The Brotherhood of the Macarena wants to close as soon as possible the popular discomfort generated by the failed restoration of its Virgin and extinguish the criticisms unleashed by the touch -ups that were carried out successively and hurriedly in less than 24 hours, in a process that suffered from lack of transparency by the brotherhood. The entity has designated the prestigious restorer Pedro Manzano the task of intervening the size and recovering its original expression, in a work in which it will have the technical and scientific support of the Andalusian Institute of Historical Heritage (IAPH), as long as the brothers give the approval of this proposal, which will be voted in an extraordinary council (meeting in which the members of the Brotherhood approve important decisions).
Manzano could see the size last Monday night at the invitation of the Brotherhood Governing Board, which was gathered urgently to address the crisis generated by the questioned restoration. “I was dressed and exhibited, but from that first impression I found that it was slightly more recognizable than when it appeared on Saturday morning,” Manzano explains to this newspaper. The restorer refers to the different touch -ups that were made in the stature of the 17th century throughout the afternoon and night of June 21. In the afternoon, the eyelashes -excessively long after the restoration directed by Professor Francisco Arquillo -were cut and, at night, Im of Esteban Sánchez returned the reddish skate to his cheeks -which had been completely eliminated -recovering part of his expression, although not the look. “Now you have to see what was applied,” says Manzano.
That will be the technical analysis that they will perform in the IAPH and on which the restorer will work to prepare the diagnostic report and write his treatment proposal, which will be taken to the Cabildo so that the brothers of the Macarena decide, explains Manzano, who insists on maintaining all the caution since this process is not approved until it has been voted. The Brotherhood, in the statement he has issued to inform his proposal to intervene in the Virgin, has not yet determined when the extraordinary council will be held.
Manzano acknowledges that, to get ahead of his project, for him it will be “a privilege and a huge responsibility” to be able to work on the face of the most iconic painful in Seville, to recover his original gaze. Without leaving aside the caution, the restorer avoids giving deadlines on how much the whole process could last or in which areas of the face would we have to work more.
Bachelor of Conservation and Restoration of works of art from the University of Seville, Manzano is a reference in the field of restoration that has participated in enhanced interventions for the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville, the General Directorate of Cultural Property of the Board or the Board of Trustees of the Alhambra and the Generalife. He has also worked at the IAPH, with which he restored works of the Chapel of the Palace of San Telmo. At the head of the Andalusian Conservation and Restoration Workshop of works of art, founded by him in 2015, he has been in charge of the restoration and maintenance of images of different brotherhoods and religious entities.
The Brotherhood has also reported that it has approved the creation of a multidisciplinary expert commission and another monitoring and control by the Governing Board. With this measure, it intends to go out of the criticisms that experts had expressed throughout the week questioning the lack of control by those responsible for the brotherhood especially the maintenance process carried out by Professor Arquillo and the absence of heritage experts within the entity that could advise their responsible for the management of the artistic pieces they possess and their treatment.