AbstractAt the Exhibition of Painting Techniques in Munich in 1893, manufacturers, collectors, scientists and artists, among them Franz von Lenbach and Ernst Berger, presented their ideas, works and products. This investigation into the exhibition reveals its importance as a visual expression of the intentions and goals of the Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Beforderung rationeller Malverfahren (German Society for the Promotion of Rational Painting Techniques) at the end of the nineteenth century, a time when art, science and industry thrived and prospered. At this interface, the Society argued for scientific research into painting materials, which, it transpired, became a starting point for new approaches in the field of conservation.