The Conservation and Restoration Department which was created in 1975 is the first Department as such created within the Museum.

Since then, the Department has applied all the technical means and conservation criteria at its disposal to the new demands of museums and played an active role in the evolution of the Museum. The principal objective of the Department is to conserve those works of art comprising the Museum's own Collection as well as all other works of art or objects of cultural interest kept in Museum installations. The Department plays a fundamental role in gleaning scientific knowledge regarding works of art and in divulging this same information to both the general public and the scientific community.

Plan of Action

Preventive Conservation

The aim of preventive conservation is to avoid any damage being caused to works of art. This materialises in a series of indirect steps:

  • By controlling the conditions of relative humidity, temperature and lighting in the different exhibition halls and storerooms of the Museum.
  • By revising and periodically monitoring the state of conservation, maintenance and superficial cleanliness of all works of art housed by the Museum.
  • By framing and mounting the works in special conservation frames and installing them in air-conditioned containers.
  • By supervising that storage, handling and installation of each work is carried out properly.
  • By supervising the loan of those works of art pertaining to the Museum's own Collection to other institutions - for temporary exhibitions, for example - evaluating the environmental conditions of the afore-mentioned exhibition halls and buildings, supervising the proper packing of the works, their means of transport and necessary handling and even accompanying them to their destination when deemed necessary.
  • ? By controlling the conditions of works loaned to the Museum, whether either temporarily or for an exhibition. The state of conservation of the work of art is evaluated and a corresponding report is issued. This, in turn, serves to monitor the work of art during its stay in the Museum and its despatch from the same.

Conservation and Restoration

Conservation treatments or, as they are referred to nowadays, curative conservation treatments, suppose works of art being subjected to direct actions and are only applied when a particular work of art is found to be in a state of deterioration. These treatments concern, for example, the consolidation of materials and their structural and chemical stabilisation. Those restoration interventions which normally imply a change in the aspect of a work of art are applied to restore or permit the appreciation of works without changing their significance. Though this work has always traditionally been associated with conservationists/restorers, new museum needs, however, have given rise to new conservation and research measures. Given the variety of the works of art that make up the Collections of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, we had to develop an interdisciplinary way of working, something which led to the increasing collaboration and exchange of specialists from several different public institutions, such as the Institute for the Cultural Heritage of Spain, the Senior Council for Scientific Research and the Prado National Museum.

Conservation an Restoration information asking form

For any further doubts or questions regarding this department, do not hesitate to contact us by completing the following form:

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