A work co-published by the Mendavia City Council and the Chair The Navarre Heritage and Art Institute analyzes in depth the main altarpiece of San Juan Bautista
Written by Professor Pedro Luis Echeverría, it was presented at the local town hall and was attendance by more than a hundred people.
A new book co-published by the Town Council of Mendavia and the Chair of Heritage and Navarrese Art of the School of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Navarra takes a closer look at the main altarpiece of San Juan Bautista de Mendavia, one of the great Renaissance carvings in Navarra. The work has been carried out by Pedro Luis Echeverría Goñi, who has been a professor of art history at the University of the Basque Country for decades and has been a member of the Chair since its foundation. It was presented on June 6 in the auditorium of the town hall, and was attendance by more than a hundred people, who attentively followed all the interventions.
As part of the Chairs 20th anniversary celebrations, the event was attended by Román Felones; Ricardo Fernández Gracia, director of the Chair; Pedro Luis Echeverría, author of the publication; and María José Verano Elvira, Mayoress of Mendavia. The speakers highlighted the importance of carrying out projects such as this one, where the partnership between institutions is fundamental. As Professor Fernández Gracia pointed out, "with this study the altarpiece is perfectly fixed in time, anchored with its mentors and artists, adjusted in its influences and also in its projection. It is not just another altarpiece in the Renaissance in Navarre. It is, with that of Santa María de Sangüesa, one of the first of the so-called "Romanesque" ones in Navarre". In spite of having been restored in 2001 and declared of Cultural Interest by the Government of Navarra the following year, until now it did not have a specific monograph.
The Issue is another milestone in the degree program of Pedro Luis Echeverría Goñi, an expert in regional and national Renaissance art and a member of the Chair of Navarrese Heritage and Art. As he himself acknowledges, this study represents "the culmination of the trajectory of a lifetime devoted to the figurative arts and movable heritage, mainly from the 16th century in Navarre and the Basque Country". The project is based on decades of research that began with his doctoral thesis , in 1990, on the polychromy of the Renaissance in Navarre, directed by Concepción García Gainza, professor emeritus of the School of Philosophy and Letters, and consolidated with a monograph on the Genevilla altarpiece, in 1991.
In this work, the author situates the altarpiece of San Juan Bautista de Mendavia in the rich social, economic and historical context of the town during the first half of the 16th century, accompanying his analysis with photomontages of his own elaboration that show the creative process of each sculptural group , image and ornamentation of the whole. As he explains, the centerpiece of the study is a singular work of Navarre's heritage. Numerous unpublished data on the altarpiece, as well as its interpretation, can be found in its pages. Contracted as a "Roman work" in 1537 and executed for the most part between 1540 and 1549, it is the first great carved altarpiece of the Renaissance in the region, together with that of Santa María de Sangüesa. It was signed by the French masters Metelín Fabri, imaginer and director of the project, and Jaques Tomás, carver. Its pictorial decoration was carried out by Diego de Araoz and his workshop, in a mannerist style influenced by the Fontainebleau school. The iconographic program, centered on St. John the Baptist, includes eight sculptural groups, "one of the most complete in Navarre," Echeverría emphasizes. "Exceptional is the presence of sibyls on the base, which initiate a program of continuity in the transmission of the message of salvation, which will be continued with the prophets, evangelists and apostles of the interspaces".
Among the main challenges he had to face during the process of studying the altarpiece and writing the monograph, the author highlights the tight deadline of only two and a half months for his essay, due to its presentation on the occasion of the Almendreras festival in Santa María de Legarda. In spite of this, he was able to meet it thanks to his extensive experience and profound knowledge of the subject. Added to this challenge were the numerous trips from his residency program in Vitoria to Pamplona and Mendavia to finalize the enquiry in various archives and to carry out an exhaustive photographic record of the altarpiece. "We have approached the history of the altarpiece as a living organism with the reforms and modifications undergone from the time it was written and placed in the presbytery until the year 2021," he stresses.
The book will be available free of charge on the Chair de Patrimonio y Arte Navarro website.
