#6: Overcleaning a Marble Masterpiece
The Parthenon sculptures at the British Museum were not damaged by one dramatic blow but by a misguided idea of what ancient marble ought to look like. In the late 1930s, workers cleaned sections of the sculptures too aggressively, using abrasive methods and tools that removed surface qualities developed over centuries. At the time, many people still imagined classical marble as bright, pale, and spotless, even though age, weathering, and patina are part of an object’s historical record.
