Blue Boy Conservation 2009

As the first in a series of conservation projects being undertaken in partnership with the J. Paul Getty Museum, The Huntington's famous portrait of "The Blue Boy" by Thomas Gainsborough came off display briefly on Oct. 13 to receive a new coat of protective varnish. Mark Leonard, the Getty's head of paintings conservation, and associate conservator Tiarna Doherty performed the delicate task. In addition, Gainsborough specialist Rica Jones from the Tate, London (currently at the Getty as a guest conservator), took several microscopic paint samples for analysis. In the months ahead, Getty conservators will be doing more extensive work on three other Huntington works: a Byzantine triptych and a pair of portraits by George Romney.

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items are from 12 Oct 2009.