Sculpture conservation - Phillip Lindley

The field of sculpture conservation has long been a contentious one.
Evaluative judgements are made, balancing assessments of the importance of the original sculpture against the significance of the restorer's work in transforming the image to meet the aesthetic and market-place demands of the time.
This collection of 20 essays by an international group of contributors in part debates how these judgements both influence ard are influenced by the requirements of contemporary curators and conservators.
There is also discussion of the types of conservation techniques currently available and the role that institutions such as English Heritage have to play in conservation policy.
These essays demonstrate that there are few unequivocal answers to the cultural and ethical problems of sculpture conservation.
Taken together they make clear the need to establish reliable frameworks within which conservation prodedures can take place which are no longer clouded by personal or professional antagonisms.