Conservation intervention in the plaster panel “Os Pescadores” from the collection of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Oporto University (Portugal)

Inês da Costa Rosa; Mariana Durana Pinto; Mariana Costa; Marta Borges; Sofia Perestrelo; Isaura Almeida; Eduarda Vieira

doi:10.37558/gec.v23i1.1219

Inês da Costa Rosa Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Escola das Artes. Porto. Portugal https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2609-6325
Mariana Durana Pinto Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Escola das artes. Portugal https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4873-9344
Mariana Costa Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Escola das artes. Portugal https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4873-9344
Marta Borges Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Escola das artes. Portugal https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2470-8391
Sofia Perestrelo Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Escola das Artes. Porto. Portugal
Isaura Almeida Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Escola das Artes. Porto. Portugal
Eduarda Vieira Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Escola das Artes. Porto. Portugal https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0620-080X

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37558/gec.v23i1.1219

Keywords: Plaster Panel, Faculty of Fine Arts (FBAUP), Dry/wet cleaning, Conservation

Abstract

This article presents the cleaning strategy of the gypsum panel entitled “Os Pescadores”, stored for years without a proper conditioning, presenting large amounts of superficial and more adhered dirt. The methodological approach combined the use of wet and dry methods. As a material of great presence in the Portuguese context, it’s important to share information on case studies posing specific challenges.

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Author Biographies

Inês da Costa Rosa, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Escola das Artes. Porto. Portugal

nês Rosa, graduated in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage from the Portuguese Catholic University, has an accumulated 15 years of experience in various cultural heritage C&R projects. She is currently finishing her master’s thesis in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, in the field of Built/Integrated Heritage, with the theme of Rehabilitation of Civil Buildings in Porto, where she analyses the changes in the city buildings since 2015, based on the sustainable trinomial: Preventive Conservation, Circular Economy, and Energy Efficiency. This research, aiming for a Heritage Observatory is part of the HAC4CG - Heritage, Art, Creation for Climate Change project. Living the City: Catalysing Spaces for Learning, Creation, and Action towards Climate Change, developed by the Research Centre in Science and Technology of the Arts (CITAR-UCP), which has climate change as its central theme, seeking to involve citizens in responding to this issue.

Mariana Durana Pinto, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Escola das artes. Portugal

Mariana Nobre Durana Pinto (born in Vila Nova de Gaia in 1999) has a degree in Art-Conservation and Restoration (2020) and a master’s degree in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage (2023) from the School of Arts at the Portuguese Catholic University. Her research focuses on archaeological heritage, with an emphasis on the conservation of archaeological sites, which resulted in the writing of her master’s thesis entitled “Levantamento das Políticas de Conservação aplicadas a Sítios Arqueológicos, em Portugal (1950-2022): Análise e Interpretação de 8 Casos de estudo Luso-romanos”, under the guidance of Professor Eduarda Vieira and Professor José d’Encarnação. This study has already allowed her to participate in two scientific meetings: the III EJI-PATER (Guimarães, 2022), with an oral presentation; and the JIP (Madrid, 2023), with the presentation of a scientific poster. Professionally, she currently collaborates with the company Arqueologia e Património Lda. (based in Matosinhos, Porto) as a junior conservator-restorer in its internal staff. This collaboration has allowed her to develop and consolidate her practical and theoretical skills in the conservation and restoration of inorganic/archaeological materials (the company’s area of activity).

Mariana Costa, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Escola das artes. Portugal

Mariana Cruz da Costa (Barcelos, 1999), is a Restoration Conservator by School of Arts - Universidade Católica Portuguesa specialized in Conservation of Natural Science Collections. Her Master’s in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property by UCP (2023) research entitled Glossário de Patologias em Taxidermias de Espécimes Vertebrados: Um caso de estudo nas coleções do Museu de História Natural e da Ciência da Universidade do Porto (MHNC-UP), approaches an illustrated glossary addressing the basic concepts for the description and identification of conservation problems present in taxidermy specimens. Her case study was the collection of the Museum of Natural History and Science of the University of Porto (MHNC-UP), to which she collaborated as a trainee in the department of Conservation and Restoration between 2020/2022. Furthermore, her dissertation allowed her research to be presented during the 2022 SPNHC conference in Edinburgh.

Marta Borges, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Escola das artes. Portugal

Marta Lopes Dias Borges was born in 1999, in Porto, Portugal. From an early age, she showed an interest in art and its preservation, which led her to pursue a career in conservation and restoration. After completing her secondary education in Art, Marta enrolled in the School of Arts of the Portuguese Catholic University of Porto, where she obtained a degree in Conservation and Restoration of Art Following her graduation, Marta pursued a master’s degree in Conservation and Restoration of Art with specialization in built heritage, also at the School of Arts of the Portuguese Catholic University of Porto. Her thesis entitled “Reintegração cromática de Azulejaria de Fachada com tintas da marca CIN – estudo experimental em duas fachadas no Norte de Portugal”. This specialization allowed her to refine her skills in the restoration of ceramic and tile works, which are an important part of Portugal’s artistic heritage. After completing her studies, founded her own company, “Marta Borges - Conservação & Restauro”, which specializes in the restoration of various materials, including wood, ceramic, tiles, and others. Is passionate about preserving the cultural heritage, and she is always eager to take on new challenges and projects. She is committed to upholding the highest standards of professionalism and ethics in her work, and she takes great pride in helping to protect and restore Portugal’s rich cultural heritage for future generations can enjoy it.

Sofia Perestrelo, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Escola das Artes. Porto. Portugal

Sofia Perestrelo Sampaio Oliveira (Vila Nova de Gaia, 1999) has a degree (2020) and a master degree (2023) in Conservation and Restoration from the School of Arts of the Portuguese Catholic University of Porto. Her area of interest is natural history collections, and her dissertation used the osteological collection of the Museum of Natural History and Science of the University of Porto as a case study, with the aim of creating an illustrated glossary of the pathologies that are possible to find in these collections. The name of her dissertation is “Patologias associadas à coleção osteológica do Museu de História Natural e da Ciência da Universidade do Porto. Levantamento e Definição” and at the same time she was a trainee in the Museum where she deepened and improved her knowledge about these collections and how to conserve them. She also had the opportunity to present her dissertation at the international conference Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections 2022 in Edinburgh.

Isaura Almeida, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Escola das Artes. Porto. Portugal

Isaura da Conceição da Silva Almeida. Conservator, Restaurateur, who completed the master’s degree in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property in 2016 at the Portuguese Catholic University (UCP), School of Arts (EA) and Degree in Art - Conservation and Restoration in 2013 from UCP EA. She was a Conservator-Restorer at the UCP Center for Conservation and Restoration from 2010 until 2020. She was a guest lecturer in the curricular unit Techniques and Preservation and Conservation IV, inserted in the degree of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property UCP EA in 2020 and Guest Assistant in the curricular unit Techniques Conservation and Restoration II: Built Heritage / Integrated Heritage, inserted in the Master in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property, specialization in integrated heritage UCP EA in 2020/21/22. Since 2005, she collaborates with private companies in conservation and restoration interventions in Portugal and Spain.

Eduarda Vieira, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Escola das Artes. Porto. Portugal

Eduarda Vieira holds a PhD in Conservation and Restoration of Historic and Artistic Heritage by the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain), and a master’s degree in Architectonic Conservation by the Évora University (Portugal). She is currently Assistant professor at the School of Arts of the Portuguese Catholic University (Conservation of Inorganic Materials), where she coordinates de PhD of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage program. She was the director of the Research Centre of Science and Technology of the Arts (CITAR) between 2019 and 2022 and editor of the Studies in Conservation and Restoration -ECR-Estudos de Conservação e Restauro journal. She is also a member of ICOMOS and ICOM and researcher in several projects related with Preventive Conservation and Green Conservation besides supervising several PhD and master thesis.

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