Restoration of the painting "Breaking of Glory" from the Chapel of Los Lujanes at the Vista Alegre Estate
Oil on canvas by M. Carmona
The Vista Alegre Estate is one of the most important examples of a recreational estate built in Spain during the 18th century, a privileged setting for Madrid's social life for decades. In addition to the importance of the gardens, a milestone in the history of landscape gardening, the Estate also features significant buildings that house assets of great artistic relevance, such as the Vista Alegre Palaces and other buildings that have been added over the years, such as the former National Orphanage of El Pardo, inaugurated on July 1947, XNUMX, in whose chapel, called "de Los Lujanes" , the canvas was housed Breaking of glory by M. Carmona.
After the treatments applied, the work has recovered its original reading, displaying a wealth of highly remarkable chromatic and compositional nuances.
Breaking of glory
The large work is an oil on canvas signed and dated 1939 by M. Carmona.
The canvas was stored in the Vista Alegre Palace, rolled around a protective tube. Its original location was the Los Lujanes Chapel, as a complement and frame for a contemporary sculpture, the Virgin of Mercy. The canvas and sculpture were seen as a staging of the glorification of the Virgin.
The breaking of glory is a pictorial term that refers, in religious art, to the representation of the spiritual plane on the earthly plane, through a fiction of perspectives.
In the restored canvas, the effect of light is achieved through a complex interplay of pure, bright colors against dark ones, enhancing the brilliant central light surrounded by a choir of angels and cherubs; the background framing the figure of the Virgin of Mercy creates a unified setting.
Previous state of conservation
The work's state of conservation was poor and required rapid action due to a serious structural problem resulting from the deterioration and stress on the support, which had ceased to fulfill its function.
The canvas presented the following alterations: surface dirt, detritus, existence of numerous large holes, distributed throughout the canvas, deformation and loosening.
In addition to the dirt caused by dust and pollution deposited on both the front and back, there was bird and bat droppings on the front and the lack of support in many areas of the canvas. The work also had tears in the canvas held in place with adhesive tape.
Restoration of the work
- Mechanical cleaning of the back and front using a brush and vacuum cleaner, which was completed with the application of an aqueous procedure using distilled water.
- Treatment of support deformations applying controlled weight and humidity.
- Spot wallpapering to repair loss of support and fabric tearsSquares of Japanese paper were placed over each tear, loss, or rip to prevent the paint layer from being lost during subsequent adhesion. Once the papers were fixed, they were ironed over hand paper until the Japanese paper was dry.
- Preparation of an inert support.
- Application of two coats of synthetic stucco.
- Sanding the surface until it was smooth, to eliminate the original texture of the inert support.
- Application of grafts Making a tracing of the loss on acetate and then cutting the fabric to the size of the tracing. Once the fabric was cut to the shape of the graft, it was placed on the support, and, with the help of heat applied to the graft, the fabric was glued to the support.
- Adhesion of the canvas to the inert supportAs a preliminary measure to adhesion and to ensure that the canvas would not move during gluing, the work was laid out on the inert support and the gaps between the grafts were marked. Small strips of tape were placed to prevent it from opening. Weighted rollers were used to ensure the entire canvas was glued to the surface. Circular holes were made, filled with a wooden dowel, to allow the frame to be screwed to the support.
Photographs before and after restoration
Technical sheet
- Author
Mr. Carmona
- Dating:
1939, contemporary era
- Material and dimensions:
Oil on canvas. Height: 2,60 m. Width: 3 m.
Chapel of the Lujanes of the Vista Alegre Estate
(original location)
General Ricardos Street nº 179, Madrid
By Decree 169/2018, of December 11, the Governing Council of the Community of Madrid declared the Gardens of the palaces of the Vista Alegre Estate a Site of Cultural Interest in the Historic Garden category.
The restored work is also protected by the Community of Madrid.
- Work team:
ECRA INTEGRAL ART SERVICES, SL
- Date of the intervention:
2024
- Sánchez Molledo, JM(VA). (2024). The Quinta de Vista Alegre in Carabanchel, Madrid City Council.
- Rodriguez Romero, Eva (2000), The landscaped garden and the recreational estates of Carabancheles: the Vista Alegre estate, Madrid: Spanish University Foundation.
