This 4th-year seminar explores collaborations between art historians, conservators and material scientists in the technical study of works of art, especially of the early modern period. With ever more portable and effective means (like X-Radiography and 3D Scanning) that allow us to study the material composition and the inner structures and layers of works of art, the technical study of art has become an important new direction in art history. This course will situate technical art history (also known as technical studies) in the discipline, tracing its rise in the early 20th century as a new scientifically-based discipline that was distinguished from the traditional and intuitive practice of connoisseurship.
[FAH101H5 and (FAH274H5 or FAH279H5) and 1.0 credit in FAH or VCC at the 300 or 400 level] or permission of instructor. Students with a background in Chemistry are encouraged to contact the professor.