Higher School for the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property in Galicia
Escuela Superior De Conservación y Restauración de Bienes Culturales de Galicia | |
 Higher School of Conservation and Restoration façade | |
| Type | Public Higher School |
|---|---|
| Established | 1991 |
| Affiliation | Xunta de Galicia |
| Director | Carmen Lorenzo Rivera[1] |
| Location | , , Spain 42°25′56.0″N 8°38′57.6″W / 42.432222°N 8.649333°W |
| Campus | City centre |
| Website | escolaconservacion.gal/.. |
The School of Conservation and Restoration of the Cultural Property of Galicia (ESCRBBCCG) is a Spanish higher education institution of the Ministry of Culture and Education of the Xunta de Galicia. It is located in Pontevedra, in the former Saint Ferdinand barracks, in the same building as the Faculty of Fine Arts. It is the only Higher School of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage in Galicia and the northwest of Spain and is the second oldest restoration school in Spain.[2]
Location
The building is located at 1, General Martitegui Street in Pontevedra.
History
The Royal House of the Maestranza was built by Iñigo Melchor Fernández de Velasco, Constable of Castile and León and Captain General of Galicia between 1665 and 1668.[3] It was built with stone from the demolition of houses in the A Moureira neighbourhood, which had been left abandoned at the end of the previous century. It was a one-storey building with four wings and a large central courtyard, whose initial function was to house soldiers in transit during the war with Portugal (1640–1668).[4]
The English invasion of 1719 led by General Homobod ruined the building, which at that time was used as a storehouse for old weapons, grenades, bombs, gunpowder and some melted down artillery.[5] After the invasion and capitulation of Pontevedra on 25 October 1719 small consolidation works were carried out, such as repairing the roofs.[6] The building was so badly damaged that the soldiers had to be accommodated in different barracks in the city.
The municipality of Pontevedra asked the Bourbon monarchy to rebuild the Real Maestranza. The procedures for the reconstruction of the barracks began with the order of the Intendant Francisco Salvador de Pineda, to accommodate a cavalry squadron of the Montesa Regiment in the city.[7] The Minister of War, the Duke of Montemar, ordered the military engineer Antonio Flobert to draw up the plans for the new building (preserved in the General Archive of Simancas in the province of Valladolid).[4]
The Real Maestranza began to be rebuilt in the year 1738. The construction designed by Antonio Flobert took advantage of the walls of the previous barracks and the heraldry. The barracks was named Saint Ferdinand and was later renovated and enlarged. It was used as a gun factory during the Spanish War of Independence. From the end of the 18th century, the Princess Infantry Regiment was based in this barracks. In 1807 it was led by the Count of San Román.[4]
At the end of the 19th century, the barracks were in a state of ruin and it was decided to demolish them to construct a new building. The current building, which dates from the end of the 19th century, was completed in 1900 and was designed by the architect Méndez Conde. The building was restructured in 1905 to accommodate a larger garrison. In front of its façade, the Count de la Peña del Moro Field was redesigned, adding trees and gardens and a street at the entrance to the barracks. The transverse street of the Maestranza was also redesigned in 1911, under the name of General Martitegui Street, after the demolition of some houses.[8] In the 20th century, among its military functions, the barracks housed Company No. 83 of the Military police and the Parks and Garages Unit.[4]
The definitive abandonment of the barracks by the members of the armed forces took place on 15 December 1992 in a military protocol ceremony held in the inner courtyard of the building, in the presence of all the local authorities. The property was handed over to the municipality of Pontevedra, which transferred it to the Xunta de Galicia. The renovation project was entrusted to the architect César Portela. The remodelling was complex as it transformed a closed barracks into an open and luminous space for artistic education.[9]
Between December 1994 and January 1995, the renovation of the building intended to house the Galician Higher School of Cultural Heritage was completed. In 1995, the school, created in 1991, moved in.[10]
Architecture
It is a large rectangular building in the eclectic style. It has a ground floor and two upper floors, with rectangular windows, balcony Parapets and Lintels forming auricles, typical of the 19th century in Pontevedra.[11]
The central part of the façade, where the entrance door is located, the base, the balcony parapets and the window and door lintels are made of granite. The façade is crowned at the top by the Spanish coat of arms, also in granite.
During the exterior renovation of the facade in 1994,[12] the plaster of the walls where the masonry was visible was recovered and the colour guava was applied to it.
Inside the building, the large central courtyard is remarkable. After the 1995 and 2006 remodelling, it was given a perimeter body for circulation in the form of a glass gallery, and a cubic room, also made of glass, was introduced into the interior, containing the large, flexible studios for sculpture, drawing and painting.[13] A new floor was also created under the roof of the existing building to house the library, a documentation and information centre and other workshops, all with overhead lighting.
The school
The school has been offering conservation and restoration studies since 12 January 1992. It awards the Higher Diploma in Conservation and Restoration of Heritage and Cultural Property. It is the second oldest training centre for the conservation and restoration of heritage in Spain.[14] The creation of the Higher School of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property of Galicia in Pontevedra dates back to 1991 with Decree 352/1991 of 17 October (DOG (Official Galician Journal) of 24 October).[15] · [16]
The training
The studies last four years, the first two years being common and the last two years being specialised. The three specialities taught in this institution are conservation-restoration of sculptural assets, conservation-restoration of pictorial assets and conservation-restoration of archaeological assets.[17] · [18]
The first two years of study focus on conservation and restoration techniques, with a study of biology, physics and chemistry related to restoration and art history. In the final two years, there is a specialisation according to the option chosen, in which the technique and theory of each section are studied in depth.
Admission of cultural heritage conservators
The school is public and requires a high school degree and a specific admission exam. The exam consists of two parts: a textual analysis (related to the school's subjects) and a plastic arts exam (for example, that a colour is degraded in three phases using white).[19]
Documentary resources
The institution's library has more than 9,000 volumes, of which almost 6,000 were donated in July 2020 by the heirs of the doctor Manuel Carballal Lugrís, who lived in Pontevedra.[20]
References
- ^ "Educación dota de un almacén a la Escuela de Restauración". Pontevedra Viva (in Spanish). 21 November 2019.
- ^ "Los "médicos" del patrimonio quieren ser universitarios". Cadena SER (in Spanish). 3 June 2018.
- ^ "La orden del capitán general de Galicia en 1666 para la incorporación a filas". El Ideal Gallego (in Spanish). 3 August 2019.
- ^ a b c d "La Casa de la Real Maestranza". Faro (in Spanish). 21 October 2012.
- ^ "La virgen de Quitapesares, el pirata Drake y la invasión de 1719". Pontevedra Viva (in Spanish). 15 April 2016.
- ^ "1719-2019". Diario de Pontevedra (in Spanish). 15 February 2019.
- ^ "1719-2019". Diario de Pontevedra (in Spanish). 15 February 2019.
- ^ "El 'General Martitegui'". Diario de Pontevedra (in Spanish). 18 April 2021.
- ^ "De cuartel militar a centro del arte". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 22 December 2014.
- ^ "La Escola de Restauración inicia su andadura en Poio". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 12 January 2018.
- ^ Fontoira Surís, Rafael, 2009, Pontevedra Monumental, Pontevedra, Diputación de Pontevedra, p. 168
- ^ González, Oscar (8 November 1994). "Los alumnos de Bellas Artes de Pontevedra, en huelga indefinida". El País (in Spanish).
- ^ "Reforma en Bellas Artes para habilitar una nave de talleres". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 28 March 2006.
- ^ "La Escola de Restauración se adelanta al día europeo con una jornada de puertas abiertas". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 7 October 2019.
- ^ "DECRETO 352/1991, de 17 de octubre, por el que se crea la Escuela Superior de Conservación y Restauración de Bienes Culturales de Galicia, con sede en Pontevedra". Xunta de Galicia (in Spanish). 24 October 1991.
- ^ "El conselleiro destaca los 30 años de labor en favor del patrimonio de la Escola de Restauración". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 17 November 2021.
- ^ "Alumnos de Pontevedra restauran una imagen en piedra de la virgen de la Asunción del siglo XVIII". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 23 March 2022.
- ^ "La Escola de Restauración cuenta con un nuevo equipo de análisis de material para trabajo de campo". Pontevedra Viva (in Spanish). 23 September 2021.
- ^ "¿Qué quiero estudiar? Conservación e restauración: Pintura". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 30 May 2020.
- ^ "Una donación de casi 6.000 libros triplica los fondos de la Escola de Restauración". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 15 July 2020.
See also
Bibliography
- Fontoira Surís, Rafael. Pontevedra Monumental. Diputación de Pontevedra, 2009. ISBN 978-84-8457-327-2. p. 417-419.
