|
|
|
A wooden sculpture depicting Saint Mathew, the Evangelist (17th-18th centuries), belonging to the main church of Sardoal (Portugal), was restored at the Sculpture Conservation Laboratory at Tomar Polytechnic Institute. This work is part of an important reflexion not only in an academic level, but also as a contribution to Art History and the perception of the Image. The sculpture was overpainted, as it happens in countless sculptures from this period. A careful observation allowed to identify the presence of an underlying polychromy, later confirmed by the analysis of the cross-sections by optical microscopy and the opening of survey areas. The removal of an overpaint it’s still a challenging option in Conservation, not only because of the ethical questions involved, but also due to the technical difficulties concerning this process. This intervention aims to pose as a reflection on the removal - or not - of overpaints, in Portuguese wooden sculpture.