The disaster occurred in the small village of Castronuño, in the province of Valladolid, in the region of Castile and León, Spain. The Church of Santa María del Castillo, a jewel of Romanesque art and declared an artistic historic monument in 1962, has undergone a curious “restoration”. Recently, an inhabitant of the village published photos of the church on which appeared cracks on the walls, sealed … with cement!
Through Redes Sociales se ha mostrado una intervención nefasta en la iglesia de Santa María del Castillo in Castronuño, #Valladolid, una situación no conocida por la Comisión de Patrimonio de la @jcyl. https://t.co/67m3za4S0L pic.twitter.com/IB1xqNhrGI
– Caminos del Románico (@CdRomanico) November 8, 2021
This of course sparked controversy and reminds us of other “pitiful restorations”. The first which the Spanish and foreign media widely echoed dates back to 2012. The 19th century fresco completely disfigured: theEcce Homo from the village of Borja, near Zaragoza. Cecilia, an octogenarian, had wanted to restore theœWork, once again, with the permission of the priest of the church according to her, according to her, Cecilia believed she was just doing the right thing: “The saltpeter it leaves. I fix it every time. But this year I didn’t have time “, she declared.
A failed restoration that had also made Teresa García react, the granddaughter of the author of the painting of the Christ of Borja: “So far, she had only touched up the tunic, but the problem this time was that she hit the head and, of course, destroyed the painting. ” A ruined painting that has nearly 130 years of history. Borja’s example is unfortunately only the first in a long list of failed restorations that disfigure Spain’s artistic and historical heritage.
Some Spaniards make a mockery of it. So much so that the small village of Borja and Cecilia became famous, and its Ecce Homo even ended up printed on t-shirts, mugs and other promotional items. But many Spaniards, on the contrary, rebelled, just like the catering professionals who were outraged. “This is not a restoration, it is an act of vandalism “, denounced last year the president of the professional association of conservators-restorers of Spain when he discovered with horror how a statue located on the facade of a historic building in the city of Palencia had been disfigured. He recalled that only professional restorers should be able to retouch œworks of art. But the problem, according to them, is that the restoration and conservation of art and heritage is not sufficiently regulated in Spain, as is the profession of conservator-restorer.
Concretely, in the laws on national and regional heritage, it is not clear who are the qualified professionals who must restore the œworks of art. Result: any “amateur” restaurateur, without any experience or training can get started and, at worst, in the event of an outcry, he will only be liable to a fine. Not to mention the lack of resources from which the Spanish heritage suffers which, at present, is not sufficiently preserved.