2023-07-12 18:40:00
Behind the still closed doors of the Basilica of Saint Francis, located in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of San Telmoit’s found the largest tapestry in Latin America, and the second largest in the world. The work created in 1969, which took 6 years from its planning to its preparation, has just been restored to show off once more in the Church and can be visited from October.
Its genesis dates back to the second half of the 20th century when the idea of replace the altarpiecethe sculpted work in wood that was located behind the altar, which was destroyed following the fire of 1955 and might not be rebuilt. To make up for the lack of this ornament, it was proposed to create a tapestry of enormous dimensions like the one found in Coventry Cathedral in England.
The largest tapestry in Latin America and the second in the world.
From that initial idea to its realization several years passed because first It was necessary to build the machinery that might make it possible to manufacture a giant loom and, later, train the operators to be able to do it. Now, more than 60 years later, specialists hired by the national Ministry of Public Works have managed to restore the tapestry that It measures 8 meters wide by 12 meters high and weighs 300 kilos.
The Basilica and Convent of San Francisco de Asís was created in 1580 by the order of the Franciscans and it is regarding the oldest in the City of Buenos Aires. Located in Defensa and Alsina, it shares the atrium with the San Roque Chapel and the three buildings (Basilica of San Francisco, San Roque Chapel and the Secular Franciscan Third Order) form the San Francisco Monumental Complex, declared a National Historic Monument.
An image of Butler’s tapestry before the restoration of the basilica.
The creation of the largest tapestry in Latin America
As detailed in the book The tapestry of Saint Francis of the National Directorate of Architecture of 1972 the initiative to create the tapestry was the architect José María Peña, who together with Luis María Bianchi and Jorge Santas took care of the project. In 1965 a sketch contest for the tapestry was launched and finally Horacio Butler (1897-1983) was the one who made the design.
It would be done a tapestry of unprecedented dimensions in the countrys, so French experts were thought to carry it out. The feat had begun, but all the necessary implements still had to be obtained: all the machinery to assemble such a loom.
The sketch included in the book The tapestry of Saint Francis of the National Directorate of Architecture of 1972
For this, it was necessary to start the construction of each necessary piece from scratch and, At the end of 1968, the largest known loom of its kind was built.. The thread also had to be special to support the dimensions of the project and it was the Trifil spinning mill that provided the material with threads of 50 percent goat and 50 percent merino wool from Argentina, dyed in the 14 colors proposed by Butler.
Along with the assembly of the loom, the training of the artisans who should work on it was carried out. While in France they were formed in 3 years and it took regarding 7 years to be good weaversin Argentina 4 weavers had to learn the job in a year and managed to carry it out in 3 years.
The operators making the tapestry.
The life of Saint Francis of Assisi inspired the scenes on the tapestry
At its ends the tapestry includes animals, due to its link with San Francisco de Asis.
For the design, Butler was inspired by Saint Francis of Assisiin what it represented and took into account that it had to be an image that might withstand viewing at a distance of 100 meters and that was consistent with the baroque aesthetics of the altars.
Mary appears in the tapestry, the tree of the Franciscan Order blooms at her feet and below the Saint of Assisi appears surrounded by birds and flowers, framed with a crown of thorns that symbolizes sacrifices.
The oldest church in Buenos Aires
Although it was created in 1580, in 1731 The construction of the current temple began with plans by the Jesuit architect Tomás Blanqui and the collaboration of Fray Vicente Muñoz. In 1807 the architect Tomás Toribio proposed a new façade anchored in the Italian neoclassical aesthetic.
One hundred years later it was intervened by the German architect Ernesto Sackmann who incorporated the decorative elements of the German baroque: towers in Bavarian baroque language decorated with cherubs, onion-shaped domes and copper roofs.
The sculptures that are part of the decoration of the facades are from the years 1908 to 1911 and were made in Buenos Aires in the workshop of the sculptor Vögele. They consist of the large central group representing Saint Francis and three conspicuous members of the tertiary order, the painter Giotto, Dante Alighieri, and the kneeling Christopher Columbus.
During the “burning of the churches” in 1955, the basilica lost the dome, the central altarpiece and part of the interior ornamentation. In 1963, the reconstruction of the church was carried out and the creation of the tapestry was proposed.
The architect Mariana Quiroga, director of specific projects, within the Ministry of Public Works, explained to PROFILE that the restoration of the basilica was proposed to respect the elements that survived until today. “Walls were consolidated, ornamental elements (mouldings, pilasters, padding) were restored and reconstituted, the simile stone was recovered -characteristic rendering of Buenos Aires at the beginning of the century- with a later veiling, the Dolomite marble plinth was restored and All the original stained glass windows and the wooden carpentry such as the access doors to the temple were restored. An electroosmosis system was incorporated to stop the rising humidity”, he explained.
“The dome -which was faithfully rebuilt in design and materiality following the fire of ’55- had the obsolete zinc material, presenting local deformations, porosity and a rigidity and fragility that prevented its restoration”, he added.
“The building had a very poor state of conservation on the façade, with many detachments and the roofs had leaking problems; The water was entering for many years and that had also damaged the interiorsso the first task was the waterproofing of the roof, the renovation of all the rainwater drains and, secondly, the restoration of the façade”, he explained.
The tapestry restoration team.
The intense process of tapestry restoration
“The damage to the tapestry was dirt and deformations due to the hanging system.”, Quiroga said. There were also presence of relais (small openings that are formed in a tapestry when two areas of contiguous color meet) and missing patterns, as well as white spots due to accumulation of dust.
To work on it, they carried out an initial documentation of the state of conservation of the tapestry on the front and back, with the subsequent cleaning, sewing, lining, modification and improvement of the fastening system and finally the assembly. Finally, in July he was able to be hanged once more.
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“In any restoration, the main objective is to extend the life of this historical asset that has a useful life, it has an age and, well, we always try to prolong that age through the least invasive intervention and we are advancing to correct those problems that are buildings. or, in this case, works of art”, added the Public Works official.
“Regarding the images, they had cleaning problems, there were some fungi and all of that was cleaned, the wood was disinfected, but that is a cleaning job, not a restoration job.” “Within the restoration you have different categories, it can be a cleaning, maintenance or a restoration that implies doing an intervention as we are doing in the building,” he added.
The restoration process was carried out by the National Directorate of Works Management (DNGO), by the Secretary of Public Works of the Ministry of Public Works, by Gabriel Katopodis. The Secretary of Public Works, Carlos Rodríguez, the Undersecretary of Public Works Execution, Edgardo Depetri, the National Director of Works Management, Jorge Ríos, the Director of Specific Projects, Mariana Quiroga, the Conservation and Heritage Coordinator, participated in the project. Flavia Rinaldi, the person in charge of the construction inspection, Ezequiel A. Sánchez, the patrimonial adviser, Laura Basterrechea with the work of the company CREAURBAN SA and a total of $1,039,364,186 was invested.
Eva, Perón and the fire of the Church in 1955
This Church was the most affected by the fires commanded by adherents to Peronism on June 16, 1955. The fire destroyed a large part of the Church that three years ago had been, paradoxically, the place where it was carried out. the funeral of Eva Duarte de Perón.
It is that prior to the attack on the Church, between Juan Domingo Perón, Evita and the Franciscan order there was a very deep relationship. Both had been married in a Franciscan church in La Plata because Fray Pedro Errecart, close to the then President, convinced them.
As he told PROFILE Alejandro Cáceres, guide of the Basilica museum, The relationship with the Franciscans began when Eva Perón traveled to Spain and Italy and there she was distinguished as a Franciscan sister.. Since then, Eva Perón considered herself a Franciscan and, also for this reason, there was a project for her body to rest in that Buenos Aires church, which would later be set on fire by her followers. Eva’s body was going to be in a mausoleum that was going to be built in the atrium of the church, but it never happened.
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