A town mayor has accused a Catholic church pastor of negligence after restoration work on a 16th century sculpture attracted ridicule.
Mayor Koldo Leoz of Navarre, northern Spain, has opened into an investigation after a priest at the church of San Miguel de Estella employed a local schoolteacher to restore its wooden carving of St George, and its muted tones were replaced with bold colours.
In one of a series of tweets on the subject, Mayor Leoz wrote “I do not doubt the goodwill of both the pastor and the person in charge of desecrating this work of art through nothing appropriate techniques, but the negligence of both is very serious and cannot overlap with the excuse of goodwill.”
Other Twitter users compared the reworked sculpture to Tintin or a Playmobil character.
Mayor Leoz said the work was ordered without approval from city authorities, and had resulted in “an irreparable loss”.
“How is it possible that the parish priest of a church is able to decide the fate of a 16th-century statue without communicating his intentions either to the city council or to the local government and ignoring absolutely his legal duty or professional judgment?”, the mayor wrote.
The Association of Conservators and Restorers of Spain (ACRE) also responded to the incident, according to BBC News.
“We cannot tolerate more attacks on our cultural heritage,” the organisation said in a statement. “It shows a frightening lack of training of the kind required for this sort of job.”
Mayor Leoz indicated that efforts will be made to recruit an expert to reverse the work carried out.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.