14 November 2012

Course

HISPANIC AMERICAN ART IN NAVARRA

Hispano-American art in Navarre. General considerations

Ms. Pilar Andueza Unanua.
Chair of Navarrese Heritage and Art

An analysis of Hispano-American art in Navarre, and in relation to it, the art that arrived from the East Indies, reveals the existence of a significant group of cultural goods with that origin in our lands. So far, more than two hundred pieces have been identified. It is not, therefore, a high issue of goods, quantitatively speaking, but pieces of remarkable quality, often extraordinary, especially as far as the art of silverware is concerned, which on the other hand is the most abundant.

However, the relationship of our cultural heritage with the Navarrese Indians cannot be focused exclusively on the pieces that they sent from the other side of the Atlantic, but we must also highlight the monetary remittances that they sent to their homeland, making possible in Navarre the construction, expansion or remodeling of a good issue of parishes, convents, chapels, basilicas, chapels and altarpieces, as well as a rich set of stately homes and palaces, renewing and powerfully enriching the artistic panorama of Navarre.

Although emigration to the Indies was an uninterrupted phenomenon since the 16th century, in Navarre there was an intensification of this phenomenon during the 17th century and, especially, in the 18th century, when it reached its peak in the reception of both works of art and monetary remittances. It coincides, therefore, with what Julio Caro Baroja so aptly called the "Navarrese hour of the 18th century". During the aforementioned period, the arrival of Navarrese to America was due in some cases to their appointment to political and military positions, at the service of the Hispanic monarchy, as well as religious positions at the service of the Church. But there were also numerous Navarrese who went to the Indies on the initiative of staff and when they reached the New World, they dedicated themselves to business and trade. There were also those who combined public and private activity, which was perfectly legal at the time.

Whether or not they returned to their homeland, all those who achieved a certain prosperity in their destination soon turned their eyes towards their native land and that feeling was translated into the sending of money in cash or valuables, in a process that could take months or even years. One of the main concerns of the Indianos was the family left behind, which on many occasions resulted in the acquisition of real estate and the construction of a new family home, as a symbol of the success achieved, thus becoming promoters of much of the domestic architecture of the time A , The most outstanding examples of which can be found in the northern lands, in the area around Bidasoa, as the territory that contributed the most emigrants, and in Pamplona which, as the capital of the kingdom, welcomed prominent Indianos on their return or, failing that, their families. But also motives of spiritual and religious subject led these Navarrese to send monetary remittances for pious works and charitable mandates, as well as for the financing of the construction or reform of religious establishments in their native towns: parishes (Azpilcueta, Enériz, Gaztelu, Huarte-Pamplona, Lesaca, Ciga, etc.), convents (Conceptionists of Tafalla, Benedictines of Corella, Carmelites of Lesaca, etc.), chapels or basilicas.), hermitages or basilicas (Nuestra Señora del Portal de Villafranca, de los Remedios de Sesma, de Mendía de Arróniz, San Ignacio de Pamplona, sanctuary of Codés or San Gregorio Ostiense de Sorlada), chapels (San Fermín, Virgen del Camino de Pamplona, Virgen de las Nieves de Puente la Reina), as well as, although to a lesser extent, altarpieces and sculptures. Finally, we cannot forget the shipment to their families or to certain churches of artistic pieces made in American or Asian workshops, especially silverware, although there is no lack of examples of painting, sculpture and decorative arts such as liturgical ornaments, furniture, jewelry, porcelain or lacquerware, as evidenced not only by the pieces that have survived to the present day but also by the numerous inventories of preserved goods.
 

Azpilkueta (Baztan). Parish of San Andrés. Arm chair. XVIII Century

Irurita (Baztan). Jaureguía Palace