Please Do Not Touch the Statues!

--- MESSAGE:
From: Erin Blake

Thanks Caitlin and Georgianna,

The guard was correct: no one should touch the sculptures, but I think making a one-time exception to the no-touching rule for the blind woman was appropriate, and I'm sure Helen was careful to direct the visitor away from the most fragile areas of the sculptures, where the marble is sugaring.

I do want to make sure a misconception from long-ago docent training is corrected: the bas reliefs were put low so they could be *seen* not touched. The marble used for the sculptures is extremely fragile, even though it's stone. When traces of oils and acids from people's hands are deposited on the stone, they attract microbial growth and speed up the chemical reactions that are eating away at the marble. The marble of the building itself isn't so vulnerable because it was cut and polished by machine. The marble of the bas reliefs, on the other hand, is sugaring very badly in places, and is part of an ongoing conservation project.

Thanks,

EB.

----- ORIGINAL MESSAGE
From: Helen Urquhart

Dear Caitlin,

On Friday I did the 3PM tour. The group included a blind woman. I took the tour outside and proceeded past the bas reliefs. I casually asked the woman if she would like to touch them, i.e. see them the only way she could, with her hands. She did do that and was very pleased about it.
Yes, one guard did object but relented when he saw the situation.
When I went through training, I was told that the reliefs were put there so that blind visitors and children could see them.

Helen U.