Estofado Materials and Techniques – Contribution for the Characterization of Regional Production of Baroque Polychrome Sculptures – a Case Study

Abstract

This paper reports on a work-in-progress of two seventeenth (or eighteenth) century polychrome sculptures, Santa Rita and Santa Cecilia that belong to the Museum of Évora. A formal analysis of the decorative patterns and punchwork used in the garment’s decoration (estofado) was executed and both sculptures showed similarities. This study aims to compile data that may lead to a possible attribution to the same workshop, or to the same sculptor or painter-gilder, through the comparison of material characteristics. Focusing on the stratigraphies of the estofado decoration, characteristics were identified through Optical Microscopy (OM), Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman Spectroscopy. The principal findings demonstrated that the used techniques and the major or minor components of the materials present in the different strata, are exactly the same in both sculptures. This reinforces the proposal that both sculptures have been executed by the same workshop or partnership.