I took my first trip to the conservation lab today, and I must say I was impressed. When I visit the galleries, I do wonder how long it takes a work of art to become “gallery ready,” and what it all entails. Today, I got to see a small part of the process in action.
The Museum’s senior conservator needed a large Egyptian relief stood up in order to touch up the front of the relief. Sounds easy enough, right? It took a specially built box, a large pulley and very careful movements just for this to occur.
I was also interested by the way the conservation technician made sure the senior conservator knew exactly what he was doing. He called out each step before he did it; it was like being in a room for surgery. To simply stand up the relief took about a half an hour. This was an important move because now the relief is upright, as if on an easel, and will be much easier for the conservation work to be done.
I know the process takes time and is incredibly delicate, but I guess I didn’t realize just how much time and effort. The next time you visit the Museum just spend some time thinking about how much time has been spent to get your favorite sculpture or painting ready for view.