Volume 5, Number 1, March 1983, p.12

Conservation in the News

The Wall Street Journal, July 26, 1982: "Soon the Old Star Spangled Banner Will Get a Little More Protection." Article reports that the Smithsonian Institution will keep the flag which inspired Francis Scott Key behind an opaque curtain to protect it from damaging light and dust. The curtain will be lowered hourly for two minutes during which lights will play on the banner and loudspeakers will blare early-19th century versions of the National Anthem's melody.

Science News, Vol. 122, No. 20, November 13, 1982: "Paint by Digit." Article describes the use several museums are making of digital image processing. The Los Angeles County Museum is using the technique to try to detect subtle changes in the surface texture of Leonardo's Codex Hammer which might signal deterioration. The National Gallery in London is using it as an objective color measurement method to document color change in paintings. The Detroit Institute of Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art are also finding many uses for digital image processing in removing distracting patterns and clearing up images of works of art which are obtained from x-ray radiographs and infrared reflectograms.

The November 1982 Castro Times had an article entitled, "Robin Tichane, Art Conservator."

The Economist, December 25, 1982, Science and Technology Section: "Bringing Paintings Back to Life." Article describes causes of deterioration of paintings, techniques of examination, and philosophies of restoration. As examples, it describes and illustrates with color pictures the restoration of Cimabue's Crucifix and Botticelli's Primavera under Professor Umberto Baldini in Florence and the restoration of Leonardo's Las Supper by Guiseppina Brambilla, sponsored by Olivetti, in Milan.

Scheduled for the January-February 1983 issue of the California Arts Council Newsletter is an article: "Art Preservation in California."