National Museum, Archdiocese of Cebu agree to prioritize conservation of panels

The National Museum of the Philippines and the Archdiocese of Cebu have agreed to prioritize the conservation of four pulpit panels from the heritage church of Boljoon that are now with the NMP.

NMP officials, led by Board of Trustees Chair Andoni Aboitiz, met with Cebu Archbishop Jose S. Palma last April 16 at the Archbishop’s Residence in Cebu City. Aboitiz said the question of ownership of the panels came up but the focus was on the conservation of the 19th century wood panels.

Aboitiz told Rappler in an interview that the meeting went “really well.” He said they presented a report on the condition of the four panels to Palma.

The report by NMP notes “checking” or formation of cracks on the religious panels. NMP said these “usually occur due to the contraction and expansion of wood as a result of fluctuations in temperature and relative humidity.”

The panels have a polychrome and gilt finish, NMP said. There is “slight to marked paint loss, lifting, tenting, and blister in all regions,” the report said. The paint layers in these areas, according to NMP, are “not stable and require intervention.”

The NMP report recommended “remedial conservation” of the panels. NMP also said it “may request for technical assistance from institutions that have expertise on technical analysis of the pigments and wood used.”

Fr. Brian Brigoli, who chairs the Cebu Archdiocesan Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, said that they explained to NMP during the meeting that Archbishop Palma is precluded by church laws and regulations from giving up the archdiocese’s claim on the panels.

Aboitiz said the NMP board will meet early in May and the panels will be among the issues that would be discussed.

In an earlier interview with Rappler, NMP Director General Jeremy Barns proposed that the discussion on ownership be set aside so that the panels can be displayed at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Patrocinio de Maria Santisima in Boljoon.

The four panels were part of six that used to be installed on the heritage church’s pulpit. One panel is kept at the parish museum while one more is still unaccounted for. Installed in their place are replicas that the church ordered made. They were lost in the late 1980s. Church officials said they were stolen. The NMP said they were sold by the priest, which Barns said was a common practice in those times. – Rappler.com