Museums and conservation

Behind a display case German talks in compounds, and most of them come apart cleanly: die Leihgabe is something handed over on loan, die Fehlstelle a place where material is missing. The word that needs watching is a verb, niederlegen. Outside the studio it almost always means giving something up: ein Amt niederlegen is to resign an office, die Arbeit niederlegen is to down tools, and a wreath wird niedergelegt at a memorial. A conservator uses it for the opposite of letting go. Paint that has lifted from the ground in small flakes is eased back into place with warmth and adhesive, and those flakes werden niedergelegt. The literal picture, laying something down, is the same in every case; what the laying down achieves is not. Read the object of the verb: an office or work is surrendered, a wreath is offered, paint is secured.