Since before the dawn of history, humans have found ways to decorate their home with paint. The pre-historical cave paintings from around the world attest to the innate desire to transform and personalize where we live. This lecture will focus on the technologies of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to show how it was possible to achieve certain colors and finishes for decoration of American interiors. Discussion of significant pigments, paint media, manipulation of paint layers and decorative effects- some of which are fascinating- will be discussed.

This is a hybrid event; please indicate at check out if you intend to join the program in person (at the Center for Architecture and Design) or virtually (via Zoom). Register here.

1.0 LU|HSW approved

Matthew J. Mosca, is a nationally recognized consultant in the field of historic paint research and restoration, employing microscopy, ultraviolet light exposure and microchemical testing as a means of identifying the constituents of paint finishes. He received his education at Cornell University, the Graduate School of the Department of Agriculture and the McCrone Research Institute and was a National Trust scholar of the Attingham School, Attingham England in 1978. Several projects have won awards for excellence over the years, and some, such as George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon and Hope Lodge, where the technology of the eighteenth century was replicated as accurately as possible, have been considered landmarks in the evolution of the field. Among the many significant projects that Mr. Mosca has worked on over the past thirty-six years in this field are, Mount Vernon, home of George Washington (1735, 1759-1799), The United States Capitol, [in conjunction with others] Washington, D.C., George Read II House (c. 1806) New Castle, Delaware, Arlington House (1805-1818) Arlington, Virginia, The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson’s Home, (1819-1835) near Nashville, Tennessee, and recently in Baltimore, Homewood House on the JHU Campus, and the Clifton Mansion [1799, 1852] summer home of Johns Hopkins.