Carmela Lonetti asked about the ethics of conserving Catholic relics. We have treated the recently exhumed relics of a Catholic nominee for canonisation and found that the principles of conservation, particularly in the field of archaeological conservation fitted well with the needs of the religious order concerned. The items (including textile, leather, wood and metal) required cleaning, in some cases controlled drying, stabilisation, corrosion removal and safe mounting for handling and display.
The principles we applied were: Treat every artefact with respect and care regardless of financial value. Undertake only treatments which are necessary - do the minimum intervention. Record fully everything that is done. Wherever possible use the most stable substances. Make sure that it is always possible to distinguish between the original and any gapfill or repair. All substances removed from the objects (e.g. dirt, corrosion products) can be retained by the owner for future analysis or other use. This meant that we used only synthetic materials to consolidate or gapfill the objects, so that in future it will always be possible to distinguish what is modern. We discussed beforehand with the religious order what might be needed and the principles which would underly the decisions regarding treatment. There was no problem with obtaining their consent to the treatments proposed and they seemed to be very happy with the results. We hope this helps Richard and Helena Jaeschke Disclaimer: http://www.exeter.gov.uk/disclaimer ****** Unsubscribe by sending a message to consdistlist-le...@cool.conservation-us.org Searchable archives: http://cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/
