In this activity, you will:

• Use close observation and inference to learn and share perspectives about an object’s history

• 30 – 60 mins

Understand the Difference Between Observations and Inferences

An OBSERVATION is something you can directly see, touch, or measure. It is a fact.

An INFERENCE is a conclusion you draw from observations. It is your best explanation of the evidence.

Example: “The eraser is worn down on one side” is an observation. “Someone wrote a lot and made many mistakes” is an inference based on that observation.

In this activity, you will practice making strong, evidence-based inferences about a 2,000-year-old bronze statue from ancient Greece by looking at two pictures of the same statue. The first picture was taken before conservators restored the statue. The second picture was taken after it was conserved (cleaned and repaired), and shows what you can see today on display at the Getty Villa Museum in Los Angeles, California.

Observe and Make Inferences About the Sculpture Before Conservation

Look closely at the pre-conservation image on the left. Then, write or discussion your responses to the following questions.

• What is the first thing that catches your attention when you look at this image? Point to it specifically. Where is it located, what does it look like, what color or texture does it have?
• Scan the surface of the statue. Start at the top and work your way down. What textures do you observe? What colors? What shapes? List as many as you can.
• What parts of the original form are still visible underneath the surface material? What parts are completely obscured?
• Based only on what you can observe, what do you think this object is made of? What makes you think so? (This is an inference.)
• What does the condition of this statue tell you about its journey? What kinds of environments do you think it passed through?

Observe and Make Inferences About the Sculpture After Conservation

Look closely at the post-conservation image on the right. Then, write or discussion your responses to the following questions.

• What new details can you see in the image of the sculpture taken after it was cleaned? Be as specific as possible. Describe facial features, musculature, posture, any objects, surface texture of the bronze itself.
• Compare the colors of the bronze in both images. What things changed? What might account for those changes? (Consider: what was removed, and what was preserved?)
• Look at the pose and physical features. What can you infer about the identity of the person represented? Consider: age, physical build, social status, activity. For each inference, name the specific visual evidence that supports it.
• Are there details in the post-conservation image that surprise you or didn’t expect to find? Describe them.

Learn More About the Sculpture’s History

Listen to the audio clip to find out more about the Statue of a Victorious Youth. Then, write or discuss your responses to the questions below.

• What specific kinds of damage has this statue experienced over the centuries?
• This statue survived because it ended up in the ocean. What does that suggest about the role of accident and chance in what history preserves? What can you infer about our understanding of history if not everything that is important survives?
• Conservation scientists use X-ray fluorescence, CT scanning, and chemical analysis to study objects like this without destroying the artwork. How does a scientist “read” an object differently from an art historian?

A professional responsible for preserving old or damaged objects and materials.