Department of Scientific Research at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Herit Sci. 2021; 9(one): 92.
The Network Initiative for Conservation Science (NICS): a model of collaboration and resource sharing among neighbor museums
Federica Pozzi
aneDepartment of Scientific Research, The Metropolitan Museum of Fine art, yard Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028 USA
2Present Address: Center for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage "La Venaria Reale", Via XX Settembre xviii, 10078 Venaria Reale, Torino Italy
Elena Basso
1Department of Scientific Research, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, m Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028 U.s.
Received 2021 Jun 11; Accepted 2021 Jun 11.
Each twelvemonth, millions of visitors crowd the halls of the vast ensemble of museums in New York City, among which are some of the most prestigious and highly visited cultural heritage sites in the United states of america (Fig.one). These halls are home to uncountable objects of untold budgetary, cultural, and historic value, many dating dorsum thousands of years, and each demanding specific care to be passed on to futurity generations. While falling primarily to art conservators, the preservation of these artifacts too relies on the emerging field of conservation science—a technically circuitous field that lies at the intersection of chemistry, physics, biology, geology, materials scientific discipline, and applied science. The scientific study of objects of artistic, archaeological, and historical significance often constitutes a multifaceted attempt, combining compositional analysis, dating, degradation studies, and environmental monitoring. Amongst the particular challenges typically encountered in this field are, for instance, the need for minimally invasive tests and, sometimes, the impossibility to safely move the artworks exterior of museum galleries, storages, or conservation studios for analysis. Moreover, different materials take different requirements in terms of temperature, humidity, and exposure to light, thus necessitating tailored care. While expressing a similar interest in conducting research on their own art collections, New York Metropolis museums have likewise shared many of the aforementioned concerns when trying to maintain optimal conservation conditions.
The Met'southward Neat Hall hosts visitors upon reopening on Baronial 29th, 2020, following a prolonged closure due to the Covid-19 crisis
(© The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Paula Lobo)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) and The Museum of Modern Fine art (MoMA) are currently the simply two New York City museums with total-time scientific staff. In improver to carrying out research in firm, scientists at both institutions have actively pursued successful collaborations with colleagues in academia. While conservators may have varying degrees of scientific preparation and access to basic instrumentation, a scientist's highly specialized skills and broad technical expertise are often desirable to embark on in-depth investigations and accost loftier-impact questions. To meet the scientific needs of the New York City museum community and nurture opportunities for collaboration among neighbor institutions in the cultural heritage field, in September 2016 The Met's Department of Scientific Research (DSR) launched the Network Initiative for Conservation Science, or NICS, with financial support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Growing out of a history of informal collaborations between The Met's DSR and other New York Metropolis museums, NICS is a half-dozen-twelvemonth plan aiming to share The Met'south resources, expertise, and state-of-the-art scientific research facilities with partner institutions free of charge. NICS currently supports 11 museums and cultural heritage institutions in New York City, including the American Museum of Natural History, the Brooklyn Museum, the Key Park Conservancy, the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, The Frick Drove, the Hispanic Museum & Library, The Morgan Library & Museum, MoMA, The New York Public Library, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and The Whitney Museum of American Art.
NICS aims to promote sustainable research and accelerate scholarship in fine art history, archæology, conservation, and science; to provide in-depth characterization of the materials and techniques used to create artifacts of archaeological, historical, and artistic relevance; to offering insight into the state of preservation and deposition of artworks; to develop innovative methodologies for the monitoring, stabilization, and repair of these objects; and to create an interface through which needs, capabilities, and noesis can exist shared at no price among all institutions in the plan. To date, NICS has served as a crucial resource for New York City museums and cultural heritage institutions, allowing members to probe in-depth scientific research questions as well as respond basic requests in the service of art conservation and preservation. Along with the utilize of benchtop instrumentation available in The Met's DSR, NICS scientists have created a mobile laboratory that tin can be employed for in-situ assay of unmovable objects, and accept too relied on external enquiry facilities through national and international collaborations. Since the beginning of the programme, the team has carried out collaborative work on lxx projects, focusing on over 300 objects that span a broad range of media, cultures, and historical periods (Fig.2). Before long at the stop of its 5th yr, NICS has hosted three Annual Symposia that provided an interdisciplinary forum for over 130 scientists, conservators, and curators, to showcase collaborative work as well equally share experiences and ideas in all areas of cultural heritage research (Fig.3).
The NICS team examines objects in collaboration with other Met scientists and conservators from partner institutions in New York City
Dr. Marco Leona, The Met's David H. Koch Scientist in Accuse, speaks at the third NICS Annual Symposium, held at the museum on Thursday, October 24th, 2019
(© The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo past Paula Lobo)
This collection, including 8 articles, presents findings from some of the most relevant and fascinating projects that the NICS team has pursued in collaboration with other New York City museums. Amongst the topics discussed are discoveries on the repainting of Alexander Calder's motorized sculptures [1], the degradation and cleaning of Central Park outdoor bronze statues [two], the secret drawing practices of Thomas Gainsborough [3], the indigenous decorative technique of a 17th-century lacquered gourd from Columbia [4], the manufacture of Italian Renaissance statuettes past Bertoldo di Giovanni [5], the fleeting colors and surface alterations of Van Gogh paintings [6], the materials of historical photographs from Arctic expeditions [7], and museum-practical surface coatings and the original polychromy of Tsimshian firm posts [8]. Nosotros promise that the continued activeness of NICS in back up of scientific research at New York City museums may serve as a networking model for inter-museum collaboration and resource sharing, contributing to the growth of the cultural heritage field and its burgeoning community.
Acknowledgements
The research presented in this themed collection was made possible by the Network Initiative for Conservation Scientific discipline (NICS), a Metropolitan Museum of Art program. Support for NICS was provided by a grant (31500630) from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The authors would like to give thanks Dr. Marco Leona, The Met'due south David H. Koch Scientist in Charge, for his connected back up to NICS and for encouraging this publication. We besides wish to admit the editorial staff of Heritage Science, in detail Richard Brereton and Matthew Smyllie, for their precious guidance and supervision throughout the process, as well every bit the numerous reviewers who have greatly contributed, with their conscientious editing, to the quality and success of this themed collection.
Authors' contributions
FP and EB guest-edited this themed drove. FP wrote this editorial, with inputs from EB. Both authors read and approved the terminal manuscript.
Declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Footnotes
Publisher'south Notation
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
References
one. Pozzi F, Arslanoglu J, Nagy E. Alexander Calder's Half-Circle, Quarter-Circumvolve, and Sphere (1932): a circuitous history of repainting unraveled. Herit Sci. 2020;8:79. doi: ten.1186/s40494-020-00419-7. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
2. Basso E, Pozzi F, Reiley MC. The Samuel F.B. Morse statue in Central Park: scientific written report and light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation cleaning of a 19th-century American outdoor bronze monument. Herit Sci. 2020;8:81. doi: 10.1186/s40494-020-00426-8. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
3. Pozzi F, Arslanoglu J, Galluzzi F, Tokarski C, Snyder R. Mixing, dipping, and fixing: the experimental cartoon techniques of Thomas Gainsborough. Herit Sci. 2020;8:85. doi: x.1186/s40494-020-00431-x. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
4. Pozzi F, Basso E, Katz Grand. In search of Humboldt's colors: materials and techniques of a 17th-century lacquered gourd from Colombia. Herit Sci. 2020;8:101. doi: ten.1186/s40494-020-00449-1. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
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six. Pozzi F, Basso E, Centeno SA, Smieska LM, Shibayama N, Berns R, Fontanella M, Stringari Fifty. Altered identity: fleeting colors and obscured surfaces in Van Gogh's landscapes in Paris, Arles, and Saint-Rémy. Herit Sci. 2021;nine:15. doi: ten.1186/s40494-021-00489-i. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
vii. Basso E, Pozzi F, Keister J, Cronin E. Preliminary photographs and improved positives: discovering the New York Public Library's Arctic Exploration album. Herit Sci. 2021;ix:34. doi: ten.1186/s40494-021-00506-3. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
8. Pozzi F, Basso E, Alderson Southward, Levinson J, Neiman M, Alcalá S. Aiding the cleaning of four 19th-century Tsimshian business firm posts: investigation of museum-applied surface coatings and original polychromy. Herit Sci. 2021;9:42. doi: 10.1186/s40494-021-00513-4. [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8315823/
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