Imperfect Copies. Reconstructions in Conservation Research and Practice

Abstract

In paintings conservation, reconstruction plays a role as a treatment, when it serves to complete the structural image of a lost or damaged area or object, and in research, where reconstructions are employed, for instance, to investigate the impact of conservation treatments or for their innovation. The conservation field has developed several strategies to deal with questions of validity, truthfulness and relevance. By example of a number of recent conservation and conservation research projects, this chapter discusses terminology adopted for reconstruction practices within the field, strategies developed by conservators to deal with ethical and practical issues surrounding the use of reconstructions, and relates these strategies to the ethical framework that guides conservators in their daily work.