A pair of ruby slippers from the 1939 Wizard of Oz film were recently conserved. Read on to learn more about how Smithsonian conservators and scientists identified materials to make informed decisions on treatment and display. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain. Continue reading “There’s no place like…the lab”: Conservation and Scientific Analysis of Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers
Plautilla Nelli, a female living in Renaissance Italy, was awarded the freedom to paint due to her station in life as a nun. This post explores the history, conservation, and technical analysis of her ‘Last Supper’. (Image credit: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain) Continue reading Ahead of her time: Plautilla Nelli and her everlasting ‘Last Supper’
Many paintings containing zinc white, such as Alchemy by Jackson Pollock, are slowly destroying themselves from the inside out! Continue reading Are oil paintings slowly eating themselves alive?
Laser light can be used to blast grime off stone surfaces without affecting the stone substrate underneath. Although laser cleaning can be used in conjunction with other methods to remove different types of contaminants, here we highlight an article that uses only laser cleaning to remove biofilm from a marble statue. Continue reading Green slime invasion deterred by laser guns! How finely-tuned light can be used to clean marble
Immunoassay biosensors make identifying animal proteins from egg or glue in cultural heritage objects an simple task. This effort to miniaturize and simplify analysis could bring material characterization to any conservation studio. Continue reading Protein analysis in heritage materials: from medical to conservation diagnosis with mini-biosensors
Heritagebites: Easy-to-digest research summaries in cultural heritage research 