Retouching the wall paintings of the Nossa Senhora da Piedade Hermitage, Loulé: technical choices

Given its impact on the perception of observers, the reintegration of lacunae in works of pictorial art is one of the most delicate and debated conservation-restoration actions. This text describes the methodology that guided the technical choices regarding the chromatic reintegration of the lacunae and the protective finishing of the mural surfaces in the Nossa Senhora da Piedade (Our Lady of Mercy) Hermitage, in Loulé. Additional reference is made to the way in which those choices/methodology articulated the symbolic and religious values of the hermitage paintings with the ethical and deontological principles of conservation-restoration. Although the type of intervention and its final outcome should always be discussed with the stakeholders, and eventual consultants, technical choices will necessarily be made by the conservator-restorer, who must therefore have training, experience and sensitivity adequate to the critical analysis required by this type of decision making.