In only seven months, the monstrance of the Cathedral of Toledo, designed more than 500 years ago by the German Enrique de Arfe, has been restored by Grandaunder the supervision of the Cultural Heritage Institute of Spain (Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural de España (IPCE). A multidisciplinary team made up of restorers, silversmiths, historians, as well as physics and chemistry laboratories, gemologists and carpenters participated in the work.
The monstrance is actually two monstrances inside one. The older one, on the inside, belonged to Queen Isabella the Catholic. It is partially enameled gold and is adorned with precious stones and pearls. It measures 98 centimeters high, weighs 16.9 kilos and was made between 1495 and 1499 by the Barcelona silversmith Jaume Aimeric.
The monstrance in the form of a stepped tower that houses the golden one is made of partially gilded silver and was made between 1515 and 1523 by Enrique de Arfe. This second monstrance has the characteristics of the flamboyant Gothic, measures 310 centimeters in height and 107 in maximum width, with a weight of 370 kilos(this information was already said in a previous paragraph), which includes the wooden base on which it sits.
The intervention began on October 16, 2015. The work consisted of the complete disassembly of all the elements of both monstrances and of the base of the Angels, following the instructions written by the silversmith Vicente Salinas at the end of the 16th century. The cleaning, combining mechanical and chemical techniques, has made it possible to eliminate the red varnish-like coating and the sulfuration of the silver. Nuts and bolts have been made in silver where they had been lost to ensure the fixation of the elements, while those with fractures have been joined by laser welding.
During the Corpus Christi's big weekcustody remained at the main altar from the Primate Cathedral and processed on Thursday through the streets of the city. Now it has been moved to the Treasure Room of the primate temple, its usual place for the rest of the year.
