Retouching of Art on Paper

Retouching, the process employed by paper conservators to replace damaged or lost areas of media, is carried out directly on the original item or on paper infills. Interventive retouching on an original surface requires the consideration of several important ethical issues such as reversibility and authenticity. The use of retouching on infills, which could be termed non-interventive, is easier to accept, as it can always be made reversible and can normally be easily identified as a later addition to the original work. The focus of this book is on interventive retouching and it raises many questions of reconstruction, including digital reconstruction and facsimile reintegration.