In this March 28, 2014 photo, conservator Costas Vassiliadis uses a laser to clean a Caryatid at the Acropolis museum in Athens. “The laser beam hits the black crust formed on the surface of the statues over the years, and that absorbs energy and disintegrates,” said Vassiliadis, who heads the six-strong team.
Read: Acropolis’ Famed Caryatids Get ‘Cosmetic Surgery’
“The crust has a much lower resistance threshold than the marble, which is not affected.” (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Conservators work inside a white fabric box to clean a Caryatid as tourists visit the Acropolis museum in Athens. It takes about seven months to clean each of the larger than life-sized statues, which were carved around 420 B.C. Work began in 2011, and is expected to be finished in June.
In this March 28, 2014 photo, a conservator uses a laser to clean a Caryatid at the Acropolis museum in Athens.