Recently, the restoration of a sculptural image of Saint Joseph from the late 19th to early 20th century was carried out. This work belongs to Santa María la Mayor Church in Alcalá la Real (Jaén), and its authorship is unknown with insufficient physical evidence about its origin.
This religious image is only exposed for worship and, furthermore, it is not processional. However, on March 19, 2023, the statue was taken down from the altar to be placed in the main altar of the parish church as part of its celebration.
Currently, the work can be found in the first left lateral chapel of the church, inside an altarpiece (Figure 1) of various styles with a final baroque section that was the work of Francisco Javier Pedrajas and where other images such as those of Saint Peter, Saint Anne, and Saint Joachim were kept until the brotherhood of Saint Joseph was founded (Martín Rosales, 2017).
The methodology used for sculpture making is passed down from generation to generation, and as a result, due to its workability and noble material quality, wood has become the most commonly used material by sculptors and image makers (Miñarro, 1994).
In this case, the studied work is a round sculpture carved in wood and probably hollowed out to reduce the weight of the piece (Gafriá, 2010).
From the studies carried out prior to the intervention that was developed, it is known that nails were used for assembly, and on top of these nails, fabrics would have been glued to protect them from unwanted movement. These fabric remnants could be seen in certain areas of the image due to the loss of adhesion of the polychrome layers which left them exposed (Figure 2).
Following the carving process, wood becomes the support for the pictorial layers that give the work its final appearance. It is worth noting the use of artificial elements, specifically the placement of glass eyes both in the image of Saint Joseph and in the child Jesus to add naturalness to the work (Miñaro, 1994).
On the other hand, the sculpture is assembled with a base that is also carved wood made up of several pieces glued together and reinforced at the joints with nails.
Due to one side of the base not being polychromed, it can be observed that a fine layer of white stucco was applied followed by a red bole layer as a base for water gilding technique (Martínez, 2002), which has been used on the remaining three sides of this base.
Once the gold leaf is burnished, incisions can be made to create textures and finishes. This involves repoussé or engraving with different types of tools.
Initial State of Conservation
In general, the work does not present a poor state of conservation beyond natural aging and wear from time. We provide a detailed analysis of the condition prior to intervention:
- Support:
No damage caused by wood-boring insects or any type of biological attack is observed, only superficial dirt and separation of pieces that form the work, generating cracks that are accentuated to varying degrees in the polychromy.
- Preparation Layer:
In some areas it has lost adhesion and presents a risk of detachment (Figure 2), while in others, it has already detached, generating voids and exposing the wooden support to external agents.
The study of these deteriorations allows us to obtain information about the construction process, for example, in a section of Saint Joseph's cloak, the polychrome layers have lost all adhesion to the support and we were able to observe a metallic element (nail) that was used during the creation of the sculpture for piece assembly (Figure 2)
- Polychromic Layer:
Generally, it presents good adhesion but there are losses due to detachment or accidental impacts and abrasions that the work may have suffered.
The polychrome layer and preparation layer losses mainly occur in the cloak, hair, beard, and hands of Saint Joseph. As for the Child Jesus, besides a fracture on his left little finger, he also shows losses in the hands, as well as in specific areas of the legs and hair.
Superficially and over the polychrome layer, there is an oxidized varnish with remnants of wax, smoke, and dust that darken the original polychromy.
Despite no documents confirming previous interventions on the work, adhesive residues and repaints have been found in specific areas of Jesus' left hand. Additionally, there are pen marks and fingerprint impressions (Figure 2).
Intervention Criteria
It is the work itself, its state of conservation, its function, and the needs it demands that condition the specific criteria to be adopted for its intervention. In this case, the intervention followed a criterion of conservation and restoration.
The aim is to remove anything that could harm the conservation of the image while restoring its aesthetic unity by reintegrating voids within their dimensions, provided there is sufficient information, without falsifying or engaging in creative interpretations that affect the integrity of the original work.
For this purpose, the five fundamental principles of minimal intervention, respect for the original, reversibility and stability of materials and finally, that of distinguishability were taken into account.
Intervention Procedure
The methodology varies depending on the work's needs and alterations. Every action must be fully justified, so treatments and procedures to follow are not always the same or performed in the same order. In this case, the procedure followed was as follows:
- Pre-intervention studies were carried out:
- Photographic documentation of the initial state of the work.
- Studies with UV light and white LED light
- Solubility tests
- Wood support:
- Dry mechanical cleaning: to remove dust and eliminate superficial deposits.
- Consolidation of wood.
- Predictive insect control treatment.
- Polychrome layers:
- Injection fixation of the different polychrome layers.
- Controlled mechanical cleaning with scalpel to remove wax residues and more adhered deposits.
- Chemical cleaning with appropriate solvents.
- Filling and leveling of voids.
- Chromatic reintegration of voids, employing a distinguishable technique (rigatino), while for small voids, mimetic techniques were used.
- Final protective layer
- Photographic documentation of the process (Figure 3) and completion of the final intervention report.
Bibliography
Grafia Sales, J. V. (2010). Restoration of the Santísimo Cristo de la Palma from the 17th century at Cabañal. Arché, (4-5), 61-68.
Martín Rosales, Paco. (2017, March 19). "Cabildo Houses" . Diary of the urban walk route of San José. https://pacomartinrosales.blogspot.com/search?q=san+josé
Martínez Hurtado, S. (2002). Gilding: techniques, procedures and materials. Ars longa: art notebooks, (11), 137-142.
Miñarro López, J. M. (1994). Sculpture and polychrome image-making, principles and processes. In National Symposium on Image-Making (1st, 1994, Seville) (pp. 11-30). Seville: Caja San Fernando.
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