https://doi.org/10.37955/cs.v5i3.152
Received November 12, 2020 / Approved April, 03 2021 Pages: 103-121
eISSN: 2600-5743
Protocols in the restoration of
Peru's Cultural Heritage: The case
of Joaquín Roca Rey's sculptural
group "Los ángeles del juicio" (The
Angels of Judgment)
Los protocolos en la restauración del
Patrimonio Cultural del Perú: El caso del
conjunto escultórico “Los ángeles del juicio” de
Joaquín Roca Rey
Lidia Ivonne Lima Cucho
Master in Education, Universidad Nacional Hermilio Valdizán, Lima, Peru.
Visual and plastic artist, and professor at the Faculty of Art and Design of the PUCP, llima@pucp.pe,
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7958-7593.
Abstract
The Cultural Heritage of Peru is the legacy that hold our identity as a
nation shows the world our heritages and gives us continuity over
time. Its preservation must be an essential matter, therefore, as a basic
principle; all restoration work must respect aesthetic, historic,
spiritual and social meaning of the cultural heritage. This article
analyzes the case of the restoration of "Los ángeles del juicio" sculpture
made by the Peruvian artist Joaquín Roca Rey and located in the
portico of the cemetery "El Ángel". A review of the life and work of the
artist, indicates that the formal, iconographic and iconological
particularities of his plastic production are the result of his interest in
a new aesthetic movement that entered in Peru in the late thirties
decade, called "modern art". In this sense, it has been noted that the
restoration of the aforementioned sculptural group has modified its
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original forms and has not taken into account an in-depth study of its
formal appearance and the symbolism that it determined, revealing
the absence of a normative protocol that regulates actions to restore
the Cultural Heritage of Peru.
Resumen
El Patrimonio Cultural del Perú es el legado que forja nuestra
identidad como nación, muestra al mundo nuestras herencias y nos da
continuidad en el tiempo. Su cuidado debe de ser de vital importancia,
por ello, como principio básico, toda restauración debe respetar el
valor histórico, estético y la esencia de las obras patrimoniales. El
presente artículo pretende analizar el caso de la restauración del
conjunto escultórico “Los ángeles del juicio” de autoría del artista
peruano Joaquín Roca Rey, ubicado en el pórtico del Cementerio “El
Ángel”. A través de una revisión de la vida y obra del artista, se deduce
que las particularidades formales, iconográficas e iconológicas de su
producción plástica fueron el resultado del interés en una nueva
postura estética que ingresó en el Perú hacia fines de la década del
treinta: el arte moderno. En tal sentido, se ha advertido que la
restauración del mencionado conjunto escultórico ha modificado sus
formas originales y no ha tomado en cuenta un estudio profundo de su
aspecto formal y el simbolismo que éste determinaba, quedando al
descubierto la ausencia de un protocolo normativo que regule las
acciones de restauración del Patrimonio Cultural del Perú.
Palabras clave/ Keywords
bronze sculpture, cultural heritage, restoration, modern art
Bronze sculpture, cultural heritage, restoration, modern art
Introduction
Heritage is a sign of nationality and originality, it is unique, delicate
and non-renewable, like natural resources, heritage is a legacy and an
extension of future generations. Its preservation is part of the activities
of governments. (Jaramillo-Uribe, 2021, p. 41). For UNESCO, cultural
heritage is both a product and a process that provides societies with a
wealth of resources that are inherited from the past, created in the
present and transmitted to future generations for their benefit.
(Cantar, Endere and Zulaica, 2021). Therefore, the sustainability of
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cultural heritage is of vital importance, such as the factors of
conservation and restoration, which can fulfill a social function with
the approximation of culture to the population. The education of
society on criteria, methods and procedures used in the intervention
on a work are significant to attract the attention of the public in the
right way. In countries with important cultural legacies the social
function of conservation and restoration is essential in different
aspects: to recover heritage, to help the population in training tasks as
conservators-restorers and to improve the economic-labor situation of
many communities. (Moreno, 2013). Capote mentions that an
essential component for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage in an
appropriate way is cooperation, training of specialists, exchange of
experiences, use of new technologies and the use of new restoration
materials (2012).
For some years now, the relationship between sustainable
development and cultural heritage has been a topic of interest for both
UNESCO and the International Council on Monuments and Sites
(ICOMOS). Scientific events and the production of diverse documents
have been taking place, thus there is a need to promote a development
that considers cultural heritage as an essential component of
sustainability, and it is also important to provide a human vision to
development. However, the link between sustainability and heritage
has not always been present in the heritage agenda; it is the result of a
process of evolution. (Cantar, Endere and Zulaica, 2021).
It is worth mentioning that the objectives of heritage management
policies are to promote measures aimed at the conservation,
restoration and enhancement of cultural and archaeological assets. To
ensure that these activities are carried out, the responsible institutions
should promote the dissemination and transfer of cultural heritage,
promote actions with the greatest possible rigor, through scientific and
technical studies that optimize the methods of intervention. (García-
Molina et al, 2021). García mentions that heritage assets must have a
conditioned exhibition environment, be in a good state of
conservation, security and planning are also important, in addition to
the exhibition of cultural property, in which certain risks for
conservation are regularly found, and, on the other hand, the
enhancement of the exhibited pieces or collections must be put into
practice. They propose for the conservation of archaeological and
historical structures the 3D modeling, in their research they set the
first step in a larger project aimed at recovering the ancient villages of
the Greek area south of Calabria.
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Chávez, in his research "Research and conservation of archaeological
heritage in Teotihuacán: problems, perspectives and proposals",
mentions that there are several factors that have generated a hostile
attitude and disdain from the inhabitants for the archaeological
remains, among them are the economic difficulties of the country, the
lack of an institutional policy, the lack of medium and long term work
plans aimed at preserving the archaeological assets of the site, as well
as programs aimed at the communities to raise awareness and involve
them directly in conservation. Without an institutional plan and viable
alternatives for the inhabitants, the greatest destruction is caused by
the valley's own inhabitants or worse, by the state and municipal
government agencies in charge of providing services to the
communities. (2015, p. 23).
Regarding the case of the restoration carried out in 2018 to the
sculptural ensemble "Los ángeles del juicio", located on the facade of
the "El Ángel" cemetery and made by the Peruvian artist Joaquín Roca
Rey in 1957, the main purpose of this research is to point out the
importance of the use of a concise normative protocol in the
restoration works of the Cultural Heritage of Peru. In 2018, after being
declared, the aforementioned sculptural ensemble, as Cultural
Heritage of Peru, the Municipality of Lima, through the Lima
Charitable Society, ordered the restoration of this work, which was, in
general terms, in a state of deterioration and with missing elements.
During the restoration work, a missing piece was replaced; however, it
has been observed that the insert placed during the process does not
correspond to the original forms created by Roca Rey.
The first half of the twentieth century was a moment of rupture and
transformation for the Peruvian visual arts. The indigenist trend, led
by the artist José Sabogal, had become institutionalized as the official
trend in the Peruvian art world. However, in 1937 the painter Ricardo
Grau returned from Europe, bringing with him a new trend that would
later be assumed and defended by a group of artists who did not feel
identified with indigenism. This would mark the beginning of the
widely debated and questioned modern art in Peru and would generate
a vast production of works of abstract and non-figurative tendency.
Joaquín Roca Rey would stand out as a key figure, from the specialty
of sculpture, initiating and promoting the ideals of modern Peruvian
art.
On the one hand, Joaquín Roca Rey studied at the National School of
Fine Arts of Peru, in 1949 he won a scholarship that allowed him to
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travel to Europe where he remained until 1952, year in which he
returned to Peru, where he taught at the School of Art of the PUCP and
at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lima (Lama, 2013).
The same year of his return, he received the National Sculpture Prize
and in 1953 he was a finalist in the world sculpture competition of the
Institute of Contemporary Arts, a platform for which he presented a
sculptural group in commemoration of the "unknown political
prisoner". These awards opened the doors for him to receive various
commissions of different kinds, managing to assimilate a sculptural
production deeply charged with symbolic content, taken from both the
Western and pre-Hispanic corpus. In this regard, Montealegre points
out that there exists in Joaquín Roca Rey's art the intention of relating
the world of his own origin, which he continues to love, with Europe,
which constitutes his other affective pole, particularly Italy, and
especially Rome, which he could not do without. (2019, p. 20)
In 1963 he went to live permanently in Rome where, while continuing
his artistic career, he worked as Cultural Advisor at the Peruvian
Consulate. In 1967 he was commissioned to execute the statue of Inca
Garcilaso de la Vega in Villa Borghese, Rome. His recognized
trajectory made him worthy of countless public works in different
countries of the world, he also participated in biennials and his work
was exhibited in 38 personal presentations and 150 collective ones.
Joaquín Roca Rey died in Rome in 2004.
On the other hand, with respect to the execution of the sculptural
group Los ángeles del juicio, it should be remembered that in 1956 the
construction of a new cemetery began, which would be named El Ángel
Cemetery, becoming the largest cemetery of its time with an
approximate extension of 29 hectares. In 1957, in the middle of the
construction process, the Sociedad de Beneficencia de Lima called a
contest for the construction of the main entrance. The winner was a
joint project of the plastic artists Fernando de Szyszlo, in charge of the
posterior mosaic, and Joaquín Roca Rey, in charge of the bronze
sculpture. Finally, the inauguration of the cemetery took place on June
27, 1959.
In order to adequately dimension the importance of the work of artist
Joaquín Roca Rey within the context of modern Peruvian art, the
following background has been taken. Urueña, based on Bakhtin's
postulates, points out that the importance of an artistic creation is
determined by a discourse doubly composed of an aesthetic object
(content) and artistic form (matter) (2014, p. 6), elements that are
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indissoluble among themselves. Therefore, the significance and
interpretation of a work of art is not only established by the purely
conceptual aspect (or idea), but needs to be expressed through the
material form. At the same time, Alvarez, analyzes the "particular
modes" within the artistic discourse, understanding that the language
used by artists responds to their own unique identity, therefore, by
choosing the signs (plastic-visual units of meaning) they build the
statements from a cognitive and practical level that enables the
communicational nature (2011, p. 236). Similarly, Tovar, reflects on
the role of the artist as a generator of objects with symbolic charge,
using his ability to create a unique material form capable of conveying
a message, he mentions that for a work of art to be autonomous,
containing a form of knowledge, it is essential that the artist
transforms it into being, the artist must act to produce the work, he
must initiate a relationship of action with the real material, with the
substantial with which he brings the work to completion. (p. 42)
In all cases, the aforementioned investigations coincide in pointing out
that a work of art is a particular creation in which the artist manages
to transversalize a material form with a conceptual content. Therefore,
it follows that the alteration of any element that composes a work of
heritage value would mean modifying the original and intrinsic
discourse and the possible depreciation of its value, contemplated not
only as a historical object, but, projecting itself, as happens with many
works of art, as part of a potentially touristic set (Willians, 2020)
(Gamboa et al., 2019), "being the same a strategic activity that drives
the progress of the quality of life of its inhabitants and the creation of
new sources of local income" (García and Malucín, 2018, p. 54).
Falcón, mentions that a monument is born to immortalize the memory
of something, granting identity and representation to a collective, in
addition it is usually related to the building where it is privileged on a
large scale, with an aesthetic sense, and where the materials are
convenient to favor the duration of the memory through its sculptural
forms in the public space. (2018) Spaces with sculptures are usually
individually useful for the study of the perception of time, space and
the expression of memory (2018, p 45).
At the same time, it is important to highlight the role of artistic
production in its particular space/time, understanding that all
production responds and represents its particular political, social and
economic conjuncture, in which it is produced. Under this precept,
Von Feigenblatt (2020) describes how, in China, the period
determined by the presence of the Shang dynasty (1600-1046 B.C.)
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builds, through the investment of substantial resources especially
from cultural production, a discourse that not only managed to impose
its ideas over those of the previous dynasties, but many characteristics
of that lifestyle have come to be maintained until today, being
considered, the Shang dynasty, by historians as the cradle of Chinese
cultural identity. Meanwhile, Castiblanco (2020) from the analysis of
the case of the popular arts of Zipaquirá, Colombia, indicates that the
passing of time and the scarce academic and/or divulgation interest on
the artistic manifestations that correspond to the past of this locality,
threaten its cultural memory, also, it shows that it is necessary to
promote academic research in order to keep alive the history and
identity of this locality, This author places the artist as the first modern
Peruvian sculptor, because while for the history of painting modern art
had made inroads in the thirties, in sculpture "we will have to wait for
the arrival of Roca Rey, well into the fifties, to find a truly modern
approach" (p. 367). 367). Gheaţău, mentions in his article on the
sculpture of the compositional ensemble of the monastic church "The
Holy Three Hierarchs" of Iaşi, that the mentioned sculpture was a
successful and extraordinary artistic experiment, the challenge of the
architect was to gather, synthesize and harmonize the components of
the Byzantine background with the oriental ornamentation, all
embedded in the basic structure of the local traditional motifs. The
result impresses with the novelty and particularity of the concept.
(2019).
Likewise, Mollo (2018) indicates that, although in recent years there
has been progress in the restoration works of monuments, in Peru,
there is no instance that exercises some kind of leadership, nor any
kind of policy that regulates this type of work. Finally, Copaira (2018)
in his research on the restorations carried out to some monuments in
Downtown Lima performed by the municipality, already warned that
the results endangered the original authenticity of these works, since
the procedures were based "on different theoretical concepts drawn
from the different interpretations given to the theories of intervention
and the numerous heritage safeguarding charters" (p. 63), that is,
there was no clear and specific protocol analyzed from the Peruvian
context and the particular character of the work. The absence of local
teaching of history and culture in the curriculum reinforces the sense
of disconnection between citizens and the country's cultural heritage.
(Ishihara-Brito and Rodriguez, 2012, p. 34).
Based on the proposed theories, the conceptual foundations were
based, in the first place, on the transversality between the theory of
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formal art, initially revealed by Kant (1961) in 1970, and the
iconological theory, proposed by the German art historian Erwin
Panofsky (1972) in 1939. The purpose of this is to consider that all the
elements (material and immaterial) of Joaquín Roca Rey's Los ángeles
del juicio are indissolubly involved, that is to say, the tangible
characteristics that make up this sculptural ensemble determine a
unique and particular symbolism. This matter-content link is not a
contemporary concept, but part of the ancient debate that has sought
to deepen and establish the links between practice and theory, about
this issue, Pascuales (2019) states that intertwining the theoretical
with the practical allows developing a content, of rigorous compliance,
but focusing on activities that allow to open the eyes to real situations,
that is experiential and of course, that contributes to society, that acts
proactively, with social sense.
On the other hand, as mentioned above, what distinguishes heritage
objects from other objects is probably that the former clearly express
the cultural identities of a nation -especially in a country like Peru,
where there is a multicultural richness- and therein lies the relevance
of paying attention to these goods as representative material of a
unique and particular history. Cachupud, mentions that every country
has a history, which comprises a legacy on which its present has been
built, aiming to achieve a better future for this reason, cultural wealth
should be considered and treated as a treasure to be promoted and
preserved in an adequate manner in each town, considering the
importance that this reflects as a fundamental basis for its
development. (2018, p.73). On this subject, the Venice Charter,
International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of
Monuments and Sites published by the (2007) indicates that
restoration is an operation that must have an exceptional character. It
aims to preserve and reveal the aesthetic and historical values of the
monument and is based on respect for the ancient essence and
authentic documents. Its limit is where the hypothesis begins: at the
level of reconstitutions based on conjecture. (p. 138). However, there
is no clear policy capable of regulating restoration work, which has led
to procedures lacking criteria that have ended up damaging and
devaluing the essence of Peru's cultural heritage.
Materials and Methods
This research uses a qualitative approach, given that the approach to
the object of study is of an interpretative nature in accordance with the
humanistic nature of artistic creation. Likewise, it is a deductive-
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analytical study, in the sense that the conclusions have been obtained
from a series of premises, which were previously deconstructed and
analyzed individually. To this effect, Rodriguez (2019) points out that
deconstruction has become an indispensable tool in any research
process, having "influenced all areas of knowledge, but its intervention
in the sciences of art and culture is especially noteworthy. This has
occurred because of its postulates that intrude into being and its
essence".
It can be added that this research belongs to the field of human
sciences, understanding that, although it cannot be detached from the
subjective character, it does not cease to hold on to a rigorous analysis,
at the same time, it is capable of generating a broad dialogue from the
diverse perceptions that could result between one subject and another.
The study has been divided into two parts: on the one hand, it has dealt
with the relationship between the formal and symbolic aspects in the
sculptural work of Joaquín Roca Rey, in accordance with the particular
social context in which it develops. Secondly, the particular
characteristics (tangible and intangible) and the history of the
sculptural group Los ángeles del juicio are detailed, mentioning the
problematic raised.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that for the development of this
research, bibliographic and newspaper sources were reviewed, as well
as an on-site observation and photographic record.
Results
The first works of the sculptor Joaquín Roca Rey are the result of his
traditional training at the National School of Fine Arts of Peru
1
in the
forties, being his first works of realistic-figurative cut, that earned him
the commission for the realization of sculptures for the Cathedral of
Lima. Later, during a trip to Europe, he turned to an abstract tendency
loaded with symbolism.
In the 1950 it is considered that his solid technical training is due to
the work done in the workshop of the Spaniard Victorio Macho and
later to his contact with the sculptor Jorge Oteiza. Complementing the
above, Guerra indicates that modern Peruvian sculpture began with
Joaquín Roca Rey around 1948. After working in Victorio Macho's
workshop and stylizing natural forms, Roca Rey entered the avant-
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garde influenced by the British Henry Moore; then he was
commissioned to create the figures at the entrance of the El Angel
cemetery in Lima. (1984, p. 332). Consequently, Roca Rey, moving
away from his initial formation due to the influence of Macho, Oteiza
and Moore, expresses the essence of man and his symbolic
cosmovision through the use of particular technical resources within
the formal aspect, which would turn him into the pioneer of modern
Peruvian sculpture.
Already at the height of his career, Roca Rey manages to mold forms
through a mastery of techniques that come to convey messages related
to his concern for life and death, in this regard in an interview
conducted by Jorge Eduardo Eielson in 1990 and reproduced by
Vallejo & Co. (2017) it is pointed out, there are in all your work three
perfectly recognizable constants: the insistent presence of Thanatos,
on the one hand, and that of Eros, on the other; both indissolubly
united by an irreverent and iconoclastic black humor (...). A little as if,
with the passing of time, you could see ever more clearly the definitive
triumph of death, which freezes everything and makes it majestic,
immobile, serene.
It can be added that his forms capture movement and, because of his
Peruvian roots, Moche eroticism, Peruvian history and religion were
always present in his themes. The Art Museum of the Americas
mentions that Roca Rey was interested from the beginning in the
erotic and the cosmic, the astral and the biomorphic, as well as in
capturing movement. Thus, many of his earliest pieces refer to themes
from a magical-mythical world, tribal ritualism and the symbols of
ancient Andean civilizations. Although the artist's interests changed
over time, the idea of a mythical return to a primitive realm was always
present in his work and, in his case, almost always manifested itself
through interpretations centered on folklore and religion. (2018)
It can be added that we find ourselves in the presence of divergent
images that bring us sexual reminiscences and, at the same time.
Correlatively, the representation of the sacred through the sexual has
been captured in a playful way that Appella (2011) links to surrealism,
while Eielson proposes that this was influenced by his apprehension of
modern Western art, generating a crossbreeding in his work.
The above premises reveal the strong influence of the western world in
Roca Rey's work, however, he knew how to recreate his Peruvian roots
and adapt them to foreign concepts as a sort of contemporary
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syncretism. In the particular case of the artist there is no prevalence of
the forms over the symbolic narratives of his works, or vice versa, but
rather the correspondence and importance he gives to both elements
make his sculpture unique, unmistakable and one of the most
representative of modern Peruvian art. In Crespo's terms, his work
makes tangible the immateriality of the instantaneous in order to
project itself towards the preservation of centuries. (2019, p. 34)
In terms of plastic arts, the fifties represented an approach to a new
modernist spirit introduced to the Peruvian capital by artists and
intellectuals who would bring diverse styles from the West and who
proposed a rupture with the idea of the nationalist figurative
established from indigenism. Under this panorama is that the
construction of a new great cemetery is projected in Lima, which,
stylistically and functionally, would differ from the neoclassical
Presbítero Matías Maestro Cemetery. Tácunan, says that in 1956, in
the former Ancieta Alta estate in El Agustino, construction work began
on the El Ángel Cemetery, projected as the largest funerary space in
Lima at that time and its name is due "to the fact that it was built very
close to the Plaza de El Ángel de la Resurrección, a public space
inaugurated in 1877" (2011, p. 278). The institution in charge of its
construction was the Sociedad de Beneficencia de Lima and its design
was elaborated by the architect Luis Miró Quesada Garland and the
engineer Simón Ortiz, both would use the modernist parameters that
they themselves promoted, executing simple and geometric forms for
its construction.
On the other hand, the façade was expected to be coherent with the
interior project and was made through a public competition. In 1957,
a year after the works began, a call for bids was announced to execute
this façade. The call was well received and the winners were the artists
Fernando de Szyszlo and Joaquín Roca Rey. The winning sketches and
those of the other participants were exhibited in March 1957 in the
halls of the Institute of Contemporary Art.
Zafra and Azanza, the sculptural ensemble was executed in bronze and
is interpreted as a group of angels that accompany Jesus Christ during
the Final Judgment (figure 1), likewise, a phrase located in the portico
can be observed: "Nom moriar, sed vivam", this phrase was taken from
Psalm 118 (117), whose complete wording is: "Non moriar, sed vivam
et narrabo opera Domini", which means: "I will not die, I will live to
tell the deeds of the Lord" (2000, p. 42), the theme refers to the
narration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the praises that man
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makes about the exploits of God in his life. 42), the theme makes
mention of the narration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the
praises that man performs about the exploits of God in his life.
It should be added that Roca Rey proposed three sections in his
proposal: on the left he placed two angels, one with a trumpet
announcing the victory of Jesus Christ over death; in the central area
is the representation of a third angel -which years later Roca Rey would
reveal that it is a symbolism of Jorge Chávez's feat of crossing the Alps-
and on the far right he depicts the resurrection of Jesus Christ
accompanied by two angels. Likewise, it can be added that the figure
of Jesus Christ is the closest, in his torso and lower extremities, to the
human body, using details that accentuate the muscular tension and,
at the same time, the contraction of the position that the character is
adopting. While, in the case of the angels, although the forms have an
anthropomorphic aspect, the corporeality of these figures has been
stylized and elongated and is shown incomplete in the lower
extremities.
In summary, the sculptural group Los ángeles del juicio masterfully
combines the formal elements with the symbolism represented, which,
in this case, alludes to the religious beliefs of Peruvian society in the
mid-twentieth century and, therefore, is attributed a relevance that
goes beyond the artist as an individual, reflecting an entire society.
On April 27, 2018, with Vice Ministerial Resolution No. 053-2018-
VMPCIC-MC published as Legal Norms (2018) in the newspaper El
Peruano, 91 sculptures of the Historic Center of Lima were declared
Cultural Heritage of Peru, among which is, in the category Sculpture
and Carving, the work Los ángeles del juicio by Joaquín Roca Rey. It
was noted that this piece had suffered the ravages of time, as well as
damage caused by vandalism. That same year, a hasty restoration was
carried out in which a lost piece of this work was restored using an
addition that does not correspond to the original creation of the
author.
Consequently, it is evident in the life histories that people between 60
and 65 years of age have greater difficulty in finding employment, with
the productive factor being one of the most marked problems in the
aging stage (Hernández, 2009). This poses a challenge for the social
sciences in relation to the recognition of skills and abilities that
activate productivity in aging, since institutionalized older adults do
not have the economic income to meet their needs and consequently
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face a social crisis as they are configured within a framework of
unproductivity and burden for their families.
Aging brings problems in the family environment, since at the end of
their active life they are seen as an economic burden (Núñez,
Hernández, González, Quintero & Escalona, 2014). This is manifested
in the discourses of the 6 life stories when they reflect discrimination
and rejection due to the loss of productive capacities or not having the
possibility of contributing income to the family dynamics. Therefore,
this leads to the rupture of the affective family interaction, so that the
older adult does not have the inputs for physical, emotional and
economic self-valence (Cabrera, 2013).
As evidenced in the Remanso de Paz Foundation, where 5 of the 6 older
adults state that one of the reasons why they are in absolute family
abandonment is the lack of economic income to meet their needs. This
leads the social sciences to reflect on how to structure interventions
that can position the elderly in productive life (Rodriguez, 2008).
On the other hand, it is possible to understand that social
representations have a direct influence on the neglect and lack of
family protection towards the elderly, to the extent that the culture
adopted by contemporary society does not consider the elderly person
as an example to follow or as an individual with experiences,
knowledge and capabilities (Toledo, 2011). This panorama poses a
challenge to the social sciences on how to fit aging in an industrialized,
productive world, that is, in the social machinery that reflects respect
and protection for the elderly (Zavala, Vidal, Quiroga & Klassen,
2006).
Consequently, the research shows that the older person is socially
stereotyped to the extent that there is no favorable and accurate
definition of old age, which is limited to a framework of labor
productivity without considering the potential, knowledge and social
role of the older population (Vélez et al., 2009). Life histories face
social segregation, since they are considered isolated in family and
social scenarios, economically dependent and with a decrease in status
(Méndez, 2012). Therefore, the influence of contemporary social
perception in the family abandonment of the institutionalized elderly
individual in the Remanso de Paz Foundation is evidenced.
On the other hand, the research showed that social science
interventions in the neglect of the elderly are permeated by the
transformation in the conceptualization that takes place in the life
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cycle of longevity (Vélez et al., 2009), since the changes that have been
generated in the course of time with respect to the concept of the
elderly have varied. According to the accounts, these changes were
evidenced in the value of their grandparents and parents in society,
where they were considered a being of wisdom, knowledge, an
extraordinary being worthy of admiration and respect, as well as, the
family of this population was the first entity of protection, care and
support of the older adult (Méndez, 2012).
However, as stated by the older adults interviewed, this concept has
been transformed and is increasingly distant from what was believed
a few years ago, since it has gone from having a positive to a negative
evaluation (Vélez et al., 2009). On the other hand, the
conceptualization of this has become a social construction influenced
by stereotypes, self-stereotypes and prejudices, related to the
chronological, biological or health, psychological or emotional and
sociological or community (Rello, Bravo & Plata, 2018).
Likewise, these beliefs that are rooted in the collective imaginary are
in turn supported by cultural situations such as the country's
neoliberal system and the predominance of the dialectic of production,
as well as, power relations, which are determining many dimensions
of the meaning of aging and of the actions that are aimed at
guaranteeing rights, ensuring well-being and dignified living
conditions (Klein, 2018).
That is to say that, according to the older adults of the Remanso de paz
foundation, the main perspectives from which social science
interventions on aging are currently intended are biased and
emphasize a lacking, unproductive, dependent and incapable state
(Vélez, 2009). This results in a decrease in the social and family
valuation of aging, one of the reasons why today the family no longer
appears as the main entity of protection and family ties are blurred as
indispensable components to guarantee the full exercise of rights
(Fernández, 2009).
On the other hand, the reflection on family dysfunctionality as a
psychosocial factor that indexes aging, since this problem is influenced
by the lack of affective bonds and relationships within the family
(Chande, 2000). These elements are relevant for the structure of
interventions from the social sciences.
Then, it is important to highlight that in one of the relevant results in
the research procedure is to be able to identify the relationship
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between social representations and intervention in the social sciences,
showing a reciprocity in the stereotypes in front of aging, this
characterized by a framework of mutual correspondence in front of the
evasion of responsibilities to the older adult in the family environment
(Klein, 2018). That is, in their role as parents, older adults did not
fulfill their legal obligations or were not present in the lives of their
children, generating a rupture in the filial relationship generating
detachment (Cardona & Peláez, 2012).
Therefore, in the life stories it was possible to identify generational
conflict and affective bonds as an influential factor due to the fact that
in an adult stage the children were involved in the couple's problems
with the purpose of generating cohesion of alliances, this caused the
son to create rejection, hatred and to move away from him in the aging
stage (Klein, 2018). Therefore, in aging is framed in the family context
in the life histories of the present study changing forms of cohabitation
according to the evolutionary cycle and the generational role that
converges in aging (Valdivia, 2016).
Finally, the life histories are framed in the abandonment of the older
adult in the family context, the scenario of social science intervention,
to the extent that the family fails to adapt to the implementation of new
limits, hierarchical systems, roles and rules, communication patterns
that break stereotypes and transform social representations in aging.
Consequently, social science interventions determine a set of
variations and deteriorations at the functional, morphological, and
psychological level in the elderly person, which leads to emotional
imbalance and a period of crisis in the family (Amaris & Arrieta, 2012).
This raises a reflection on how social science interventions in the aging
stage conceive production relations in the valuation of aging as a non-
useful and productive stage by which many older adults are in a state
of family abandonment, since they are immersed in a social judgment
process (Núñez, Hernández, González, Quintero & Escalona, 2014).
Therefore, in the contemporary context, aging does not fit into the
productive sphere and consequently they face a family crisis that
denotes the rupture of affective bonds, neglect and abandonment,
being the scenario of intervention of the social sciences.
According to the above, productivity relationships impose a meaning,
readjustment and change in aging, to the extent that this event is
generally considered as negative for family and social scenarios
(Herrera, 2008), since the evolutionary cycle of the family does not
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foresee the changes and the conjunctural problems, generally of an
economic nature that an older adult enters. Therefore, the social
sciences must identify the contemporary family dynamics that limit
and blur the status and role of the older adult in a framework of
productivity (Mondragón, Santamaria & Izaola, 2015).
On the other hand, it is worth noting that other research on the culture
adopted by contemporary society and its influence on abandonment is
influenced by stereotypes and prejudices that generate conceptions of
aging in relation to discrimination and all kinds of violence (Vélez,
2009). Consequently, the devaluation of the social image limits an
adequate integration of aging in the family and social environment
(Toledo, 2011).
Therefore, contemporary culture generates new family structures that
use stereotypes and negative beliefs about aging, where the challenge
of social sciences is to promote family dynamics that ensure the well-
being of the elderly (Colombo, Angarita, Gatto, Bessolo, Calderón,
Miranda & Veiga, 2013). However, the social sciences should not only
be concerned with the older adult population, but also with generating
conscious actions in young people regarding the aging process in order
to transform stereotypes beyond the productive (Valdés, 2012).
The problem of abandonment of the elderly is largely due to the
transformation of the concept of the person in the longevity cycle. This
raises a reflection on the conceptualization of the elderly from a broad
and general worldview, where the influence of perceptions,
conceptions and assessments on aging is evident from different
disciplines such as biological, socioeconomic and sociocultural
(Mondragón, Santamaria & Izaola, 2015).
According to the above, from the biological approach, the
conceptualization of the older adult is based on the organic and
cellular deterioration of an individual in the evolutionary stage
(Lozano, 1999). In other words, there is no close correspondence
between some biological events and chronological age, but rather it is
something of a genetic and hereditary nature.
However, the elderly and aging cannot be conceptualized assuming
that the biological character cannot be changed or that it is an
ahistorical process, but that the influence of man's relationship with
nature must be contemplated (Cardona & Peláez, 2012). Thus, the
conceptualization of the elderly ceases to be an element linked purely
to the biological and becomes a cultural construction that is influenced
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by the historical situation at different times by segregation, exclusion
and isolation (Martínez, Polo & Carrasco, 2002).
Likewise, the conceptualization of the elderly, being a cultural
construction, is influenced by stereotypes and prejudices (Vélez,
2009). This poses a relationship with the chronological, biological and
psychological, leaving as a central axis the inability of the elderly to
adapt to the social system, the structure of society and its production
structure, reducing the social and family valuation of old age.
On the other hand, the socioeconomic approach suggests that it is not
possible to conceptualize the older adult to the extent that he or she is
no longer useful in terms of work, since in countries such as those of
Latin America many older adults have to continue working due to high
poverty rates (Lozano, 1999). In this sense, the factor that most
influences the abandonment of the older adult and that should be of
interest to the social sciences is the emotional factor (Toledo, 2011),
since the rupture of family relationships, as well as the absence of the
older person within the family nucleus leads to a mutual
correspondence, generating an evasion of responsibilities.
However, not only the conflictive family relationship influences, but
also the family cycle of the empty nest, where the children of older
adults decide to migrate to other places in order to generate a better
quality of life for their families (Klein, 2018). This raises characteristics
where the older adult is mostly the one who pushes people away, since,
when he/she reaches the cycle of longevity when establishing contact
with other people is hostile, aggressive, evasive and apathetic, which
causes this social isolation and the deterioration of social and family
relationships (Rello, Bravo & Plata, 2018).
Finally, the indifferent parent-child relationship is a factor that
significantly influences the abandonment of the older adult, given that,
in this sense, the family feels that the older person is a burden and
therefore proceeds to make decisions and take actions such as
institutionalizing or simply abandoning him/her (Toledo, 2011).
The state of conservation in which the sculptural group Los ángeles del
juicio was found at the moment of being declared Cultural Patrimony
of Peru was not the adequate one, observing that, in the right section,
the representation of Jesus Christ was incomplete; the left leg had been
cut off and it was evident that this fact deserved that the piece be
restored. In this regard, he points out, if we damage or destroy an
object or a construction that was created hundreds of years ago, we can
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no longer recover it. We can try to repair the damage through
restoration, for example, but the object will never be the same. That is
why we say that Cultural Heritage is a non-renewable resource. (2007,
p. 21)
In other words, the objective of a restoration is not to faithfully
reconstruct the heritage object as it was originally conceived, but
rather, there must be evidence of the procedure, for example, in terms
of sculpture, the welding points may be visible or the new elements
may be differentiated from the original ones.
In 2018, the Municipality of Lima, through the Lima Charitable
Society, began the restoration of the sculptural ensemble of this studio,
commissioning the maintenance and replacement of the damaged area
to PROLIMA's technician, restorer Carlos Saldarriaga.
An analysis of the images found for this research highlights the
difference between the original figure (1957) and the final result of the
restoration (2018) after the replacement of the lost piece, noting that
the author's initial style has not been respected. While the position of
the leg, in the original work, denoted a stylized character and at the
same time reflected strength through the representation of defined
muscles (figures 1, 2 and 3); the replacement piece resembles more a
copy of a mannequin leg (figures 4 and 5).
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Again quoting the Ibero-American Cultural Heritage Preservation
Program of the AECI, it is reiterated: "The conservation and
restoration of monuments has the duty to safeguard both the work of
art and the historical testimony" (1999, p. 137). It is also deduced that
the professionals in charge should possess, not only an initial
instruction in the subject, but also the proper updates that
postmodernity requires, especially for this type of activities involving
cultural heritage, which has produced so much literature worldwide in
recent decades, throughout the continent have been implemented in
one way or another, new programs or updates to existing ones that
focus on developing productive and social skills verifiable in the labor
context, beyond the concern for the mere transfer of knowledge or
training in skills. (Bravo and Arzube, 2017, p. 29).
Finally, it is evident that the restoration of this sculpture lacked a
thorough investigation and analysis of the work and the author's style
in accordance with its particular social context, in order to safeguard
it as a heritage asset. At the same time, it is clear that there is an
absence of regulations involving a structured and thorough work,
which not only appeals to a practical execution, but also includes a
previous facet that analyzes the formal elements and those of an
intellectual nature, through a collaborative work that brings together
Figure 4. Left. State of conservation in which the sculptural group was at the moment of being
declared Cultural Patrimony of Peru. © Luis Torres. Image taken from https://cutt.ly/Lf3K47G
(2013).
Figure 5. Right. Replacement piece placed in the 2018 restoration that alters the aesthetic value of
the work. Own image.
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professionals in restoration issues, as well as theoretical specialists in
interpretation and reading of a work of art with a symbolic heritage
load that, by law, deserves to be safeguarded.
Conclusions
The sculptural group Los ángeles del juicio (1957) by Peruvian artist
Joaquín Roca Rey, located in the portico of the El Ángel Cemetery, is a
relevant piece for the history of modern Peruvian art, a premise
deduced after reviewing the artist's production and trajectory, and the
cultural context in which he developed. In 2018, the Peruvian Ministry
of Culture accepts the value of this piece and declares it Cultural
Heritage of Peru in the category of Sculpture and Carving.
The formal characteristics (tangible and visual) and the content
characteristics (symbology) of the work of art studied, correspond to
each other, since the history of art considers that both elements are
indissolubly related and are part of a whole. Therefore, it is considered
that the alteration of one of its parts in the restoration work carried out
by the institution in charge of its care in 2018 jeopardizes the
authenticity of this heritage piece and changes the message of the
original creation.
It is of vital importance to question the protocols or the lack of them
and the absence of a normative in the works of restorations of the
Cultural Patrimony of Peru with the purpose of appealing to a criterion
established by the deep study of the patrimonial pieces and of its
significance in all its aspects as unique work. For such reason, a new
restoration is demanded to the sculptural group Los ángeles del juicio,
with the objective to revert the caused fault and this time by means of
the development of a work that respects the original idea raised by its
author.
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