Judgement, Resolution, and Treatment
Active Treatment and Passive Prevention
![](https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/static/05f0f04c-1c20-4841-bc4cbadf99d00fdd/300x194_highestperformance_/Conserving-7.jpg)
Active Treatment and Passive Prevention
The questions surrounding the treatment of Royal Arms are also applied to other paintings found in churches.
The frequency of alterations and a tendency towards wholesale repainting in later centuries, raise specific questions as to which version should be exposed.
Removing a later version, no matter how crude, destroys a historical paint layer and exposes a potentially damaged image beneath. Unless the upper layers can be shown to be damaging the underlying original paint, uncovering is not usually attempted on ethical, as well as technical grounds.
![](https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/static/077f6f58-6c88-4674-b44345a8270820d7/300x200_highestperformance_/Screenshot-2022-05-26-at-102710.png)
The critical question for a conservator dealing with Royal Arms after conservation in churches is ‘should long-term stability be prioritised over originality and authenticity?’ The dilemmas faced include:
- Framing unframed paintings to allow it to be hung safely
- Providing a stretcher to create correct tension, even if it was not the original method
- Whether or not to re-touch missing paint and if so, should it be invisible or made obvious?
- Varnishing an unvarnished painting to offer protection against an active bat colony
![](https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/static/47d85659-ccd3-4e5c-8aa70b4cefc25896/300x200_highestperformance_/Screenshot-2022-05-26-at-102719.png)
- Structural: necessary to stabilise the structure of the painting
- Cosmetic: to improve the appearance of the painting
- Preventive: to prevent further damage from occurring
Cosmetic treatment is surface cleaning, varnish removal, filling and retouching losses to the paint layer and revarnishing the surface.
![](https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/static/e4360106-ae65-49b3-8b474b60bb942394/300x200_highestperformance_/Screenshot-2022-05-26-at-102804.png)
Although the actual treatment is minimal and unobtrusive, preventive conservation will often be the most effective way of promoting the long-term stability of Royal Arms.