Article about the works of Willy Tadeo Layug with Jesús de la Verdad y web La Horcina.

The Nao Victoria was the first ship to circumnavigate the globe.

Being fulfilled this year 2022, the Fifth Centenary of the feat culminated by Juan Sebastián Elcano with the 18 survivors of the first circumnavigation of the world.

 Notorious episode was that of the scales in the current Philippine Islands, creating a trade route with the Hispanic territory that would remain during the following centuries. So this boat, titled Santa María de la Victoria, in memory of the patron saint of Malaga, Returns to Spain again -coincidentally at the present time there is a replica in the Port of Malaga- and from the Philippines comes a work of art that aims to increase the, already extensive, brotherhood heritage of Malaga.

The famous Filipino sculptor Willy Tadeo-Layug, with whom he had previously collaborated previously the Truth and Tabernacle Parish Group (San José Obrero Parish) of the Malaga neighborhood of Carranque, has delivered a piece on which he has been working in the last few months.

The work in question is a Christian sculpture that represents the moment of Religious process, in which Jesus declares himself Son of God in front of the High Priest Caiaphas, who tears his clothes in the presence of his father-in-law Annas and a soldier of the Sanhedrin (work that is also being done by Layug).

The original making of the piece was carried out by Mario Zambrano from Seville in 2015, procession through the streets of Malaga until 2019. However, on the occasion of

the pandemic, the corporation decided to bet on the replacement of its owner Mariana given the null artistic quality of it, then contacting the Filipino sculptor Willy

Tadeo-Layug, being the architect of the new Virgen del Sagrario. Also, happy with the work of the Filipino artist, it was decided to send the bust of Jesus of Truth so that

finished the parts that the first author had left unfinished, such as the back of the head, which had a mass in the amorphous hair and without movement.

In relation to the activities of adaptation and completion of the image, the artist sculptor Willy Tadeo-Layug was in charge of restructuring and correcting anatomical both of the bust and of the hands, including the re-polychrome and patinated of these parts offering a more human look. The image maker Layug in addition to have notably improved the physiognomy of the image's face, which lacked

no artistic interest, has removed part of the thick lock of hair on the right side that It prevented the correct vision of the face.

 

On the other hand, the restorers Miguel Ángel Robles Gálvez and Marta García Plaza.  They were in charge of the body and its base; These tasks include:

adaptation of the bust to the body, the finishing of the body and the feet making them anatomically correct and the change of body posture to give it a more real and natural movement. Regarding the base, it was replaced by a new one larger, in pine wood and with a carved inscription that reads

"VERITAS”; the substitution was motivated after removing the stuccoes and they showed some very poor assemblages that put the material stability of the image at risk.

Finally, the restorers carried out the repolychrome and patinated, similar to that of Layug in the feet, which brings a character of unity to the whole image and restores the condition devotional

In this way, the Truth and Tabernacle Parish Group restores to worship an image sculpture that could be considered practically new, also counting on the adaptation of the original body, with obvious anatomical deficiencies, thanks to the work of the aforementioned restorers.

The new effigy follows the postulates of contemporary Cordovan imagery, specifically Francisco Romero Zafra, with whom Willy Tadeo-Layug trained and with who maintains a close friendship. In fact, the Filipino recently acquired a Dolorosa by Romero Zafra, which he currently exhibits at his residence on the continent Asian. Thus, the two holders of Truth and Tabernacle create an aesthetic line that aims to stay for the next few years with a view to growing as a corporation brother.

They sign: - José Manuel Leiva Aldea (Art Historian)

- Miguel Ángel Gálvez Robles (Musician and Restorer)