Restoration work has already begun on the painting The Immaculate Conception and the Juries of the city of Valencia, the canvas painted by Jeroni Jacint Espinosa in 1662, which is one of the most important works of art in the municipal pictorial collections, “and which It has a symbolic character for Valencians”, as highlighted by the Councilor for Culture, José Luis Moreno.
Specialized personnel from the company that was awarded the tender called by the City Council have already begun the intervention on the piece, work that is carried out in the premises of the Municipal Historical Museum and that will last for a period of one year.
It is a large oil painting on canvas, 3.60 x 3.50 meters, that represents the city's jurors dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, and which was commissioned by them in the mid-17th century in defense of the Marian dogma. The work is in a poor state of conservation, aggravated by the fact that it has been the subject of numerous interventions over time, not all of them adequate, and that it has also been installed or stored in different locations, and in irregular conditions throughout. over the years.
With the aim of recovering the splendor of a painting closely linked to the municipality and the local government, the City Council once called a competition to proceed with the comprehensive restoration of the piece. Prior to the intervention, the canvas was transferred to the Museum of Fine Arts, where the necessary preliminary studies have been carried out to guide the work to be carried out, given that the analyzes could not be done in the Historical Museum.
Once these analyzes were completed, the canvas is now at the City Hall and its comprehensive restoration has begun, which affects both the consolidation of the frame and the support of the pictorial layer, the cleaning of dust and dirt, the removal of varnishes and repaints, and general consolidation, as a previous step to chromatic reintegration,
The first of the actions, which began last Tuesday, the 10th, is the elimination of the protective wallpaper, a film made from Japan paper and natural organic glue, which has facilitated its transportation rolled up in optimal conditions and well protected. Once in the premises of the Historical Museum, and after stapling the canvas on a completely flat surface, specifically for working, the wallpaper was removed with hot, very drained water, which allows any remaining glue on the surface to be removed.
After removing all the protective elements, and a few days of rest so that the retained water can evaporate completely, the next step will be the fixation of the pictorial film. As explained by the technicians in charge of the work, the areas where lifting (cracking) of the pictorial film has been observed, that is, the cracked or scratched parts, have been marked with chalk in order to re-adhere the film to its support in each of these points.
To do this, first a glue or adhesive, natural or synthetic, is injected and, subsequently, the canvas will be ironed, which consists of applying pressure, heat and controlled humidity, with a thermal spatula.
Once the consolidation phase is completed, which is carried out horizontally, on the floor, the following phases will be vertical, that is, on the wall. To do this, the canvas will be unnailed and installed again in its original frame. In this phase, the cleaning work, preparation coating, chromatic reintegration and final varnishing will be carried out.
Councilor José Luis Moreno recalled that all this vertical work will be carried out in full view of the public, who will be able to observe the restoration work live, although the canvas will be protected and a scaffolding will be enabled so that specialized personnel can access it with ease to all areas to be restored.
