happened for two reasons. Firstly, it improves the visual impression of the statue; and secondly, the patina is a corrosive process slowly destroying the metal. Metal conservator training Notable metal conservators and organizations There are many nameless people associated with metal conservation. prior to 1800 Ancient civilizations used seven metals: Iron, Tin, Lead, Copper, Mercury, Silver, and Gold as objects of adornment, religious artifacts, and weaponry. Metals were important, and protective conservation measures taken as a copper pendant from northern Iraq dating 8,700 BCE and the 4450 BCE gold artifacts from Bulgarian Varna Necropolis were most likely polished and valued as precious metal. The Roman bronze monument of Marcus Aurelius, has several signs of conservation restorations taking place since its construction in approximately 176 C.E.. 1800s and early 1900s Prior to the late 1800s treatments consisted of reconstruction and repair by craftsmen, familiar with the object materials and corrosion was thought to be a type of bacteria. In the late 1800s, scientists began looking into understanding the causes of deterioration and corrosion. In 1888: Flinders Petrie (1853-1942) published an article on the excavation and conservation of small objects and German chemist, Friedrich Rathgen, (1862-1942), became not only the first director of the Chemical Laboratory of the Royal Museums of Berlin but the first scientist employed in a museum laboratory. Rathgen utilized electrolytic reduction to remove the corrosive patina on the Egyptian bronze Collection at the Royal Museum to eliminate chloride salts. At the turn of the century French chemist, Marcellin Berthelot(1827-1907), presented several papers before the French Academy of Sciences stating the deterioration of bronze and silver artifacts were due to a cyclic process of corrosive chloride salts. Rathgen continued scientific research on Bronze disease to understand the chemical conversion of the metal due to the presence of moisture. Rathgen applied a scientific method to museum artifact preservation and by continuing to research, develop, apply and publish his findings on his physical and chemical methods and formulating guidelines for application, he became a principle force in the standard's acceptance. He is considered the founder of modern chemical conservation science, writing the first fully comprehensive treatment handbook of conservation to be published. Die Konservierung von Altertumsfun- den [The Conservation of Antiquities] was first published in 1898, translated to English in 1905, and is still in print. Mid 1900s During World War I (WWI) bombings, museums protected their collections by moving them