Six panels from the San Lázaro altarpiece go on display restored at the IAPH
Topics Instituto Andaluz del Patrimonio Histórico
The free exhibition 'El signo tangible' brings together the paintings by Villegas and Chacón, now free of overpainting, in the Claustro de Legos until February 28, 2027.
The six panels from the altarpiece of the church of the Hospital de San Lázaro in Seville can now be seen in their original polychromy. Before the restoration they were hidden by numerous old layers of overpainting. The works are being shown to the public for the first time in decades in the exhibition 'El signo tangible. Memoria y materia en las tablas de San Lázaro', in the 'Claustro de Legos' room of the Instituto Andaluz del Patrimonio Histórico (IAPH), at the Monasterio de la Cartuja in Seville.
How to visit
Admission is free and the preferred access is via the Camino de los Descubrimientos. Opening hours are Tuesday to Friday from 10.00 to 13.00 and from 17.00 to 20.00; Saturdays, from 11.00 to 14.00 and from 17.00 to 20.00; Sundays, from 11.00 to 14.00, and public holidays, from 11.00 to 14.00. The exhibition will be closed every Monday and on December 24, 25 and 31, 2026 and January 1 and 6, 2027. The deadline to see it ends on February 28, 2027, inclusive.
What can be seen
The paintings are devoted to 'Jesús con la cruz ayudado de Simón de Cirineo', 'La Resurrección de Lázaro', 'Noli me tangere', 'Coronación de espinas', 'María Magdalena penitente' and 'Martirio de San Lázaro'. The tour reveals the method of making panel paintings in the 16th century: its materials, the construction system, the preparation and the finishes.
The exhibition has been designed with accessible resources: tactile elements, relief reproductions, braille, easy-to-read texts, audio description via QR codes and adapted audiovisuals. A central installation evokes the pointed arches of the church and the organisation of the altarpiece, and allows the panels to be viewed from both sides.
The restoration
The work has been carried out by IAPH specialists under an agreement with the Servicio Andaluz de Salud, owner of the Hospital de San Lázaro, the Fundación Bancaria 'la Caixa' and Hidralia Gestión Integral de Aguas de Andalucía. Under the same agreement, although outside the exhibition, the Institute has intervened on the sculptures of the Crucificado and of San José con el Niño from the altarpiece, and has cleaned and consolidated the tiled plinth of the presbytery.
The Regional Minister of Culture, Historical Heritage and Sport, Patricia del Pozo, has stated that the restoration has made it possible to «highlight some pictorial works from the finest 16th-century Seville school, very little known to society until now». Del Pozo visited the exhibition together with the managing director of the Hospital Virgen Macarena, Miguel Ángel Colmenero, and the director of the IAPH, Juan José Primo Jurado.