Document on Retablos 2002, which outlines a series of basic principles for interventions on altarpieces, will be available this fall on the Getty Web site.

The document was the result of a May 2002 gathering of professionals from the Americas and Europe specializing in the conservation of altarpieces who met in Seville, Spain, for a seminar on the conservation of wooden polychromed retablos. Entitled "Methodology for the Conservation of Polychromed Wooden Altarpieces," the meeting was organized by the Instituto Andaluz del Patrimonio Historico and the GCI to discuss issues related to altarpiece conservation and the need for a conservation methodology adapted to the particularities of these works of art (see Conservation, vol. 17, no. 2).

From this meeting, the Document on Retablos 2002 was produced. Ratified and signed by each participant, the document identifies guiding principles and the process to be followed in the formulation of a conservation strategy for any type of altarpiece—from the modest to the complex. It seeks to encourage feasible and sustainable interventions that can help ensure that this heritage remains for future generations.

Copies of the Document on Retablos 2002 will be available in English, Spanish, and French on the Getty's Web site at www.getty.edu/conservation.