El Gran Poder is one of the images that generates the most excitement during the Holy Week in Seville. Not only because it is a popular devotion that extends beyond the borders of Andalusia, but also because of the artistic values of a sculpture created by Juan de Mesa in 1620, considered a masterpiece of Baroque iconography. In the early hours of Good Friday, the also known as ‘Lord of Seville’ will once again process through the streets of the Andalusian capital, on a float designed and made by Francisco Ruiz Gijón in 1688, which is considered by experts as a «mobile altarpiece», whose design has become a model and inspiration for processional floats for the rest of the brotherhoods in the autonomous community.
The float, the oldest currently participating in penitential processions in Andalusia, underwent a meticulous restoration almost three decades ago at the Andalusian Institute of Historical Heritage (IAPH), an internationally recognized conservation institution under the Ministry of Culture and Sports. The intervention allowed to restore the aesthetic values of a float that had significant problems with support and polychromy. After the process, it regained its dimension as a micro-architecture of great artistic quality, with its matte gold imprint, the transparency of the basketry carving, and the combination of embossed and gilded surfaces that give it its characteristic theatrical and Baroque atmosphere.
This conservation project for the Gran Poder float marked a before and after, as stated by the head of the workshops department at the IAPH Intervention Center, Rocío Magdaleno. «It transformed the way of approaching the restoration of floats with professional criteria. Previously, restorations were carried out by artisans, but since that project, they will be done with scientific criteria, turning the IAPH into a knowledge agent in these processes. The project was also the first funded through the Andalusian R&D Plan, in contact with universities and international organizations.»
Image and study of one of the angels from the Gran Poder float in Seville.
During this process, the institute’s technicians took X-ray photographs of the float, in which twenty-four round sculptures of angels in different positions stand out in the basketry, interacting dynamically with the viewer, complemented by six larger passion angels in the corners of the basketry framing the Gran Poder sculpture.
Some of these angel images taken at the IAPH are displayed in the exhibition ‘The Revealed Image’, showcasing X-rays of 49 assets from around thirty Andalusian brotherhoods and fraternities, undergoing study and restoration processes over the past thirty years, revealing a unique image of Baroque works by renowned creators such as Juan de Mesa and Ruiz Gijón, as well as Pedro Roldán, Juan Martínez Montañés, José de Mora, and Juan Bautista Vázquez ‘El Viejo’, among others.
The view of these X-ray images for a non-specialized audience allows to «present our work with a didactic purpose,» says this restorer, expanding the scientific culture of society in such a sensitive topic as historical heritage, promoting the need for conservation and care. But the exhibition also offers the opportunity to approach these religious images in «a different way and enjoy their own beauty. In the case of the angels of the Gran Poder, the X-rays are placed in the exhibition reception, serving as a friendly entrance to the display, representing the revealed image and light as knowledge. Additionally, the beauty of the angels is very defined in these images.»
Pieces that can be visited in the exhibition ‘The Revealed Image’.
These final concepts, beyond the metaphor, also refer, explains Magdaleno, to the scientific data provided by these X-ray images, allowing to understand the «internal structure of all hidden elements in the sculptures that cannot be seen otherwise. Along with CT scans, this technique is essential for sculpture restorations and provides tremendous information, ranging from material density to interventions on the work. It even provides historians with information on construction techniques or modifications made by the artist himself.»
In the case of the Gran Poder float, the angels have been repainted on several occasions since their original construction, but these interventions «maintained a quality that did not justify their removal. The float’s angels, in particular, had three documented previous interventions: in 1775, there was a first one on the passionaries, which were recomposed; another between 1965 and 1969 in the workshop of Antonio Castillo Lastrucci, where pieces were mainly replaced; and a last one in 1988 in the workshop of Cayetano González. The IAPH restoration was carried out between 2011 and 2012.»
Detail of the basketry of the Gran Poder float.
The IAPH restoration, with a budget of 137,000 euros – most of it contributed by the brotherhood itself – focused on support and polychromy issues, as well as fissures and cracks. In the case of the angels, «there were small losses, such as the fingers of some pieces, and of polychromy, where there were some cracks. The intervention also addressed the darkening of varnishes that concealed the original coloring. The angels, in general, as they were very well constructed, had no assembly issues in the central body of the float.»
The results of the restoration have been appreciated by the brotherhood members for over a decade during the Seville ‘Madrugá’, but these days they can also visit the institute to discover the hidden light revealed through X-rays of these angels from the float. Along with these images, the exhibition also showcases other interesting X-rays of sculptures such as the Nazarene of Forgiveness by Juan de Mesa, the Christ of Providence by Montes de Oca, and the Christ of the Expiration from the Museum by Marcos Cabrera, among others.
Float designed and made by Francisco Ruiz Gijón in 1688.
Thus, the exhibition displays X-rays of sculptures of great historical-artistic significance that have passed through the image examination techniques laboratory of this institution under the Ministry of Culture and Sports over its thirty-five-year trajectory. It is worth noting that in Seville alone, the IAPH has carried out over 200 conservation and restoration actions related to sacred art in the last decade.
‘The Revealed Image’ can be visited in the exhibition hall of the IAPH Lay Cloister, at the Cartuja Monastery in Seville, from Tuesday to Friday, from 10 am to 1 pm and from 5 pm to 8 pm; Saturdays, from 11 am to 2 pm and from 5 pm to 8 pm; and Sundays and holidays, from 11 am to 2 pm. During Holy Week, the exhibition will only be open to the public on Tuesday and Wednesday in the morning. The exhibition will remain open until May 30 and admission is free.