The renovation, expansion, and reinstallation between 2003 and 2011 of the New Galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia at The Metropolitan Museum of Art provided conservators and conservation scientists with an extraordinary opportunity to examine and conserve many works of Islamic art in the Permanent Collection. Discoveries that were made during this period have enhanced many aspects of the re-installation of the galleries. The exhibition Making the Invisible Visible: Conservation and Islamic Art, on view beginning April 2nd, 2013, will demonstrate how our understanding and appreciation of the works of art we see in visible light can be augmented by information gleaned using other wavelengths of light, from infrared to x-rays.

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