The anthropology conservation department, smithsonian institution (usa), prefers good environmental conditions, handling and mounting techniques to treatments but occasionally intervention is necessary. A case in point was a painting on raw-hide from ecuador. The support was cowhide stretched over a wooden stretcher and strainer but the painting was executed on what would normally be the back, i.e., between the strainers. A fire in the truck transporting the painting had caused both the skin and its frame to warp and twist as a result of rapid environmental changes. Since the painting extended over the tacking edges on both items, removal of the skin from the strainer would have disrupted the painting. The treatments suggested were humidification at 95%rh and stretching on a special german frame with clamps around the edges that are slowly tightened to flatten the skin.