This handsomely illustrated volume traces the intersections of art history and paintings restoration in nineteenth-century Europe. Repairing works of art and writing about them—the practices that became art conservation and art history—share a common ancestry. By the nineteenth century the two fields had become inseparably linked. While the art historical scholarship of this period has been widely studied, its restoration practices have received less scrutiny—until now. This book charts the intersections between art history and conservation in the treatment of Italian Renaissance paintings in nineteenth-century Europe. Initial chapters discuss the restoration of works by Giotto and Titian, framed by the contemporary scholarship of art historians such as Jacob Burckhardt, G. B. Cavalcaselle, and Joseph Crowe that was redefining the earlier age. Subsequent chapters recount how paintings conservation was integrated into museum settings. The narrative uses period texts, unpublished archival materials, and historical photographs in probing how paintings looked at a time when scholars were writing the foundational texts of art history, and how contemporary restorers were negotiating the appearances of these works. The book proposes a model for a new conservation history, object focused yet enriched by consideration of a wider cultural horizon. “A conservator makes the case that in 19th-century Europe, restoring Renaissance masterpieces wasn't just a matter of upkeep: it also led to the kind of close study that constitutes art history as we know it. Were it not for the cleaning and repairing of works by Giotto and Titian, Hayes proposes, we wouldn't look at art the way we do today.”   ― ARTnews Published On: 2021-06-01 “Important new book. . . . [Sheds] new light on neglected practitioners while offering a fresh perspective on familiar art historians.” -- Luke Uglow ― APOLLO Published On: 2021-10-01 “This book is for anyone with an interest in Renaissance artworks and the history of their collection and conservation. . . . The accuracy of the information and images are superb.” -- Kimberly Frost ― News in Conservation “The principal distinction of this carefully researched and dense account of the subject is that its author, Matthew Hayes, is a practicing paintings conservator. Rather more unusual is Hayes's keen and abiding interest in his profession's philosophical intent and historical evolution. This is not a ‘how-to’ book, but rather a ‘why and when’ one.”   -- Marco Grassi ― The New Criterion Published On: 2022-02-01 “[An] enjoyable, intelligent, and well-written book on the history of art and of conservation in the nineteenth century.” -- Giorgio Bonsanti ― The Burlington Magazine Published On: 2022-07-01 “A book of great interest, aimed at capturing the interaction between art history and conservation during the nineteenth century, i.e. the century that saw the respective professional figures getting a ‘modern’ shape.” -- Giovanni Mazzaferro ― Letteratura artistica Published On: 2021-10-11 “A detailed, intelligent account of the development and correlations between painting conservation and the emergence of art history in nineteenth-century Europe.” -- Andrea Walton ― ARLIS/NA Published On: 2022-05-01 “The volume paints an interesting picture of the different materialisations of the dialogue between art history and conservation throughout the century.” -- Maartje Stols-Witlox ― Journal of Art Historiography Published On: 2022-12-01 Matthew Hayes is a paintings conservator in New York, where he directs the Pietro Edwards Society for Art Conservation.