Behind the Scenes at the Gallery: Conservation to Display

A side-by-side comparison of a stone statue of a human figure, seen in profile and from the waist up in both views. At left, the surface is covered in dark grime and green growth. At right, the surface appears cleaner, but now the sculpture is missing its right arm, elements of the face and head, and a portion of one of its fingers.

Side view, before and after treatment, of Marble Figure of a Woman, Greek, Roman period, 1st century B.C.–early 1st century A.D. Marble. Yale University Art Gallery, Purchased with the Ruth Elizabeth White Fund and Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Class of 1913, Fund

Highlighting artworks with rich histories of conservation, Antonia Mappin-Kasirer, the Lehman Postgraduate Fellow in Objects Conservation, leads a tour in which each object prompts questions about the ethics and practices of caring for art. What can fragments teach us about the artworks they were once part of? How can scientific analysis allow us to differentiate original materials from those applied during restoration? How do lichen, computer numerical control machines, and night-vision goggles factor into the preservation of museum collections? This Gallery Talk ponders the traces of care—seen and unseen—that artworks carry.