- On the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the Archconfraternity of our Lady of the Innocent Martyrs and the Forsaken of Valencia, the Hortensia Herrero Foundation has signed an agreement with the Archconfraternity by which the Foundation promotes the intervention-restoring of the main statue of Our Lady of the Forsaken that presides over the Basilica of Our Lady of the Forsaken of Valencia and the restoration of the side-chapel of the aforementioned basilica.
All the works considered in this Convention shall be executed by the Generalitat Valenciana through CulturArts IVACOR, which began to perform an exhaustive study of the current state of conservation and the needs of intervention in the month of April.
The works will start on 1 October and the forecast anticipates a duration of about five months, so that the Valencians can worship the original statue of their patron and access the side-chapel of the Basilica in the celebration of the Fallas of 2014.
After the analysis and the visual study that has been carried out, the intervention of the statue will be aimed to curb the natural process of deterioration caused over the course of time. For that purpose, a series of more precise analysis of wood, pigments and binders will be carried out, in order to facilitate a decision-making process with guarantees regarding the different actions. The intervention will take place in the interior of the Basilica, and will strictly comply with the principles of minimum intervention and maximum respect for a statue so dear to the people of Valencia. It will also aim to its consolidation and cleaning.
As for the restoration of the side-chapel of the Basilica and the niche of the statue, the main interventions will be carried out in the wall paintings, the sculptures, the capitals and the cornice with rose windows and golden corbels.
During the intervention-restoration, the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of the Forsaken, by the sculptor Carmelo Vicent, will preside over the high altar of the Basilica.
The Hortensia Herrero Foundation
The Hortensia Herrero Foundation promoted two important performances in the city of Valencia last year: the renovation of the San Pedro Mártir and San Nicolás Obispo Church and that of the Santa Lucía Hermitage. With the convention for the intervention in the statue of Our Lady of the Forsaken and the restoration of its side-chapel, the Foundation bolsters its commitment for the promotion and protection of the Valencian art and culture.