A controversial restoration of the macarena causes a storm in networks and forces an emergency rectification: “We apologize” | Culture

The Virgen de la Macarena has lived a convulsive weekend for her new appearance. The Brotherhood of the Virgin of Seville has had to replenish the painful and intervene it of urgency after its controversial and criticized last restoration, which, among other aspects, changed its eyelashes. This Saturday, when exposing it to the public and after five days withdrawn to the cult, they have justified that this total change in their gaze was an “unwanted effect” and that they are open to all relevant explanations. The brotherhood came to eliminate the first tweet with the photographs of the Virgin after replenishing it for the first time.

The intervention of the size had caused the complaints of many brothers, both in social networks and in its temple. In the social network X “the brotherhood apologizes to brothers and devotees for this incident, highlighting that its eagerness has been, is and will always be to preserve in the best possible conditions the greatest heritage possessed by macarenes, their sacred titular images, and especially the Blessed Virgin of Hope,” says one of the brotherhoods with the most prestige of the Holy Week.

On Saturday night a second retouching was added, obscuring his face and touching his eyebrows, reports the Diario de Sevilla, and not only removing the aforementioned eyelashes. With this new aspect, with the retouching of the retouching, the Virgin will be exposed in extraordinary veneration on June 22, 23 and 24 in the Basilica Presbytery. It will be placed on ground so that Sevillians can see the changes first hand.

Before the new intervention on the face, in the same basilica of La Macarena, in the neighborhood that bears his name in Seville, tension scenes and protests were produced on Saturday and some people have cried before the image when they see their new appearance, as sources close to the Brotherhood have informed Efe. Social networks, in turn, were filled with devotee messages complaining about the change of appearance. The brotherhood has specified that “it understands, and shares, the signs of concern of brothers and devotees”, and that is why it has acted “with the greatest possible diligence, and guided by technical criteria, to repair this unwanted aesthetic alteration.”

Officially, the image of the Virgen de la Macarena is anonymous, from the seventeenth century, although it is speculated that its author could be the sculptor Pedro Roldán or even her daughter, the Roldana. Together with the Christ of Great Power, it is the most popular and venerated image of Holy Week in Seville, the great icon by which this holiday is known worldwide. It leaves in procession every year in the known as Madrugá, the night from Thursday to Good Friday.

The Macarena will celebrate on Monday at 8:00 p.m. a Thanksgiving Mass for restitution to the cult of its titular images after the completion of conservation tasks. In a statement, he explained that “during the last three weeks, the team of restorative conservatives led by the emeritus professor Francisco Arquillo Torres has carried out maintenance and conservation work.” Arquillo is one of the professionals in this best known sector in the cofrade world and linked to the aforementioned Brotherhood. He was called by the Emergency Brotherhood to try to solve the problem of the restoration he did.

“These works have consisted of the realization of radiological analysis already through CT as well as the analysis of polychromies through non -invasive techniques; cleaning of polychromies, consisting of the elimination of superficial dirt derived from the cultural and devotional use, and chromatic reintegration of the existing polychromy lagoons motivated by said uses,” the entity indicated before the controversy was lifted in social networks. Now they will have to wait to know if the new touch -ups convince the devotees.