Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 December 1886 — The Risk of Cleaning Pictures. [ARTICLE]

The Risk of Cleaning Pictures.

The question of picture cleaning is one of the most complicated that can be. Suppose you leave a very dirty picture as it is, do you see, can you possibly see, what the artist painted ? Assuredly not. And why should decent people tolerate dirty pictures when they wi|l not tolerate a dirty tablecloth? The answer is that, if the picture could be cleaned as safely as the tablecloth, it would be done without hesitation, but that cleaning may possibly remove light glazes and scumblings along with the varnish, and that if these glazes, the finish ng work of the artist, at e once removed, no luiman being, except the artist who painted the picture, can replace them, says an acknowledged authority. But by the time a picture urgently wants cleaning the painter has generally been for many years in h’s grave. Therefore, in having a picture cleaned, you are risking that which cannot be replaced.— New York Journal. NN ~ "T ’T 7