Drawing by Nicolas Bernard Lépicié which you can admire at the Museum of Fine Arts, Orléans. Surely a future marquetry project.
One can sense the living and working conditions of the men who created these pieces of wood, pouring their expertise and a part of themselves into them. In their own way, they inscribed their lives and their stories within the larger narrative of history. This is the very essence of the restorer's craft. The furniture restorer is merely a custodian of memory. They ensure that the soul of the piece is preserved by intervening as discreetly as possible, thus perpetuating and honoring the work of their predecessors.
But current events remind us that it's not only humans who are mortal. And with a burned-out roof frame, the work and memory of carpenters from another era disappear forever.
