Intervention Criteria in the Restoration of the Panel Painting Christ tied to the column from the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art in Salamanca, Spain, which was attributed to Luis de Morales

Academic report Intervención ISSN 2448-5934 ENERO-JUNIO 2024 JANUARY-JUNE 2024 OJS Índice / Contents Intervention Criteria in the Restoration of the Panel Painting Christ tied to the column from the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art in Salamanca, Spain, which was attributed to Luis de Morales Ir a la versión en español DOI: 10.30763/Intervencion.295.v1n29.74.2024 • YEAR 15, ISSUE NO. 29: 122-146 Submitted: 14.09.2023 • Accepted: 07.05.2024 • Published: 31.07.2024 Alejandra del Barrio Luna Eduardo Azofra Agustín Diputación de Salamanca, Spain Universidad de Salamanca (Usal), Spain orcid: orcid: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-1419-815X https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9518-2374 Tomás Gil Rodrigo Servicio Diocesano de Patrimonio Artístico y Cultural y de Evangelización de la Cultura, Spain | orcid: sin registro Translated by Fernanda Andablo ABSTRACT The following article aims to explain the restoration process carried out during 2021 of the panel painting Christ Tied to the Column, an unprecedented work by Luis de Morales. After its discovery in the town of Alba de Tormes (Salamanca, Spain), probably coming from the church of San Juan Bautista in the aforementioned town, this work is now part of the permanent exhibition Misterio Admirable (Admirable Mystery) at the Museo Diocesano de Arte Sacro de Salamanca (Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art of Salamanca), inaugurated in March 2023, in the Episcopal Palace of Salamanca. The intervention carried out on the piece stands out for the application Photography: Blanca Cárdenas, 2019; courtesy: Nara Palace Site Historical Park, Heijokyu Izanaikan Guidance Center, Showroom 3. of the scientific method for its attribution, and that the whole restoration process is combined with the theological sense that contributes to the 17th century setting and the iconological meaning. 122 CONVOCATORIA 2024 CALL FOR PAPERS 2024 Academic report Intervención ISSN 2448-5934 KEYWORDS restoration of panel painting, Christ Tied to the Column, Luis de Morales, Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art of Salamanca ENERO-JUNIO 2024 JANUARY-JUNE 2024 OJS Índice / Contents Photography: Blanca Cárdenas, 2019; courtesy: Nara Palace Site Historical Park, Heijokyu Izanaikan Guidance Center, Showroom 3. INTRODUCTION The following article addresses the study and intervention carried out between February and May 2021 on the panel painting titled Cristo Tied to the Column, an unprecedented work that we attribute to Luis de Morales. It is currently part of thematic unit 4 of the exhibition: La Pascua del amor eterno (The Easter of Eternal Love), of the permanent display Misterio Admirable (Admirable Mystery) at the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art of Salamanca (Spain).1 The work has the following dimensions: 57.2 x 38.6 cm. Due to the analyzes carried out in the ARTE-LAB laboratory,2 in February 2021, it was concluded that the wood of the support is possibly oak, and that it was painted on a single tangential cut wood piece, without heartwood or knots. The sizing has a thickness between 60 to 120 µm and is composed of calcium sulfate and organic glue. The pictorial layer is grease, agglutinated with oil and pigments in several strata of approximately 45 µm at the bottom and 150 µm in the rest. The theme of the painting Christ Tied to the Column is a passage collected in the gospel stories: Matt 27, 26; Mark 15, 15, and John 19, 14 (Sagrada Biblia, 2010). The picture presents a half-body figure with detailed anatomical analysis, next to a tall column of mottled marble to which Christ is tied with ropes at the wrist. The great expressiveness of the face stands out, alongside with the contraction of the forehead and the mouth half-open anticipating the pain and anguish of the punishment he is about to receive. The painting has a later frame, from the late 16th century or early 17th century. The exterior measurement is 62.3 x 48 cm. It follows the casetta typology (García & Aranda, 2024), composed of a gilded edge, a gap with black and white text, and a gilded halfround edge. The restoration process was understood and approached as an ontological review, resorting to the scientific method (Muñoz, 2004, pp. 126 and 135) to explain the common characteristics between the Salamanca panel and other works by Luis de Morales (Ruiz, 2015). The protocol followed in the performance was to carUntil this publication there is no inventory, cataloging, or documentary relationship with a previous date. 2 Laboratory specialized in analysis for the documentation and restoration of cultural assets, located in Madrid, Spain (arte-lab, 2024). 1 Intervention Criteria in the Restoration of the Panel Painting Christ tied to the column… CONVOCATORIA 2024 CALL FOR PAPERS 2024 123 Academic report Intervención ISSN 2448-5934 ENERO-JUNIO 2024 JANUARY-JUNE 2024 OJS Índice / Contents Photography: Blanca Cárdenas, 2019; courtesy: Nara Palace Site Historical Park, Heijokyu Izanaikan Guidance Center, Showroom 3. ry out the same stratigraphic and reflectographic tests, in order to create a relationship of fundamental aspects between different entities that would allow confirming or discarding the attribution to the artist (Sandkühler, 2010). The archaeological criterion was followed during the restoration process (Meluco, 2002). Thus, the approach that has been followed in all processes is that of minimal intervention, based on the maximum theoretical historical-philological knowledge of the work that the scientific method provides. A protocol was followed to reconcile research with conservation adjusted to the three fundamental values to be respected: historical, artistic, and theological. For this reason, a historical stratigraphic reading of the constituent materials was used (Harris, 1991), both for old interventions and the original work, all of this alongside with scientific support. This postulate is not commonly used for works from the Modern Age, which follow the principle of visible reintegration (Brandi, 1988 [1963]; Brandi y D´Ossat, 1972; Baldini, 2002 [1978]; González-Varas, 2006, pp. 315-341). However, we consider that Level 0 (Nivel 0) creates a level of action in the face of gaps and is more respectful in interventions on cultural assets (Ceballos, 2017, p. 51),3 since: “It is the criterion that values the most antique works.” Thereupon, the objects of the restoration followed three phases of action in the work. The first one is that of curative conservation. The main point of this phase was the material preservation of the image: ensuring its stability, and respecting its historical and aesthetic integrity. In order to achieve this, it was proposed to conduct an action protocol for the alterations based on the study of all possible treatments and choosing the most appropriate one for the restoration of the physical and mechanical properties with the least impact on the work. The second phase, the restoration, was guided by the elimination of foreign products, no (...truncated)