The Canarian Parliament has this Monday begun work on the first phase of restoration of a canvas hidden for four decades in the plenary hall. The President of the House, Astrid Pérez, values the importance of "rehabilitating" a work by the painter from La Palma, Manuel González Méndez, "which has remained hidden behind several layers of paint and the tapestry that presides over the hemicycle."
"The Parliament has been trying to start this process for several years and, finally, in this XI Legislature we have managed to start some work that will allow us to recover and conserve this sample of the historical and artistic heritage of the Canary Islands," stresses the president, who adds that "with this first phase we also respond to a report by the Technical Unit of Historical Heritage of the Cabildo of Tenerife which, in 2019, and after carrying out a series of tests on that third canvas, concluded that its recovery was necessary in order to return a unitary discourse to the noble space of the hall. At the same time, a work by one of the most prestigious Canarian artists of all time would be recovered for the general public."
Due to the fact that the work is carried out at height, it has been necessary to install a scaffolding structure that will remain at the head of the plenary hall during the month of August. This hidden work is located between the two paintings by Manuel González Méndez that preside over the plenary hall and, according to another report by the Technical Unit of Historical Heritage of the Tenerife Cabildo, it would be a representation of the coat of arms of the Provincial Council of the Canary Islands.
The technicians have determined that it is more convenient for the Parliament of the Canary Islands to carry out this action during non-working periods and in phases, "which allow decisions to be made according to the data obtained in each of them, given the uncertainty of what may be found, and in this way not interfere with parliamentary activity."
The work that is intended to be recovered is an oil on canvas adhered to the wall and covered by several layers of decorative paint, which is initially dated to 1906. Its dimensions are 252 by 173 centimeters and, according to a 2018 report from the aforementioned unit of the Tenerife Cabildo, "it was covered with a tapestry in the 80s of the 20th century, during the 1st Legislature."
This month the restoration work of the first cleaning phase will be carried out, carried out by two professional restorers. For this stage, the tests carried out in 2019 will be repeated, with different materials and specific restoration solutions. The experts in charge of this phase indicate that "it is a very delicate and meticulous cleaning to progressively remove the layers of paint until reaching the original pictorial composition."
