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Each morning I hop on my
trusty bicycle and swerve through bike lanes, over canal bridges, and past
tourists to arrive at the Ateliergebouw,
a center of conservation and scientific research in Amsterdam. For the past
five months, I’ve had the opportunity to intern at the Rijksmuseum, alongside
my classmate Gerrit (featured in last month's blog post). While Gerrit works
across the building in the paintings studio, I spend my days in metal atelier. Here
I work with conservators well versed in the treatment and study of Renaissance
bronzes, Dutch silver, South Asian archaeological sculpture, 20th
century jewelry, and many other topics in the dynamic field of metal
conservation.
Building on the skills
learned in the second-year instrumental analysis course at WUDPAC, I have been
carrying out a technical examination of an 18th-century mirror frame under the
supervision of conservators Joosje van Bennekom and WUDPAC alum Sara Creange.
This in-depth study using the research resources and analytical tools available
at the Rijksmuseum has allowed me to parse through the multiple campaigns of
restoration on this complex object. By pairing my data with art historical
research, the mirror has been connected back to repair work carried out by
Fabergé in St. Petersburg at the turn of the 20th century. Not only has this
object survived extensive restoration, but it has also travelled back and forth
across the European continent. It made its way from St. Petersburg to a private
collector’s home in Amsterdam, was taken by the Germans in WWII and ultimately
recovered by the Monuments Men, all before making its way to its current home
at the Rijksmuseum.