Conservation-restoration, also referred to as conservation, is a profession devoted to the preservation of cultural heritage for the future. Conservation activities include examination, documentation, treatment, and preventive care. All of this work is supported by research and education.
The traditional definition of the role of the conservator involves the examination, conservation, and preservation of cultural heritage using "any methods that prove effective in keeping that property in as close to its original condition as possible for as long as possible."[1]
However, today the definition of the role of conservation has widened and would more accurately be described as that of ethical stewardship.
The conservator applies some simple ethical guidelines, such as:
In order for the conservator to apply their professional expertise accordingly, they must take into account the views of the stakeholder, the values and meaning of the object, and the physical needs of the material, in order to decide upon an appropriate conservation strategy.
The tradition of conservation in Europe some consider to have begun in 1565 with the restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes.
The care for cultural patrimony has a long history within traditions of fixing and mending objects,[2] and in individual restorations of artworks. During the 19th century, the fields of science and art became increasingly intertwined as scientists such as Michael Faraday began to study the damaging effects of the environment to works of art. Louis Pasteur carried out scientific analysis on paint during this time period as well.[3] However, perhaps the first organised attempt to conserve cultural patrimony was the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in the UK, influenced by the writings of John Ruskin the society was founded by William Morris and Philip Webb in 1877. During the same period a movement with similar aims had also developed in France under the direction of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc a French architect and theorist, famous for his "restorations" of medieval buildings.
Conservation, as a distinct field of study, initially developed in Germany, when in 1888 Friedrich Rathgen became the first chemist to be employed by a Museum, the Koniglichen Museen, Berlin (Royal Museums of Berlin). He not only developed a scientific approach to the care of objects in the collections, but disseminated this approach publishing a "Handbook of Conservation" in 1898.[5] The early development of conservation in any area of the world is usually linked to the creation of positions for chemists within museums. However in the United Kingdom, pioneering research into painting materials and conservation, ceramics, and stone conservation was conducted by Arthur Pillans Laurie, academic chemist and Principal of Heriot Watt University from 1900. Laurie's interests were fostered by William Holman Hunt.[6] In 1924 in the UK the chemist Harold Plenderleith began to work at the British Museum with Dr. Alexander Scott in the newly created Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, thus giving birth to the conservation profession in the UK.[7] This department had been created by the museum to address objects in the collection that had begun to rapidly deteriorate as a result of being stored in the London Underground tunnels during the First World War. The development of this department at the British Museum moved the focus for the development of conservation from Germany to Britain, and in 1956 Plenderleith wrote a significant handbook called The Conservation of Antiquities and Works of Art, it was this book rather than Rathgen's that is commonly seen as the major source for the development of conservation as we know it today.
In the United States, the development of conservation can be traced to the Fogg Art Museum, and Edward Waldo Forbes, the Director of the Fogg from 1909 to 1944. He encouraged technical investigation, and was Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the first technical journal, Technical Studies, in the Field of the Fine Arts, published by the Fogg from 1932 to 1942. Importantly he also brought onto the museum staff chemists. Rutherford John Gettens was the first chemist in the U. S. to be permanently employed by an art museum. He worked with George L. Stout, the founder and first editor of Technical Studies. Gettens and Stout co-authored Painting Materials: A Short Encyclopaedia, first published in 1942 and reprinted in 1966. This compendium is still cited regularly. Only a few dates and descriptions in Gettens' and Stout's book are now outdated.[8]
George T. Oliver, of Oliver Brothers Fine art Restoration and Conservation (Est. 1850 in New York City) invented the vacuum hot table for relining paintings in 1920’s, he filed a patent for the table in 1937.[9] Taylor's prototype table, which he designed and constructed, is still in operation.
The focus of conservation development then accelerated in Britain and America, and it was in Britain that the first International Conservation Organisations developed. The International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC) was incorporated under British law in 1950 as "a permanent organization to co-ordinate and improve the knowledge, methods, and working standards needed to protect and preserve precious materials of all kinds."[8] The rapid growth of conservation professional organizations, publications, journals, newsletters, both internationally and in localities, has spearheaded the development of the conservation profession, both practically and theoretically. Art historians and theorists such as Cesare Brandi have also played a significant role in developing conservation-restoration theory. In recent years ethical concerns have been at the forefront of developments in conservation. Most significantly has been the idea of Preventive conservation. This concept is based in part on the pioneering work by Garry Thomson CBE, and his book the Museum Environment, first published in 1978.[10] Thomson was associated with the National Gallery (London), it was here that he established a set of guidelines or environmental controls for the best conditions in which objects could be stored and displayed within the Museum Environment. Although his exact guidelines are no longer rigidly followed they did inspire this field of conservation.
The conservator's work is guided by ethical standards. These take the form of applied ethics. Ethical standards have been established across the world, and national and international ethical guidelines have been written. One such example is:
Conservation OnLine's Ethical issues in conservation provides a number of articles on ethical issues in conservation; example of codes of ethics and guidelines for professional conduct in conservation and allied fields; and charters and treaties pertaining to ethical issues involving the preservation of cultural property.
The profession of conservation-restoration is broad and encompasses many areas of speciality. Specialities may include:
Many cultural works are sensitive to environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity and exposure to light and ultraviolet light. They must be protected in a controlled environment where such variables are maintained within a range of damage-limiting levels. Shielding from sunlight of artifacts such as watercolour paintings for example is usually necessary to prevent fading of pigments.
Preventive conservation is an important element of museum policy and collections care. It is an essential responsibility of members of the museum profession to create and maintain a protective environment for the collections in their care, whether in store, on display, or in transit. A museum should carefully monitor the condition of collections to determine when an artifact requires conservation work and the services of a qualified conservator.
Interventive Conservation refers to any act by a conservator that involves a direct interaction between the conservator and the cultural material. These interventive treatments could involve cleaning, stabilizing, repair, or even replacement of parts of the original object. It is essential that the conservator should fully justify any such work. Complete documentation of the work; carried out before, during, and after the treatment rules out chances of later doubts.
The principal goal of a conservator is to nullify or at least reduce the rate of deterioration of an object, this can be achieved through either non-interventive or interventive methodologies. Interventive methodologies include all those actions taken by the conservator to directly intervene with the material fabric of the object. Such actions include surface cleaning such as varnish removal, or consolidation such as securing flaking paint. Such interventive actions are carried out for a variety of reasons including; aesthetic choices, Stabilization needs for structural integrity, or for cultural requirements for intangible continuity.
One of the guiding principles of conservation has traditionally been the idea of reversibility, that is that all interventions with the object should be fully reversible, and the object should be able to be returned to the state in which it was prior to the conservators intervention. Although this concept remains a guiding principle of the profession, it is a concept that has been widely critiqued within the conservation profession [11] and is now considered by many to be "a fuzzy concept".[12] Another important principle of conservation is that all alterations should be well documented and should be clearly distinguishable from the original object.[13]
An example of a highly publicized interventive conservation effort would be the conservation work conducted on the Sistine Chapel.
Conservators routinely use chemical and scientific analysis for the examination and treatment of cultural works. The modern conservation lab uses equipment such as microscopes, spectrometers, and x-ray machines to better understand objects and their components. The data thus collected helps in deciding the conservation treatments to be provided to the object.
Heritage Preservation, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a U.S. federal agency, produced The Heritage Health Index. The results of this work was the report A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America's Collections, which was published in December 2005 and concluded that immediate action is needed to prevent the loss of 190 million artifacts that are in need of conservation treatment. The report made four recommendations:
In October 2006, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, a governmental department, authored a document: "Understanding the Future: Priorities for England's Museums".[15] This document was based on several years of consultation aimed to lay out the government's priorities for museums in the 21st century.
The document listed the following as priorities for the next decade:
The conservation profession response to this report was on the whole less than favourable, the Institute of Conservation (ICON) published their response under the title "A Failure of Vision".[16] It had the following to say:
"No sector can look with confidence to the future if its key asset is worked harder and harder across an ever broadening range of objectives while the inputs required to sustain it are neglected."
"It is of major concern to us that the only part of this section which makes any acknowledgement of the need for greater resourcing is the part which refers to acquisitions. The original consultation paper made quite extensive reference to the importance of collections, the role of new technologies, and cultural property issues, but this appears to have been whittled away in the present document."
Concluding:
"When asked by the Commons Culture Media and Sport elect Committee CMS committee what he would like to see as a priority in the DCMS document arising from the 'Understanding the Future' consultation, Mr MacGregor responded 'I would like to see added there the need to conserve and research the collections, so that the collections can really play the role across the whole of the United Kingdom that they should.' So would we."
Further to this the ICON website summary report[17] lists the following specific recommendations:
In November 2008, the UK based think tank Demos published an influential pamphlet entitled 'It's a material world: caring for the public realm',[18] in which they argue for integrating the public directly into efforts to conserve material culture, particularly that which is in the public, their argument, as stated on page 16, demonstrates their belief that society can benefit from conservation as a paradigm as well as a profession:
"conservators provide a paradigm not just for fixing things when they are broken, but for a wider social ethos of care, where we individually and collectively take responsibility and action"
Training in conservation for many years took the form of an apprenticeship, whereby an apprentice slowly developed the necessary skills to undertake their job. For some specializations within conservation this is still the case. However, it is more common in the field of conservation today that the training required to become a practicing conservator comes from a recognized university course in conservation.[19]
The University can rarely provide all the necessary training in first hand experience that an apprenticeship can, and therefore in addition to graduate level training the profession also tends towards encouraging conservation students to spend time as an intern.
Conservation is an Interdisciplinary field as conservators have backgrounds in the fine arts, sciences (including chemistry, biology, and materials science), and closely related disciplines, such as art history, archaeology, studio art, and anthropology. They also have design, fabrication, artistic, and other special skills necessary for the practical application of that knowledge.
Within the various schools that teach conservation, the approach differs according to the educational and vocational system within the country, and the focus of the school itself. This is acknowledged by the American Institute for Conservation who advise "Specific admission requirements differ and potential candidates are encouraged to contact the programs directly for details on prerequisites, application procedures, and program curriculum".[20]
Due to the large quantities of artwork in modern times, there have debates as to whether all art is actually worth preserving.[21]
Societies devoted to the care of cultural heritage have been in existence around the world for many years. One early example is the founding in 1877 of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in Britain to protect the built heritage, this society continues to be active today.[22]
The built heritage was also at the forefront of the growth of member based organizations in the United States for example, founded in 1889, the Richmond, Virginia-based Preservation Virginia (formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities) was the United States' first statewide historic preservation group. In 2003, it changed its name to reflect its wider focus in statewide preservation issues.[23]
Today, professional conservators join and take part in the activities of numerous conservation associations and professional organizations with the wider conservation field, and within their area of specialization.
These organizations exist to "support the conservation professionals who preserve our cultural heritage".[24]
This involves upholding professional standards, promoting research and publications, providing educational opportunities, and fostering the exchange of knowledge among conservators, allied professionals, and the public.
| Year | Document | Sponsor | Text (English where available) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | Athens Charter | International Congress of Architects and Technicians of Historic Monuments | text |
| 1931 | Carta Di Atene | Conferenza Internazionale di Atene | text (Italian) |
| 1932 | Carta Italiana del restauro | Consiglio Superiore Per Le Antichità e Belle Arti | text (Italian) |
| 1933 | Charter of Athens | IV CIAM | text |
| 1956 | New Delhi Recommendation | IX UNESCO | text, text |
| 1962 | Paris Recommendation | XII UNESCO | text |
| 1964 | Venice Charter | II International Congress of Architects and Technicians of Historic Monuments | text, text |
| 1964 | Paris Recommendation | XIII UNESCO | text |
| 1967 | Norms of Quito | OAS | text (Spanish), text |
| 1968 | Paris Recommendation | XV UNESCO | text |
| 1972 | Paris Convention | XVII UNESCO | text |
| 1972 | Paris Recommendation | XVII UNESCO | text |
| 1972 | Carta Italiana del Restauro | text (Italian) | |
| 1972 | Stockholm Declaration | UNEP | text |
| 1974 | Santo Domingo Resolution, Dominican Republic | Interamerican Seminar on the Conservation and Restoration of the Architectural Heritage of the Colonial and Republican Periods - OAS | text (Portuguese), text (Portuguese) |
| 1975 | Declaration of Amsterdam | Congress on the European Architectural Heritage | text |
| 1975 | European Charter of the Architectural Heritage | Council of Europe | text |
| 1976 | Charter on Cultural Tourism, Brussels | International Seminar on Contemporary Tourism and Humanism | text |
| 1976 | Nairobi Recommendation | XIX UNESCO | text |
| 1977 | Machu Picchu Charter | text (Portuguese), text (Portuguese), text (Spanish), ref (Spanish) | |
| 1981 | Burra Charter | ICOMOS | text |
| 1982 | Florence Charter | ICOMOS: Historic Gardens | text, text |
| 1982 | Nairobi Declaration | UNEP | text |
| 1982 | Tlaxcala Declaration | ICOMOS | text |
| 1982 | México Declaration | World Conference on Cultural Policies - MONDIACULT | text, text |
| 1983 | Declaration of Rome | ICOMOS | text |
| 1987 | Carta della conservazione e del restauro degli oggetti d'arte e di cultura | text (Italian) | |
| 1987 | Washington Charter | ICOMOS | text, text |
| 1989 | Paris Recommendation | XXV UNESCO | text |
| 1990 | Lausanne Charter | ICOMOS / ICAHM | text, text |
| 1994 | Nara Document | UNESCO / ICCROM / ICOMOS | text, text |
| 1995 | European Recommendation | Council of Europe, Committee of Ministers | text (Rec(95)3E),
text (Rec(95)9E) |
| 1996 | Declaration of San Antonio | ICOMOS | text |
| 1997 | Declaration of Sofia | XI ICOMOS or XXIX UNESCO | text |
| 1997 | Carta de Mar del Plata | Mercosul | text (Portuguese), text (Portuguese), text (Spanish), text (Spanish) |
| 2000 | Cracow Charter | text (Italian) | |
| 2002 | Declaration of Cartagena de Indias, Colômbia | Conselho Andino, OAS | text |
| 2003 | Paris Recommendation | XXXII UNESCO | text |
External lists of international cultural heritage documents: