, holding a palette. Framed portraits hang on the dark wall behind them. Bold yellow text over the scene reads ‘THE MUSEUM AS MUSE.’
Video
Museum as Muse with Alex Katz and Wangechi Mutu
Artists Alex Katz and Wangechi Mutu explore works in The Met collection.
December 10, 2025
More in:ConnectionsInspirationMaterialsArt-Making

Art Mentioned

A slider containing 12 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
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.