The Virgen de la Estrella will leave worship on December 6 to begin its restoration, which will last until Lent. The Señor de la Humillación will be intervened afterwards, with no date set.
The Antequera workshop Santa Conserva will carry out the restoration of the two main images of the brotherhood of Holy Tuesday, the Señor de la Humillación y Perdón and the Virgen de la Estrella, which are venerated in the church of Santo Domingo in Antequera. According to Diario Sur, both interventions have already received approval from the Diocese and the Provincial Commission of Historical Heritage of Málaga.
The temple is a Cultural Asset of Interest with the category of Monument, and its protection extends to the movable goods included in that registration. Therefore, any modification of the images requires prior authorization from the competent department in historical heritage of the Junta de Andalucía. The Provincial Commission has favourably reported on both projects, considering that the treatments are compatible with the artistic and historical values of the ensemble.
The brotherhood approved the decision in the general assembly held on June 12, and then submitted the request to the Territorial Delegation of Culture.
According to the Provincial Commission, the technical reports consider the state of conservation of both pieces as “acceptable”, although with alterations that advise action to prevent further deterioration. The work will focus on cleaning, consolidating the polychromy, and recovering the damaged areas.
The Virgen de la Estrella will be the first to be withdrawn from worship on December 6, coinciding with the brotherhood's monthly mass. The corporation estimates that the work will last until well into Lent next year.
This is a figure designed to be dressed, dated to the late 18th century, whose authorship is not documented. Historians Juan Antonio Sánchez López and Francisco Jesús Flores Matute attribute it to the close circle of the sculptor Miguel Márquez García, who had a workshop in Antequera. Its current open hands replaced the original ones.
The project includes photographic studies, radiological examinations, and material analyses, conducted by the Sanit-Arte laboratory of the Pablo de Olavide University, followed by the consolidation of the layers, cleaning, filling of gaps, and chromatic reintegration. The team will also review the attachment of the crown, install a protective leather and padded system to facilitate dressing, and considers the possibility of replacing the candelero with a safer one.
The carving of the Señor de la Humillación, created by Francisco Palma Burgos in 1943, measures 187 centimetres. Its restoration will take place after the intervention on the Virgen, although its schedule has not yet been set. The report identifies dirt, darkening of the polychromy due to candle smoke, and a poorly repaired break of three phalanges, which the intervention will correct.
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