Restoration of 213-Year-Old Mission Painting Begins

A 213-year-old painting recently uncovered at Mission San Juan Capistrano is now in the hands of a Santa Barbara art restorer.

For the last 40 years, the 12-foot-tall artwork, titled "The Crucifixion," was hidden behind a duplicate hanging in Serra Chapel.

The canvas is saggy and paint is peeling off, said art restoration expert Scott Haskins. He plans to reinforce the canvas and will undertake a special procedure – which involves “relaxing” the painting horizontally in a vacuum-sealed hot table to warm the painting – to ensure no more paint flakes are lost, not one, he said.

The good news is that the painting, by Spanish colonial artist Francisco Zervas, shows no evidence of being rolled up, which can be devastating to the paint, Haskins said. 

“I approach the paintings with reverence,” Haskins told a group last month. “We do not want them to look like a shiny penny when we’re done.”

Whether “The Crucifixion” is an important piece to greater art world is of lesser importance to Haskins. Its significance is derived from the religious role it plays on the wall, he said.

In Colonial times, “a lot of people learned by what they heard and what they saw because they couldn’t read or write,” Haskins said.

It’s this reverence for the painting’s special place in Mission history that made Haskins the right choice, said Mechelle Lawrence-Adams, executive director for the Mission.

“We don’t want to change it too much. It’s isn’t a matter of improving a painting … it’s a matter of respecting the integrity of it,” Lawrence-Adams said.

The Mission received bids for the restoration ranging from $50,000 to $220,000, she said.

Haskins is an expert in Spanish Colonial-era paintings who will take the conservative, cautious approach Mission representatives seek, Lawrence-Adams said.

San Juan Capistrano residents Jan and Warren Siegel are funding a portion of the $50,000 project, according to a press release. The Mission Preservation Foundation is continuing in its efforts to raise the balance of the project's cost.

“I have worked on paintings like this all my life,” Haskins said.