Estudo e intervenção de conservação e restauro do simulacro de S. Victorini Martyr e respetiva urna

  • José Miguel Magalhães Tavares (Student)

Student thesis: Master's Thesis

Abstract

The present dissertation’s main object is the simulacrum of the S. Victorini Martyr and his respective urn. This reliquary was stored in a storehouse belonging to Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Almada in a group consisting of three adults and two other children, besides a mother and son, all holy bodies. This simulacrum was taken in for a technical study and conservation-restoration work – in the context of the project “Holy Bodies: An Atlas for the Corpi Sancti in Portugal” (2022.01486.PTDC). It probably arrived in Portugal in the second half of the XVIII century, probably originating from the Roman catacombs, where other holy bodies also came from, spreading throughout Europe as symbols that solidified and strengthened the Catholic Church. It is the body of a child, dressed in Roman costumes, decorated with metallic threads and decorative pearls, accompanied by additional ornamental decorative elements like the vas sanguinis, a flower crown and a palm leaf. The objectives of the dissertation included an anthropological, material and technical study, requiring various exams and methodologies of analysis, such as imaging, spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques. There was an interest in defining the age and sex of the body, as well as in identifying and characterizing the different materials that composed the piece – textiles, metals, bones and various others. The conservation-restoration work was mostly done with the minimal intervention principle in mind, with the objective of preserving the authenticity and history of the piece while recovering a more clear and homogenous reading – mainly because it was a simulacrum using a child’s bones, making it a particular example that is worth preserving. The conservation work was also performed with innovation, introducing laser technology for the cleaning of textiles. Preventive conservation strategies were also defined for the maintenance of the piece in various storage or exhibition contexts. This work enabled the exploration and use of different techniques to study and restore the simulacrum, based on previous national and European examples. Various methodologies were applied, some adapted from other similar experiences but others entirely innovative in this context, offering a larger variety of possibilities for the treatment of similar pieces of heritage and the possibility of defining base procedures for future studies.
Date of Award28 Nov 2024
Original languagePortuguese
Awarding Institution
  • Universidade Católica Portuguesa
SupervisorEduarda Vieira (Supervisor) & Teresa Ferreira (Co-Supervisor)

Keywords

  • Simulacrum
  • Corpi santi (holy bodies)
  • Full body reliquary
  • Technical characterization
  • Textile conservation
  • Laser cleaning

Designation

  • Mestrado em Conservação e Restauro de Bens Culturais

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