We have an early 19th century painting that is in very bad shape, with numerous areas of paint loss and extensive crackling. We have just had it photographed because we want to have the image digitally retouched and reproduced as a a giclée to display in an upcoming permanent exhibit. There has been some discussion here as to just how much work should be done on the digital retouching, and whether it should look like the painting has been restored or conserved. We don't want it to look like when it was new, but are not quite sure just how much the photograph should be touched up. Does anyone know of any museum guidelines that could help inform us as to how much digital retouching should be done when making a reproduction of an historic painting?

Thanks very much.
Lisa Dunbar

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).