An early exposure to the methods and materials of works of art

The Museums supplement to the March 15, 2012 issue of The New York Times contains an article (“Teaching Children the Value of Pre-Web Pages”, by Karen Jones) about a program run by the Morgan Library and Museum that gives New York City public school children in grades 3 – 7 a first-hand understanding of the materials and techniques of medieval illuminated manuscripts. The children construct their own manuscripts using authentic materials including cochineal, fish glue, gum arabic, saffron thread and gold. It will be interesting to see if any of these children will be inspired to study technical art history or art conservation when they are older.