Lab in Conservation of Art

Undergraduate catalogue cross-listing

This course examines how environmental factors (acid, rain, ice, salts, biota) damage sculpture and monuments made of stone and masonry, paintings on wood, and sculptures in bronze. It examines campus buildings that illustrate each type of damage and uses a visit to the Cloisters Museum to learn how those medieval buildings are protected. Lectures on structure and properties of materials and mechanisms of attack. Labs include quantifying water movement through stone, damage from freezing and salts, strength of mortars, protective effects of sealants and consolidants, effect of moisture on wood. Two lectures and one three-hour laboratory.