The work, an anonymous work from the first half of the 17th century, has been treated for defects and pathologies by community technicians for four months
The image of the Annunciation (anonymous, circa 1620) returned this Friday to the chapel of San Dionisio of the Cathedral of Murcia, after completion of the rehabilitation work carried out in the restoration center of the Autonomous Community. The work, measuring 194 x 177 cm, made in oil on panel, includes in an allusive and contemplative way not only the Gospel story, but also the redemption, as a fundamental pillar of the Catholic tradition. It captures a scene in the use of time, developed in a belvedere or terrace whose balustrade can see a small grove and several buildings. The angel Gabriel, with the emblematic lily symbol of purity, prostrates himself on a cloud before the Virgin who, leaving behind a sacred book, shows herself in a pose of contemplation; all this under an artificial breaking of the sky where God the Father and the Holy Spirit stand out.
The Minister of the Presidency, Tourism, Culture and Sports, Marcos Ortuño, provided this large-format painting in an act that was also witnessed by the bishop of the diocese, José Manuel Lorca Planes. Ortuño emphasized “the importance of the work of the restoration center of the region, quiet and silent, but at the same time necessary and fundamental to allow the preservation of our artistic and cultural heritage.”
The intervention process on this painting took four months. The work has, in fact, completed and corrected an earlier intervention which, for unknown reasons, had left the panel half-plastered and with a half-finished cleaning process, and had even acted on the support of the work, causing a sort of screw-up. So the process now running is not complete, but partial, since it started from an intermediate point and not from zero, as usual.
The old intervention was very aggressive. Two horizontal pine crossbars were placed at the back, which remained fixed, also counting on the presence of numerous repaints in a general way.
The work has suffered a serious attack of woodworm which has made the underside of the table very weak, while the pictorial layer, very oxidized and yellowish, hid the original colors of the work. On the other hand, it was in a poor state of repair due to poor intervention, as it retained a general stucco finish on the whole table and, moreover, a general blackout of the whole surface.
An investigation revealed that some defects of the previous intervention had to be corrected, such as the degree of cleanliness of the image film, which was not optimal at the time, or the applied stucco, which was clearly exaggerated. The table presented another series of pathologies to be treated, such as a strong attack by xylophagous insects that had destroyed much of the support, the appearance of cracks and the presence of layers at risk of landslides, the Community reported.
Source: La Verdad
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