Treatment of the Gilded Surfaces of the Ghent Altarpiece
On 30 and 31 October 2025, the Art Salinity and Acidity Project (ASAP), the MatCoRe unit (KIK–IRPA / ULB), and the conservation–restoration team of the Ghent Altarpiece conducted two days of scientific collaboration focused on the work’s gilded surfaces.
Bringing together conservators and heritage science researchers, the meeting explored how detailed pH and conductivity mapping can inform the design of aqueous cleaning systems tailored to oil-gilded surfaces. The key challenge was to control the use of water—essential for effective cleaning—in order to limit long-term degradation risks, particularly those associated with the formation of metal carboxylates.
Thanks to the support of the Périer-D’Ieteren Foundation, the ASAP team—led by Dr Elena Aguado (ASAP, Escuela Superior de Conservación y Restauración de Bienes Culturales, Madrid)—was able to share its expertise and co-develop safer and more sustainable cleaning strategies, exemplifying an outstanding collaboration between conservation-restoration practice and scientific research in the service of a major masterpiece of world heritage.