March 26, 2014

Global Seminars & Invited Speaker Series

CONVENTUAL PAMPLONA

Use and function of the sumptuary arts in the service of the splendor of the divine cult.

D. Ignacio Miguéliz Valcarlos.
Chair of Navarrese Heritage and Art

The sumptuary arts occupy a primordial role in the furnishings of Pamplona's convents, and their presence is linked to the idiosyncrasy and spirituality of the different monastic orders. These pieces of art generally owe their existence and presence in these convents and monasteries to the desire to honor God and give splendor to divine worship and liturgy. There are several arts that are included in the generic degree scroll of sumptuary arts. In relation to silverware, of which we have already spoken, we must mention jewelry. Ornaments are also of great importance. Less attention has generally been paid to the showcases, nativity scenes, chests and chests, furniture, etc... all of which form the artistic trousseau of the Pamplona monasteries. However, as in the case of silverware, what is preserved today is only a reflection of what these monasteries accumulated over the centuries, and that the passage of time and the change in customs have been diminishing and decreasing.

In relation to the jewelry we must differentiate between the pieces destined to the ornamentation of the sacred images, of those jewels used in a staff way by the religious and friars. Among the former, the jewels of the Virgin of Las Maravillas of the Augustinian Recollect nuns stand out, which during the centuries of the Ancient Regime was, together with the Virgin of the Camino, one of the images of greatest devotion in Pamplona. While in relation to the devotional jewelry we must mention a series of reliquary medallions, medals, pendants, etc... that with religious images or small relics were collected or directly manufactured by the nuns, in what has come to be called "nun's labors", both for their use staff and to entertain relatives and patrons. To the same subject of work responds the adornment with sequins, papers and colored threads, etc, of a series of relics conserved in boxes and furniture made ex profeso for the same ones, as well as in chests that were adapted for their new use. Among these chests we must mention a magnificent flat-top chest and a Nambán lacquer chest of the Augustinian Recollect nuns, pieces of Japanese origin, where works were made with their own techniques for European consumption.
 

Case with crowned nun. Augustinian Recollect nuns
 

Of special interest are the sets of ornaments preserved by the Pamplona monasteries, being the oldest of the Baroque period, highlighting the pieces coming from workshops in Zaragoza and Toledo, the most powerful of the time. They were richly embroidered with gold, silver and colored silk threads on tisu, silk and damask backgrounds. Among the former, we should mention the ternos of the Augustinian nuns of San Pedro and the Augustinian Recollect nuns, while among the latter we should mention the terno Medrano of the Augustinian Recollect nuns. And in the same place is preserved one of the jewels as far as ornaments are concerned in Pamplona, an altar frontal with the Immaculate Embroidered in Naples and arrived in 1665 to the convent through Don José de Azpíroz, brother of the prioress Sister Teresa de los Ángeles, and relative of Cardinal Don Pascual de Aragón.

There are also numerous ivory figures preserved in these monasteries, which tell us about the particular devotions of these nuns and their patrons. Within these pieces we find them of Philippine origin, such as the image of Saint Rose of Lima of the Augustinian Recollect nuns, a work that belonged to Blessed Palafox, or European, such as the group of Sicilian pieces conserved by the Discalced Carmelites.

St. Francis Xavier. Discalced Carmelites

And we could not fail to mention the figures of Bethlehem, from the showcases or theaters, used by the nuns both for devotional purposes and to entertain relatives and patrons. Of the monumental nativity scenes, the one of the Augustinian Recollect nuns stands out, which already in 1776, when it was seen in Pamplona for the first time, caused admiration.
 

Showcase with Epiphany. Augustinian Recollect Nuns