209. ongoing restoration

As reported by La Nación newspaper in March, further restoration works are now in full swing. Even though the number of projects scheduled for 2008 is fewer than those completed last year, it’s a relief to see planned restorations underway.

The exterior for the crypt of Nicolás Rodríguez Peña has been cleaned & a missing truncated column has been returned to its base. Interestingly enough, the inscription on the column is in French. For the moment, I can only make out a portion of the text describing inconsolable parents & their best son. I’ll have to wait until the scaffolding is removed & better light to add the full text to the original post:

Another vault currently getting a facelift is Rufina Cambacérès. One afternoon a couple weeks ago I noticed someone removing rust from the wrought-iron doors & decorative gate at the corner. Now scaffolding covers the entire structure. The restoration guy appears to be working from the top down since I could only see his feet:

While I don’t doubt that the finished restoration will look fantastic, the weathered & aged statue of Rufina has a certain charm to it:

So much restoration has been done over the past few years that an info panel now sits at the entrance to show visitors before & after photos of major works: