In a message dated 3/12/2008 8:03:33 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> Restored in 1995" Interesting! We here, so interested in accuracy and history, may tend to forget attitudes towards paintings like this and others, in the past. The fact that we can all read and write takes away a lot of the utilitarian function such works had originally. Of course those in the past though the painting pleasant and lovely enough to restore and reshape so that it could remain useful and on view. But long past restorations hardly seem interested in accuracy or the original concepts and wishes of the artist. I don't mean this as a negative criticism, just a very interesting observation. Everyone, living in the thick of his or her time period is not responsible for future attitudes so can be cut much slack. I mean, hey, we tore down Penn. Station!...so the monks cut a door through "The Last Supper". It sometime works the other way. Remember when they were restoring the Sistine Chapel ceiling? Some art scholars were whining and decrying how removing the layers of varnish was removing subtle color effects Michelangelo had labored over. I thought: "Good grief! The ceiling's what? 40 feet in the air. It's not like you can get close to it. Why would Michelangelo paint subtle anything? As the bright colors and scene-painting techniques were revealed, it all made so much more sense than "subtle color effect". More like centuries of smoke and soot from candle and lamp lights. **************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms, and advice on AOL Money & Finance. (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolprf00030000000001) _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
