“Macarena’s face is something I’ve always been obsessed with”

– I would like to start by specifying that I am attending your interview with the most sincere humility required by the situation. I wouldn’t want to occupy a place that doesn’t belong to me and I’m not looking for any notoriety. I am simply another believer among those who have suffered from this situation.

– It’s the first one he’s given to her, in fact. Who is Esteban Sánchez and when did he enter the world of imaging?

– I don’t remember my first contact with the world of sculpture. The first references I came from those close to me who always saw in me the ability, skill and sensitivity when it came to appreciating and developing art. Since I was a child, I have based my afternoons on fun drawing or creating religious images. What started as a hobby ended up becoming my passion and my profession.

– What is your training and experience?

– At the age of eight, he combined compulsory basic training with learning technique and work discipline in a professional imaging workshop. This is how I continued my training until finishing my studies at the Seville School of Art. After that, I decided to start my career by taking orders for brotherhoods and individuals.

-Which works of devotion would you highlight your production?

– It is difficult to remember so many families, brotherhoods, parishes, towns or villages who trusted me to create devotional images. For the special bond you have with my town of Castilleja de la Cuesta and my family, my Cristo de la Salud of the Parish of the Divine Savior of Nueva Sevilla. It marked a before and after in my career because of the great popular devotion it aroused. I wouldn’t want to pass over this occasion without mentioning my Virgin of Tears, which has received good reviews since I created it in 2013.

– When does the Macarena come into your life?

– I don’t remember the first memory I have with Elle. Esperanza Macarena is something intrinsic in the DNA of Sevillians. In my case, it is my mother’s main devotion. When I was a child we frequented the Virgen Macarena Hospital a lot, so visiting the Lady was an obligatory stop to ask about her health, the most important thing.

– I’ve seen videos where he’s able to get his face fucked in just a few minutes. How many copies do you have?

– I haven’t made many, but the life-size copy I made when I was 14 as a gift for my mother is the one that had the most impact in the fraternity world. So much so that one morning a Virgin Nazarene gave me a copy of my own work, mistaking it for the original. I have also seen headstones in cemeteries with pictures of me on them. I particularly like the last one that I made, in real size. As luck would have it, I started making it right after Easter, and finished it shortly before whatever unfortunately happened with the original’s intervention.

-How do you manage to extract every detail from a mystery – what is your gaze – so indecipherable?

– The face of the Blessed Virgin is something that has always obsessed and haunted me. All my life I have felt a great attraction to the way something so imperfect and so perfect at the same time can arouse so much passion and stir the feelings of so many people on a devotional and artistic level. Sacred artists, after all, aspire to capture this divine feeling and transcendence in their works. That’s why I spent so many hours studying every inch of his face. To all this, we must add the deep faith that the figure of the Mother of God, Mary of Nazareth, awakens in me.

– The Brotherhood reported that you helped the Virgin regain her appearance by applying eyelashes. What happened that night when Arquillo tried to come back to solve his problem?

– The brotherhood asked for my help in making a new set of eyelashes for the image, because the result on the morning of June 21 was not the desired one, as we all know. For me personally, as for so many people, the Virgin never regained her original appearance. This is why the brotherhood requested my help again on the night of June 21 to 22, as the corporation itself has clarified on several occasions. I would like to point out that at no time did neither the brotherhood nor I intend to resolve the problem caused. The damage was obvious.

– A much deeper restoration was necessary.

– The Virgin required the intervention, during the appropriate and necessary time, of a conservation and restoration professional, and not of an image sculptor. Due to the lack of knowledge about how this restoration was going to be carried out, the brotherhood aims to ease the pain of so many faithful by restoring an image of the Virgin more similar to the one we all know. This entire process is carried out with reversible materials, without damaging the integrity of the sculpture, and which were removed by Pedro Manzano.

-What did these tasks consist of?

– The task entrusted to us was extremely complex, since the Virgin had a completely distorted physiognomy. Despite all this, if at some point my intervention served to alleviate the pain which was extreme during those hours, my soul is at peace to have been able to contribute even a little bit to this relief. Regardless, it is clear that nothing more can be done in these circumstances. On a personal level, I tried to get rid of any trace of doubt or fear and do my job in the best way possible. However, around Virgo, an aura and a climate that are very difficult to explain are palpable. I would therefore not dare to add any nuance to it. I can’t find them.

– Now you have helped Pedro Manzano regain the appearance of Hope, so applauded by everyone. How to shape these eyelashes?

– I was appointed member of the working commission for the restoration of the Virgin of Hope. My work was limited simply to collaborating in the recovery of your gaze. Specifically in creating the set of eyelashes he wears. Several professionals have worked with Pedro, but he deserves the credit for being the executive who gave Sevilla hope. From my point of view, Pedro Manzano was the ideal person to carry out this restoration because of his unquestionable professional background, the deep respect with which he treated the Lady and the humility with which he assumed this immense responsibility. Seville and all Sevillians will always be indebted to him. I extend my congratulations and gratitude to his wife, Carmen Mañero.

– What does it mean to you to have contributed to rediscovering the look of the Macarena?

– Esperanza Macarena is my mother’s main devotion. In my house there was suffering and crying like in any other house. On the morning of December 8, I saw her crying with joy and emotion in front of Her. I emphasize the importance of hairpieces in a devotional image, although some professionals in the field have downplayed this issue. Inappropriate hairpieces have been shown to completely distort the correct reading of the physiognomy of the image.

– What do you think of the restoration that Manzano carried out on the Virgin?

– This was an exemplary intervention. From the first diagnostic tests, through structural fixations and even volumetric and chromatic reintegration. Seville has good professionals when it comes to conservation and restoration, but Pedro Manzano has undoubtedly proven himself to be one of the best in this discipline. I wish events had turned out differently. But without a doubt, thanks to him, we have rediscovered Mary Most Holy of Hope with what this implies for the faith and spirituality of the city and the Christian world.