About The Met/ Conservation and Scientific Research/ Objects Conservation/ Treatment and Research Projects
Jump to content tickets Member | Make a donation
Search
Black-and-white photo of various pieces of a statue of Hatshepsut disassembled

Treatment and Research Projects

Browse a selection of conservation treatment, installation, and research projects by Objects Conservation staff.

Close-up of the Crown of the Andes made from gold and emerald stones

Protecting the Crown of the Andes

A Met conservator, conservation preparator, research scientist, and curator collaborated to restore the stability of this spectacular, gold-and-emerald "Crown of the Andes" and ensure its survival for future generations.

Detail of a Nigerian sculpture, made of dark brass with a green patina and standing two feet tall, of a man playing a horn

Recovering the Brilliance of a Benin Bronze

In 1897, English soldiers seized the Horn Player and other cast brass sculptures from the royal court of Benin City in the Punitive Expedition. The royal sculptures were then acquired by English and European collectors who praised their artistic and technical brilliance, especially noting the Benin skill in lost-wax casting.

Detail of Degas bronze sculpture showing young girl in ballet dress gazing upward, her hair tied back with a satin ribbon.

The Evolution of Degas’s Little Dancer

The Met’s bronze cast of Degas’s Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer has captivated generations of visitors, but many may not be familiar with the material transformation of the sculpture—from wax to bronze and through a series of custom-fitted skirts—since Degas exhibited the original version in 1881.

Frontal view of the head of Hatshepsut

Queen Hatshepsut Restored

Since arriving at The Met in 1929, this statue of Hatshepsut has undergone three major restorations. The history of this work illustrates changing approaches to conservation and shows the impact that various types of treatment can have on the viewer’s perception of an object.

Composite image of a copper alloy Buddha figure and an x-ray of that same figure

Enlightened Technology: Radiographing an Image of the Buddha

Researchers at The Met used 3-D X-ray technology to explore the inside of a Gupta-style bronze statue of the Buddha. Here’s what they found.

Composite image of an Angolan colobus monkey and a wooden power figure from the Yombe people

The Materials That Make Mangaaka

Conservator Ellen Howe and Associate Research Scientist Adriana Rizzo discuss the range of organic materials used to create Mangaaka power figures.

Tulio Lombardi's Adam

After the Fall: The Conservation of Tullio Lombardo’s Adam

Conservators, scientists, and curators tell the story behind the unprecedented conservation of Tullio Lombardo’s Adam.

Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara in "Water Moon" Form (Shuiyue Guanyin), 11th century. China. Liao dynasty (907–1125). Wood (willow) with traces of pigment; multiple-woodblock construction.

Chinese Religious Sculpture

The Metropolitan's collection of Chinese religious sculpture is the largest outside of Asia. The availability of new scholarly information, analytical techniques, and recent archaeology in China prompted the Museum to take an in-depth study of the collection.

Henry E. Sharp (American, active ca. 1850–ca. 1897). Faith and Hope, 1867–69. Stained glass

The Faith and Hope Stained-Glass Window

Objects conservators recently applied two approaches for restoring losses to a stained-glass window.

Rudy Colban and Fred Sager using thin saws to cut through the mortar joins. The original stone elements were covered with various types of protective wrappings.

Moving the Ciborium

Objects conservators embarked on a challenging project: moving a 25-foot marble structure from The Cloisters to the Main Building.

Keep Exploring

Projects View from over the shoulder of a conservator holding a small rectangular painting in blue rubber gloves; the painting is rendered in short brush strokes that form a kenetic image of a dark, silhouetted tree trunk in the foreground and lone silhouetted figure standing and leaning against a solid, waist-high wall overlooking a faint building in the distance.

Conservation at The Met

The Metropolitan Museum houses a world-renowned complex of scientific research and conservation facilities, each of which serves as a training ground for conservators across a variety of specializations from around the world. This project list provides a small sample of conservation research activities across the Museum.