Preserving the Restoration of the Pietà

Stopford, Richard

Abstract

In this paper, I consider Mark Sagoff’s well-known discussion of the restoration of Michelangelo’s Pietà (1978). Provocatively, he argues that the Pietà should not have been restored to its undamaged state after it was attacked. I argue that Sagoff is mistaken in this. His analysis
of restoration is a result of his working view of the Pietà’s identity. Using a modal analysis of counterfactual damage to the Pietà, I argue that the notion of identity at work in his view is deeply problematic. I provide an alternative analysis of the Pietà: one which supports the restoration project, provides an alternative metaphysical basis for the identity of the work, and which still captures certain aesthetic intuitions which Sagoff has correctly identified. Whilst my metaphysical analysis is proposed just on the basis of the case of the Pietà, the metaphysical and conceptual analysis involved would be helpful in considering issues in the identity of artworks more generally.

Citation

Stopford, R. (2016). Preserving the Restoration of the Pietà. British Journal of Aesthetics, 56(3), 301-315. https://doi.org/10.1093/aesthj/ayw042

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Oct 11, 2016
• Publication Date: 2016-07
• Deposit Date: Oct 30, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 1, 2024
• Journal: The British Journal of Aesthetics
• Print ISSN: 0007-0904
• Electronic ISSN: 1468-2842
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 56
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 301-315
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/aesthj/ayw042
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2993246