ABSTRACT
Museums have thriving restoration and conservation departments that execute work not only for their collections but for other museums and individuals. There are considerable vested interests. Universities and colleges teach restoration and have restoration schools, and philanthropic foundations are often deeply committed to restoration. Many individuals, often powerful and prestigious persons, are directly concerned, including chemists, museum directors, curators, superintendents of art, art historians, critics not to mention restorers themselves, in an activity that as yet has very few controls. Many people question the so-called scientific operations at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and at the National Gallery in Washington, as well as the Getty Museum in California, all three favoring a radical approach. Illicit exportation and trade in art objects have gone on for centuries and continue to flourish. Due to the clandestine nature of the business, invaluable archaeological and art historical evidence is often destroyed at the same time that objects are being mishandled.
