Abstract
At the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, there was a massive removal of surface treatments on exterior stone sculptures. The preservation of a fully polychrome stone sculpture with a layer of overpaintings is a rather unique situation. The stone statue of Our Lady of Lourdes from the Janov near Litomyšl was the subject of a restoration study aimed at a thorough understanding of the individual layers and determination of the state of the stone. The survey revealed fi ve colour schemes, which gradually changed the original colour schedule. Fragments of the original polychromy were also found to be present on all parts of the sculpture. Following chemical, historical and restoration survey, possible conceptual approaches to the work were discussed at length. The main factors infl uencing the fi nal decision were the investor´s request to return the object to the exterior, where it will remain as an object of worship, the condition of the stone and secondary layers, and, last but not least, the fact that the comprehensive survey provided suffi cient evidence to determine the original colour treatment of the sculpture. Aft er careful consideration of all the options, and in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, the intervention was carried out, which consisted of removing the overpaintings and exposing fragments of the original polychromy, cleaning the surface of the stone from dust deposits and dirt, reinforcing, fi xing or gluing the problematic parts of the stone, and then fi lling the main defects.