AIC's 42nd Annual Meeting

This paper will present a summary of some of the varying materials employed in the creation of Spanish colonial paintings, including support systems, image media (such as cochineal and shell inlay), and surface coatings (related to European and American paintings from comparable time periods); and will discuss possible overlap of condition issues and treatment options with other painted objects.  The poor state of condition these paintings are often in will be reviewed, and examples of the examination and treatment of specific paintings presented.  Finally, a suggestion of how the treatment of Spanish colonial paintings may apply to the present field of conservation in general will be offered.