Restoration of two dalmatics belonging to the "Terno of Cardinal Cisneros"
The two dalmatics with their restored collars, which are part of a set of Cardinal Cisneros's clothing, constitute an important exponent of imagery embroidery or scholarly embroidery from the mid-16th century
Restoration of two Dalmatics belonging to the so-called "Terno of Cardinal Cisneros"
The pieces are embroidered with a high technical and stylistic quality. Before beginning the restoration the pieces presented important damages, emphasizing the dehydration of the fibers, the wear and the bad restorations realized previously. The treatments have restored fiber consistency by stopping deterioration and improving tissue structure.
The two dalmatics with their collars belong to the set called "Cardinal Cisneros", of which eight pieces are preserved: a rain cap, a chasuble, two dalmatics, two necklaces, a stole and a handpiece.
The pieces are made of silk and vegetable fiber, brocatel garnet and gold, with a design of vases with flowers, enclosed in lanceolate motifs, and embroidered overlaid with imagery and vegetal motifs made with gold, silver and colored silk threads.
The ornamentation of the dalmatics is located on the placards of the skirt and cuffs. The garments are framed in the front, back, neck and the squares of the skirts and cuffs by holes or border embroidered with geometric motifs enhanced with gold thread. Inside the skirting boards are decorated with geometric type cartouches, framed by “ces” and “ear” or “winding work” motifs and plant and floral motifs, embroidered in gold and colored silks.
In the medallions of the skirts the four evangelists are represented, two in each dalmatic: in one, San Marcos and San Juan, and in the other, San Mateo and San Lucas. The evangelists are shown sitting in an attitude of writing with their corresponding talking symbols, on a background of landscape or city.
On the cuffs, the decoration is Mannerist of a geometric and vegetal type formed by a cartouche framed by rolled ribbons and leathers together with vegetal, floral and fruit elements that start from cornucopia horns.
It is an overlaid embroidery in which gold has been used nuanced, gold traversed and colored silks nuanced in clothing, carnations and polo, with a good technique very careful. The embroidery is of great technical perfection, both in the treatment of clothing and landscapes, and decorative elements of a vegetable nature.
Stylistically the quality of the ornament is remarkable. The characters are treated following the Renaissance canons, highlighting the interest in clothing, volumes, movement of figures and composition, placing the figures on landscape backgrounds in perspective.
Images
Previous status
Previous status
Pathologies
Processes
Elimination of interventions
Processes
Cleaning
Final state
Final state
Final state
Collarines
Restaurants
The restoration of these pieces was carried out as the final phase of intervention of this group, since the other pieces had recently been restored by the diocese of Alcalá de Henares. Although in the Madrid region there are other high quality ornaments made during the sixteenth century, the terno named Cisneros, stands out in a special way to conserve virtually all the elements that make up the set, as well as the high technical and artistic quality that demonstrates the execution of the figures.
Before beginning the restoration process, the dalmatics presented significant damages, with a significant degree of degradation. The fibers were dehydrated, one of the main causes of the deterioration of this material, which had made them fragile and brittle.
The fabric was worn and it was palpable the loss of solidity and density that was producing openings in the fabric, gaps and detachment of threads. The decoration presented losses of colored silk threads. In addition, in many areas there were previous interventions, such as darning, that were carried out at some point to stop the deterioration of the tissue, causing significant damage in many cases irreversible. However, the original linings in general were in good condition.
The treatment carried out consisted in the first place in a mechanical cleaning by aspiration through the front and back of the fabric to ensure the removal of all traces of dust between the fibers. Subsequently, the removal of seams and seams from previous interventions that were damaging the fabric due to deformation or aesthetic impact has been carried out. Afterwards, a cleaning was carried out using fast volatility solvents to remove traces of grease, wax, etc. deposited between the fibers.
This was followed by dismantling of liners to treat the fabrics correctly.
Said treatment began with the consolidation of the base fabrics by means of the application of supports that allow recovering the structural strength of the tissue. Stable and low density fabrics were applied to avoid increasing weight and thickness. The connections were made through restoration points.