Examining and conserving paintings from six centuries

Unknown scribe, Initial V, Assumption of Mary, fragment of an antiphonary, c. 1300, paint and gold leaf on parchment, 22.5 x 17.6 cm. Left: full view under top light; right: detail in raking light 

Unknown artist (Nuremberg), Virgin Mary (detail), c. 1500, oil-based paint on wood, 115.5 x 41 cm. Left: before restoration in visible light; centre: in the x-radiograph; right: interim condition during restoration 

Canaletto, Basilica Santa Maria delle Salute, c. 1750, oil paint on canvas, 48.5 x 35.5 cm. Left: in visible light; right: in the x-radiograph, rotated 180° 

Unknown artist, Frédéric-Robert Meuricoffre and his Wife Henriette Hillmer, c. 1779, oil paint on canvas, 76 x 61 cm. Left: in visible light; right: in the x-radiograph

Anton Boch, Portrait of Maria Beltinger, née Roth and Portrait of Anselm Beltinger, c. 1871, oil paint on canvas, 53 x 41 cm. Left: before varnish removal; right: after varnish removal 

Augusto Giacometti, Crocuses in Flowerpots, 1932, oil-based paint on fabric, 35 x 27 cm. Top left: before restoration, with tiny lacunae (arrows); bottom left: during restoration, with tiny fills; right: full view after restoration