Conservação da escultura “O Repouso”, de Gustavo Bastos, da coleção do Museu da FBAUP: estudo e metodologia de intervenção

“O Repouso” is a sculpture created by Gustavo Bastos in 1953 that can be found in the garden of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto (FBAUP), belonging to the institution’s art collection. It is a representation of a cross-legged reclined female figure with her arms resting over her head made of cement mortar with an internal metallic structure. Its condition may be considered as fair given its outdoors location in an open space surrounded by vegetation, exposing the work of art to the action of diverse environmental agents and urban pollutants. Over the sculpture’s surface, clear physicochemical changes can be identified such as a heterogeneous layer of dark-colored incrustations (caused by deposition of dirt and dust with simultaneous direct or prolonged contact with water) and microbiological colonization. In addition, the pre-existence of fissures and cracks associated with the recent occurrence of an act of negligence led to the fracture of one of its feet, exposing the sculpture’s metal structure to an accelerated deterioration. The urgency of a conservation and restoration intervention supported by the characterization of the microbiome found on its surface already carried out by the BIONANOSCULP project (PTDC/EPH-PAT/6281/2014) and the acquisition of material and technical knowledge about this work of art became evident, aiming the stabilization of the metallic elements, its surface cleaning, the reattachment of the element and its protection against further microbial growth.