After nearly five decades on display in Brooklyn, six of Brooklyn Museum’s twelvereliefs fro
After nearly five decades on display in Brooklyn, six of Brooklyn Museum’s twelve reliefs from the Northwest Palace of Ashur-nasir-pal II (883 to 859 B.C.E.) were fully conserved in 2002. Now Brooklyn Museum conservators are treating the remaining six reliefs.Usually, conservators examine, photograph, and treat objects in the Brooklyn Museum’s conservation lab; however, moving these large pieces of stone always presents a challenge, as the reliefs weigh between 1900 lbs. and 4500 lbs. each, and many are broken into multiple fragments. Because of their size, weight, and installation requirements, these monumental reliefs are being documented in situ in the Kevorkian gallery and are being treated in a temporary conservation space in the adjacent Egyptian galleries, all through the generous support of a Bank of America Conservation grant. The logistical challenges of this large-scale project have created a great opportunity for the Museum to showcase ongoing conservation work and a great opportunity for Brooklyn Museum conservators to speak with visitors about the reliefs and the work that we do, sharing the process and ethos of conservation and cultural heritage preservation. The frosted glass doors leading to the Museum’s Portico porch also provide conservators with beautiful natural light! Interacting with cultural heritage creates shared experiences that link people across distance and time. Watching conservators work with tools like chisels and scalpels to remove non-original materials from the reliefs can help activate the objects for visitors, as well as conservators, reminding us that artisans created these objects, often using similar tools to those stone carvers use today. Bank of America will be honored next Tuesday at this year’s Brooklyn Museum Artists Ball in recognition of its excellent and continuing support of the arts, ensuring shared experiences of cultural heritage for posterity. Posted by Victoria Schussler -- source link
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