Overpaints with cultural significance. How to define authenticity? The case of Afonso de Albuquerque’s portrait

Abstract

Removal or not removal of repaints and overpaints is always complex and the justification for it isn’t always objective. This type of operation can sometimes result in a worn out surface with several losses of painting which normally are supposed to be restored and integrated. Justified by the search or by the reposition of authenticity, both these operations (restoration and integration) will change the values formerly attributed to the object. When one is dealing with works of art which are generally recognized as being cultural significant, different values should be interpreted and discussed between stakeholders and specialists from different areas of expertise in a multidisciplinary platform before carrying out any intervention. This isn’t always easy to achieve and the conservator usually has the difficult task of transforming subjective concepts into an objective solution. In this paper we present a case-study, the panel portrait of Afonso de Albuquerque, currently exhibited in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (Lisboa), which the current investigation process as proven to be the portrait of another governor, but repainted to resemble the viceroy of Portuguese India during a restoration process in the 1960s regarded has “technically difficult”. Several episodes throughout the history of the Viceroy and Governors portrait Gallery and this specific panel gave the repaint historic, documental and iconographic values. Investigation is still ongoing and new facts may alter the definition of values attributed to this portrait and its authentic state in a process conservators should be ever more concerned with during restoration interventions, namely chromatic integration.