Bronze thymiaterion (Calaceite, Teruel)

Calaceite (Teruel). Pueblos del interior peninsular (Sala 10, Vitrina 2)

The object was found in 1903 by a farmworker who broke it on discovering that it was not made of gold. Soon after, it was sold to the Musée du Louvre. The archaeologist Juan Cabré reconstructed it in a drawing that provided the basis for the first restoration: the disc fragments were placed on two flat supports made of openwork wood in imitation of the original decoration.

The thymiaterion returned to Spain in 1941 under the auspices of a Franco-Spanish agreement on the exchange of cultural heritage assets that also led to the recovery of works like the Lady of Elche and the Guarrazar Hoard.

The previous reconstruction remained intact until 1972, when it was removed and, in line with the prevailing criteria at the time, a complete reintegration was carried out with resin, resulting in the cone-shaped discs we see today.

In 1985 a new intervention at the Instituto de Conservación y Restauración de Bienes Culturales adopted a more contemporary approach, using a clear methacrylate resin to clearly differentiate the added parts from the original material. Lastly, in 2013 the object was cleaned and the small fragments that had come unstuck were reattached, preserving the latest reconstruction.