This volume on paintings conservation includes more than seventy texts ranging from the fifteenth century to the present day. Some are classic and highly influential writings; others, although little known when first published, in retrospect reflect important themes and issues in the history of the field. Many appear here in English for the first time, including translations of D. Vicente Polero y Toledo's 1855 essay "Arte de la Restauración" (The Art of Restoration), and Victor Bauer-Bolton's treatise from 1914, "Sollen fehlende Stellen bei Gemälden ergänzt werden?" (Should Missing Areas of Paintings Be Made Good?).

The book is divided into six sections: An Historical Miscellany, History of the Profession, Study of Artists' Materials and Techniques, Structural Interventions, Philosophical and Practical Approaches to Cleaning and Restoration, and Cleaning Controversies.

This is the second volume to appear in the Getty Conservation Institute's Readings in Conservation series, which publishes texts considered fundamental to an understanding of the history, philosophies, and methodologies of conservation.