May I call your attention to the excellent section on "methods and
materials" in the Brooklyn Museum's recent exhibit of Spanish Colonial
art, "Converging Cultures", which I believe is now at the Phoenix Museum
of Art? This section was prepared by the Brooklyn Museum's
conservation department and deals with the methods and materials
(including beetle oil and llama urine) used by  Mexican and Peruvian
artists to achieve the stunning effects the visitr sees on some of the
objects in the exhibit. Objects in the exhibit that are discussed in this
section are cued with an image of a magnifying glass on their labels so
that the visitor will know that there is more about them in the
conservation section. -Lonn Taylor, National Museum of American
History ([log in to unmask])