This paper focuses on a collection of reliquary busts integrated in the reliquary sanctuary of
Madre de Deus Convent. It explores the ARCAer project which will address this set through its historical,
stylistic and iconological study. It will include laboratory analysis of the materials and technologies associated
with the production of the sculptures with the intend of establishing affinities and differences between the
several objects, which may bring clarification about their origins, their ordering process and the conservation
treatment of the set. It is intended to recover the works and relocate them in their original places, resuming an
integrated discourse that was lost. Also, the project aims to reflect upon the human drive to preserve material
memories, establishing parallels with our days
