December 12, 2007
Global Seminars & Invited Speaker Series
CHRISTMAS IN THE ARTS
Iconography of the Christmas Cycle in Navarrese Medieval Art
Ms. Soledad de Silva y Verástegui.
Professor of Art History. University of the Basque Country
It is evident that the Birth of Christ, one of the most transcendental events in the history of Humanity, has had profound and extensive repercussions not only in the religious sphere, but also in the various manifestations of culture, and specifically in the artistic and literary field. The first representations of topic are found in the paintings of the catacombs and sarcophagus reliefs from the third century, being the Adoration of the Magi, the oldest figurative scene. From the 4th century, the Nativity also appears and from the beginning of the 5th century dates one of the most complete cycles of the Incarnation, in the famous mosaics of the triumphal arch of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. Since then, and throughout the High Ages average, these themes are represented in all subject of artistic works, both in the East and in the West, then configuring the peculiar iconographic motifs that distinguish these scenes in each of these two great cultural areas. But we have to wait until the end of the eleventh century and the beginning of the twelfth, with the resumption of monumental art in Romanesque times, for these themes to appear in the sculpture of church doorways, interior capitals and cloisters. These cycles, in each of these places, fulfill their own function and therefore emphasize a specific meaning. During the centuries of the Gothic period, the Christmas scenes will continue to be displayed on the doorways and in the cloisters, but they disappear in the interior capitals, which now lack figurative sculpture.
The lecture of Prof. Silva y Verástegui focused on the analysis of the most relevant cycles of the Incarnation represented in monumental sculpture during the Age average in Navarre. The first part was dedicated to the Romanesque churches, in which these cycles alluding to the First Coming of Christ in the humility of the flesh occupy secondary places -the capitals or the voussoirs of the archivolts, even the spandrels- with respect to the main topic always represented in the tympanum and centered on the Second Coming of the glorious Christ at the end of time (Santa María de Sangüesa, San Miguel de Estella, La Magdalena de Tudela). Inside the churches, on the other hand, the Christmas cycle is developed according to the mysteries that take place on the altar that always celebrate the present, "God who comes", and therefore show that the Body of Christ that is on the altar, after the moment of the Consecration, is the same that was incarnated in the womb of Mary (Annunciation), was born in Bethlehem (Nativity), was adored by the shepherds (advertisement and Adoration) and the Magi (Epiphany), fled to Egypt, as can be seen in Santa María de Sangüesa and in the Magdalena de Tudela, among other examples. Finally, in the cloisters, these cycles are usually accompanied by others related to the Public Life of Christ, his Passion and Death and Resurrection and Ascension to heaven as well as others dedicated to the Lives and martyrdoms of the saints, so that the iconographer acts on this occasion as a chronicler who exposes the main events in the life of Christ, Mary and the saints. These scenes must have facilitated "lectio divina" and the meditation of monks and clerics, which was undoubtedly one of the functions of these enclosures. The capitals were all at eye level, so that a double reading of the text and the image was easy, as can be seen in San Pedro de la Rúa and in the magnificent cloister of the Cathedral of Tudela.
The second part of his lecture focused on the most characteristic manifestations of Gothic. The first time in Navarre of a doorway dedicated to a Christmas cycle is offered by the tympanum of Santa María de Olite, in which these scenes highlight above all the mysteries of her divine Maternity that now presides over a cult image, the statue of the Virgin and Child that occupy the center under a canopy.Another imposing doorway is that of Santa María de Ujué, which associates the episode of the Adoration of the Magi (tympanum) preceded by other scenes of the cycle (capitals), with the Last Supper (lintel), topic which has a long literary and artistic tradition. The Eucharistic implications of the Christmas cycles are well known and in particular those of the Epiphany scene which, according to the lecturer, has the interesting precedent of the Romanesque doorway of the French church of the Magdalene of Neuilly-en-Donjon from the middle of the 12th century and which, like the Navarrese doorway, evokes the presence of Christ exalted in the sacrament. The topic had a wide diffusion in Navarre in these centuries with other variants (Cloister of the cathedral of Pamplona, Santo sepulcro of Estella). Finally, reference letter was made to the beautiful sculptural group of the Epiphany located in the eastern wall of the cloister of the Cathedral of Pamplona in front of which stood, according to a custom attested since the beginning of the 15th century, but which must have been much older, the chapter of the Cathedral that after completing every day went in procession through the cloister to the chapel of Jesus Christ. The second station was made before the Adoration of the Magi where an antiphon and a prayer were recited: "Deus illuminator omnium gentium". The lecture concluded with the cycle of the Incarnation located in the keystones of several of the vaults of the cloister, which in the opinion of Prof. Silva y Verástegui, also obey a fully thought-out program, depending on the enclaves where they have been placed, complementing the iconography of the capitals and doorways.
"Nativity", core topic of the cloister of the cathedral of Pamplona, Gothic period.
Photo: Carlos Martínez Álava
"Epiphany (detail)", Cloister of the cathedral of Pamplona, Gothic period.
Photo: Monumental Catalog of Navarra