Art pieces are cultural objects. As such, they have a global value, and are often (but not always) shared publicly between cultures, nations, and communities. The whole world can lay claim to a piece of art if it is universal and culturally relevant enough. Think about a piece like the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. While it might be in the French Louvre and painted by an Italian man, wouldn’t you say that that piece has value and cultural relevance across the globe?
These pieces mean a lot to a lot of people, and so people can feel really invested in a painting’s conservation, because they can feel like their own painting is being taken away behind closed doors to be altered and restored, hopefully in a positive way. Poor conservation attempts, research attempts, or any negative changes to these art pieces can feel like a betrayal, one which has an easy scapegoat: the conservator. These pieces are extremely fragile, extremely expensive, and uniquely famous, to an extent that would make anyone nervous to work with them.
For most, the mission is as follows: when interacting with a piece of art, always take care, and always preserve what you can. And for centuries, that mission has carried researchers, students, conservators, and owners alike to care for and appreciate their pieces as best they can. That did mean some restrictions, however, especially in understanding the composition and hidden depths of a particular piece. In paintings, for example, the under sketch, under layers, and potential hidden paintings beneath the surface of a piece were virtually unexplored. Risking a closer study of the underside of a painting meant risking total collapse. For centuries, scholars’ theories were limited to what they could see and guess, with information from the top of a piece guiding what they might assume about the lower layers of a piece. The only other way to catch a glimpse of those early artistic stages was if the top layer of paint literally faded away.
Today, however, conservators and researchers alike benefit from using modern technology.
As part of the documentation process, a lot of institutions utilize X-ray machines, which scan paintings under different frequencies and wavelengths to uncover more about the different layers beneath the surface.
X-rays are a type of radiation used in conservation to analyze hidden aspects of artworks. It’s used to study areas of an artwork that aren’t visible to the naked eye. This can often require several different types of wavelengths, each for different purposes (for example, some that penetrate certain materials, and some that don’t). This way, researchers can specify what they are looking for, and isolate only graphite, or red lead, or other specific chemicals found in specific places within the art process. This is how conservators are able to look at sketches underneath a painting, like in the painting David Gives Uriah a Letter for Joab from the Leiden Collection in New York:
Pieter Lastman. Dutch, ca. 1583-1633.
This allows conservators a more complete understanding of the artwork they’re working on and gives them insight into what the artist’s thought process was when working. These findings can be key to help to determine issues within the object, unseen distress, or key things to watch out for (like hidden lead or other materials). It can be thrilling to discover something so secretive about public works of art. It is the most useful investigative tool for the job, and one which affords countless opportunities to conservators.