Restoration of the San Felipe Neri altarpiece of the Convent of the Discalced Trinitarians

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Last third of the seventeenth century

The altarpiece of San Felipe Neri is part of an important group of baroque altarpieces that are preserved in the church of the convent of the Barefoot Trinitarians of San Ildefonso. It is located in the section of the central nave closest to the transept, on the gospel side.

Images of the altarpiece before and after its restoration:

Architecture of the altarpiece

The altarpiece of San Felipe Neri has a simple architecture, It has a single body with a single street and is finished off with a semicircular arch. The altarpiece is decorated with water-based gilded carvings, with plant forms and fallen leaves; On the front of the arch, these decorative elements reproduce the lines of the voussoirs and, in alternate elements, frame the letters that make up the word “PARAYSO”.

In the passage from the body to the entablature, on which a semicircular arch begins, we find four carvings that represent the heads of putti.

The intrados of the semicircular arch that opens the niche is decorated with gilt carved coffers decorated with leaves and scrolls that act as frames for small paintings.

Iconography

The intrados paintings his own oil paintings on canvas, on a convex support that gives them a cabochon-like volume; They represent the Archangel Saint Michael, the Guardian Angel, Saint Ginés, Mary Magdalene, Saint Joseph, Saint Robert Bellarmine, Saint Julian and Saint Charles Borromeo.

The interior of the niche is occupied by a oil painting on canvas depicting Saint Philip Neri, the saint to whom the altarpiece-niche is consecrated, painted by Alonso de Arco, a painter belonging to the Madrid school, who worked in Madrid during the reign of Carlos II. On it.+, and without a visible signature, a small painting represents Saint Ignatius of Loyola, a friend in life of Felipe Neri.

On a front pedestal is located a carving of the Immaculate Virgin. It is topped with a double scallop and plant decoration.

restoration project

Previous state of conservation Restaurants

The work presented general repaintings of plastic paint imitating marbling in light tones, which almost completely hid the original polychrome of the altarpiece-niche, distorting the appreciation of the work and the original aesthetic sense. The only elements that did not show repainting were the decorative carvings, although they did present partial glitter touch-ups, and other mica reintegrations, in good condition.

Structurally, the altarpiece was not in a poor state of conservation. It was dirty and gaps were observed in the original polychromy that prevented a full appreciation of the work, as well as non-original added elements: altar table and steps.

After a study of the alterations that the work presented, the following interventions were carried out:

First, there was a cleaning surface of non-adhering dirt by means of controlled suction and using an extra-soft bristle brush. Subsequently, after carrying out the corresponding solubility tests, a chemical cleaning of dirt adhered to the surface was carried out, using a solution of ammonium citrate in distilled water. To clean the gilding, I used alcohol applied with cotton swabs.
Subsequently, the removal of overpainting with chemical and mechanical means, taking extreme care to protect the adjacent areas, where the polychrome was original, to avoid any involuntary damage to the work.
The oxidized varnishes were removed and the saturation of the polychromy and the volumetric reintegration of lagoons, with epoxy resins, after which the chromatic reintegration, coloring with mica powder to imitate gold, and with watercolors and acrylic colors the polychromies.

The intervention carried out has made it possible to recover the original aesthetics of the altarpiece, having only worked on its structure. The canvases that it houses have not been the object of intervention.

Image gallery

Technical data

General data

Technical data

Work team: Maria de la O Vargas Ruiz.
Date of the intervention: 2020
Protection of Good: The Church of the Monastery of San Ildefonso and San Juan de Mata was declared a National Monument by Royal Order of September 17, 1921 and the Convent of the Discalced Trinitarians, on November 11, 1943. By Order 19/2017 of the Minister of Culture , Tourism and Sports, the protection environment of the Convent of the Discalced Trinitarian Nuns was defined. The altarpiece of San Felipe Neri is a Property protected by the Community of Madrid.
Bibliography

Aranjo and Costa, J. (1951),“The convent of the Trinitarians”. In HL Madrid

Bonet Correa, Antonio (1961). "Madrid Churches of the 1961th century". Madrid. Diego Velázquez Institute, 30, pp. XNUMX.

Menendez Pidal, Ramon. (1943). "The convent of the Trinitarians of Madrid", in Bulletin of the Royal Academy of History, t. 79, pp. 97-99 and 474-74, and t. 112, pp. 141-142.

Tovar Martin, V. (1990). “The Monastery of the Discalced Trinitarian Sisters of San Ildefonso in Madrid”. Spanish Art Archive, No. 251, pp. 401-418.

VV.AA. (2002). "Altarpieces of the community of Madrid. XNUMXth to XNUMXth centuries”, Madrid. Community of Madrid (2nd ed.), pp. 342-343.

Conservation and restoration

Cultural heritage

heritage interventions