These studies of craquelure (fine cracks in paint and varnish) were among the first photographs to be used for conservation purposes. Thompson was appointed as Museum Photographer of the V&A by Sir Henry Cole, founder director of the Museum. Cole recognized early on the pivotal role of photography in documenting and promoting the Museum collection. Beyond their function as records, these images present the ageing surface of paintings as abstract landscapes of time and decay.

Charles Thurston Thompson (1816-1868) was the South Kensington Museum’s first official photographer. The son of a wood engraver, he initially followed his father’s profession, but took up photography in the 1840s. Having helped Henry Cole (who would later become his brother-in-law) arrange for the photography of the Great Exhibition, in 1856 he was appointed official photographer to the South Kensington Museum and the Department of Science and Art, thus establishing the earliest museum photographic service in the world. With the help of non-commissioned officers of the Royal Engineers (known as ‘Sappers’), whom he trained in photography, Thompson produced approximately 10,000 negatives of subjects ranging from the Raphael cartoons to crystal objects in the Louvre. In 1866, he left on a tour of Spain and Portugal to photograph works of art and architecture. He died in Paris in 1868.