Conserving Bronze: The Lamp with Erotes from Vani

In the summer of 2007, four bronze lamps were discovered in a rock-cut pit near the walls of ancient Vani. Much ancient bronzework is lost to us, so the discovery of these remarkable objects in such a well-preserved condition is of immense value. Two of these lamps were recently conserved at the Getty Villa in collaboration with the Georgian National Museum. Watch conservators use a range of approaches to study and clean the Lamp with Erotes from Vani in this short film from the Getty Museum.

Related exhibition:

#artconservation #gettyconservation #gettymuseum

[melodychest]

Stunning work for 2000 years ago! Imagine .. they were pretty sophisticated.

[delusionsofgrandeur]

How absolutely stunning!! I’m always filled with a strange interspective feeling when I am confronted with such amazing ancient relics & can’t help but think of the people who made and enjoyed them... Also: I could watch these videos and listen to that voice for hours!

[devonvergiels]

So, there's this guy who calls himself a bronze restorer. He has a You Tube channel. He DESTROYS every thing he touches. He starts with an angle grinder or something equally as horrid. He grinds, he files, he ends with what he calls a perfectly finished statue, all shiny. And people say to him, oh wow, that's wonderful. I have made a couple comments about the way he's reducing everything he touches to scrap. I wish he would see what professionals do, Thanks for putting the right way out there.

[merryxmaswarisover]

So lo lovely. Thank you for your hard work and preservation.

[serhatkarakaya]

Well done. Abrasion method sounds scary but it depends how carefully you applied. Ultrasonic cavitation method would have chosen instead to have more control. Looking forward to see more metal project videos to be able to notice what kind of treatments you carry on for metal artifacts.

[exvoto]

Très intéressant, merci, beau reportage..!!

[shintaayums]

in this search it is very good because it uses several ways to clean this invention

[nazaxprime]

I miss having my radographer certs current.
;(
Amazing work, everyone, thank you!

[kimpulsipher]

The last picture looked like the cleaning was not finished. Am I wrong in assuming they would also clean the inside of the piece?

[Venceremos]

Qué LUCERNA más HERMOSA...
Su tamaño es extraordinario. Qué afortunados son los Arqueólogos, pues tienen el PRIVILEGIO de BUSCAR y HALLAR y poder TOCAR y RESTAURAR... VOLVER a la LUZ todos estos elementos materiales que fueron elaborados en tiempos pasados por manos humanas.
La MAGIA de la arqueología, es rescatar para los actuales humanos objetos que fueron de uso místico-ritual-mágico... ofrendas, entierros y tumbas repletas de ARTE y de elementos también de uso práctico y funcional, como es el caso de estos bellísimos objetos de bronce.
Esta lámpara de tres mechas, ¿de qué época proviene?... .
GRACIAS por el video.

[linkdude]

"air-brasion" - you mean sandblasting? lol

[kingjeremysircornwell]

Thrown in a hole by crusaders one day, studied by crusaders one day.

[LondonPower]

Georgia was Greek colony too many Greek cities in the coast of black sea !

[phonotical]

Blue green is not "patina", pTina is dirt from oils accumulated through use, that is Verdegris, corrosion/rust from the copper content, something alluded to in the spectographoc example, but clearly not the narration

[phonotical]

The video also features ZERO conservation.