15 November 2012

Course

HISPANIC AMERICAN ART IN NAVARRA

Wrought silver from the Indies for the Navarre Church

Ms. Carmen Heredia Moreno.
University of Alcalá de Henares

Based on a historiographic synthesis, the state of the art of Hispano-American silverware in Navarre is analyzed, indicating the progress made by the artistic research over the last three decades and the problems and gaps that still need to be resolved in order to reach a complete knowledge on the topic.

From this perspective, it mentions the issue of conserved pieces that already exceeds the figure of 150, to which should be added many others that have disappeared, details their origin in more than 20 important silversmith centers in Mexico, Peru or Guatemala, and indicates their destination in almost a hundred localities in Navarre. The abundance of religious pieces is emphasized as opposed to those of a civilian nature, almost all of which have been lost, although sample contains some examples of domestic trousseau known through documentation, such as the post mortem inventory of Captain Francisco Ibáñez, a native of Viana. It also shows the purpose of several profane pieces that were given by several Indianos to contribute to the splendor of the cult, such as the bequest of Armendáriz to San Fermín de Pamplona, among many others.

The following section deals with the topic of the Navarrese Indianos, their possible motivations for emigrating, their social status , the probable reasons behind their donations of carved silver and the most outstanding bequests that have survived to the present day. In this regard, particular attention is paid to characters such as Miguel Francisco de Gambarte or Juan de Barreneche y Aguirre. The novelties discovered in the last years are incorporated about both of them, which, in the case of Barreneche, raise new unknowns and difficult problems to solve.

As for the works, their marks are reviewed, establishing some chronological precisions based on the latest documentary findings or pieces. Finally, we analyze the stylistic evolution and iconographic singularities of the shaft pieces, highlighting the originality of the Mexican monstrance of Arraiz, the richness of the Peruvian monstrances of Olite and the beauty and quality of the set of Lesaca carved in Santiago de Guatemala.

The aim is to highlight the richness of Spanish-American silverware in Navarre, the generosity of its Indianos and their contribution to the splendor of Navarre's artistic heritage throughout the Modern Age.
 

Tray. Circa 1730.
Sent by the Marquis of Castelfuerte, Viceroy of Peru, to the chapel of San Fermin in Pamplona.