Last time I went to the Met I called up Denise to see if I could see her place of employ. After entering through the basement and going through many secret hallways lined with dusty books and thousands of cryptically labeled artifacts (well, not really, but play along) we went to the paper conservancy lab.
Here is Denise hard at work doing what she does.
This piece had been eaten away by critters and needed some mending.
This is a book about the Amistad rebellion from 1840 that needed some touching up.
The big hose is called an elephant trunk. It provides light and sucks up vapors and smells if you are using chemicals with your paper repair.
Caution: Art Below! With all of today’s technology, sometimes ya just have to stick your piece under a heavy rock and wait.
This microscope is looking at a page from a many-centuries-old Islamic manuscript. The detail of this work is staggering, there are artistic touches the naked eye will never see at first glance. When this piece will be put up, magnifying glasses will be available to museum-goers.
More hardware.
Denise stands before one of the pieces she restored as part of the Pearls of the Parrot of India: The Emperor Akbar’s Illustrated “Khamsa,” 159798 exhibit. Try and check it out — alas, it closes soon!
