Restoration is the overall effort to restrain and delay the decay of objects, which represent our cultural heritage. Restoration includes the scientific examination, treatment and restoration of objects as well as the creation of special, suitable conditions in which they should be stored or exhibited. Any attempt at restoration should be ruled by respect for the authenticity of the objects and the various messages they convey, being historic documents.
However, restoration has undergone many, successive transformations through a long period of time until it came to obtain its current style. Until the beginning of our century all restoration work bore the personal seal of the restorer and the artistic tendencies of each period. In most cases the treatment was worse than the “disease”.
Restoration today is a scientific branch with many chances and potentialities for a full development.
