March 7, 2007

Global Seminars & Invited Speaker Series

PAINTING AND HISTORY

Images for the history of Navarre

Dr. Ricardo Fernández Gracia.
Chair of Navarrese Heritage and Art

The topic of the illustrated history is complex and interdisciplinary and lends itself to multiple approaches and interpretations from historical and figurative angles but of unquestionable interest and novelty. Along with paintings of kings in monasteries, cathedrals and institutions, presented socially as benefactors and founders, Navarre has some outstanding iconographic sets about its history, made in the 18th century.

The specific goal of the lecture consists of showing two singular and until recently unpublished sets, which have as protagonists the privative kings of Navarre, which were destined to the illustrated editions of a singular work, the famous Annals of Moret and Alesón, foundation of all the histories of Navarre until the XX century, the first one failed and never spread, for having been destroyed by order of the Courts of the Kingdom and the second one, published in Pamplona, in 1766. 

Those reeditions must be understood in a very specific context, that of a Navarre that saw its status endangered by the centralist reforms of the Bourbons. In the previous century, the first edition of the Annals was intended to counteract the centralizing attempts of the monarchy of Philip IV, to rescue a glorious past, as the foundation of a renewed "foralism", as well as an evident commitment to the vindication of the historical report own, seriously altered by foreign authors, at a time when the fueros seemed to be in some danger, ultimately written request, the very entity of the kingdom. In plenary session of the Executive Council Century of the Enlightenment, the "fueros" constituted a sign of identity for the Navarrese, as a sign of collective identity, at a time when for many the status of Navarre constituted an uncomfortable archaism, especially in the reign of Charles III, when the attacks against the "fueros" became a permanent attitude and, in a very special way, from 1766, when the Count of Aranda came to power and Campomanes did not discuss concrete matters of economic or military subject , but the very foundation of the foral regime. The Diputación del Reino must have thought that the books by Moret and Alesón would come in handy as historical support in that context, in which the Enlightenment spirit was gradually permeating some of the social elites. In addition, the publication was to be illustrated, so that propaganda and persuasion were, if possible, even more assured. It must be taken into account that the topic of the images of the past, deeds and portraits of the monarchs of Navarre, would not be treated again in the artistic figuration until exactly a century later, in another very different context but with some similarities. We refer to the decoration of the Throne Room of the Palacio de Diputación, a work that was undertaken when Navarre had passed from Kingdom to Province, after the convulsion of the Carlist War, when, by virtue of the Ley Paccionada, numerous singularities were still preserved on the basis of a peculiar past, which would be worth remembering on the occasion of the visit of Queen Isabel II to Pamplona, which, by the way, was not carried out.

It is significant that both reprints were illustrated, if we take into account the history of books in the Age of Enlightenment, when institutions such as the Royal Academy of San Fernando promoted everything related to the renewal of the arts and of engraving, in particular, obtaining as result magnificent editions, careful, luxurious and exquisite, according to French taste, both in literary, historical and scientific works.

José Lamarca, Sancho VII the Strong. Engraved series of the Kings of Navarre
(1756)
 

Symbolic portraits of the monarchs and their deeds form an exceptional set in the panorama of illustrated 18th century Spanish and Navarrese books. In particular, the drawings and proofs of state, made by the Aragonese master José Lamarca commissioned by publisher Miguel Antonio Domech, a prominent printer, educated and businessman established in Pamplona.

José Lamarca, Reconquest of Zaragoza by Alfonso el Batallador. Preparatory drawing and test (1766)
 

The message that we have to read under all the illustrations of the edition final of 1766, is multiple, always with the intention of highlighting some facts and, above all, some ideas about the different stages and reigns. In the first place, we find some images that signify the rooting of the faith, the foundation on the Church of all the reality of the Kingdom, even representing miraculous events, such as the finding of the body of San Fermín or the battle of Simancas. There is no lack of allusions to the geographical configuration of the Kingdom and the reconquest, to the preeminence of the Christian kings over the Muslims, and even those that go beyond our borders, such as the participation in crusades and the Navas de Tolosa. In others, the bravery of the Navarrese people is exalted, as evidenced in battles, sieges of cities and other singular deeds of arms and, of course, the love and respect of the people for their sovereigns, who are depicted, never better said, as adorned with all the Christian and moral virtues. All of these keys are discovered in the depiction of certain facts, intentionally sought after, which reveal the desire to sing the glories and excellences of sovereigns, peoples and armies. 

José Lamarca, Pamplona engrandecida por Sancho el Sabio. Preparatory drawing and test (1766)