Sacrilegious "Restoration???" of Tuguegarao's Rizal Monument

El Monumento de Rizal y Catedral de Tuguegarao right after the Second Word War. 

The Rizal Monument in Tuguegarao turned a hundred years old this August, and for that occasion they have repainted the monument. I really hope those behind the repainting of the Rizal Monument in Tuguegarao take heed of the various calls for a return to its original whitewashed patina.

Earliest extant photographs reveal that as early as the post-war period, the Rizal monument of Tuguegarao has been white. Even though the photos are in black and white, restorers can assure you that the monument is white. According to the 1981 International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites, also known as the Venice Charter adopted by the National Historical Institute, "Least intervention is the best intervention."

While its true that "de gustibus non disputandum est," the monument has always been monochromatically white, perhaps with subtle variations on the shade of white used throughout the decades. Moreover, the Venice Charter says "Restoration (...) conserves the originality of the work."

The monument, whimsically re-painted disregarding heritage conservation principles. 

Article 3 of the Venice Charter says "the intention of restoring historical monuments is to safeguard them no less than as works of art than as historic evidence." You do NOT paint over a work of art with alien colors according to your capriccio unless these are backed-up with studies and research. Otherwise, such painting over an art-work, is sacrilegious.

As the monument celebrates its centennial anniversary this month, the most fitting act one could do for it and to honor the memory of those who had it put up, is to remain faithful to the original sensibility that guided the aesthetics of the monument.


God Bless!


Kevin

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