Considerations about decision making on the conservation of an 18th century illuminated manuscript

ABSTRACT In 2018, a project aimed to think the association between conservation and history conserved an illuminated manuscript codex entitled Commitment of the brotherhood of the Holy Sacrament of the Parish of Our Lady of the Pillar of Congonhas from the year of 1725. All interventions were thought based on a perspective that sought to balance two apparently opposite forces: maintaining the material aspects of the passage of time and implementing the necessary interventions for ensuring the object’s functional, symbolic, and aesthetic aspects for as long as possible. To unravel the path that led to specific choices in detriment to others, this work discusses the decisions made regarding the conservation of the book leaves, such as filling missing material and removing stains, thus exposing how the conservation process, as well as any other type of intervention, is connected to a series of values that say a lot about the person who acts upon the object.

摘要 2018年，一项旨在探讨文物保护与历史之间关联的项目，对一部成书于1725年、题为《孔戈尼亚斯圣柱圣母堂圣体兄弟会的承诺》的彩饰手抄本（illuminated manuscript codex）开展了保护工作。所有干预措施均秉持这样一种理念：力求平衡两种看似对立的力量：一方面留存时间流逝所留下的物质痕迹，另一方面实施必要的干预手段，以尽可能长久地保障该藏品的功能、象征与美学价值。为阐明为何选定特定方案而非其他方案的内在逻辑，本文探讨了针对该手抄本书页保护过程中所作出的各项决策，例如填补缺失材质、去除污渍等操作，进而揭示出保护流程与其他各类干预手段一样，均与一系列价值取向紧密相关，而这些价值取向恰恰能充分反映出对该藏品施以操作的主体的认知与立场。