Sgraffito in Portugal: a contribution to its study and preservation

Abstract

In the scope of the architectonic surfaces this article intends to provide awareness to the particular value of sgraffito. Recent research led to the discovery of an unknown and wide presence of sgraffitos in some urban and rural Portuguese ancient architecture; most of them today at risk, since they are often forgotten or confused with other mural decorative techniques, and that consciousness led us to alert towards the need to safeguard its esthetical and material authenticity. One of the most important results of our research on sgraffito [1] is the fact that the majority of the listed sgraffito ornaments have been painted over so many times, that today we can hardly identify its original aspect, its formal and chromatic values or its textures. Since sgraffito in facades is a decorative technique made with external plaster, some of its values, such as the dual colour variation and the aesthetical tension given by different textures and colours, which are intrinsic to the nature of this mural covering, must not be forgotten. Although the current conservation culture assumes as a sine qua non condition, the conservation of the substance as a cultural certification, interventions in sgrafitto, it often use criteria deriving from industrial building techniques rather than careful preservation. Unfortunately, a strong unfamiliarity to its particular values and to its specific realisation techniques is usually the case, resulting in inadequate recovering processes. An example is the application of painting layers over those ornaments, inverting syntax’s (what was dark becomes whitish, what was whitish becomes a new and often strong colour) causing loss of aesthetical and historical values of the building and loss of authenticity. This article intends to provide awareness of the architectonic value of sgraffito in some Portuguese urban conservation areas and rural landscapes, describing its material and formal specificities and summarize its risks, emphasizing the need to change intervention methodologies, promoting its safeguard.