The Altarpiece of Our Lady of Consolation, in the parish church of San Francisco de Asís in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, has a new face after being restored in a rehabilitation that cost 45,617 euros, financed 50% between the Cabildo and the Bishopric from Tenerife.
The restoration work was completed in nine months (between March and December 2021), and was carried out by restorers Carmen Suárez Benítez and Lucía Irma Pérez González.
During her intervention in the presentation of the works, Carmen Suárez explained that the altarpiece, located in the first quarter of the 18th century, comes from the old Dominican Convent of Our Lady of Consolation, which was destroyed in 1847 and where the Guimerá Theater and the Recova Vieja.
Regarding the state of the altarpiece, Lucía Irma Pérez explained that it had damage to the support and the polychromy. “The most serious problem was the weakening of the structure and the mechanical problems associated with the action of termites”, as well as the alterations, deformations and additions that the structure presented. “To solve these pathologies, we carried out a disinsection and the mechanical consistency was restored to the wood support”, she detailed.
In terms of aesthetics, the original appearance was restored “and the recovery and original splendor of the polychromy has come to light, appearing mottled with warm colors, of Portuguese influence,” continued Irma Pérez.
The altarpiece is eight meters high, five meters wide and 88 centimeters deep, made of different types of carved, polychrome and gilt wood, with bronze bands in shades of green, blue and red. It is characterized by being an altarpiece with a transfer of origin, which has undergone alterations and adaptations in its dimensions for the place it currently occupies.
The architecture has two bodies with a crown and is divided into three streets with three niches and a bench or predella with a central niche. While the altar is made of white marble.
In the presentation of the results of the work, the insular director of Territory and Heritage Planning, Emilio Fariña, highlighted the “respectful and exquisite” work carried out by the restorers, “which allows the city to return to one of the most important on the island.
Fariña assured that this type of action “shows the necessary collaboration that must exist between the Cabildo and the Bishopric of Tenerife, to protect and preserve the assets of ecclesiastical ownership that are an important part of our cultural and historical heritage.”
Emilio Fariña explained that with this restoration the Cabildo complies with the Cultural Heritage Law of the Canary Islands and with its commitment to recover ecclesiastical assets, “so that Tenerife society and citizens in general can access, with more guarantees if possible, to our cultural and historical heritage, which forms part of our identity as a people and of which we feel tremendously proud”.
The diocesan delegate for Historical Heritage of the Bishopric of Tenerife, Miguel Ángel Navarro Mederos, thanked the Cabildo for its contribution and support and highlighted that, thanks to this restoration, it has been discovered that this altarpiece, “which has always been dated to the first third of the eighteenth century, probably corresponds to the second half of the seventeenth century”. Mederos also valued “the generosity and enthusiasm of the citizens, which have allowed us to undertake this work.”
