ABSTRACT

In order to illuminate the territories of these controversies, it is necessary first to look at some of the issues that constantly crop up. A discussion of the cleaning of paintings ought to begin with the observation that there is very little left to say – the subject has been endlessly debated in terms ranging from the complacent or the concerned through the merely intemperate to the downright abusive. The arguments are repeated so often that they seem familiar, even routine. But familiarity does not mean simplicity, and the balance between contradictory polemics remains a complicated one. We are dealing with a highly complex equation, and it is ultimately one that may have no single solution.