Sources and Serendipity

The primary aim of the ATSR Working Group is to establish a focus for historical documentary source research and reconstructions on art materials and techniques. Documentary source research is often an essential component of conservation research, or art historical research. Reconstructions, a natural follow-on from the collection of information on materials and their use, can form an invaluable tool. This publication is a collection of papers from the third symposium of the Art Technological Source Research Working Group held in 2008. The papers centre on the exploration of artists’ practice from a wide range of disciplines and periods, as recorded in visual and written testimonies; from treatises and manuals to correspondence, ledgers, diaries and journals, as well as images such as paintings, prints, photographs and film.