Restoration of the main altarpiece of the church of the convent of Trinitarias Descalzas de San Ildefonso
The main altarpiece of San Ildefonso is part of an important set of baroque altarpieces that are preserved in the church of the convent of the Barefoot Trinitarias of San Ildefonso, this being the only one that had not been restored
Main altarpiece of the church of the convent of Trinitarias Descalzas de San Ildefonso
This great baroque wooden work was settled in 1739, although it was not gilded and polychrome until 1767. In its central street the Imposition of the chasuble to San Ildefonso. In the side streets we find the round-shaped sculptures attributed to Manuel Correa de San Juan de Mata y Saint Felix de Valois and in the attic a relief of the Holy Trinity flanked by two great angels. Coinciding with the IV anniversary of the death of Cervantes, whose remains rest in this church, a cleaning and consolidation of the altarpiece was carried out.
The main altarpiece of the church of the Convent of the Barefoot Trinitaries of San Ildefonso is a large piece. The lower part consists of a bench with four shelves, on which rests a structured body on three streets separated by giant columns of composite order with attached elements, all topped by a large semicircular attic. In the central street there is a half-pointed niche where the relief that represents the central theme is the Imposition of the chasuble to San Ildefonso.
Under this a tabernacle is located as a temple. As in much of the altarpieces of the first half of the eighteenth century, there is no unitary iconographic program, with the independent figurative elements.
In the side streets we find on two corbels two sculptures of round shape attributed to Manuel Correa that represent Trinitarian saints, San Juan de Mata, founder of the order and Saint Felix de Valois. Both sculptures, which would be made towards 1659, come from the old Mercenarios Descalzos convent in Madrid.
Topping the set, in the attic is a relief of the Holy Trinity, crowned with a large tarja and flanked by two large angels exempt kneeling on the split pediment. As a large part of the works of this type, in its origin the whole lacked painting.
The decoration is supported by the use of elements of relief such as heads of cherubs, plant elements and rockery that give life to a well-underlined architecture that adapts to the space of the head of the temple. The elements stand out for their balance and proportion, while the different planes contribute to creating dynamism through the gradation of lights and shadows, creating a work that follows the line of the altarpieces of the Toledo master Tomé.
The altarpiece is the work of assembler Manuel Mesa. The Toledo teacher, father of one of the sisters, donated the work to 1739. Being a large work, the person in charge of setting it up was Francisco Ruiz, master builder of the convent that was being built at that time. In 1767 the master gilder Manuel Zamorano, uncle of another of the nuns, endowed the work with brightness and color.
Image gallery
Main altarpiece, Barefoot Trinitarians
The main altarpiece of San Ildefonso is part of an important set of baroque altarpieces that are conserved in the church of the convent of the Barefoot Trinitarios of San Ildefonso
Detail Imposition of the chasuble to San Ildefonso
In the central street there is a half-pointed niche where this relief is located, which represents the central theme
Holy Trinity
Topping the set, in the attic is a relief of the Holy Trinity.
San Juan de Mata, founder of the order
Sculpture, which would be made to 1659, from the old convent of Mercenarios Descalzos de Madrid.
Saint Felix de Valois
Sculpture, which would be made to 1659, from the old convent of Mercenarios Descalzos de Madrid.
Kneeling Angel detail
In the attic there is a relief of the Holy Trinity, crowned with a large tarja and flanked by two large angels exempt kneeling on the split pediment.
Detail, cherub head
Heads of cherubs, plant elements and rockery that give life to a well-underlined architecture that adapts to the space of the head of the temple.
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Although the work was not in a very bad state of conservation, it presented dirt, small cracks, faults and repaints. The use of candles as a means of lighting in the past had caused small deposits of wax and even some burns in the polychrome. On the other hand, the movements of contraction and expansion of the wood had caused a lack of consistency of the preparation, generating partial losses of the polychrome layer, also appreciating volume and fragmentation gaps. It was the only altarpiece in the church that had not been intervened. Coinciding with the IV centenary of the death of Miguel de Cervantes, in anticipation of a considerable increase in the number of visitors who would go to the burial site of the writer, it was considered necessary to restore this piece to achieve the integral recovery of the temple.
The intervention consisted in the first place in a consolidation of the pictorial layer to avoid greater losses of polychromy and a consolidation of the structure in the damaged points, realizing a fixation by means of spikes of fiberglass and adhesives. Once the altarpiece was settled, the surface of dirt not adhered with brushes and suction, and dirt adhering with chemical means, was cleaned. Subsequently, oxidized varnishes, repaints and wax drips of the candles were removed. Once the cleaning was completed, layers of protection were applied. To finish, a chromatic reintegration was carried out in the areas of greatest loss that made it difficult to see the whole using watercolor after a leveling of the preparation layer.
The restoration of the work has allowed the altarpiece to recover its original appearance. In addition, thanks to these works has been discovered a signature on the auction of the altarpiece "Pedro Bozal / year of 1768", belonging to a teacher who intervened in the altarpiece, probably gilder or painter.