September 11, 2009 by Amy Elliott Bragg
Secret Velazquez
In yesterday’s New York Times: a painting long relegated to the “school of Velazquez,” with a deep-cleaning, turns out to be the work of the master himself.
Art conservation belongs, to me, in the same poetic category as wreck diving, digging up cities in the desert, recovering heisted jewels and putting together skeletons. In another life, I think I would be very happy as a conservator, but I fear it is a little too late in life to learn the trade, and also I have somewhat poor fine motor skills.