Conserving the Painted Past Developing Approaches to Wall Painting Conservation

From an international perspective, English wall paintings offer much diversity in both history and production and are heavily linked with wider European artistic tradition. They range from delicate frescoes in Roman villa ruins to larger decorative and figurative schemes in both churches and cathedrals, as well as in domestic buildings. These vulnerable works of art suffer not only from environmental changes but also from the well-meaning but often irreversible treatments of the past. The English Heritage conference Conserving the Painted Past continues an important tradition of international debate on the conservation of wall paintings, taking stock of current developments in the field, reviewing standards and practice and planning the way ahead. Papers have been specially selected from the conference to ensure international diversity and cover a broad range of topics. These include domestic wall paintings and rock art, causes and mechanisms of detrimental change, techniques and treatments, documentation and recording, the factors affecting large-scale site management, and the wider issues of facilitating improvement in the profession and establishing achievable standards. All illustrate the variety of issues and approaches central to modern wall painting practice from a multidisciplinary perspective. These conference Postprints thus record the state of the profession at the threshold of the 21st century. Whilst aimed principally at wall painting conservators, architects, surveyors and engineers, art historians and scientists responsible for the care of these works of art, the Proceedings will also be of interest to local authority conservation officers, conservation funding bodies, students and all those concerned with the welfare of the historic environment.Gowing, Robert is the author of 'Conserving the Painted Past Developing Approaches to Wall Painting Conservation' with ISBN 9781902916118 and ISBN 1902916115.