Theories of museum conservation are constantly evolving and are also
subject to the 'fashion' of the period.
YOu can find quite a bit of varying opinion in the American press during
the restoration of the Sistine Chapel sometime back, there is still no
consensus of the results.
A similar thing happened with furniture restoration, it was fashionable
to 'restore' pieces late in the 19th to mid 20th century, then despised
in the late to current.
I believe that much of this is market driven, to increase scarcity of
the 'pristine (or untouched?)' primarily.
>
> In museums, I haven't noticed that bronze Greek statues are polished up to
> a high finish, and the green surface oxydation removed to get back to the o
> riginal colour? I understand that the patina is actually a surface protect
> ion against the ravages of time.
>
> But of course all of these museum curators might just be idiots, or not hav
> e enough skill, money, or talent to restore/have their works of art restore
> d properly?
>
gabriel romeu
chesterfield new jersey usa
--
G L Romeu
ø http://studiofurniture.com
ø http://lessplusmore.com
ø http://journalphoto.org