The purpose of restoration

Restoration is an activity aimed at safeguarding the passage of cultural heritage to future generations: this indicates all of the material - and also non-material - evidence of civilization. The purpose of restoration is to maintain the existence of such pieces and also to ensure that the public may take advantage of this historical testimony. It would be of little use to conserve a piece of cultural heritage by closing it in a safe; its existence is justified only if it is accessible to the public. It is fundamental to respect its particular identity and the characteristics that make it unique. The object can retain its originality even after the passage of many years and the associated changes to its condition. The restoration should justify the need for a singular intervention within the context of a general conservational project.

The phases of restoration

The restoration consists of material operations based on a direct intervention upon the object in question. This requires a specific level of professionalism; this is attained through a subsequent series of studies and investigations for this precise purpose. The result of this professional formation is to guarantee an adequate capacity to protect the intervention and manually execute the project. The material operation of the intervention begins with an initial diagnostic phase. This consists of multi-disciplinary studies of the object, with the assistance of science (chemistry, physics, biology, botany, mineralogy etc.) in such a way as to fully comprehend each part that the object is composed of and its current condition. Subsequently a prognosis is formulated: this is a plan of the characteristics that shall make up the intervention. Following this phase the material operation may begin; this must be documented in precise detail. Finally, all of the results must be made available in a scientific publication. The purpose of the restoration is never to return the object to its original condition at the moment of its creation; such a finality would be both impossible form a practical point of view and erroneous in relation to the theory of restoration. Restoration must not compete with the original artist but place itself at the service of the object as it is today, just as a medical doctor does not propose to rejuvenate his patient but to assist the patient to attain a condition in which he may live healthily in a manner appropriate to his age.