From the fragmentary statements found in several texts, especially from a report written in the 1930’s that presents memoir notes, this paper intends to reconstitute, as much as possible, the restoration theory and practice of Luciano Freire (1864-1934). He treated many of the most important paintings belonging to Portuguese museums and, according to his words, those interventions were justified, above all, by the damages caused by past restorers, through repaints, which was frequent, or through cleaning, which originated the worst problems, and by the damages caused by the ambient conditions surrounding the paintings. In general, the interventions aimed at recovering the original image. Although Luciano Freire was, in theory, an adept of the complete cleaning of dirt and varnishes and complete removal of retouches and repaints, as it was done in National Gallery, London, in practice he admitted that when the retouches and repaints were well done and in good condition they were not to be removed. He considered that losses should be reintegrated and his thoughts were divided by the recovering the original image and the respect for the original work. He usually ended up considering that mimetic retouching could only be done when enough clues were present. Therefore, retouching had limits that, however, he recognizes, he crossed at times. Although did not use radiographs, he attributed great importance to treatment documentation through photography or other means.