The General Directorate of Cultural Heritage is restoring a 17th-century work of 'San Juan de Dios' guarded by the Museum of Sacred Art of Lanzarote, in the Villa de Teguise, which was "in poor condition." This sober painting of unknown authorship was painted in oil on linen canvas, and is framed with an old ocher and black molding.
From the Heritage of the Government of the Canary Islands, they point out that the work of the patron saint of Nursing presented a poor state of conservation due to "the environmental conditions that it had been enduring", with a high constant relative humidity, and also "due to several incorrect and other unnecessary interventions." In fact, they point out that the painting had been intervened at least "on three occasions given the degree of polymerization of the added materials".
The restorer and conservator of cultural assets, Beatriz Galán, was able to verify that the work was lined and placed in a new frame, areas of the habit were repainted in oil, it had also been cleaned and varnished, in addition to finding dark oil repaints.
However, the Government of the Canary Islands details that this new intervention was adjusted "to the basic principles in terms of conservation", which consist of "compatibility with the original materials, respect for the original, the minimum intervention at the level of curative conservation, reversibility of the intervention and that the result is discernible".
Before starting the intervention, Galán carried out a study of visible fluorescence induced with UV light, which consists of "taking photographs with a light source emitting ultraviolet radiation." “In order to be able to document exactly the location of the repaints, as well as see the density, age, distribution of the layer of varnish present, brush marks, etc.”, specifies the restorer.
Maintenance work on the work
The intervention on the canvas support consisted of "the removal of the lining, the cleaning of the reverse side that contained remains of the adhesive to line, the consolidation of the fibers to restore elasticity and mechanical resistance to the support and patches, threads and grafts were placed." In addition, from Heritage they point out that the excessive humidity suffered by the textile support due, above all, to the permanent retention of water in the glue of the lining it had, "made it necessary to place a new lining or re-lining, but using other materials and procedures so that it would be easily reversible."
The frame, for its part, had to be "disinfected, chemically cleaned, consolidated and the cracks and holes were filled to reinforce the structure and improve its appearance", among other actions. With regard to the frame, the most serious thing was "the attack of xylophagous insects", so it was decided to "eliminate the porous and degraded wood to make plywood grafts that are much more flexible and resistant to new biological infestations."
Regarding the pictorial layer, the Government of the Canary Islands indicates that "a superficial cleaning of glue residues and dirt was carried out, in addition to another chemical cleaning of varnish and removal of repaints." "An operation was also carried out to fill the existing gaps in the pictorial stratum with stucco, to restore continuity to the preparation layer and subsequently receive the chromatic reintegration”, specifies Beatriz Galán.
Finally, the Government of the Canary Islands highlights that the relocation on the wall "will not be carried out until the wall on which it was located has been properly paneled", so that the work is separated from it, a condition in which the Museum of Sacred Art of Lanzarote is already working so that the piece can be exhibited again as soon as possible.
