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With the arrival of the digital age and technology, creation of art and its replication reached a whole new pinnacle. Increasingly, conservators find themselves dealing with editions, copies, and r...

Exhibitions in general and loans in particular still appear to be driving median and relatively tight climatic parameters for collection environments. This paper explores the impact of international loans on the adaptation of more sustainable climate control strategies. By offering a description of the complexities and (un)certainties associated with international loan policies that moves beyond the climate parameters, it explores why a more pragmatic approach to environmental control strategies is impeded. It describes how the Getty Conservation Institute’s Managing Collection Environments initiative is addressing this impasse and gives some suggestions for moving the debate forward.

English medieval cathedrals are a group of buildings of exceptional significance and they contain collections of equal importance. Both the historic building fabric and the artefacts are vulnerable...

The National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan, collects a vast amount of materials and information related to peoples’ life and culture, and makes them available to society through exhibitions and...

Light sensitive objects will fade on display. Collection managers and curators face the dilemma whether to spread fading over several similar objects or sacrifice one. This paper describes an exper...

It was decided to display the whole collection of King Tutankhamun in the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). The collection comprises approx. 5640 objects different in material and state of conservation....

This paper examines the preservation and curatorial approaches explored for the exhibition Silent Explosion: Ivor Davies and Destruction in Art at Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales (November 2015–March 2016). The collaboration between the artist, curator/researcher, and conservators is considered and the evolving and flexible way in which transient pieces were presented/re-presented is described. The paper offers a case study in the context of this exhibition and argues that regardless of whether it is in traditional media (such as painting) or as time-based media (unstable and open to interpretation), Davies' work challenges a perception of artworks as finished, single-authored objects.

The Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) has active exhibition programs that highlight its own collection as well as national and international loans. One of the most recent collaborations in contempor...

In 2013, The Better Image (TBI) was contacted to examine A Play of Selves, a unique work created by artist Cindy Sherman during her graduate studies in 1975. The work is composed of 244 paper doll-like photographs of Sherman that are presented within 72 frames. During initial condition checks, it was noted that a number of individual elements had begun to show signs of chemical staining. Over the course of 2013/2014, a collaborative response was developed with the help of the artist, the artist's printer, the representing gallery, TBI staff and the owner. The main goal was to address the physical and chemical issues present and preserve this work for future exhibition and study. Determining an effective decision- making model based on a hierarchy of values was crucial before undertaking any conservation treatment, as there were several invested parties, each with a different perspective. The focus of this paper is the interplay of our responsibilities as conservators with the concerns of the artist, her g...

An interdisciplinary research team at New York University recently launched the Artist Archives Project to advance research on information repositories for the display and conservation of contemporary art. The initiative responds to a growing need for museum and archive professionals to work with artists in documenting their production methods, and building knowledge for future treatment and re-activation of their work. The first undertaking of the Artist Archives Project is to create an information resource devoted to the multidisciplinary artist/activist David Wojnarowicz. Project researchers are working in conjunction with curators at the Whitney Museum of American Art who are preparing for a Wojnarowicz exhibition, along with others familiar with his work. Since the artist is deceased, most of the information comes from archives, publications, and interviews with people who knew and worked with him. The project takes a digital humanities approach by assigning equal emphasis to the content and the data...

A 2014 exhibition of Meric Algun Ringborg at Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden, exploring identity and belonging involved the making of facsimiles. The installation included a sound work, booklets to be taken, and a book to be read. Exhibition copies were created of personal letters for open display which were not to be touched. Contrary to the artist's wishes, the work was constantly handled. Made for this one installation, the facsimiles transcended the exhibition and were returned with the work to the artist. The paper examines issues of authenticity and control from a conservation standpoint, and details discussions surrounding reproduction in contemporary art museum conservation practice.

In recent years Qatar has invested a significant sum of money on exhibitions of contemporary artists and public art. This paper discusses decision-making processes in the conservation of contemporary artworks installed in newly emerging art markets such as Qatar, where there are no established practices. In 2014, Richard Serra's East–West/West–East, an installation of four vertical plates made of weathering (Corten™) steel, which span one kilometre at heights so as to reach the level of the surrounding gypsum plateaus, was installed in the Brouq Nature Reserve near Zekreet desert, two kilometres from the sea in the western part of Qatar. The artwork is already considered by some a landmark for the isolated area. The plates have started to develop protective corrosion layers, although Corten™ is not completely corrosion resistant when located near coastal sites. They have also started to bend and are heavily inscribed by visitors. Conservation of public art is complex, as site-specific artworks are linked ...

In 2004–5 Robert Gober cast two sets (male and female) of reclining human legs in beeswax with individually inserted human hairs. These legs are part of a larger multi-component installation where each set of legs is installed in a bathtub filled with running water. Gober exhibited the legs at the Matthew Marks Gallery in 2005 after which they were acquired by MoMA. The legs have been shown twice since 2005; in 2007 in Basel at the Schaulager Museum, and in 2014–5 at MoMA for the Robert Gober retrospective. The legs have experienced a range of significant conditions including wax discoloration, wax efflorescence, algae bloom, soiling, pitting, and hair loss. This paper will overview the legs’ fabrication and discuss their exhibition and treatment histories.

Prior to the exhibition Portrait-making, Rodin and his models (2009), the Rodin museum wanted to restore two busts of Hanako and Clemenceau. Interestingly, these two sculptures contain pieces of modern modeling materials (MMMs) invented at the end of the nineteenth century as an alternative to clay or waxes. The poor state of conservation of the two portraits made any handling and exhibition impossible. Accordingly, the purpose of this article is twofold: to contribute to technical art history and conservation. Elemental and chemical analyses were done on samples from 12 sculptures (SEM–EDX, FTIR, GC–MS, GC–FID, XRD, synchrotron-based µXRF, µXANES, and µFTIR) aimed at identifying the composition of MMMs used by Rodin on plaster sculptures and establishing hypotheses about the origins of their degradation. This thorough study of their composition and degradation was necessary to implement an appropriate restoration plan. The development of conservation protocols adapted to such materials is rarely document...

Based on a nationwide investigation of the current state of preservation of museum objects in China, around 51% of the 35 million museum objects show different degrees of deterioration. Although treatment of objects is necessary, treatment alone is not sufficient. In China's present situation, preventing damage to museum objects is much more cost-effective than allowing damage to happen and then treating it. The number of museums in China is increasing very fast: 23 000 exhibitions are held, 600 million visits are made, and 35 000 archaeological objects are excavated nationwide, each year. At the same time, these museums are widely distributed and have different levels of resources. We need both technical knowledge and preventive conservation to safeguard our precious museum objects. This paper introduces research achievements in preventive conservation, and traces the development of this discipline in China. Starting from the classification of museums in China, legislation is detailed on preventive measu...

Artist interviews are utilized in contemporary conservation practice to gain a deeper understanding of the artist's intent. This method gathers intangible information not obtainable through technic...

The bronze archer-king statue, masterpiece of the Sudan National Museum in Khartoum, was discovered in 1974 on the site of Tabo, Argo Island, in North Sudan. Its aesthetical and technological qualities inspired archaeologists to perform a complete study and full conservation in Zurich in the 1970s. The multidisciplinary work included iconographic and scientific investigations as well as defining a conservation protocol, and the results were published in 1986. On the occasion of an exhibition in Paris entitled Meroe: Un empire sur le Nil in 2010, a complementary study was conducted in the Centre de recherche et de restauration des musees de France (C2RMF) while restoration treatment was carried out. With a 40-year gap between the first work and the present effort, this example demonstrates, on one hand, the evolution of technological analysis methods and progress in the study of metallurgy and materials. On the other, it shows how the restart of necessary conservation interventions could be based o...

The Munch Museum owns more than 140 sketches created by Edvard Munch in connection with the painted canvas decorations for the Festival Hall (Aula) of the University of Oslo. Extensive conservation has been conducted, particularly in connection with the exhibition of more than 60 of the sketches at the Munch Museum. The largest of the exhibited ones measure up to 5 × 11.5 m. Munch painted and stored many of them outdoors and 31 of them have been stored on rolls since Munch's lifetime. Analyses reveal that Munch used at least six different paint media for these sketches. Comparing this analysis with visual examination of the sketches, it was not possible to determine a connection between the binding medium used and the matte appearance and porous condition of the paints. The conservation of the sketches largely concentrated on the consolidation of extensive areas of porous and flaking paint. Some sketches also had large amounts of efflorescent salts which were treated. Various consolidants and appl...

One of the small sites that dot the upper Tigris River valley in Turkey, Hirbemerdon Tepe is unique for its dominant feature: a well-preserved monumental complex dating to the first half of the second millennium bce. In this context a series of ceremonial objects were excavated, including the fragments of six clay votive plaques decorated with painted, incised and applied anthropomorphic and geometric motifs. The discovery of the ancient and possibly deliberate breakage of the plaques provides important information about the life history of these objects and instigated a dialogue about how such evidence should be approached during conservation treatment. The argument is enhanced through reconstruction of their life histories, and also by drawing on recent advances in the field of fragmentation theory in archaeological research. Challenges encountered during the conservation treatment of the plaques are discussed followed by future plans for their exhibition in the Diyarbakir Archaeological Museum.

The Tatarli tumulus in Central Anatolia housed a tomb chamber with painted wooden walls and ceiling. Datable to the fifth century BCE on the basis of style and dendrochronology, it represents a very rare example of the almost lost genre of painting on wood during antiquity. The Tatarli tomb chamber is not only the largest painting on wood preserved from the ancient Eastern Mediterranean, but is also unique in construction and decoration. To explore this important work of art, an interdisciplinary project was set up to bring together the interests of archaeology, architecture, conservation, scientific analysis and computer studies. The aim of the project is the reconstruction and exhibition of the chamber in the Archaeological Museum in Afyon, Turkey.

As a way to provide expansive community access to their rare and fragile cultural heritage held in the collections of the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), Smithsonian Institution (SI), conservators and curators developed an innovative 'pre-bracketed' exhibit technique. This exhibition method, which involves sending completely installed display cases, including bracketed objects, has been used for exhibits traveling to museums and cultural centers worldwide. This paper presents the collaborations needed between conservators, curators, exhibit professional and museums; the pitfalls experienced by the conservators; and recommendations for creating 'pre-bracket' exhibits in the future.

The temporary exhibition 'Holy Image, Hallowed Ground: Icons from Sinai' was held at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles in 2006–2007. The majority of objects in the exhibition were on loan from St Catherine's Monastery in Egypt. The terms of loan for the objects required maintaining low levels of relative humidity during the transport and display of the objects. The design and construction of both crates and exhibition vitrines are described and illustrated. The method of environmental data management used for the exhibition is discussed.

The exhibition 'Botanical Wonders', presented at The Corning Museum of Glass in 2007, showcased the exquisite and accurate glass models of plants made by the Bohemian flameworkers, Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka. New conservation techniques and materials were developed for the stabilization, repair and packing of the models, which were shipped from their home at the Botanical Museum of Harvard University to Corning, New York. The museums' curators and conservators collaborated with Corning's registrar in an effort that stressed the utmost care and minimal handling to ensure the safety of the objects. A small conservation 'laboratory' was included in the exhibition, supplemented by a two-minute video on treatments carried out on some of the glass models. A display panel and audio tour of the show explained the importance of conservation for the long-term preservation of these objects.

English Heritage's presentation policy is to display more of its extensive collections on the sites with which they are associated. Many of the buildings have suffered the ravages of time and have far from ideal environments. A series of climate-controlled enclosures has been developed to allow safe exhibition of artefacts, while providing access to visitors who would be unlikely to visit a major museum. Archaeological metals deteriorate rapidly in the damp environments inside many historic buildings and a low-maintenance showcase design, incorporating silica gel, has been developed and tested extensively. With a combination of careful showcase design, comprehensive testing and refitting and mechanical conditioning, vulnerable tapestries, parchment documents, panel paintings and leather have been provided with closely controlled environments in damp, widely fluctuating buildings. Microclimate frames have been developed and evaluated over 10 years to protect sensitive panel paintings and prints in ...

This paper describes the evaluation of the lighting policy that the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden, Netherlands, developed for the display of its nineteenth-century Japanese woodblock prints. Colour measurements during one year on exhibition showed changes that exceeded the limit of one 'just noticeable change' in 50 years specified in the policy. In a series of experiments, members of a test panel were all able to perceive the magnitude of colour difference measured in the prints during exhibition when presented with patches of colour side by side, but only half the panel could distinguish the same change when it was seen in the context of a multicoloured image. The change measured in the prints was judged by the panel to represent an average 'loss of value' of 9%, and deemed to be acceptable over a period of 160 years. The outcome suggests exposure of the prints should be further limited for the benefit of future access.

National Museums Liverpool's Conservation Centre opened a new permanent exhibition in 2006 that shows how science unlocks the secrets of items in the museums' collections. The original concept for the display involved making connections between the visitor's own objects, and objects that end up in museums, and showing how science helps to understand more about these objects. The exhibition, entitled Reveal – the hidden story of objects, includes a working laboratory, which aims to make scientific analysis and examination accessible to a non-specialist audience. Facilities include digital X-radiography and both optical and scanning electron microscopy, linked to a large plasma screen so the visitor can view the work in progress. This paper describes how the original concepts were realized in the final exhibition, and, through visitor evaluation studies, discusses how successful the exhibition is in making the science of museum objects interesting and accessible.

This paper discusses the problems and possibilities, for both the budding art historian and the public, of access to technical analysis and to technical art history. Looking for ways to further an understanding of the complexities of analytical procedures and interpretation, an educational experiment was set up at University College London. Untrained art history students were involved in the first-hand analysis of a number of paintings. They were invited to choose and observe appropriate analytical procedures, interpret and evaluate the sometimes surprising findings produced by infrared examination, pigment identification and X-radiography, and relate these to the art historical questions raised at the outset. The students selected the most important results, which were then presented in a very visual and readable manner in a public exhibition, From Idea to Object: Painting Practices Revealed. Of lasting value to the participants, the experiment highlighted the need for first-hand experience of te...

The Victoria and Albert Museum, London (VA loans, gallery refurbishment, exhibitions, etc., and the workload for the Conservation Department is extremely high. Concurrently there is a year-on-year reduction in Grant In Aid (GIA) and the museum is responding to this by reducing core staff numbers in preference for project based, shortterm contracts. The paper discusses the strategic approach taken by the Conservation Department to enable it to deliver museum objectives and meet targets without jeopardizing the quality of the work undertaken or the international reputation of the V&A brand. This has involved reexamination and reassessment of priorities and activities. Through the introduction of multiple measures to maximize efficiency, the department has sought to maintain staff skills and promote conservation research in tandem with delivering the V&A'...

As in other countries, prioritizing resources has introduced new trends and policies to the preservation of museum collections in Denmark. In 2004 The Ministry of Culture presented a 10-year plan for the preservation of moveable cultural heritage in the state museums of Denmark. The concept combined a valuation system for the cultural importance of collections with an examination of their state of preservation. Consequently 200000 of the National Museum's artefacts with outstanding national significance have been selected as being particularly worthy of preservation. The preservation work includes both conservation of degraded museum artefacts and improvement in access and storage facilities for the National Museum's extensive collections. Progress can be followed by the public via the internet, and through conservation workshops in exhibition areas. This fundamental work will ensure that the collections continue to be available for the benefit of research, exhibition and education.

In preparation for a major exhibition at the National Gallery of Scotland in 2005, a thorough technical examination of VISION OF THE SERMON by Paul Gauguin was undertaken for the first time since the painting's acquisition in 1925. An inter-disciplinary approach to the research was adopted in an attempt to assess how innovative were the materials and techniques employed by Gauguin in this iconic work. The importance of the unique customs and religious piety of Brittany in 1888 to the iconography of Vision is discussed, as well as the various ways in which the original appearance of the painting has altered over time. Changes have occurred through both the natural ageing of materials and as a result of human intervention, particularly an aqueous lining and reframing. Analysis suggests that the paint medium consists of several different drying oils, confounding years of speculation that it may contain wax. The discovery that the original surface coating contains beeswax and tallow has grave implicat...

Christian sacred art is not only an artistic and aesthetic phenomenon, but can also be seen as a manifestation of the divine, the objects becoming a presence of what they represent. A substantial proportion of this kind of art remains dispersed in churches and ecclesiastic treasuries without any special provision for its care and much is still in ceremonial use, continuing to be handled and moved. Recording by inventory and transfer to museums are only recent developments. Portugal has developed various strategies for the preservation of these collections, including the creation of Diocesan Sacred Art Commissions, diocesan museum networks where small museums and museological treasuries are maintained separately but have a common technical staff, a Secure Church Programme and temporary exhibitions, which play a role in conservation, promotion and public awareness. Although not conventional conservation, these actions have helped us to keep the memory of the past alive and let us carry it into the ...

At the Exhibition of Painting Techniques in Munich in 1893, manufacturers, collectors, scientists and artists, among them Franz von Lenbach and Ernst Berger, presented their ideas, works and products. This investigation into the exhibition reveals its importance as a visual expression of the intentions and goals of the Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Beforderung rationeller Malverfahren (German Society for the Promotion of Rational Painting Techniques) at the end of the nineteenth century, a time when art, science and industry thrived and prospered. At this interface, the Society argued for scientific research into painting materials, which, it transpired, became a starting point for new approaches in the field of conservation.

The opening of Denver Art Museum's addition, designed by Daniel Libeskind, in the fall of 2006 will be accompanied by a special exhibition to showcase innovative late twentieth-century American Indian art of the American Southwest. Preparing contemporary Pueblo ceramics for exhibition allowed the museum's conservators to re-examine historical assumptions about treating American Indian pottery. As with other works of contemporary art, active discussions with living artists are fundamental to understanding issues of both context and care. The evolving contexts in which Pueblo artists experiment with materials and manipulate processes dictate how pieces are displayed and conserved at the Denver Art Museum. This paper, representing collaboration between curators, conservators and Indian artists, presents research methodology, documentation and findings. Laboratory examination and research further confirm results and aid in treatment plans. The information presented has larger applications to all muse...

The Aleppo Room, with exceptionally delicate figurative and ornamental painting, is the oldest surviving interior in this vein from the Ottoman Empire. The panelling is signed by a Persian painter and dated by inscriptions to 1600–1603. This reception room, Qa'a in Arabic, derives from the Wakil house in Aleppo. Its original architectural context is well researched and documented: new research on contemporary sources has now been carried out. Since the Aleppo Room came into the Museum fur Islamische Kunst in Berlin in 1912, the panels have been displayed in various forms. Its fate in World War II as well as its conservation history affect the present appearance of the room. These changes in presentation are discussed, and related to plans for an exhibition in the Pergamon Museum, following its reorganization. The challenge is to find solutions to the conflict between preventive conservation requirements and the opening of the Aleppo Room to the general public.

Groupe de Personnages (1938), a canvas painting created in Paris during the Spanish Civil War, required stabilization prior to exhibition. Upon examination, flaking paint and tiny spherical protrusions within those paint layers were identified. A project was initiated to determine materials that could have contributed to the current state of this painting. Because Groupe de Personnages had not undergone harsh conservation treatments this was a unique opportunity to study Miro's techniques and materials from a period of great artistic experimentation. Scientific analysis revealed the identity of pigments and the presence of zinc soaps. In addition, because Miro was a prolific writer, evidence was found in his letters, studio notes and interviews to corroborate analytical results – contributing to a more complete understanding of his artistic intentions and the conservation-related consequences of his selected materials.

This paper furnishes the museum scientist, conservator and curator with a better understanding of the theory and practice of X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) for the study, preservation and exhibition of museum collections. An overview of X-ray fluorescence theory and instrumentation is presented. The scope of X-ray fluorescence spectrometry in the museum laboratory is demonstrated through specific examples from collections of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C. Easel paintings, works on paper, photographic prints, sculpture and the decorative arts are discussed. Protocols for XRF analysis of works of art in different mediums are provided.

As the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington DC celebrates its thirtieth year, it has inaugurated a museum-wide project designed to re-present the depth and range of the permanent collection. Included in this project is an installation devoted to the ethical and practical considerations that conservators must bear in mind in preserving modern and contemporary works of art. The installation features Fishman (1968), a life-size cast in latex by the artist Paul Thek, that has begun to degrade rapidly. Fishman was chosen as the centerpiece of the exhibition because it embodies many of the concerns conservators face in the treatment of modern and contemporary art: inherent vice, limited treatment options, evaluation of the artist’s intent, technical examination, and maintaining a balance between the added value of age and the original aesthetic. This paper discusses the technical and art historical analysis of Fishman to determine materials, construction, degradation, and possible restora...

This paper aims to introduce some of the issues involved in the collection, display and storage of modern or contemporary ‘textile art’. The term is controversial and a source of discussion and debate, but for the purposes of this paper it should be interpreted as describing work in which the content and ideas are seen by the artist to be as important as the process. In most cases, the choice of the medium of textile is integral to the work and its conceptual base. The result is a work of art to be exhibited as such, and not as a piece of applied art that may have had or was intended to have a function. The collections of the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester, and a recent loan exhibition of contemporary European textile art, ‘Flexible 4: Identities’, are used to illustrate the issues.

Preservation of chromogenic color photographs at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, is currently focused on three areas: establishing protocols for exhibition, handling and storage; initiating a long-term examination of process stability of face-mounted chromogenic photographs; and developing a conservation-quality adhesive for polyetheneclad photographs, generally called resin-coated prints.

The Museum of Scotland is a new building in Edinburgh which opened in November 1998 to present the history of Scotland from its geological beginnings to the present day. This paper considers conservation issues within three themes: the building itself as iconic modern architecture and its effect on the exhibition displays and their development; modern art which was commissioned to enhance the displays in specific ways; and the use of modern sculpture for the actual display of archaeological artifacts.

The versatile nature, shape and scale of the galleries and exhibition spaces at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao have led to a redefinition of museoiogical and museographic models, affecting spheres of action such as management systems, preventive conservation and acquisitions policies. The incorporation into the permanent collection of 11 works by the German artist Anselm Kiefer posed a number of challenges concerning their storage, crating, handling, transport, display and conservation. The sheer range of problems generated by these works required an integrated study prior to devising a general action plan. This paper discusses the analysis undertaken in the study, the search for solutions, and the measures taken to ensure appropriate conservation and exhibition of these works.

Bridget Riley is one of the forerunners of contemporary art. Her work embodies visual illusion which is accentuated with variation of tone and colour. This paper presents a case study of the conservation treatments and the ethical considerations involved in the preparation of a collection of working drawings for a retrospective of the artist’s work at Tate Britain. Most of the drawings for the exhibition dated from the early 1960s and 1970s. Despite careful framing and storage in most cases, the works had suffered through the passage of time and the deterioration of materials. A working drawing, by definition, shows the development and alterations in the artist’s ideas as they progress towards a completed work. However, in this case, Bridget Riley’s perfectionist approach demanded that imperfections distracting from the visual impact of the works should be removed, whilst preserving elements that indicated the spontaneity and thought process of their development. As a result, close collaboration w...

Nearly invisible, solvent-sensitive inks were found on several handcolored lithographs from an edition of Andy Warhol’s A la Recherche du Shoe Perdu portfolio, c. 1955. Research confirmed that the colorants were Dr. Ph. Martin’s Synchromatic Transparent Watercolors, tinctorially brilliant but highly fugitive water-based inks. Preliminary instrumental analysis (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, high pressure liquid chromatography) characterized the inks as mixtures of various synthetic dyes, some of them similar to ordinary food coloring. Accelerated light aging and color change calculations indicated that these inks are among the most light-sensitive media found on works of art on paper. Options for treatment of works incorporating these popular inks and suggested restrictive exhibition guidelines are presented.

The Rosetta Stone is one of a collection of museum objects which have acquired worldwide fame. A temporary exhibition, based on the Stone, provided the opportunity to examine and clean it. The British Museum archive was searched and a history emerged of a great deal of activity directed at the inscribed surface: inking, casting in sulphur and repeated casting in plaster, handling by the public, coating with wax, and the application of materials to whiten the inscription. Missing from the record is any mention of the cleaning activity that must have followed many of these operations. A deposit was found in the inscription and analysis has identified this material as hydroxyapatite. However, the lack of evidence that this material was used as a pigment, and its colour (pink) which matches the granite vein through which the inscription passes, have thrown doubt over its authenticity as an applied material.

In recent years digital imaging has proved to be a useful tool for documenting and examining paintings. These techniques can yield permanent records that are potentially more accurate than photographic images. The key applications in which digital imaging is superior to other techniques are those where short- or long-term changes are measured. The paper describes the imaging systems developed in a ten-year collaboration between the National Gallery, London and the Doemer- Institut, Munich and the geometric transformation algorithms which have allowed accurate comparisons of ‘before’ and ‘after’ images to be made. Recent results obtained from a long-term study of colour changes caused by display in the museum and short-term changes caused by transportation to loan exhibitions are presented. Improvements made to the procedure for acquiring, processing and presenting infrared reflectogram mosaics are also detailed. Finally, other conservationrelated and archival uses for the colour-accurate, high-res...