Project Objectives
This multi-year project is a collaboration of the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Foundation, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. The Panel Paintings Initiative is a response to the growing recognition that significant collections of paintings on wood panels may be at risk in coming decades due to the waning numbers of conservators and craftspeople with the highly specialized skills required for the conservation of these complex works of art.

The objectives of the Panel Paintings Initiative are to:

• enhance understanding of the structural conservation of panel paintings;
• provide expertise in the structural stabilization of panel paintings to a new generation of conservators through focused residencies, workshops, and other training opportunities; and
• disseminate reference and learning resources on the structural conservation of panels.

In support of these objectives, the Panel Paintings Initiative is undertaking a range of coordinated activities, including a symposium (held May 17–18, 2009); a survey of the state of the field of panel paintings conservation; a bibliographic project; residencies for conservators to acquire skills in panel stabilization; and short-term workshops and meetings focusing on special topics related to panel paintings. The work of the initiative is being carried out in partnership with individuals and institutions with a long history of experience in panel paintings conservation.

The initiative builds on a previous symposium on panel paintings that was organized by the Getty Museum and the GCI in 1995.

	Visit of the advisory group and several of the project team members to the paintings conservation studio of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where they are shown around by George Bisacca. Photo: Foekje Boersma

Project Overview
Paintings on wooden panels were common in Europe, especially in Italy and the northern European countries, until the sixteenth century when canvas was increasingly used as a support. Wood panel supports were either constructed from a single piece of wood or, for larger paintings, from a number of pieces joined together.

Paintings on wood panels are highly susceptible to climatically induced structural damage. As an organic material, wood responds readily to changes in ambient temperature and humidity, absorbing and desorbing moisture as environmental conditions fluctuate. The absorption and desorption of moisture results in mechanical changes such as swelling and shrinking of the wood. Repeated cycles of swelling and shrinking—often occurring over centuries—will cause panels to warp, twist, or split. This type of damage to a painting's substrate can, in turn, have a deleterious effect on the paint layer, potentially resulting in paint loss.

	Conservator George Bisacca of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, demonstrating structural treatment at the Getty Center on the Crucifixion by Albrecht Altdorfer from the collection of the Szépmüvészet Múzeum, Budapest. Photo: Mark Leonard, Getty Museum

Over time, attempts to stabilize the movement of panels—inhibiting their deformation and consequent damage to the paint layer—have led to a number of structural treatment approaches. These treatments have included thinning the wood panel and attaching a rigid structure or cradle or, in some cases, removing the wooden substrate completely and transferring the paint layer to canvas. The development of the conservation profession has led in more recent decades to a greater sensitivity to the character of the substrate and the construction of the painting, which in turn has led to less invasive treatment of structural problems.

	George Bisacca at the Getty Center removing the cradle from the reverse of the panel painting Madonna and Child attributed to Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio from the collection of the Szépmüvészet Múzeum, Budapest. Photo: Sue Ann Chui, Getty Museum

Although the structure of panel paintings and the different behaviors of the wood and paint layers have long posed a challenge to conservators, today only relatively few in the conservation field have the experience necessary to deal with the structural issues of panel paintings. This situation stems from changes in the field itself, particularly its growing professionalization in the second half of the twentieth century. Earlier generations of panel restorers—following a long craft-based tradition—began their training as apprentices in workshops, which allowed them over many years to develop the hand skills necessary to deal with structural problems. As conservation evolved into a profession, requiring specialized theoretical and scientific knowledge in addition to practical expertise, the education of conservators moved from workshops to formal academic programs within universities and other institutions of higher learning. While academic-based education has contributed to the recognition of conservation as a profession, academic programs are often unable to allow sufficient time for students to hone highly specialized craft skills. Although internships may provide additional time needed to acquire this specialized expertise, there are limited opportunities for this type of learning.

	Visit of the advisory group and several of the project team members to the Opificio delle Pietre Dure e Laboratori di Restauro, Firenze, Settore Dipinti Mobili, where they are shown around by Marco Ciatti. The group discusses structural conservation issues of the panel painting Madonna col Bambino by Cimabue, Castelfiorentino (Firenze), Museo di Santa Verdiana. Photo: Foekje Boersma

The scarcity of experts is made urgent by the fact that some of the few active panel restorers—many of whom are craftspeople trained in traditional woodworking skills—will likely retire over the course of the next decade or two. It is therefore imperative to create opportunities for a younger generation of professionals to acquire skills from their more experienced colleagues.

To address this challenge, the GCI, the Getty Foundation, and the Getty Museum have joined together to develop the multi-year Panel Paintings Initiative, which is designed to increase specialized training in the structural conservation of panel paintings and to advance the treatment of these works in collections around the world. The initiative will also raise general awareness of panel painting conservation among painting and wood conservators, curators, and scientists.

Guided by an international advisory group, the main components of the initiative include:

• a symposium on the structural conservation of panel paintings;
• education and training, which will include residencies for intensive training in structural conservation and workshops that will deal with related theoretical and practical topics; and
• an online bibliography and other Web-based reference materials.

The advisory group plays a key role both in guiding the initiative and in contributing assistance to its various activities. The advisory group meets periodically to review progress and to advise on upcoming work.

Last updated: June 2009