While in much of Castilla the throne is a mere base with minimal decorations that serves as a support to carry the images, in the south the throne is understood as an altar or mobile chapel, which also comes to highlight and/or magnify the image it carries. and to whom it is intended. The throne is still an authentic architectural construction in which, to an internal structure, be it wood or metal, large planks with superimposed carvings or openwork carvings are attached. In general, in addition to carvings with geometric shapes, the thrones are usually enriched to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the image itself and/or the style chosen by the author, with plant and floral motifs.

And it is on this last aspect that I would like to focus, on the dichotomy with which we can find ourselves between opting for a planned floral ornamentation based on the carved ornamentation, normally of plant motifs, that the throne itself may have, or make that floral arrangement without taking into account these decorative elements of the throne. Fortunately, the first option is being chosen more and more frequently.

In fact, if we look back and see how the thrones were adorned florally compared to how it is done today, in most cases we see a clear and upward improvement and increasing good taste in floral work. Some works that in many cases come to be considered artistic due to the work behind them, which includes a whole process of studying the paso as a whole, considering the throne with its design and characteristics, the images it carries, the brotherhood in question, the procession in which it parades, and a complete study of the flowers and other elements that the arrangement may include, its chromatic tonality, etc; it is not strange, even, that a previous sketch is elaborated to give an idea of the final effect. Anyway, it's not just about putting flowers.

In the past arrangements we could observe in many cases an inhospitable amalgamation of stems and flowers, a leafiness that in passages such as El Prendimiento, by Lozano Roca, even managed to hide the image of Malco, who, as we all know, is lying down on the ground, trying to prevent Saint Peter from striking his sword to cut off his ear. It is fair to say, however, that a good part of these ornate arrangements were intended to hide the poor state in which the thrones were found.

Text box: Juan Fernández San

Fortunately, at the end of the 20th century and in the first part of the 21st century, the brotherhoods launched into an intense restoration process, especially motivated by the appearance of the Art Commission, a very important actor in this positive future of our Holy Week. In addition to the processes that the Commission itself supervised, the new regulatory framework established in a key article that the brotherhoods had the obligation to restore their patrimony prior to the proposal to carry out a new step, which clearly led to the flourishing of the patrimony that they owned the brotherhoods, rediscovering a treasure that both crises and neglect itself made it difficult to value.

Extraordinary thrones like those of Ntro. Father Jesus Nazareno, of Santa María Salomé, of Santa María Magdalena, of San Juan or of the Stmo. Cristo del Consuelo, to name a few, all of them restored by the Ciezano restorer Bonifacio Pérez de Yébenes, or other valuable thrones restored by other authors were recovered and rediscovered with a splendor lost for years, which now shine to envelop the images they carry. Others, on the other hand, while being restored would be enriched by the contribution of new carvings.

In any case, the restorations have meant that the floral arrangements are more restrained, since the thrones themselves already have carved flowers, acanthus leaves, fallen leaves or vegetable stems, a decoration that simulates the paradise we are looking for, and in which they are already found. the Saints that the images represent. The carnation and the gladiolus, floral species more typical of other times, have given way to the orchid, the rose, the lily, the sterlicia or the anthurium, which in a friendly way complement what has already been carved and uncreated with an explosion of beauty. ornamental conflict with them, as far as possible. The florist has acquired the status of an artist to decorate the throne in a simple and at the same time subtle way, without trying to impose his advantageous position to become, quite rightly, a kind of servant of the work of art. The increasing respect for size will cause the irreversible deterioration due to the passage of time and use to occur in the long term and in better conditions.