Public Programs @ The Institute
Series: Marica Vilcek Lecture Series
Marco Leona, David H. Koch Scientist in Charge of the Department of Scientific Research at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Between Materials and Meanings: Research at the Interface of Science and Art
Tuesday, October 27, 2026 at 6:00 pm
In the Spring of 1882, the citizens of New York received an unprecedented – and to this day unique – invitation. In response to accusations in the media that some of the Ancient Cypriot objects in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art were severely reworked pastiches, the Museum decided to present two large sculptures in the Great Hall, outside of their cases and invited Members of the Public to “make the most careful examination of them”. Apparently, the visitors were allowed to “cut, … scrape, …treat with chemicals, and examine microscopically” the statues. The verdict of the public was unanimous: authentic!
In the 1920s and ‘30s the Museum realized that crowdsourcing chemistry was perhaps not the best idea, and started a collaboration with Columbia University electrochemist Colin Fink, who conducted pioneering work on metal analysis, conservation treatments, and preventive conservation research. More important for todays’ conversation, in the same decades a young Medieval art curator who had studied chemistry at Harvard, James Rorimer, began experimenting with ultraviolet light as a tool to highlight restoration, alterations, and in general, to “render the invisible visible”.
Today, advanced scientific methods are commonly used in museums to investigate the complexity of works of art. Science allows us to tell stories about art, its context, and the people who make it, highlighting cultural practices, economic and social relationships, technical developments, spiritual insights, or the imminent vulnerability of the objects themselves.
As scientists, we use chemistry to read works of art -just as historians read documents- and to explore the intersection of materials and meanings.
Marco Leona is the David H. Koch Scientist in Charge of the Department of Scientific Research at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the largest scientific laboratory in an art museum in the United States, which he founded in 2004. Before joining the Met, he worked at the Freer Gallery of Art and at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Dr. Leona studied chemistry in Italy, at the Universita’ degli Studi di Pavia, where he also obtained a PhD in Crystallography and Mineralogy.
Dr. Leona is the author of over 90 scientific papers, and he has lectured at conferences and science and literature festivals around the world. His work has been covered in broader reach articles, newscasts and documentaries. He is a member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, in Rome.
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