The Nazareno de la Salud Parish Group, based in the parish of San Antonio de Padua in Portada Alta, has commissioned the sculptor Alejandro López from Vélez to create an image of the Virgin Mother of the Forsaken. The figure, designed to be dressed and life-sized, could be delivered before 2031.
The Nazareno de la Salud Parish Group, established in the parish of San Antonio de Padua in the Málaga neighbourhood of Portada Alta, has entrusted the sculptor from Vélez Alejandro López with the execution of a new processional image: the Virgin Mother of the Forsaken. The information, reported by Diario Sur, details that this is a Dolorosa designed to be dressed, intended to share devotion with the titular image of the parish group from the church of Santa María Goretti in Los Corazones.
The sculptor, born in 1987 and with a workshop in Seville, is the creator of the image of Blessed Father Tiburcio Arnaiz, which is venerated in the church of the Sacred Heart in Málaga and which processed through the Historic Centre on June 13 to commemorate the jubilee for the centenary of his death.
The figure will have a candelero body, articulated arms using a ball joint system, a face and hands made of polychromed cedar wood, and the application of accessories: tears, glass eyes, eyelashes on the upper eyelids, and natural hair. It will measure between 1.60 and 1.70 metres, displaying a sorrowful expression with the head slightly tilted and the gaze lowered, mouth slightly open, and a clear and pale complexion.
“The figure must be original, made 'ex profeso' for this brotherhood, not a copy of any other, having its own personality and character, inherently including the unique graphics of the sculptor and artist,” states the president of the parish group, Manuel Jerez Osorio.
The contract includes clauses that require the artist to draw inspiration from “18th-century Málaga sculpture” and to imbue the image with “sacred anointing” through the beauty of its face and artistic quality, according to the agreement cited by Jerez. Initially, the Virgin will be conceived with hands together and fingers intertwined, although it is not ruled out that during the process, the hands may ultimately be separated.
The delivery period could extend until 2031, although the corporation hopes the image will arrive in Málaga sooner. No date has been set for its first processional outing.
What is certain is that the Nazareno de la Salud, a work by José María Leal, will resume its external worship on Saturday, March 13 of next year, coinciding with the proclamation of Holy Week. Last Lent was suspended on the recommendation of the parish priest of the Holy Angel, Canon Federico Cortés, due to the transfer of the brotherhood to San Antonio de Padua, whose parish priest is Carmelo de las Heras.
This day of the 'proclamation Saturday' will feature the outings of the Virgin of Hope and Refuge of the Elderly from Miraflores; the Virgin of the Incarnation and Divine Love from Las Lanzas, from Gamarra and Eugenio Gross; the Nazareno of the Wound on the Shoulder from La Trinidad; Jesus of Salvation Stripped of His Garments and the Virgin of the Incarnation from Dos Hermanas; and the Nazareno de la Salud, which will debut next Lent in the streets of Portada Alta.
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