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Between 1789 and 1870, the ways in which works of art and collections as a whole were to be preserved were debated at length in France by collectors and by a wide array of those with a professional interest. They had a common aim: to prevent works from alteration and degradation owing to their treatment and method of display in private collections. The promotion of such protective measures at a time when private apartments were becoming increasingly accessible to visitors confirms that an awareness of the idea of common heritage was beginning to emerge. The environment in which paintings were kept was a source of major concern for the amateur, especially when it came to protecting works of art within his private apartments or in the course of travel. In attempting to address these problems, several patents were filed in France that sought to promote treatments aimed at preserving important works in private ownership, and a number of strategies were put forward for the restoration and protection of works of art, the treatment of varnishes and the hanging of paintings in domestic spaces. Patents registered for a number of inventions enable some of these preservation processes to be identified in detail.

Préoccupés par la conservation de leurs collections de peintures, les amateurs d’art parisiens font appel, entre 1789 et 1870, aux restaurateurs de tableaux, ces derniers relevant d’une profession qui, à l’époque, se définit indépendamment de celles du marchand, de l’expert ou même du peintre. Si le restaurateur intervient sur les œuvres du particulier, il joue, par ailleurs, pour l’amateur, un rôle de guide dans sa connaissance, voire dans son apprentissage, des procédés picturaux. Progressivement, ce rapport à la matérialité de l’œuvre contribue à intégrer le collectionneur au sein des commissions muséales en tant que conseiller, avant d’acquérir un statut privilégié au sein du musée à partir des années 1860 par le legs de ses œuvres. Concerned about the conservation of their art collections, in the years between 1789 and 1870, Parisian art lovers called upon the services of painting restorers, who, at the time, belonged to a profession considered quite separate from that of art dealer, expert or even painter. While the restorer worked on paintings belonging to private collectors, he also acted as a guide for the latter, broadening their knowledge of – or even teaching them about – pictorial techniques. This understanding of the materiality of artworks gradually contributed to collectors being invited into museum committees as advisors, before they acquired a privileged status in museums, from the 1860s onwards, by bequeathing their collections.