Art
An Exhibition of Fractured and Mended Art
The conservation of artifacts already in museum care is highlighted more often than the repairs creators make to their own objects.
restoration
Art
An Altarpiece in Guatemala Gets a New Life
ANTIGUA, Guatemala — The Cathedral of San Francisco in the colonial town of Antigua, Guatemala, was first built by the Spanish in the 16th century, but it’s as alive today as a center of worship as it ever was.
Art
New York's Cathedral of Science Reopens with Interactive Ecology Beneath the Stars
The Great Hall at the New York Hall of Science in Queens was designed to give visitors to the 1964 World's Fair the feeling of floating in deep space.
News
Botched Restoration Leaves Ancient Mosaics Looking Like Cartoons
It's been nearly three years since an ill-trained restorer bestowed Beast Jesus upon the world (wide web), but now a mosaic artist in southern Turkey is calling attention to the cartoonish makeover given to Roman mosaics.
News
Paris Pledges €80 Million to Fix Historic Buildings, but Much More Is Needed
The city of Paris will spend €80 million (~$85.9 million) over the next five years fixing up and restoring the 96 historic buildings it is responsible for maintaining.
Art
A Disappeared Houdini Film Escapes from Obscurity
The great escape artist Harry Houdini starred in five silent films in the early 20th century, but one considered among his best was long considered lost — until now.
Art
How to Fix a Monet After Somebody Punches It
Conservators are probably the closest thing the art world has to surgeons.
News
Earthquake-Proofing Michelangelo's Statue of David
After more than 250 small earthquakes shook Italy last week, the Italian Ministry of Culture announced it will spend €200,000 (~$245,000) on an anti-seismic base to secure Michelangelo's statue of David, the Agence France-Presse reported.
In Brief
Holy Hell: Critic Alleges Major Restoration of Chartres Cathedral Is "Fake"
An intensive restoration of France's Chartres Cathedral that replicates the interior's original colors and patterns has earned a polemical rebuke from the critic Martin Filler, who charged that the method makes "authentic artifacts look fake."
Art
Undoing a 19th-Century Art Restorer's Overzealous Handiwork
The 19th-century art restorer Raffaele Gargiulo was so good at reconstructing Greek vases, one antiquarian called it a "dangerous perfection for knowledge." Filling in broken gaps with his own paintings, mending cracks with brass staples, his work was a potential threat to history.
News
Three Afghani Masterpieces Face Same Threats, Different Futures
Three architectural wonders from 12th century Afghanistan are currently in danger of collapse: the minaret of Jam in Ghur province and the two "Victory Towers" in Ghazni
Art
A Tumultuous Tale of Boy Meets Girl
Thirty years after its release seduced critics with a nocturnal, jumbled dream of love and light, Leos Carax's debut film, Boy Meets Girl, continues to burn with contradictions, seeming somehow to be younger today than it was yesterday.