To me, it is a question of the specific artifact. You may want to have a painting (or other art) in the form it used to be - and then you look at a "whole" pai

To me, it is a question of the specific artifact. You may want to have a painting (or other art) in the form it used to be - and then you look at a "whole" painting where you can imagine the object as a continuous thing to look at -- or at what time has done to it and just at the original parts. I like both, it really depends on what you are looking at. Venus of Milo is fine as it (mostly because I am used to it) and is quite unique. Fitting the arm back would turn it into yet another sculpture. Watching a detailed painting with a lot of losses would derail me from what is happening in the picture itself.