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Conserving the Past for the Future

About the Exhibition

Finding your way around


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Using infrared reflectography

Károly Markó (Hungarian, 1791-1860)
Diana and Her Nymphs, 1853 (detail)
Oil on fabric
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Wade 1916.1024

This painting provides an excellent example of the use of infrared reflectography in examining a work of art.

During the creative process the artist made some important changes in the group of figures. In the exhibition this can be seen in the differences between the freely sketched figures in the drawing compared to those in the final painting. Infrared reflectography can therefore provide important evidence about the creative evolution of a work of art.

Examinations

Although there is no substitute for the ability of the well-trained human eye to grasp the subtle qualities of an artwork, conservators rely on a variety of methods and tools to gain deeper insight into an object's condition. Scientific, technical analysis can also provide valuable information about the materials and techniques used in a work's creation. Furthermore, research and technical studies from the conservation field contribute to the ever-expanding pool of knowledge about particular artists or types of objects.

The technical analysis of artworks can be broadly divided into two categories: nondestructive and destructive. Nondestructive testing permits examination of an object without taking samples of original material. Destructive testing requires the removal of a microscopic amount of material that may be destroyed during analysis (such as in carbon-14 dating), or studied and then permanently preserved for future reference (such as paint samples mounted on microscope slides).

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