Conservators & curators & exhibit designers among us...

I'm forwarding a message from my medieval codicology list raising a concern
about the use of magnifying glasses for viewing mss. in an exhibit. I know
that at the current Rembrandt print exhibit at the MFA viewers are also
armed with magnifiying glasses. I have the authors permission to forward
this and send along any replies back to her. The sender is a knowledgeable
scholar who organizes conferences on medieval books. She in turn sent her
message to the medieval codicology list on behalf of a friend.

Any general responses (or specific ones regarding the Kimball exhibit)
would be appreciated.

>Date:    Sat, 3 Jan 2004 04:04:25 +0100
>From:    Julia Bolton Holloway <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: Exhibiting Manuscripts
>MIME-Version: 1.0
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
>
>A friend has written about his concern with the use of magnifying glasses
>on medieval manuscripts in an exhibition. I also have been concerned with
>the use of fluorescent lighting close to medieval manuscripts and frescoes
>in Italy, though in a book I have on the conservation of fine books it
>counsels against the use of these lamps as their rays continue to cause
>damage. Am not actually sure if either is true, but thought I could ask the
>wisdom of this list. Pierpont Morgan at the moment does not respond to
>communications.
>I have just been to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Wroth Texas and saw the
>Painted Prayers exhibition of Books of Hours from the Pierpont Morgan
>Library.  People going to the exhibition used magnifying lenses to look at
>the manuscripts.  I watched them as they focused light upon the manuscripts
>in some cases to a pinpoint, and am worried about them damaging the
>works.  If you place a magnifying lens onto the glass case, which is what
>most of them do, it creates a concentrated beam of light onto the page
>whether they are looking at that part of the page or not.  They have flood
>lamps in the ceiling that are being focused onto the manuscripts and the
>lenses concentrate that light.  Perhaps if they did not direct the flood
>lamps onto the cases but did it indirectly it would be ok.  When they pull
>away  from the case with their lenses the light becomes extremely
>concentrated and I think that if they stayed in that position for a few
>seconds more it would alight.  Surely this is bad for the inks.  They are
>doing this randomly and swinging these lenses around and thus sending
>focused light all over the place.
>        They are letting in about half of the people that come into the
>exhibition had these magnifying lenses, they are about 6 inches across and
>have a further magnifying lens in there as a bifocal type of thing.  They
>have a black edge to them.  I would say that there were at least 70 people
>in there this morning waving these things about.
>        I figured that you would be the best person to contact on this as
>you would know who to contact.  Peter S Wieck is in charge of the
>exhibition and I do not know where to contact him effectively.  The Kimbell
>only has their regular email address listed and I told this to a guard but
>he did not seem to comprehend the problem.  They will not allow flash
>photography in there and the light is dimmed and yet this is going on.

--- Amy West
Museum Educator
Higgins Armory Museum

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