Halp! I am in a research quandary

[ratherastory]

Does anyone know of good books and/or resources that would explain the technical aspects of the preservation and, more importantly, the restoration of art works? More specifically paintings, but I am not especially picky about the medium if it comes down to it.

I am trying to write a story and realized that my plot kind of hinges on my understanding the ins and outs of how to restore paintings, which I emphatically do not. In fact, this is so far out of my league I don't even know where to start. /o\

Halp? Anyone? Bueller?

Comments

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Actually, I was thinking Renaissance, so at least we're in the same hemisphere. ;)

What's Dark Water? I tried Google/Amazon, but you'd be amazed how many novels/thrillers with that name exist out there...

[http://users.livejournal.com/tesserae_/]

The story of the great flood: http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Water-Disaster-Redemption-Florence/dp/0767926498/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330542542&sr=8-1

When I was there last year, I kept seeing signs fifteen feet up on walls and churches saying that the water'd gotten to that height - I'd read the book before going, so it was fascinating to see how the flood had impacted the city. They're *still* working on some of the artworks, too.