Analysis, conservation and restoration of the metal threads used in Latin American colonial saints'robes

Abstract

In this work we have analysed the silver and gold threads used for the decoration on the costumes of important religious sculpture from the colonial period and also one 19th C. statue of the Virgin Mary. Latin America had plenty of silver and gold mines not only during the colonial period but also in the 18th and 19th C. Silver and gold threads were frequently used in the embroidered decoration of the costumes adorning the most important, miraculous religious sculptures . The people of Latin America were very religious during that time. This work presents the analyses and restoration on objects representative of three famous colonial sculpture schools in Latin America and the important school of Cataluña in Spain. The objects selected were: Angel (school of Quito. Ecuador), Saint Magdalena and Saint Frederick (school of Cuzco, Peru) all from El Huique church, a Christ Child and a Textail (Pluvial) (both from a school in Chile) from the Cathedral of Valdivia;and a Virgen del Carmen from the patron of Santiago 19th C. Spanish school, Cataluña.