CINCINNATI – The art and science of conserving fine art will be shared with the public in the Cincinnati Art Museum’s special exhibit, Conservation on View: Zaragoza’s Retablo of St. Peter, from January 26 – April 24, 2016.

Cincinnati Art Museum’s Chief Conservator and paintings conservator Serena Urry will be cleaning 600-year-old The Retablo of St. Peter, in a public gallery.

The Spanish altarpiece, attributed to Lorenzo Zaragoza, features 18 painted panels that show scenes from the life of St. Peter on a rich gilded background.

Cleaning is the first step of a major conservation treatment for the artwork – one of the largest projects undertaken at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Progress in the treatment will be visible over the course of the exhibit. All the pieces of the retablo will be on view, as well as before-treatment photographs, images captured using ultraviolet and infrared light, and informative text panels about the cleaning and fine art conservation in general.

“Visitors will get a sense of the setup of a paintings conservation lab and will be able to observe the conservation process first-hand,” said Urry. “It’s a window into the behind-the-scenes of an art museum’s conservation department.”

Urry’s conservation treatment will include working at an easel and a microscope. A live-view monitor will display the microscopic work for exhibit visitors. When she is not present, a video will show the cleaning.

“There will be plenty of conservation-on-view even when I’m not in the gallery,” Urry said. “And we’re hoping that our visitors will be inspired to return to the museum over the course of the exhibit, to watch as the paintings are revealed by cleaning.”

The Retablo of St. Peter was acquired in 1960 and was last shown at the Art Museum in 2010. The complete conservation treatment is expected to take several years. The exhibit will be located in Gallery 124, across from the Terrace Café.

The Cincinnati Art Museum is supported by the generosity of individuals and businesses that give annually to ArtsWave. The Ohio Arts Council helps fund the Cincinnati Art Museum with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The Cincinnati Art Museum gratefully acknowledges operating support from the City of Cincinnati, as well as our members. General admission to the Cincinnati Art Museum is always free. The museum is open Tuesday – Sunday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. and is closed Monday.