Tomar, Portugal - International Council of Museums - Committee for Conservation / Instituto Politécnico de Tomar
Three Interim Meetings were organised by the ICOM-CC Working Group Sculpture, Polychromy, and Architectural Decoration during the period 2010-2013 which focused on construction processes and decorative practice for polychrome sculptures. The third interim meeting Polychrome Sculpture: Decorative Practice and Artistic Tradition reviewed how decorative practice was linked to artistic tradition. Here seventeen papers and seventeen posters were presented, the majority of which are published in Volume III of this compendium. These focused on the surface effects created by artisans working on polychrome sculpture. Several decorative techniques have been addressed: painting techniques from different regions and epochs, gilding, estofado, use of incised and punched patterns, varnishes, lacquers, applications, and conservation methodology used to deal with challenging problems. Presentations showed that local practitioners are influenced by international taste and developments. The meeting was hosted and jointly organised by the Instituto Politecnico de Tomar (IPT) in Tomar Portugal.