Recent sightings: Restoring Lincoln’s luster

Working from a scaffolding platform, Milwaukee art conservator Cricket Harbeck applies a heated-wax sealant to the Abraham Lincoln statue in front of Bascom Hall on Aug. 12, 2009.

Restoring the statue’s bronze luster involves Harbeck power washing the statue, heating the metal with a torch, brushing on a melted wax and finally reheating the area so that the wax can distribute evenly across and penetrate into the metal’s surface.

The cleaning, last done in 1999, coincides with the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth and the centennial of the statue’s placement on Bascom Hill.

Photo: Jeff Miller