Virgen de la Almudena
The statue of Nuestra Señora de la Almudena is possibly by the Dutchman Diego Copin, who worked in Toledo between the 15th and 16th centuries; since that time, however, it has been through numerous transformations.
The very first image, which the early Christians in Madrid hid in the wall in order to preserve her from profanation, would have been in the Byzantine style. This primitive statue is thought to have been lost in a fire in the church of Santa María during the reign of Henry IV of Spain (according to García Gutiérrez and Martínez Carbajo). It appears to have been San Calógero, a disciple of Santiago, who originally brought the carving to Madrid.
Don Juan de Vera Tassis y Villarroel, in his history on the origins, creation and miracles of the Sacred Image of Nuestra Señora de la Almudena which was published by the court printer, Francisco Sanz, in 1692, states that in 1652, in order to place the Virgin in her chapel, it was necessary to cut off a part of the statue: "Don Diego de Salazar, the priest at the church of Santa María, after the procession of 17 May, when he went to restore the clothed sculpture to her place, dressed in the robe which was a gift of Doña Ysabel de Borbón, found it difficult to replace her if the robe was not closely fitted around the statue. He therefore ordered the statue to be sawn down the back, although this displeased many people. Moreover, in order to make the Child visible, as it would otherwise have been totally or almost totally covered by the Virgin's robe, two more cuts were made: one which severed half of the Virgin's left hand, and the other cutting through the Child's right thigh and the right hand of the Virgin, also severing the Child's arm from the breast of His mother, and placing it on His own body" (Nicolás Sanz Martínez: La Inmaculada Virgen María de la Almudena).
What is certain and known to be true is that from 1638 until 1890 both the Virgin and the child were clothed in robes, and this is the reason the back of the statue was sawn in two. The Child was separated from the main body, the damage to the plaster was painted over, a silver halo was attached with nails around the face of the image, etc...
In 1909, the image was restored in the school of Industrial Arts in Toledo where some of the damage was repaired, and the Virgin could once again be clothed in her robes: the canvas covering the hole where the statue had been sawed in two was replaced with wood; the folds of the mantle were re-carved; the fastenings for the silver halo were removed, etc...
Many other restorations are perfectly documented, but one of these, carried out by the team of Bárbara Hasbach on 2 April, 1993, is very superficially described, despite the fact that this was the first time an X-ray had been made of the image.
The study was done using the technical resources of the Prado Museum, in the presence of the head of the Cofradía (the religious brotherhood that safeguards the image), two Ladies from the Virgin's Court of Honour, the Madrid archivist charged with keeping a record of the study, and a delegate from the Artistic Heritage Board.
It could be seen that a small cavity had been made in the solid head of the carving; this measured about eight centimetres in diameter and was reached through a narrow orifice used to house the central screw of a metal plate which was attached with nails, and served to affix the crown. The metal ends of nails were also visible, and these were impossible to remove without causing considerable damage to the wood. Their function was uncertain, although they were possibly used to secure the silver halo which was placed over the image.
From this cavity was extracted: wood ash, traces of gold, pulverised red stone (possibly coral), and another non-transparent amber, all of which were observed under the microscope and then presented to the Ladies of the Court of Honour present at the proceedings.
Also taken from the image was a coin for the value of ten cents of a peseta, bearing the characteristic Iberian horseman; this had been incrusted in its base as proof of an undated restoration (possibly in 1940, the year of her canonisation).
This finding proves the truth of the legend that spoke of the existence, inside the figure itself, of relics from the primitive image which perished in a fire during the reign of Henry IV. This legend also held that at least the head, (the rest of the carving is hollow) had come directly down from the primitive Visigothic, Byzantine or Romanesque carving which disappeared in medieval times.
In the last restoration in 2002 the metal sheets which held the crowns on the heads of both the Virgin and Child were replaced, and the sawdust from this change in fixings was placed in a sealed test tube which was then deposited in a specially-made box in the base of the statue, together with the material discovered in the restoration mentioned earlier.
