Sculpture

This representative sculpture of Santa Bárbara, from the 18th century, presented great structural problems caused by xylophagous insects.

In the past, it had already undergone a conservation and restoration intervention, and some of his physical aspects were changed: his eyes and hair were painted black, as well as his eyelashes and eyebrows. Also the areas where there would be gold leaf had been painted with a paint that started to oxidize.

The sculpture was cleaned in its entirety, leaving only the original. The galleries left by the xylophagous insects and the cracks have been filled. Then it was decided to cover, with golden leaf, the areas where it originally existed and a patina was applied so that the new gold was integrated into the original. The fingers and the remaining missing pieces were remade and reapplied. In the area of the face of the sculpture, the eyes, eyelashes and eyebrows had to be remade, having as reference the sculptures of the possible author / school.

The first two images show the sculpture of São Francisco de Assis when he arrived at the studio. In the last two, the final result after cleaning, eye placement, fillings, chromatic reintegration and replacement of the arm (whose mechanism was obsolete) and of new Franciscan garments.