This photo made me laugh for a good ten minutes. If you haven’t read the story, it is the result of a well-intentioned but obviously unskilled octogenarian-cum-restorationist. The 19th century painting had been improperly preserved and was deteriorating, as seen on the left. The elderly woman took it upon herself to touch it up, and it wasn’t until the painting reached the stage seen on the right that she decided she was in over her head and confessed. How did she get that far before she realized she wasn’t making it better?!

Next time someone asks why you need a Master’s degree to be an archival/preservation/conservation librarian, you need no further rebuttal than the above painting.