We are happy to announce that Leonardo da Vinci’s Adoration of Magi will escape the the restorer’s knife and the restorer’s brush. It has to be regarded as a “”first.”” A letter to the Florentine authorities (see the other material on this website), sponsored by ArtWatch International and signed by 45 distinguished art historians from […]
To pretend that after the World Trade Center destruction – with its heavy physical and psychological damage and its vast collateral, economic, emotional and cultural losses – we can achieve anything like “business as usual” is an perilous illusion. The world, our world, has changed for New Yorkers, for Americans, and, arguably, for most people […]
The Camposanto in Pisa has one of the largest fresco cycles ever painted. Produced in the 14th and the 15th centuries, these frescoes were in a vast open courtyard and consequently they did not do well in withstanding the centuries. To make matters worse, in 1944 a bomb struck the building causing further havoc to […]
The tragic events which unfolded on the 11th of September in New York and Washington are so far reaching and so momentous that it might seem superfluous to bring up issues concerning the world’s artistic heritage at this time. James Beck, Professor and President of ArtWatch. October 10, 2001 Upon reflection, it is precisely those […]
Masaccio was the first truly Renaissance artist who, in his short lifetime of 26 years of which perhaps only five were as an independent master, managed to revolutionize Western painting. He was born in 1401 and in honor of his 600th anniversary, a few relatively modest events are being planned for his birthplace of San […]
At the risk of appearing obvious, it occurs to me that there are three categories of modern restoration which are effectively operative for paintings and sculptures: (1) those for the art trade and private collectors (2) those for museums and public collections (3) those produced for a specific religious purpose, in churches and chapels. In […]
A word on the practice of removing old restorations on paintings. One of the least defensible and intellectually questionable concepts raised in the often vitriolic debates surrounding art restoration practice over the past few decades is that of “readability.” A a vague and shifting goal, it continues to be advocated, especially by the museums and […]
Ancient statues of the Buddha in the war-torn country of Afghanistan are under threat. Reports hit the international media on Saturday that prior threats by the Taliban authorities of Afghanistan to destroy all of the statues within that nation were being summarily carried out. Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban supreme leader, first initiated the order […]
L’esito finale di una iniziativa messa in opera più di una decina di anni fà, quando allora c’era il signor Rollandin, Presidente della Regione, René Faval, Assessore alla Cultura, il Dr. Domenico Prola e Flaminia Montanari alla Soprintendenza delle Belle Arti, si é concrettizzata oggi con questi volumi che contenono gli atti del Convegno. Prima […]
By James Beck Should churches charge admission fees to see art? The recent decision by the city of Florence, with the approval of the Superintendent of Fine Arts (Soprintendente ai beni artistici) of Florence Dr. Antonio Paolucci together with church authorities to charge admission to visit Santa Maria Novella has raised a host of questions […]