Restoration of the sculptural group Evangelists of the Convent of the Discalced Carmelites of Santa Teresa
Baroque sculptures from the late XNUMXth century
The convent of the Discalced Carmelites in Madrid houses a rich sculptural collection that tells us about the spirituality of the Discalced Carmel founded by Saint Teresa.
The General Directorate of Cultural Heritage has restored a sculptural group made up of four carved and polychrome wooden sculptures, which represent the four evangelists. Each of them is displayed in a niche, made on the occasion of their transfer to the convent library.
Description of the restored works
The sculptures, round and small in size (46 x 16 x 18 cm), are made of polychrome pine wood and with gold leaf and tempera stews.
The evangelists are represented standing, dressed in robes and cloaks with rich stews and bare feet. With their left hand they pick up the books of the Gospels while the right arm is separated from the body, in different attitudes. At the feet of the figures of the evangelists their attributes are represented: the angel of Saint Matthew, the ox of Saint Luke, the eagle of Saint John and the lion of Saint Mark. The sculptures have an original, free-standing base, which is attached to the piece by wrought iron nails.
The sculptures have the same characteristics, both in shape and size and in style, which is why they are considered works by the same author, possibly created to form part of an altarpiece.
The sculptures, of excellent workmanship, are round in shape, carved in a single piece, except for his right arms and hands and the head of Saint Mark. The joints are made with tenon and box, with a live glue joint. They are polychrome, with carnations of soft tones made in tempera and gilding and stewed with plant shapes on mantles and tunics, with weaving effects (moiré) on the cuffs of the mantles.
Detail of the pieces before and after their restoration:
restoration project
In general, the state of conservation of the sculptural group was good, although it presented various pathologies that affected the overall reading of the work. All of them had been the object of some previous intervention.
The problems of conservation that the sculptures presented were both of mechanical origin (blows, deformations and faults), such as of chemical origin (degradation of adhesives, lifting of the pictorial layer and darkening of varnishes) and anthropic (repaints, nails, surface wax). Thus, deformations and small faults produced by blows, structural cracks, cracks and cracks, alterations of the pictorial layers due to variations in humidity, lifting and cracking were observed. The varnish layer had a rather uneven matt appearance. Likewise, a layer of wax could be seen, in the form of drops, or adhered to the surface in quite large areas.
The sculptures had been the object of a previous intervention that, although it was not very appropriate from an aesthetic perspective, helped to avoid new deterioration processes by gluing the loose hands, filling cracks in the bases and structural cracks in the sculptures, repositioning of gold foil in some areas and repainting of the pictorial layer.
Some sculptures had a coat of shellac applied that favored the development of microorganisms, dust and dirt, deeply embedded in the pieces. The bases were attached to the figures by means of nails, which caused extensive cracking and mechanical damage.
All the intervention carried out on these sculptures has been subject to the maximum criteria regarding the original work, legibility and reversibility of the materials used. Prior to the intervention, small samples were collected to analyze the layer of polychrome and to be able to apply the appropriate treatment.
First, there was a Insect with a suitable product, in order to sanitize the surfaces and as a preventive measure to avoid the development of biodeterioration. After superficial cleaning, carried out with soft brushes and controlled aspiration, we proceeded to treat the Media, in which the following interventions were carried out:
- structural bonding of some parts of the sculptures and especially the bases, which were the most damaged parts. This process was greatly simplified by taking advantage of the gluing of the previous restoration.
- Volumetric reintegration of the support with a specific resin, imitating the volumes and shapes of the missing parts. Where necessary, the cracks were stabilized with epoxy resin, as a reinforcement. This task was carried out especially in the cracks in the bases and in the joint of the sleeve of the right arm of San Marcos, the only piece that was unglued and glued back on.
- Correction of lack of support, very evident in the lower parts of the mantles of San Lucas and San Marcos.
The intervention in the polychrome it consisted of a deep cleaning and the reintegration of stucco and pictorial film faults.
- First, the embedded wax was removed from the sculptures using cotton swabs, solvents, and localized heat. Once the wax cleaning, the blackened patina was removed using a physical-chemical method: it was chemically softened and removed with a cotton swab.
- La cleaning of repaints It was a very laborious task, since the products used to make it had become hard and insoluble. It was done mechanically using a scalpel and previously softening the surface with the appropriate solvent. The original polychromy was recovered in the most affected areas, in which the repainting had exceeded the fault zone.
- The cleaning of the golds on the base was done chemically, with solvent and cotton swabs.
- After cleaning, it was carried out the stucco of all faulted zones in the preparation layer.
- Chromatic reintegration It was made by applying previous watercolour bases, a layer of varnish to saturate colours and, on top of this, pigments made of reversible materials very close to the original appearance. The gaps with missing drawings were reintegrated using pointillism, to differentiate them from the original paint layer.
- El varnish It fulfills two functions, to protect the piece from exposure to environmental factors, such as light and surface dirt, and another for aesthetics, recovering the original saturation of the initial state.
The entire intervention has been adequately documented and photographed, to facilitate future actions, if necessary.
Image gallery
