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Organisers:
Portuguese Catholic University (UCP)
The VII Symposium of Arts and Science (VII Jornadas de Arte e Ciência) was held at the Portuguese Catholic University, in Oporto, on the 11th and 12th of June 2010. It was organized by the Department of Art - Conservation and Restoration and included the presence of 13 researchers. This event has been organized since 2003. This time the Symposium focused on the research in Painting Conservation. The oral presentations addressed works from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, illustrating technical and material features. Most works were developed in the scope of a research project in progress at the Research Center for Science and Technology in Art (CITAR) entitled "Materials and Techniques of Painters from the North of Portugal”. For the first time, several companies and associations could present their material during the coffee breaks: Agar-Agar, the Iberian Heritage Institute (Instituto Ibérico do Património), the Association of Restorers Without Borders (Associação Restauradores Sem-Fronteiras), the Digital Interface for 20th Century Portuguese Art (Interface Digital de Arte Portuguesa do século XX), the Spanish Group for Conservation of International Institute for Conservation (Grupo Español de Conservación - IIC), the Professional Association of Conservator-Restorers of Portugal (Associação Profissional de Conservadores-Restauradores de Portugal). The digital magazine of CITAR “ECR - Conservation and Restoration Studies” (Estudos de Conservação e Restauro) was also presented to the public. An exhibition consisting of radiographs of paintings that were shown during the Symposium was also organized. The Symposium was opened by the director of the Department of Art - Conservation and Restoration of the School of Arts, Gonçalo de Vasconcelos e Sousa. The first presentation was carried out by Ana Calvo, coordinator of UCP Bachelor, Masters and PhD programs in conservation and restoration. Her presentation focused on the need of complementing the information on the materials and techniques used in paintings with different historical sources, such as artistic treaties and working contracts. On this occasion, a review of the main treaties that have been published was provided. Ana Brito presented seven paintings of Abel Salazar (1889-1946) on rigid supports, such as wood and plywood. The use of the wood textures, the importance of the drawing, the absence of a ground layer and the use of impastos together with transparent colors were some of the characteristics identified. Maria Aguiar showed some portraits and self-portraits on canvas from the nineteenth century artist Aurélia de Sousa. The presentation focused upon some pieces from a larger group that is being studied and that belong to private collections, to the Museum of the School of Fine Arts of Oporto and to the National Museum Soares dos Reis. Through non-invasive laboratorial techniques, such as infrared photography, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDXRF) and radiography, it was possible to identify the materials and to characterize the techniques used. The artist technique was contextualized in the turning over that took place in the nineteenth century in what concerns the use of traditional and modern materials. From left to right: Prof. Ana Calvo (UCP) during her presentation "Contribution of technical and material studies to the conservation
of painting".
Ending debate. From left to right: Carla Ferreira, Joana Salgueiro, Dalila Rodrigues and Ana Calvo.
Conference poster.
Ending the morning session, Sónia Barros presented her work about the use of white pigments in Portuguese paintings from the nineteenth century and made a comparison between the theory stated in historical references and the actual practice implemented by artists. She crossed documentary sources and elemental analysis by EDXRF undertaken on 21 paintings from the collections of the National Museum Soares dos Reis and the City Hall (Câmara Municipal do Porto), dated from 1828 to 1891. She also related external trade in the second half of the nineteenth century with the introduction of white pigments found in each work. In the afternoon session, Gonçalo de Vasconcelos e Sousa presented "The romantic portraits in Oporto". He focused on the most important Romantic portrait painters who worked in the city, showing some of their major pieces. In his presentation, the contribution of important families and of some institutions for the development of this kind of painting was also shown. The speaker addressed the evolution of representation during the three phases of Romanticism and the sociological dimension that these paintings have achieved. Rita Veiga presented a study of three oil paintings on tinplate (iron recovered with tin), by Francisco José Resende (1825-1893). A brief background on the study of paintings on metal was given, which were more traditionally made of copper alloys. The materials and techniques used in those three paintings on tinplate were identified and possible reasons for their conservation condition were pointed out, relating them to certain material aspects. Carla Tavares presented four paintings on canvas by Pedro Alexandrino de Carvalho (1730-1810), property of the Church of Bom Jesus do Monte, in Braga. Two of the paintings belong to the collateral altar of the transept, and two oval paintings were situated in the walls of the main chapel. The altar canvases are now separated from their original location but they were originally crated and fixed in their respective niches. Carla Tavares presented the results of the technical research, including the characteristics of the canvas, ground and paint layers as well as considerations on their conservation condition. Rita Rodrigues focused upon the study of the ceiling paintings from the church of the Old Salvador Convent, in Braga. This work consists of a set of 40 panel paintings affixed to the ceiling. For this study only two were selected. The lecturer addressed the contextualization of this type of paintings, methods of affixing them to the ceilings and the research results of the materials and techniques of the paintings. Invited speaker Professor Vítor Serrão presented his research on a recently discovered painting by António Leitão that belongs to a church in Freixo de Espada à Cinta. The painting depicts a Pentecost and brings together more than 40 figures. It’s probably the oldest Portuguese work with the representation of Japanese figures. Other topics of this presentation included the painter’s background, who studied in Lisbon, Rome and Antwerp, and some remarks on other known paintings by the same author, such as "Visitação", belonging to a chapel in Cepões (Lamego), and the old altarpiece of the Church of Vila Nova de Foz Côa. The last communication was carried out by Gonçalo Vasconcelos e Sousa and Vítor Serrão to present the book "Studies in History of Paintings and Engravings”, by Carlos da Silva Lopes (1904-1978). This book was edited by the Portuguese Catholic University, similarly to what has happened to other studies by Carlos Silva, in the field of ceramics, jewelry and furniture. The book is a series of 34 chronics, originally published between 1963 and 1969 in the newspaper “O Primeiro de Janeiro ". As Vítor Serrão noticed, the importance of these writings is related mainly with the fact that they were written at a time when little importance was given to other painters than "great masters". Starting the second day of the symposium, Dalila Rodrigues proposed a model to understand the artistic systems that frame and support fifteenth and sixteenth centuries paintings. The art historian explained the correlations between the different dimensions of painting, sculpture and architecture. Each one of these artistic media legitimizes their presence for aesthetic reasons but also for the functional aspect that each one can provide to the art system. Altarpieces, sculptures and paintings are combined to form a certain iconology and symbolism. They cannot be disconnected from the aesthetical functionalism by which they mold their observation. Visualizing thus presupposes another correlation: the one that is established between the artistic media and the spectator. Joana Salgueiro presented the technical study of the five panels paintings made by Vasco Fernandes for the main altarpiece of Lamego’s cathedral (1506-1511). The research focused upon the wooden supports, exploring the techniques involved in their construction. The speaker crossed documentary references with the radiographies made for these panels. The researcher not only traced an historical profile of previous restorations, but also explained the pathologies identified in the wooden supports. It was shown by graphical means the dimensional subtraction undertaken and the conjecture of the original dimensions and full extensions of each composition. Carla Ferreira presented the problematic of the authorship of the “Triptych of Pentecost” from São Pedro de Miragaia church. The researcher focused the stylistic and material issues of this piece in the discussion of its geographical provenance. Starting with the presentation of analytical data obtained through several laboratory techniques, the researcher presented some conclusions about the origin of the central panel and both wings. By comparing this piece with other Flemish paintings, especially those from the school of Tornai, Antwerp and Brugges, the researcher explained the main influences that were stated in this triptych, as well as the presence of several features, such as decorative, architectural and figurative details. Sandra Saraiva (UCP), on behalf of Jorgelina Carballo, ended the VII Symposium of Arts and Science with a presentation on the importance of energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDXRF) for the study of painting materials and techniques. The researcher showed some specific characteristics of the equipment used in the project “Materials and Techniques of Painters from the North of Portugal”, since results may diverge with the use of different equipments. Through some case studies, the advantages and limitations of this technique were identif ied. Despite the great amount of information that is provided, EDXRF always requires the comparison of the results to other analytical techniques. The symposium ended with a debate by Ana Calvo, Carla Ferreira, Joana Salgueiro and Dalila Rodrigues that focused mainly on aspects related with the conservation of panel paintings and the necessity to proceed with this kind of researches. Ana Rita Veiga Conservator-restorer Contact: aveiga@porto.ucp.pt Ana Rita Veiga has a Bachelor Degree in Conservation-Restoration and a Master Degree in Conservation of Paintings, both in the Portuguese Catholic University. Stefan Alves Master's Student Contact: sfalves@porto.ucp.pt Stefan Alves has a Bachelor Degree in Conservation-Restoration and currently is attending the Master Degree in Conservation of Sculpture and Gilded Wood, both in the Portuguese Catholic University.
Currently, they are researchers on the Project “Materials and Techniques of Painters from the North of Portugal”, in Research Center for Science and Technology in Art (CITAR).
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