La réception des œuvres restaurées : ce que révèlent les trois dernières grandes controverses au Louvre
Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: The reception of restored works. Revelations of the last three great controversies at the Louvre Over the 19th and 20th centuries, the Louvre faced public criticism over restorations on three occasions : in the 1850s, after several restorations performed at the behest of the curator of paintings Frédéric Villot ; in 1935 when Titus, or Portrait of a young man, then attributed to Rembrandt, was cleaned ; and more recently in 1989-1992 during the spectacular cleaning of the Marriage at Cana by Veronese. Regardless of their origins and outcomes, such controversies force us to conceive of conservation as a social world involving not only conservators and curators, but also museum users more generally, and connoisseurs and artists in particular. Comparing statements made by various protagonists implicated in these three controversies, the present paper shows how freshly cleaned paintings put the public to the test. Four sections explain the context in which people became aware of the restored works, what kind of preferences characterized those who challenged the restorations, what catalyzed the outburst of the controversy, and finally how the debates evolved over time due to the increased use of scientific tools and arguments. The conclusion questions the role of museum users in the conservation process.
Source: Histoire de l art
Author: Léonie Hénaut
Language: English
Subfield: Conservation
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3173570524