Janaya

Unlike other visits, the trip to the labs in the National Gallery of Art was focused on the imaging side of art conservation.  It was very interesting to see the different machines used.  I personally was surprised by the many different machines that were being utilized.  Up until then, I was aware of the imaging side of science but I never considered the extent to which it is used.  I was even more shocked to find out that many scientists had taken the time to build new imaging machines to help their purpose.  I realized that so much more goes into doing your job than just the description.  It is also important to try and advance the techniques that you are using in an effort to continuously improve the accuracy and reliability of your findings.  The best part of this portion of the trip was listening to the scientist speak on the specific discoveries they had made as far as different paintings.  For example, being able to see a finished painting and learning that the artist had not painted their original sketch.  Using an infrared camera, the conservation scientists were able to see the under sketch and realized that originally, there was supposed to be another child in the painting but only the leg was ever drawn. Being able to see the artist’s sketch is not only helpful for determining the way in which they went about painting the portrait but also for restoring damaged paintings as well.  Many paintings have been damaged or have simply degraded overtime.  In a lot of cases, the degradation is in the form of paint chipping but there is also the possibility that colors have simply changed over time.  The scientists at the National Gallery of Art examined a painting in which the flowers appeared to be white but the color did not make sense especially considering the fact that there seemed to be a red color around the edges of many of the flowers.  Using various imaging techniques, it was determined that the flowers were in fact originally painted red.  Getting to see the mysteries that have been solved simply by looking at art using different kinds of microscopes was very exciting and in my opinion, a great way to learn about other aspects of art conservation.

Khalid

It’s a strange sight to see a classic Van Gogh painting of a small green baby mounted to a mechanical metal frame the size of a small bedroom surrounded by museum scientist. But that image from the National Gallery of Art is forever stuck in my mind and it represents one of the most unique unions in academia: analytical science and art. The conservators and scientist at the National Gallery were using this  apparatus to study the painting with all of the equipment at their disposal including IR cameras and XRF technology. This setup, which is unique to the National Gallery allows for studies of each point on the painting by moving the painting along the frame instead of moving the imaging device; a more common practice.The scientist were aware of the effect of degrading paints changing the colors of older paintings and watching them discuss the process they take to uncover the real color of the painting made me realize the detective nature of this interesting profession. Not unlike the legendary Sherlock Holmes, I saw these scientist investigate and hunt for evidence and meticulously examine different spectra to uncover the truth of this artwork. It was inspiring to watch the investigators of one of  the finest art galleries in the United States dust of the clouded path that leads back in time directly to mind of the most famous artistic minds in history.