Conserving the Painted Past

From an international perspective, English wall paintings offer much diversity in both history and production and are heavily linked with wider European artistic tradition. They range from delicate frescoes in Roman villa ruins to larger decorative and figurative schemes in churches and cathedrals, as well as domestic buildings. These vulnerable works of art suffer not only from environmental changes but also from the well-meaning but often irreversible treatments of the past.

The English Heritage conference Conserving the Painted Past continues an important tradition of international debate on the conservation of wall paintings, taking stock of current developments in the field, reviewing standards and practice and planning the way ahead.

The papers included illustrate the variety of issues and approaches central to modern wall painting practice from a multidisciplinary perspective. These conference Postprints thus record the state of the profession at the threshold of the 21st century.

Published in association with English Heritage.