Portal de Murcia
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The Ministry of Culture has invested 2.3 million euros in the last five years on the restoration of the Cathedral of Murcia
The Ministry of Culture has completed the restoration of the drawers of the cathedral, which has been presented today and open to the public to Murcia and visitors can see the work done.
Event which attended by the government delegate in Murcia Rafael González Tovar, along with the Bishop of the Diocese of Cartagena, José Manuel Lorca Planes, the technique of the Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain, Laura Ceballos, and the dean of the Cathedral of Murcia, José Antonio Trigueros.
As indicated by the representative of the Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain and project manager, Laura Ceballos, "the drawers of the sacristy is not just furniture but a magnificent sculpture of the Renaissance, with a strong influence of Italian furniture rich, luxurious with sumptuous decor and imaginative. "
Description of drawers
The pedestal consists of a wooden interior frame of pine (Pinus nigra L.) consists of a vertical fabric attached to the wall structure that holds the front of the drawers.
About this hidden frame, good carpentry, assembly and are joined by nails hidden reliefs of walnut (Juglans regia L.) that shape the cabinet.
It is divided into a low body, with drawers that are against the wall, which preserves the liturgical vestments, very expensive since antiquity.
The upper body, except for decoration only two closets flanking the entrance, lines the wall around the perimeter, and is what gives it its monumental appearance.
It highlights the cornice apparently sustained by children or putti in changing positions, and topped by a thin and delicate crest formed by dragons, and fruit masks.
This cresting retains only one original section, the rest being added historical and reproduced in the restoration areas from the fragments found after the furniture in the disassembly.
The size represents the typical Renaissance ornamental repertoire: candilieri the grounds and reasons of grotesques, or very creative motifs of vases, fruit, vegetable stems, masks that are intertwined with each other, humans metamorphose, etc., as design Jacobo Florentino.
The twelve funds or panels are decorated with grotesques surrounding a central medallion bearing the images of the twelve apostles in profile.
The central holes occupy the doors, the niche in a pristine Baroque polychrome stone attributed to Salzillo or school, and the magnificent relief of "Crying about Christ."
In this cabinet you can see different hands in the execution of the carving, as befits the information coming from the cathedral accounts, but it's hard to pinpoint which parts were executed by each teacher.
It is easier to specify which parts were executed in the Baroque era when in 1689 a fire destroyed a corner of the cabinet and had to be replaced with reliefs in imitation of the Renaissance.
However, their construction system was much coarser than that used in the Renaissance.
In the eighteenth century also added the crests and finials in a niche housing a Baroque stone sculpture of the Immaculate Conception.
The drawers, lining the perimeter of the site, was designed by James Fiorentino, Italian Renaissance artist who also commissioned the design and ornamentation of the tower of the Cathedral in the years 1521-26.
For the latter's death, his work was continued by Jerónimo Quijano and a team of collaborators to finish around 1530.
This pine commissioned in the support structure and hickory zones "nobles" of furniture, decorated with impressive reliefs.
Previous situation of drawers
The group suffered throughout history a series of vicissitudes and transformations that changed their original conception.
A fire destroyed in 1689, a canvas full of furniture and affected part of the drawers, which led to its reconstruction.
The commission went to Gabriel Perez de Mena, Pedro de Mena's nephew but was completed by another sculptor, Juan Antonio, in 1706.
Soon after, he added some shots in the crests and a niche to hold a Baroque polychrome stone carving of the Immaculate Conception.
The drawers was affected by moisture seeping through the basement of the Cathedral.
Therefore its structure had fungal decay and insect attack.
Also had significant physical stability problems to have fallen off the entire crest.
The restoration carried out by the Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain has been the disassembly and reassembly of the cabinet, using the existing camera in the sacristy, improve ventilation and minimize the accumulation of moisture guaranteeing in this way, conditions optimal conservation.
In addition, there has been a fumigation and cleaning of wood and spare parts have been lost to return to the cabinet stability and original beauty.
Finally, there has been an outstanding and accurate documentation of the techniques used by Renaissance woodwork.
To rectify the significant moisture problems suffered by the tower and other parts of the Cathedral, during the years 2007 to 2009 there was a consistent involvement in the conduct of external aeration chamber around the tower, and other aeration chamber inside under the floor of the sacristy and wardrobe Annex, all connected.
This has helped to dry the walls and eliminate the rising moisture that was rotting the structural wood.
For the execution of the work was necessary to remove the drawer in 2009, and this has been exploited to perform a disinfestation treatment for inert gases.
For this, the drawer is removed piece by piece, following a rigorous classification system where each piece has original location coordinates accurate, according to a plan drawn to scale.
After this phase, there is in 2010 a draft assembly that includes the study, conservation and restoration integral drawers.
In summary, the work began in June 2010, ending the physical implementation in April of this year.
Is currently completing the final report with an analysis of the data provided in this work to complete the comprehensive study was conducted in the drawer during the restoration.
Having a piece of these features is removed a unique opportunity to conduct a study on the assembly systems and carpentry throughout history.
During this process we discover important information that has been hidden since its construction, as the traces or preparatory drawings of decorative motifs, and the original assembly systems, and both saved the log graph.
How has restored the Drawer?
Simultaneously working two teams: one responsible for cleaning and restoration of decorative elements, and another specialized in carpentry and installation of reinforcement of the structure that will support the decor.
In parallel there is a person in charge of charting the elements to study this piece in the future.
In general, the first few months in a work of conservation of this magnitude are dedicated to object recognition and pathways by:
Classification and study of the components of the drawer, rethinking and revising the missing pieces to rebuild.
Historical studies to explain the changes suffered by the cabinet.
Query the file for documentation.
Analytical testing to determine the sequence of coatings on wood, comparing this information with historical data found in the books of the Cathedral factory.
Performance of tests of treatments for cleaning and consolidation.
The sequence of treatments that have been spent more time cleaning, where different systems were chosen according to the needs of each area.
All parts, one classified and restated cleaned one by one using solvents and scalpel tip.
Then consolidated to return to the lost mechanical strength wood by impregnating acrylic resins where necessary, joined loose fragments, and were replaced by grafting pieces of wood missing.
Woodwork was made in structural reinforcement, by grafting of new wood to replace the badly degraded parts that did not meet its function.
He settled the carpentry workshop in the sacristy, where the walls sanearon and make up the beams to bridge the gap to the ground and then there are no gaps between the pieces.
This resulted in the elevation of the cabinet (formerly buried by the marble pavement made during the Baroque era) about 8-10 cm to support the new ground level after completion of the aeration chamber.
The woodwork has been the most laborious of the lower body, worse preserved and oldest major transformations and tweaks.
The drawers had been crudely transformed to make them bigger at the expense of breaking and weakening the pillars that support the countertop.
Therefore it was decided to return to its original size drawers on the sides 3 and 4 to increase the strength of the structure of the body under, and close the bottom line of boxes with lids and handles forge practicable to allow for ventilation and cleaning the area in contact with the ground.
Rethinks and redesigns the structure of the cabinet on side 1 and 2, to match the Renaissance building system, much stronger than the baroque structure, very weak.
Are lined closets, replacing plywood panels recently restored by pine paneling premium on the inside, and walnut on exposed faces.
Replaced the crest section adjacent to the window, which was a blatant copy poorly executed in the last century pine for a replica of the original Renaissance, which have been inserted fragments appeared after removal.
The finish has been the color matching on parts replaced and the application of a thin layer of natural wax to protect the surface of the absorption of dust and dirt, and to provide an appearance similar to that which took its origin you can appreciate the quality of the wood grain, while respecting the natural darkening that has had the walnut over almost 500 years.
The team consists of seven restorers of Cultural and two cabinet officers specializing in carpentry work of cultural goods.
The Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain is responsible for the technical direction of work.
Source: Ministerio de Cultura
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