Behind the glass: the conservation lab
A rare, small-group visit to the museum's conservation laboratory — usually closed to the public — with the senior conservator on duty.
Once a week we open the conservation lab for a single tour of six guests. You will see textiles, painted wood, and metalwork in active treatment, and you will hear how decisions are made — what to clean, what to leave, what to restore.
Photography is not permitted in the lab itself, but you may take notes. The visit ends in the gallery, looking again at an object you have just seen mid-treatment.
Itinerary, with timings.
- 00:00
Lab anteroom
Welcome, ground rules, today's caseload.
- 00:30
On the benches
Three live treatments, with the senior conservator.
- 02:00
Back in the gallery
Re-seeing a treated object on display.
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