Chat with a Conservator

The technical science of art preservation takes center stage during this specialized presentation by the conservation team at The Ringling. Held within the galleries, the talk reveals the laboratory methods used to examine, stabilize, and clean centuries-old oil paintings, gilded surfaces, and delicate works on paper. Conservators explain the diagnostic tools behind their work—including ultraviolet fluorescence, infrared reflectography, and micro-sampling—while demonstrating how chemical solvents and delicate structural repairs reverse past restorations and natural aging. The session demystifies the delicate tension between historical integrity and visual enhancement, granting collectors and art historians rare access to the museum’s behind-the-scenes preservation decisions.