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Larry Keith is the Head of Conservation and Keeper of the National Gallery of London, where he preserves and maintains some of the world’s most precious works of art, including paintings by Leonardo, Caravaggio, and Rubens. In this episode, Robinson and Larry discuss what goes into a conservator’s appraisal of an artwork, some of the tools and techniques of the job, and how Larry has treated a number of famous paintings, such as Leonardo’s Virgin of the Rocks and Caravaggio’s The Boy and a Lizard.

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

01:08 Introduction

03:19 Piere Menard and Borges

11:01 Conserving Da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks

23:28 What Goes into Conserving a Renaissance Masterpiece?

51:00 Conserving Caravaggio’s Masterpieces

01:17:32 On Authorship and Paul Rubens’ Drunken Silenus

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.