Restoration and Conservation

Our team of a dozen restorers and conservators plays a vital role at the National Gallery of Canada.

Every year in the Restoration and Conservation Laboratory, they take in nearly 2,000 works of various media ranging from paintings and sculptures to frames, decorative art and much more. These works are preserved for the benefit of present and future generations, and, wherever possible, restored to their original state.

Learn more about the team's exciting craft on this page, and follow the rhythm of the artworks that pass through the doors of their lab.

Collection

Featured Videos

Restoring The Empress Josephine Marble Bust

Watch this video to see how our Conservation team prepared Joseph Chinard’s marble bust of The Empress Josephine for its big moment at The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Restoring Sunrise on the Saguenay, Cape Trinity

Sunrise on the Saguenay, Cape Trinity, by Lucius O'Brien, is the first painting that entered the collection of the National Gallery of Canada in 1880. See how our team restored it.

Restoration and Conservation: Woolsey's Cup

From acquisition to exhibition, learn more about the journey of the Woolsey Family's Caudle Cup, now on display in the new Canadian and Indigenous Galleries.

 

View more videos

Featured Content

In the Spotlight

Dark Side of the Moon: Forensic Analysis of Lewis M. Rutherfurd's "Moon"

Forensic analysis of Lewis M. Rutherfurd’s Moon reveals intriguing details about the object’s support and its display history.
August 21, 2018
In the Spotlight

Turner’s technical skill: the making of a watercolour

One of the principal visual artists of the English Romantic Movement, J.M.W. Turner created the watercolour "Forum Romanum" in 1818.
June 19, 2018
In the Spotlight

Portable studios in a pocket: the pochade boxes of Biéler, Morrice and Kelly

The story surrounding a group of pochade boxes in the Restoration and Conservation laboratory reveals the connection between a number of Canadian landscape artists and their particular way of working.
April 18, 2018