May 21, 2012

Global Seminars & Invited Speaker Series

ARCHITECTURE AND ART IN NAVARRA AT THE TIME OF NAVAS DE TOLOSA

Sculpture in the times of Sancho the Strong

Ms. Clara Fernández-Ladreda.
University of Navarra

It is divided into three sections: monumental sculpture, funerary and imagery. 

Within the former, the most representative example is undoubtedly the famous Door of Judgment in the cathedral of Tudela, in which the iconography is particularly noteworthy. 

The beginning and the end of the Bible are condensed in it. The capitals refer us to the beginning of the biblical story, offering episodes from Genesis, from the Creation to the sacrifice of Isaac. On the other hand, the corbels, the missing tympanum and the archivolts are devoted to the Last Judgment, the culmination of the biblical story. It is here where the most interesting elements of the façade are located: the representation of sins and their punishments, which have traditionally attracted attention for their extraordinary development, variety and modernity. In this sense we find a tendency to specification, notoriously in the case of avarice, where not only the avaricious person appears in abstract with his bag around his neck, but the concretion of the sin in mercantile professions: money changers, butchers, drapers, bakers. The same modernity is perceived in the emphasis on the social aspect of sin, which is well exemplified by the fact that in the case of gluttony, drunkenness takes precedence over the immoderate desire to eat. 

Formally it has been related to France, predominantly to the southern portico of Chartres, but also to the cloister of Notre-Dame-en-Vaux. Its chronology varies greatly according to the specialists, for while some date it to around 1200, others put it back to the second quarter of the 13th century.
 

Door of the Judgment. Cathedral of Tudela
 

In the field of funerary sculpture we have the recumbent of Sancho el Fuerte himself in Roncesvalles, the only preserved part of his tomb. 

The curious crossed posture of the legs has been emphasized since ancient times and has given rise to curious interpretations. It is, however, a feature that appears in other recumbents of knights from the 13th century, particularly in England but also in other places, which correspond to the typology of the diyings gauls or dying Gauls. 

The absence of a tradition of funerary sculpture in Navarre at subject and the aforementioned coincidence with English examples lead us to attribute it to a foreign artist of this nationality. As for the promoter, although there has been talk of his nephew and successor, Teobaldo I, one could think of the collegiate chapter itself, of which Sancho el Fuerte would have been a great benefactor. Although the king died in 1234, the construction of his tomb could be dated from 1244, the year in which the dispute over his burial place was finally resolved.

Sepulchre of Sancho el Fuerte. Roncesvalles

As far as the free-standing statuary is concerned, we must distinguish between two groups: Crucifixes and Virgins.

Among the first are those of the Holy Sepulchre of Estella -today in San Pedro de la Rúa-, Cizur Mayor, Torres del Río, Pitillas and Caparroso. All of them are Christs of Romanesque tradition, with four nails. The one from Estellés is possibly the oldest existing in Navarra, being able to be dated within the first years of the XIII century. The one from Cizur seems to be somewhat more advanced, characterized by the presence of Adam's head under the feet, based on the contrast between Christ and Adam, exposed by St. Paul in his epistles. Finally, those of Torres del Río, Caparroso and Pitillas, similar to each other, particularly the last two, which most probably come from the same workshop, can be related to a typology of Christs called subject Le Mans.

Among the Marian carvings, the one in the collegiate church -today cathedral- of Tudela, the one in Catalain -currently in the Diocesan Museum of Pamplona- and the one in the basilica of Jerusalem in Artajona stand out. The one from Tudela and the one from Artajona stand out for the exceptionality of the materials used -stone in the first one and copper with enamel decoration in the second one- and for their functions -reliquary and tabernacle respectively-. In that of Catalain, the clothing is striking, with the employment of an unusual garment, the pellote. 

Crucified. San Pedro de la Rúa. Estella