Picture This: Statue Conservation September 11, 2006

SAAM conservator Hugh Shockey has been hard at work conserving John Rogers' Taking the Oath and Drawing Rations.  The piece, dating from the 1860s, had been touched up many years ago in an undated conservation.  The unknown conservator didn't take the time to build a layer of fill so that the newer paint was at the same level as the original.  Here, Hugh is carefully removing the newer paint to show the plaster (or possibly terra cotta) surface beneath. 

You can see the surface with the uneven paint (left), and in the midst of the conservation with the newer paint removed (right). Later in the process, he'll use fill and inpainting (the introduction of new paint in areas of loss in order to restore the surface continuity) to bring the piece back to its original appearance. When the conservation is complete, the piece will go on display in SAAM's second floor galleries.

On your next visit stop by the Lunder Conservation Center where you can see Hugh and other conservators caring for works in our collection.

Cassandra Good co-wrote to this post.

• John Rogers, Art Conservation, Smithsonian American Art Museum