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Inside the
Ba
ñ
os
, in view of the permanence of the same environ-
mental conditions (humidity, ventilation, lighting) and the appear-
ance of the first signs of moisture in areas that corresponded to large
gaps not detached, -rebuilt with mortar lime over the walls, we pro-
pose to the Managerial Board an action plan and maintenance of all
the sectors and types of compositional intervened surfaces, especial-
ly those areas non-removed due to their huge gaps or not polychro-
matic stuccos, both the walls and the vaults, are found themselves
inconstant contact with the factory and therefore exposed to the
humidity of the building.
The affected areas are examined and it is confirmed that such mois-
ture has not affected the fragments that have been intervened by
the start-up procedure, but only those who have been treated in situ
or the in situ rebuilt mortars. Also we emphasize the importance
of tackling the causes that provoke or favour humidity in the
Ba-
ñ
os
, with constructive and architectural origins, mainly generated
by infiltrations(constructive damage in the upper courtyard)and
soil capillarity—waterground level—, interventions that are more
far-reaching and go through the waterproofing of the flowerbeds,
the partial closure of the arrow slits of the central galleries, the inte-
grated patching and the complete waterproofing of the pedestrian
walkways of the high part of
Patio del Crucero
, etc. which logically
should be undertaken independently.
From late 2011 to 2015, during the tenure of Art Conservator- Restau-
rer Mr. Jacinto Pérez Elliott, the
Ba
ñ
os
interventions continue,
mainly covering the need to conserve and restore the most degraded
coatings that remain to be addressed. In 2011 and 2012 the restora-
tion of the 6 sectors which were initially operated in situ -without
using start procedure- between 1997 and 2002 is carried out, which
after 14 years showed the serious consequences of direct moisture,
in both original and reconstructed coatings, with visible bagging and
internal deconsolidation, and in its polychrome partially invaded by
microorganisms and semi divestitures, due to the internal humid-
ity of the wall. They are intervened again for the same reason, this
time using the same criteria that was being applied, proceeding to
the start of the paintings of sectors 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10 of the east gal-
lery (excluding the upper fragment that was ripped from sector 10 in
2003, that now is only cleaned and superficially protected due to its
excellent state of preservation).
In 2013 the arches and the few surviving coatings in the exterior
north gallery in the
Ba
ñ
os
are cleaned and consolidated, and also the
old pipes of ceramic thanors that remain partially embedded in the
top side of the arches, which supplied water in the sixteenth century
to the Grutesque fountains and to the central pond. In these arches
and pillars, once removed the remains of gunning mortars-product
of the inner consolidation practiced in the vaults of the Northern
gallery in the 70s of the twentieth century- some fragments of Re-
naissance painting that remained hidden are discovered, that allude,
as in the opposite courtyard (western side), to imperialist heraldic
figures (lion, Pillars of Hercules) and circumscribed inoctagons.
At the end of the restorations made in the perimeter galleries, one
of the most grateful murals proves undoubtedly to be on the sector
3 of the east gallery, because it retains a high percentage of paint
and much of the pictorial composition, with an easy iconographic
and thematic reading, being therefore an excellent sample button
—from a pedagogical perspective— to understand the composi-
tional structure and the type of painting developed in the murals
of these lateral galleries, as all of them are governed by a common
iconographic model that vary according to the ornamental details
and the different scenes shown within each frame and each sec-
tor
27
. In addition, its location turns to be excellent to be viewed
frontally as a whole, with sufficient depth and distance, as it is situ-
ated at the confluence of this narrow gallery and the wide nave
of the eighteenth century implemented in the
Ba
ñ
os
by Sebastián
Van der Borcht (on the upper level it corresponds to the passage
Apeadero- Patio de la Monteria
). These circumstances, in terms of
location and conservation, are found to be very favourable and had
always been taken into account by the Managerial Board for future
display, facilitating the approach of groups and organized visits.
Regarding location, under the present conditions, these circum-
stances are only repeated on the opposite wall on the west side
(sector number 10), since the rest of the murals are situated in very
narrow and cramped galleries.
With the restoration of the latter sectors, it is ended in 2013 the in-
tervention starting procedure of pictorial coatings located on the
perimeter galleries, beginning the performances in the central gal-
lery, also in areas heavily affected by the presence of disturbances
and problems in pressing coatings also derived from the moisture of
different origin, mainly by infiltration and capillarity, with the con-
sequent risk for the stability of the conserved areas and conservation
of historical and artistic information, which are added to other pa-
thologies of anthropogenic origins as we have seen (limed, interven-
tions, scrapes… ).
In these last four years, from 2012 to 2015, leaded by Pérez Elliott, the
restoration was started by proceeding in situ on the pictorial facings
of three vaults of the central gallery in which there are abundant
remains of mural painting in a deplorable condition, as we discussed
above, two of them —a lowered vault and a barrel one— located in
the first two outer sections of access, intervened between 2012-2014,
and an ogival vault with its supporting arches, started in 2015, they
are also polychrome, located at the end of the pond, which continue
to date in the treatment process together with the Grutesque foun-
tain, located in the same sector (2014 and 2015). It is in the process
of implementing a program of tastings in ribbed vaults located on
the pond, in order to determine or reject the presence of underlying
mural paintings, given the high probability that exist in it, since the
first two entrance vaults are painted and placed on the Grutesque
fountain too, which is the next to last ribbed one, leaving the cen-
tral section still undiscovered. To this day, that we may know, strati-
graphic tastings have not been made in the fillings and nerves of
these vaults; not to know if their ribs are constructively worked or
attached to the fillings, data that shows as well objective knowledge
on their structural invoice and their date.
CONCLUSIONS
We are aware about the pressing need that it has had to intercede for
removing serious alterations which affected and still affect the wall
covering with mural paintings in the
Ba
ñ
os
. As a result, we could say
that they are still preserved at the present, and thus avoiding the loss
of areas that were heavily exposed to vanish. However, we evaluate
of utmost importance charging as well, about the elimination and
the neutralization of, as far as possible, causes and alteration fac-
tors which had and still have an impact on the degradation of goods
without a break, mainly damps, potentially damaging to the paints
in this area of
Ba
ñ
os
, as in the development of a stable maintenance
of the goods already interceded to keep the results of treatments.
