MATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION OF GILDING AND PAINTING TECHNIQUES OF A POST-BYZANTINE ICON

This study aims to identify the materials used in the production of a post-byzantine icon from the Museum of Évora’s collection. The icon, representing the “Emperor Constantine and his mother Helen holding the Holy Cross” was once dated as being from the 10th century. Throughout a multi-analytical approach, combining area exams with spectroscopic techniques, this study tried to confirm its actual chronology. The results obtained revealed that it is most likely an icon from the late 17th or 18th century.

The incorporation of violence by women video artists

This paper examines the way in which women video artists embodied violence in their video pieces as a strategy of critique of the patriarchal regime. Since the 1960s several generations of women artists used different strategies of self-harm or explored the physical and mental limits of their bodies to express the anguish of those who are excluded from the patriarchal society on sexist and/or racist grounds. Considering the guiding line that covers three fields – art, gender, and feminist social movements – as well as their key thinkers and scholars in Sociology, Fine Arts and the Humanities, we have built the object of study of this essay, namely, the relationship between women's video art focused on the body, violence and gender along with feminist social movements in the period ranging from 1967 to 2007, in a Western context. The methodology used had as its primary goal to create a link between the micro-sociological level of expressions, body gestures and behaviours in the videos and the macro-sociological level of broader, institutionalized social forces that are at the origin of inequalities, such as dimensions of gender and «race». This study concluded that at least since the 1960s there is the denunciation by women video artists of the general circumstances women live under, while enduring violence of various kinds, such as socio-cultural, psychological and sexual violence against women.

Subsídios para a joalharia contemporânea em Portugal

Para se efectuar a investigação sobre a joalharia portuguesa contemporânea, a partir de 1950, procedeu-se ao seu enquadramento histórico e geográfico. À semelhança do que se verificava resto do mundo, constata-se uma interdisciplinaridade com as restantes artes plásticas (em especial com o design). E consequente alteração das formas, materiais e técnicas anteriormente usadas. Também ao nível da função da jóia se observaram alterações. Foi, então, estudada a relação da joia com o corpo. Portugal conta com um conjunto de artistas joalheiros em plena produção. Existem estruturas de ensino e profissionais, sem, contudo, haver um museu de joalharia contemporânea. Mesmo assim, é de notar o elevado número de exposições e projectos relacionados com esta temática. Neste panorama, surge uma joalharia contemporânea liberta de uma identidade, que permite que o trabalho de cada artista seja singular, sem obedecer a regras limitativas ou castradoras da criatividade. /ABSTRACT: It was during the 50s that in order to carry out the research on the contemporary portuguese jewellery, one had to establish its historical and geographical approach. As it happened in the rest of the world, one may say there was an interdisciplinary with the other fine arts (specially with the design) and the consequent change in the shapes, materials and techniques previously used. The jewel was not an exception to these changes as far its function is concerned. Due to these factors, the relationship between the jewel and the body started to be studied. Nowadays Portugal counts a set of jewelers in full production. There are specialized schools in this area as well as professionals although there isn't a museum of contemporary jeweler. ln spite of this, a huge number of exhibitions and projects concerning this area, take place in Portugal. Taking all these aspects into consideration, a free contemporary jewelry is emerging, allowing the work of each artist may be unique without obeying to any strict or limitative rules that could work as a barrier to their creativity.

Testing the cleaning effectiveness of new ecological aqueousdispersions applied on old icons

Adherent deposits are very aggressive towards ancient heritage paintings since they affect the varnish and the painting’s layers, sometimes reaching the preparative layers. The biggest problem to the restorer is their removal without affecting the patina, the transparent varnish (well preserved) and fine colour glazes made during painting. Therefore, their removal requires preliminary cleaning tests that allow the optimization of the cleaning system composition that is going to be used. The study was focused on organic natural systems, as colourless supernatants, some of them used during ages, but insufficiently studied. The paper presents an evaluation of the effectiveness of cleaning varnished icons of the nineteenth century, with complex conservation cases using supernatants derived from aqueous dispersions extracted from vegetables and dry indigenous herbal infusions. Best results, after six consecutive cleaning steps, on tempera old icon was obtained for a mixture made of mature white onion juice + extract of Soapwort flowers + corn silk tea + acacia tea. As a best result after just one cleaning step was obtained for a quaternary mixture composed from mature white onion juice + mature carrot juice + corn silk tea + aqueous extract of Soapwort flowers.