In this polemical paper, I argue that, although conservation has generally presented itself as ananti-modern phenomenon, it is actually very modern indeed; the rise of the conservation movement has been a key element in the modern transformation of the built environment. The paper assesses how this situation has come about, drawing on the turn-of-century ideas of Alois Riegl, and argues that this modern concept of the monument has had a positive, creative side and a negative, even destructive side. In a concluding section, I explore the problems that conservation faces today as a result of that ‘committed’ stance.