The Samuel H. Kress Collection encompasses more than 1200 Italian paintings, including over 500 early Italian examples. The majority of early Italian paintings in the collection have gold grounds or other forms of gold embellishment, our “gilt-y” obsessions.

Students enrolled in the Kress Program in Paintings Conservation have the rare opportunity to develop the skills and expertise necessary to conserve these fragile paintings. Working under the guidance of Professor Dianne Dwyer Modestini, Conservator of the Kress Program in Paintings Conservation and consulting conservator to the Kress Collection, and Rita Berg, Kress Fellow in Paintings Conservation, students carry out technical examinations and treatments of paintings from the Kress regional galleries and study collections.

This website is intended to highlight interesting aspects of ongoing treatments and research, conducted at the Conservation Center on paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection.

Kress Class