The mayor of Malaga , Francisco de la Torre, together with the Councilors for Culture and Environmental Sustainability, Noelia Losada and Gemma del Corral, respectively, have visited this Wednesday the restoration works of the Fountain of the Three Graces in the Plaza de Torrijos , which dates from 1880 and was made in the French foundry of Antoine Durenne. The artistic restoration has been carried out by the company Chapitel Conservación y Restauración with rigorous work that has led to the use of analysis by the Higher Council for Scientific Research.
The budget for this intervention was 40,000 euros , which also includes the restoration of the Tree of Friendship and the fountain in the Plaza del Obispo. For its part, the Municipal Water Company, Emasa, has invested 14,000 euros in its performance.
As they have recalled from the Malaga City Council , the Fountain of the Three Graces, due to its iron material and being subjected to atmospheric agents plus the passage of water, presented significant deterioration.
The restoration has had two phases: one carried out by the monument's specialized company and the other the replacement and modernization of the entire water circuit and lighting , carried out by Emasa.
The artistic restoration has consisted of a comprehensive cleaning of all the iron elements , the material in which the fountain is made. It has started with a controlled spraying of aluminum silicate particles. The next step has been the application of an oxide inhibitor.
In order to find out which was the appropriate formula for this inhibitor, analyzes of the source material have been carried out in the laboratories of the Higher Council for Scientific Research . A review of the entire metallic structure has also been carried out and the elements with stability problems have been fixed.
This has been done by welding or replacing the fixing elements with more suitable ones. In the same way, cracks and fissures have been sealed and redone, taking as a model the head that still survived, the two heads and necks of swans that had been broken. The two detached garlands that were guarded in the City Hall's Artistic Historical Heritage warehouse have also been placed .
The work on metal has been so complete that it was presented as a paper at the III Congress for the Conservation and Restoration of Metallic Heritage 'MetalEspaña 20/21', last April with a paper entitled 'Pathologies and Restoration of the sculptural group of the Fountain of the Three Graces of Malaga'. Likewise, the entire perimeter fence has been treated , cleaning it of concretions and replacing missing elements and giving it an oxidation inhibitor treatment.
To ensure its best protection, a perimeter has been left around it without grass planting, to avoid direct contact with the irrigation water of the garden area that makes up the entire roundabout and that has been replanted by the Parks and Gardens, after the restoration period.
Finally, it has been decided to return to the old distribution of the water jets, which allow the sculptural figures to be seen and protect them from the direct action of the water, for this with the action of Emasa, whose intervention has cost more than 14,000 euro.
This action has consisted of the renovation of the entire hydraulic network both inside and outside the fountain and a new luminaire. Also a new pump in the engine room. The technical execution of these works has been carried out by the contractor company Talher, SA under the supervision of the Emasa Drinking Water Treatment Department.
The history of the Fountain of the Three Graces
The Fountain of the Three Graces is about to turn 141 years old , since it was inaugurated on May 26, 1880. It was acquired by the City Council, at the initiative of the Engineer Jose María de Sancha, through a catalog signed by Antoine Durenne from Sommevoire.
The original was modeled by the sculptor Klagmann , according to research carried out by the historian Victor Heredia, and installed in the Plaza de Saint Jean in the town of Melun, near Paris. The font was so successful that it was soon incorporated into the catalog of the foundry firm.
The three female figures are allegories of three French rivers that pass through the Seinne-et-Marne region and symbolize the gifts that come to the area through them, such as the Seine, with a cornucopia, like symbol of abundance; the Marne, with the sickle and the spikes, allegory of agriculture; and the Yonne, with an oar, an allegory of navigation.
In addition to these central figures, the sculptural group has swans with children on them at its triangular base and a large cup at the intermediate level with lion heads, as well as other small-format figures and garlands with flowers and fruit surrounding the entire cup. . The upper area is crowned with a crater from which the last water fountain flows.
In Malaga, it was initially placed in the Plaza de la Constitución where it remained until 1901, from there it was moved to the beginning of the Park next to Cortina del Muelle where it remained until 1914, when it was moved to its current location.
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