Ricerc@Sapienza

From the well-known axiom contained in the Lamp of Memory published in 1849 it is believed, among other things, to remember: «[...] where the wall structure shows stretch marks, keep it compact using iron; and where it yields, prop up it with beams; and don’t worry about the ugliness of these support interventions: better to have a crutch than to remain without a leg»1. From this assertion by John Ruskin, clear receptions can be found in Spain that are still little known. A first echo is found in Matias Laviña, a Spanish architect2 cwith Roman training, who designs and tries to implement in 1860 at the cathedral of Leon, a “restoration” intervention. He presents a solution to support the pre-existence with all its constructive defects, for which he proposes tie rods that cross the aisles of the church and inserts them in the pillars and walls to avoid subsequent deformations. But the San Fernando Academy3 does not accept this project. A second cultural legacy can be found in the Marquis of Vega Inclan4, who takes up and continues on this reflective line with some ideas. «The ruin that is visible, degraded and deformed by the action of many centuries, cannot withstand the confrontation with the remakes, so the restorer continues to improve everything, and causes ruin to disappear, while this was the precise goal that one had to preserve »5 (1914). He insists, among other things, on a consolidation without disturbing, without replacing, without many new elements, and these theories make them effective in 1915 at the Patio del Yeso in Seville. This solution will be what Vicente Lamperez y Romea6 defines as «constructive orthopedics without aesthetic garments» With these first claims it seems that Ruskin’s presence in Spain has been accepted.