Judith Martins' Dictionary and its relevance to the analysis of the sculptural heritage in Minas Gerais

Abstract

The objective of this work is to analyze the Dicionário de Artistas e Artifícios dos Séculos XVIII e XIX em Minas Gerais, by Judith Martins, researching the documents specifically related to wood sculpture invoicing. The methodology used selected all references related to the crafts, categories of works, localities, payments, original invoice, interventions, and terminologies of the time. We demonstrate as results that in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Minas Gerais, as throughout the history of art, the artists were always the "restorers" of the past themselves. These records bear witness to the importance of our religious collection and the character of "decorum" and "decency" that were required so that the images could fulfill their function of inciting devotion. In the field of conservation-restoration of polychrome wood sculpture, we consider that Judith Martins' dictionary and others continue to be sources of interdisciplinary research, where historical documents, art history and technical-scientific analysis of the works can lead us to a better knowledge of the culture of an epoch and consequent appreciation of our sculptural heritage.