To discover more about the kind of work performed by the Queensland Art Gallery's conservation staff, explore these projects:
The Master of Frankfurt: The examination of a panel
This conservation project brings together several strands of specialist arts research ― curatorial, conservation and provenance research. The painting ― Virgin and Child with Saint James the Pilgrim, Saint Catherine and the Donor with Saint Peter c.1496 ― underwent numerous changes by the artist before its completion. Conservation technologies such as X-ray and infra-red imaging reveal the transformations in the work.
Examining Conrad Martens's Brisbane 1852: UV and infra-red reveal more
Two watercolours of the same Brisbane scene ― are they both by the renowned Conrad Martens, or is one an original and the other a copy? Conservation techniques will help answer the question.
Reframing Edward Coley Burne-Jones's Aurora 1896
A painting from Victorian England was reframed to return the work to its original social and historical context.
A long life: Restoration of the See Poy portraits
These paintings of the See Poy children came into the care of the Innisfail and District Historical Society in 1994. A collaboration involving the Queensland Art Gallery and the Historical Society ensured a successful restoration of these remarkable paintings some years later.
Zinc soap formation
Using an example from the Gallery's Collection ― R. Godrey Rivers's Under the jacaranda 1903 ― read about zinc soap formation in oil paintings.
Glossary
See the glossary for an explanation of selected terms.
