Blog

Where art meets science: Restoring masterpieces by Nelli, Rembrandt, Pollock and Van Gogh

Jun 12th, 2020 | Dr Nick Gordon

Most of the art you see in galleries and museums has survived because of restoration and conservation work. This work is absolutely necessary because a work of art is subject to quite complex chemical, physical and mechanical processes that degrade the materials from which it is made. In this article,...

Lake Mungo & the Willandra Lakes Region World Heritage Area

May 28th, 2020 | Dr Chris Carter

Lake Mungo and the Willandra Lakes Region are home to some of Australia’s oldest cultural artefacts. Although “Mungo Man” and “Mungo Lady” are the most famous, they are but two among many of discoveries that give us insight into the deep history of Indigenous Australia and the way the land...

Raphael at the Scuderie del Quirinale – a walk in the exhibition

May 14th, 2020 | Dr Kathleen Olive

When Raphael died on 6 April 1520 – according to tradition, on his birthday – the Italian art world immediately felt his loss. This year marks the 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death, and the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome had planned a large exhibition dedicated exclusively to the “infinite riches”...

Akhenaten: the mythologising of a pharaoh

Apr 30th, 2020 | Lucia Gahlin

This 18th dynasty pharaoh ruled Egypt c1352 – 1336 BC from his new capital at Tell el-Amarna (Amarna), roughly midway between Cairo and Luxor. It was a city built on a virgin site, and although preservation of the mudbrick buildings is limited, it still survives better than any other ancient...

Meeting Tenzing Norgay

Apr 16th, 2020 | Judy Tenzing

I was a working-class child from one of the less salubrious parts of Sydney. We didn’t have many holidays, as I recall, but sometimes we would go up to the Blue Mountains and rent an old house in Blackheath for the winter vacation. I loved the cold and the brooding,...