O manual da amanualidade: a valorização das soluções técnicas expressas na confecção, conservação e restauração de obras de arte

Abstract

This thesis is located in the field of Science, Technology and Society, within the Research Line Mediations and Cultures and has the general objective of demonstrating the adequacy of the concept of amanuality, by Álvaro Vieira Pinto, to recognize the value of the technical solutions incorporated into works of art as cultural heritage, specifically in paintings on canvas. Research in restoration involves several disciplines and actors and has become important and frequent as an alternative to solve complex problems, both within the academy as outside it. We start from the assumption that technical solutions are values incorporated into works of art, both in creation and as a result of the interventions for restoration to which they were subjected in response to natural aging, to failures, adaptations and, even, previous restoration or restorations. Included in the discussions of the theme are the restoration actions, which are the object of this thesis, and which, comprehensively, involve several conceptual options on which contemporary conservation and restoration are based. The conceptual alternatives for conservation and restoration are characterized here in the case study/manual of amanuality, describing the stages of restoration of a painting by Alfredo Andersen entitled Duas Raças. Thus, the general objective of this thesis was to propose a point of view (which is the concept of amanuality) as a starting point to denaturalize the formality of intervention practices in Conservation and Restoration from the valuation of the amanual aspect of conservation and restoration praxis. This thesis document is organized as follows: firstly, we will present Vieira Pinto’s concept of amanuality, which theoretically and conceptually bases the theme; second, we will address the genesis of conservation and restoration with an emphasis on the manual and artisanal heritage of these practices; third, we will present the painting Duas Raças, from the historical and technical context of its creation and execution technique. And finally, fourthly, we will present the case study of the painting Duas Raças as a suggestion for a restoration manual as a means of contributing and guiding future conservation and restoration interventions.