“During the intervention on the triumphal arch [at the convent] and after removing the carving, a painting was discovered under a board, with angel musicians, which represents a glorification of the virgin”, David Silva, from the company Acroarte, who was responsible for the restoration of the Convento da Caloura.

According to the expert, this is a “rare representation of musical iconography for the artistic context of the archipelago, with this painting dating back to the “end of the 17th century and beginning of the 18th century”.

Since 2019, restoration work has been underway at Convento da Caloura, by the decision of the Jácome Correia family, which owns the space, with its own capital and official support, as the property has been considered regional heritage since 2008 and has shown signs of degradation.

David Silva explains that, at the end of the 18th century, without it being possible to pinpoint a precise date, a “new intervention in which a gilded carving is applied to the triumphal arch” had been promoted over the original, while in areas where this did not exist “a red color was applied”.

“What we suggested to the owner, at the time, was to come up with a proposal that would allow the visualisation of both periods, that is, the painting and the carving”, says the restoration specialist.

According to the restorer, “In this way, the Caloura Convent and the Autonomous Region of the Azores are more valued from a heritage and artistic point of view”.

David Silva points out that “normally, glorifications are found in dressing rooms and main altars, but in a triumphal arch it is very rare”, and supposes that “it is unique in the Azores”.

The Caloura Convent is inseparably linked, according to the available historical elements, to the image of the Holy Christ of the Miracles.

The Clarissa sisters would leave in 1540 for the Convento da Esperança, in Ponta Delgada, due to pirate incursions on the Caloura coast, taking with them the image of the “ecce homo”, today venerated by thousands of Azoreans in the Azores and in the diaspora and whose festivities take place next weekend.