Culture technicians warn that transplanting women from Elche and Baza will cause “irreparable” damage

Mistress of Elche

Report emphasizing ” fragility of the sculpture’s constituent material”, presence of salts and losses in polychrome and decorative applications, looseness in their stone support and foreign products to the original material. The authors note that “any change in environmental parameters resulting from a possible transfer of work can trigger mechanisms of physical change.” “serious consequences” Due to “the emergence of new solution cycles and recrystallization of salts” there will be a “risk of loss at the surface” for both the stone material and the few preserved polychrome remnants. Risk of “outward transfer” The risk would be “very high” as the statue is “currently in a very delicate balance with the environment in which it is protected”.

He recalls the report carried out by the Center de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France (C2RMF) (multicolor study) and Eduardo Torroja in 2005 by a commission of studies on polychrome, support, shells and superficial deposits already encountered by IPHE. The CSIC Institute (examination of the remains of pigments, coatings, stones, and bone ash coming out of the statue’s back hole) is where previous refusals to transport the piece are based.

“17 representative decay points” and 20 soluble salt sampling points were examined to analyze the sculpture.

Base Lady

According to the report, “changes in the hygrometric conditions in the woman’s environment will trigger a complex process of dissolution and crystallization of sulfated salts, which, in addition to “physical change mechanisms,” will jeopardize the unstable process of maintaining polychrome. The resulting layer losses will require: “An irreparable loss in terms of knowing this extraordinary cultural property” and the Iberian culture as a whole is in a vulnerable state, mainly because this piece largely retains the original multicolor, as it is applied over a plaster prep layer. Experts say that the results of an external transmission, “whatever the means”, “may compromise the integrity of this work so important to the Spanish Historical Heritage”, because this “unicum” is a complete and multicolored piece found underground, in an archaeological context. With her tomb and original dowry”.

The report confirms “pervasive ancient losses of polychrome, as well as the potential risk of separation of pigments as they migrate across the crust, forming an inseparable set.”

In emphasizing its fragility, the work recalls that “the statue was fragmented (head, wings of the throne, left hind leg of the throne and right armrest) and contained many losses, some of which were a certain amount.

Lady of Cerro de los Santos

The problem in this case lies in the properties of the material from which it is engraved. A limestone that offers “little hardness and brittleness” with instantaneous losses in “the most conspicuous parts such as the angle, edge, hand and base”. Even so, it is the one that is “sturdier and has less salt content, allowing it to be displayed to the public outside of the showcase” of the three pieces.

Work of the working group Created in February 2022, the project had three phases. The first is to compile and study the documentation about the sculptures. Secondly, it is a scientific-technical study through “image acquisition and analysis” to “establish a working methodology for monitoring conservation status” and, finally, to ensure the implementation of monitoring protocols. During the process, microsamples were taken and stored so that future work could be done without removing material from the sculptures again.

The report’s conclusion regarding all three works of art is: “Studies on these sculptures show that the sculptures are not suitable for variations according to their current environment, thus discouraging their removal from MAN.” .