The Ministry of Culture, through the Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain (IPCE), is about to conclude the conservation and restoration intervention of the mural paintings in three spaces of the patron saint's sanctuary. In the last year, a multidisciplinary team has worked on the antechamber of the Virgen de las Huertas, the convent staircase of the 'Tota Pulchra and the first chapel on the gospel side, with a budget of 392,000 euros.
After the serious damage caused by the 2011 earthquakes, the Ministry of Culture carried out successive emergency interventions for the architectural consolidation and recovery of the interior of the church-sanctuary. Between 2017 and 2018, previous studies and tests of suitability of treatments on the pictorial surfaces were carried out and the results obtained are the documentary basis of the current comprehensive intervention project.
In the dome of the chapel on the gospel side, the decorative paintings that had been completely hidden have been recovered and in the 'Tota Pulchra' staircase, with scenes painted on the walls and the dome dedicated to the Virgin, of which there are very few examples in Spanish art, structural injuries in mortars have been corrected with the elimination of cracks and fissures and the replacement of lost fragments. The successive coverings and repaintings carried out at different times in the 20th century have also been removed and tastings have been carried out that have allowed fragments of old paintings to come to light.
The mural cycle of the Virgin's antechamber presented a situation similar to the staircase due to the abundant reconstructions and repaintings. The intervention has focused on the structural consolidation of cavities, sealing cracks and fissures and the fixation of pictorial layers. The restoration has been carried out with treatments of maximum physical-chemical compatibility with the original materials to guarantee retratability and durability.
The removal, by chemical and aqueous means, of varnishes, repaints, alterations and veils has also been addressed to try to recover historical authenticity. Replacements of plastering and a discernible chromatic reintegration have been carried out, aimed at recovering the historical unity of the decorative program of these spaces of the sanctuary divided into three sections and designed by Fray Pedro Morote.
The four canvases made by Manuel Muñoz Barberán in the early years of the 21st century tailored to the niches of the antechamber with episodes from the life of the Virgin have been removed and the original floral elements and the wood of these spaces have been recovered.
Roof cleaning
However, no work has been done on the mural painting that represents Cope's Christ, completely disfigured by the humidity that has affected the antechamber in recent years. It is the oldest in the complex, dating back to 1678 and its restoration will be undertaken in the next phase. Although it seems that its deterioration has been stopped by the latest interventions on the roofs of the building, to prevent new humidity the parish and the Virgen de las Huertas Brotherhood have financed the work of a company specialized in the roofs of the sanctuary from which they have been removed in two days more than 200 kilos of pigeon droppings that blocked the pipes. They have also repaired broken tiles and fixed cracks in the gutters.
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