The Felícia Leirner Museum uses preventive conservation of its sculptures to prevent them from deteriorating over time.
Generally, the environmental factors that hinder the conservation of outdoor artworks are humidity, temperature, light, pollutant gases, actions of fungi and insects, as well as human vandalism.
Humidity is the most common cause of object degradation. In this museum, air humidity and rainfall can cause cracks in cement objects and corrosion in metal objects.
The sculptures in the museum’s collection receive constant treatment including water cleansing, bases’ recovery, monitoring, and surveillance. For cement works, the conservation treatment consists of paint removal, crack sealing, and repainting.
After cleaning with water and a soft brush, the bronze works are not polished. They have a thin layer of oxidation, known as patina, which is maintained as protection for the metal and can have different colors generating stains. The use of pigmented wax provides each piece a uniform color and also helps in the protection of the works.
