June 19, 2007

Global Seminars & Invited Speaker Series

WORSHIP AND FEAST OF SAN FERMIN

Iconography and cult of San Fermín

Mr. José Luis Molins Mugueta
Municipal Archivist of Pamplona

Image of San Fermin. Parish Church of San Lorenzo, Pamplona, Spain.

The lecturer addressed in his speech several fronts related to the iconography and cult of San Fermin, focusing his attention first on the affirmation of the cult of the saint with the arrival of relics to Pamplona in the twelfth century. 

He then discussed the iconographic program of the Cathedral of Amiens, in particular that developed on the Façade, the "Beau Pilier and Trumeau" ensemble, and the scenes of the transcourse, as well as other cathedral sites.

He then devoted attention to the cult of San Fermin in Pamplona, focusing on the relics that arrived in the sixteenth century, some examples of the cathedral of Pamplona, the image-reliquary of San Lorenzo and his eighteenth-century pedestal, to deal later with the different representations of the Patron Saint (isolated, The different representations of the Patron Saint (isolated, of the cycle of his life, or associated with other saints) through sculptural, pictorial, stamping, goldsmithing or stained glass examples, such as the stained glass works of the Chapel of San Fermín, San Fermín de Aldapa, the door of the Archbishop's Palace, etc. He also highlighted the value of the saint as a sign of identity of Navarre in pictorial works and engravings, as well as his role as co-patron of the Kingdom along with St. Francis Xavier since the seventeenth century. 

Finally, he spoke of the diffusion of the representations of the saint in other scenarios such as San Fermin de los Navarros, in the Court, Malta; and some American examples.
 

Juan Bernabé Palomino, "San Fermín", engraving, 1732