Restoration
Restoration names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Restoration a term used in art to indicate the renewal or repairing of paintings
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a term used in art to indicate the renewal or repairing of paintings, sculptures, buildings, etc., have been which defaced or partially ruined. It includes the retouching of faded and injured pictures, and the replacing of lost limbs or features of antique statues. But in reference to architecture its meaning is broader; it indicates, first, a representation, by picture or model, of a ruined structure restored to its original state; secondly, the rebuilding of dilapidated or fallen portions of an edifice; and thirdly, taking down so-called "debased" work in a composite building, and replacing it by architectural features in harmony with the general style of the ancient edifice. The first attempts to reproduce Gothic work followed on the decay of the Renaissance style of architecture, and constituted the germ of the modern restoration movement, or Gothic revival, as it is generally called. This movement began to work actively about the beginning of the 19th century, and was largely accelerated by a revival of activity in the Established Church of England. An impulse was given to the restoration movement by a society called the Camden Society, and afterward the Ecclesiological Society, which was composed of churchmen and clergy, and started at Cambridge in the year 1840. The movement produced specialists, of whom Sir Gilbert Scott was the most noted. In his hands was placed nearly every cathedral church in England, as well as a countless number of parish churches. As examples of "restoration" works we may give the N. transept of Westminster Abbey and the W. side of Westminster Hall, nearly the whole of St. Alban's Abbey, the W. front of Salisbury Cathedral (where an attempt has even been made to produce medieval sculpture), Chester Cathedral, Worcester Cathedral; in fact, not a cathedral remains in England that does not bear marks of the movement. The "restoration" movement spread to Scotland, the Continent, and even to India, but a reaction set in, and later sentiment was in favor of merely keeping in repair all ancient structures.
Restoration THE, in English history a term applied to the accession of King Charles II.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
THE, in English history a term applied to the accession of King Charles II., in 1660, after the civil war, to the throne of England, after an interregnum of 11 years and 4 months, from Jan. 30, 1649 (when Charles I. was beheaded), to May 29, 1660. In French history, the first restoration begins May 3, 1814, when Louis XVIII. made his entry into Paris under the protection of foreign bayonets, and ended with the return of Napoleon from Elba, March 20, 1815. The beginning of the second generally enerally reckoned from the battle of W restoration is Waterloo, June 18, 1815, and terminated on July 29, 1830, with the abdication of Charles X.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The historical sense is untouched: Charles II still returned in 1660, and the French restorations of 1814-15 and 1815-30 are dated exactly as Collier's had them in 1921. The art and architecture sense has been transformed. Collier's noticed that "a reaction set in" against Sir Gilbert Scott's wholesale rebuilding, and that reaction won: the Venice Charter of 1964, adopted by conservation bodies worldwide through ICOMOS, made minimal intervention the rule, requiring that any new work be reversible and visibly distinguishable from the original rather than blended into the ancient style. What Collier's called a third kind of restoration, stripping out "debased" work and replacing it with features in harmony with the building, is now regarded as destruction of evidence, and Victorian restorations are themselves studied as historic fabric worth preserving.
Written for this edition, 2026.