Re-evaluating the roles of the cleaning process in the conservation of paintings

Abstract

At a time when defining the conservation ofcultural heritage is undergoing important changes, it is necessary to rethinkthe roles of the cleaning process applied to paintings. Throughout thenineteenth and the twentieth century, the cleaning of paintings was the subjectof continuous controversy which developed both in the academic field and in thepages of newspapers. In general, attempts have been made to define, one way oranother, exactly what the role of cleaning should be. Four of these roles havebeen (and still are): cleaning as a conservation procedure, as revelation (ofthe original work or of the artist’s intent), as aesthetic presentation, and asa way of bettering legibility. This article reviews these roles, theirlimitations and also raises a number of questions and issues in order tore-evaluate cleaning, taking into account contributions by the new theories ofconservation.