The piece of the month of December 2020

REGES THARSIS ET INSULÆ MUNERA OFFERENT. AN EPIPHANY SCENE IN THE CATHEDRAL OF PAMPLONA.

Dr. Alejandro Aranda Ruiz
Chair of Navarrese Heritage and Art
University of Navarra

With the degree scroll of Adoration of the kings in the cloister of the cathedral a photograph taken on January 6, 1933 by the agoisco Julio Cía Úriz (1889-1957) is conserved in the file Municipal of Pamplona. Born in Aoiz, Julio Cía was the prototype of the amateur photographer of Pamplona in the first half of the 20th century. His first occupation was mechanical carpentry, with which he opened one of the first workshops in Pamplona together with his brother Martín. However, his love of photography soon led him to become a professional photographer, a fact that was influenced by his close friendship with the professional photographer Gerardo Zaragüeta, whose studio at place del Castillo was a frequent visitor to Cía. Once installed in his own premises, Julio ended up earning a place among the photographers of the capital of Navarre, working for the Municipal file and for the file of the Cathedral of Pamplona, an occupation that was indicated on the back of many of his photographs: "Julio Cía - Photographer of the Cathedral". Domenech Garcia describes his work as abundant, meticulous and of irregular quality. Along the same lines, Cánovas Ciaurriz has pointed out that the value of his photographic production lies more in the quantity than in the quality, with photographs of a primitive technique.

Well, as its degree scroll says, the image represents a moment of the adoration of the relic of the Magi by the people of Pamplona on the morning of Epiphany in 1933. The evocative power of the image is evident in several of the elements that sample, including the ephemeral architecture that was placed in the northeast corner of the cloister on the occasion of the solemnity and the use and function of this construction during the feast of the Epiphany; a use and function that goes beyond the cathedral liturgy, including the customs of a population whose social and religious modes seemed to link it more to the Ancient Regime than to the third decade of the twentieth century. In this sense, the image is of great interest for the knowledge of all these realities, because although it corresponds to the year 1933, the scene reflected by the photograph could well have taken place 100 or 200 years earlier. Without going any further, the description of the Epiphany altar in the practical theoreticalguide , written by the master of ceremonies Don Desiderio Azcoita in the last third of the 19th century, seems to have been written in view of this photograph:

In the cloister, where the effigies of the Holy Kings are found, an altar is improvised in this form: the walls and columns of that part of the cloister are covered with red damasks, finishing these hangings in the shape of a canopy and simulating a chapel. On the cornice in front of the statues of the Holy Kings are placed candelabras with their corresponding candles, and in between them several bouquets or vases. On the pavement, below said Saints, the altar table is placed with its crucifix, candlesticks with candles and the usual ornamentation. In the center of the altar is placed the sacred relic of the Holy Kings; on the Gospel side the effigies with relic (called holy bodies) of St. Fermin and St. Mary Magdalene, and on the Epistle side the effigies, also with relic, of St. Francis Xavier and St. Ursula.

Julio Cía, January 6, 1933. file Municipal Pamplona.
 

As can be seen, the altar of kings in 1933 was practically the same as it was 50 years ago. The photograph shows how the structure stood in the northeast corner of the cloister, in front of the sculptural relief of the adoration of the kings carved by Jaques Perut around 1300. The place was highlighted by hangings that effectively simulated a chapel separated from the rest of the cloister. According to sample the photograph, this was done by means of a canopy in the form of an imperial or pavilion composed of a crown hanging from the vault and curtains that, attached to the ring of the crown, fell like a mantle on the four sides, held in the columns of the angles, in which the wooden spools that supported the whole structure are now perfectly visible. Also, in 1933, echoing the instructions of guide, the cornice of the kings was adorned with eight candlesticks, but not with branches, which seem to have been dispensed with. At the foot of the relief, as ordered by the same text, there was a portable altar with the four silver reliquary busts that the church had for its great festivities: that of Saint Fermin in 1527, that of Saint Ursula made by the silversmith Juan de Ochovi between 1538-1539 at the initiative of Juan Rena, that of Saint Francis Xavier promoted by the prior Fermín de Lubián around 1759, and that of the Magdalena, commissioned by Bishop Añoa y Busto in those same years of the eighteenth century. But the photograph provides information that the aforementioned 19th century text and others do not mention. Thus, it can be seen how the reliquary busts were not only placed in the same order as they were on the main altar during the main liturgical solemnities, but also in the same way, that is, not resting directly on the altar table, but on the baroque silver stand made in 1763 at the initiative of Don Fermín de Lubián with part of the spolia of the archdeacon Pascual Beltrán de Gayarre and his own contribution. Likewise, the photograph sample shows that the silver cross that presided over the altar in 1933 was the magnificent altar crucifix from the chapter treasury with a triangular base with claw feet and a triangular section cross, made by the Pamplona silversmith's workshop in the middle of the 17th century. To this were added what were probably the most modern elements of the altar together with the candlesticks of the shelf of the kings: six of the candlesticks of the rich pontifical set of seven given as a gift in 1880 by the dean Luis Elío on the occasion of his retirement and made by the outstanding Catalan silversmith and bronze artist Francisco Isaura (1824-1885). In the middle of all this apparatus was installed the relic of the Magi or In presepio Domini. The relic appears in its reliquary from the last quarter of the 16th century, in the form of an ostensory, with a cylindrical fanal surrounded by a crest and topped by a cross of outline gothic. The whole of this ephemeral architecture, in which the crimson of the pavilion and hanging predominated, must not have gone unnoticed by those who came to venerate the relic, far from the funereal aspect that it seems to have in Cía's photograph. In fact, when on January 6, 1945 the adoration of the relic was moved to the interior of the temple due to the intense cold of that day workshop, the reporter of Diario de Navarra missed in the cloister "the damasks and the silver shrine [...]. In the glare of the sun that from time to time came out there at the edge of noon, as if it were watercolor, since it was not colored by the red damasks that were placed in the background".

But, as the photograph by Julio Cía sample shows, the altar was not merely an ornamental element, but served a double purpose purpose. On the one hand, it was the focal point around which the cloistered procession on Kings Day revolved and, on the other hand, the stage on which the veneration of the relic by the faithful took place during the whole of that workshop. Regarding the former, the day of Epiphany was celebrated in the cathedral with a cloister procession with stations and the singing of antiphons and responsories. However, unlike other Sunday and festive processions, in the Epiphany procession one of the two stations of the procession took place in front of this altar. Likewise, the procession incorporated the relic of the Magi and the pomp of the processions of the first class. The origin of this procession and statio is unknown. Arraiza places it in the 16th century, attributing its introduction to Juan Rena and deducing that if it was he who brought the relic of St. Ursula from Cologne, he could well have done the same with the relic of the Magi, whose mortal remains are venerated in the aforementioned German cathedral. Indeed, the Choir Regulations of 1598 mention that the Feast of the Kings was celebrated like that of the Circumcision, with a cloistered procession. Consequently, the procession was inside the temple, with two stations and the canons wearing silk cloaks. Likewise, the ministriles played in the first station, said the prayer, and in their lectern from the moment the cross reached the main chapel until the servers began the introit of the mass. By referring to the feast of the Circumcision, the text fails to mention the departure of the procession to the cloister and the station in front of the relief of Perut. Likewise, we also do not know since when the portable altar was erected in front of the images of the kings, since this could have arisen after the arrival of the relic to the cathedral, as a worthy place in which to expose and venerate the relic. However, the existence of the relief since approximately 1300 makes it very possible that before the 16th century, with or without the relic, the procession of the Epiphany day went out to the cloister making a station in front of the sculptural representation of the adoration of the Magi. Be that as it may, it is the Notum of Fermín de Lubián, written from 1725 onwards, which describes in detail the cloister procession that was celebrated after the singing of terce and preceding the High Mass of the day. In the same way as in the 18th century it was celebrated at the end of the 19th century, since the text of the guide seems to copy point by point that of Lubián. In this way, after singing the terce with great solemnity in the choir, the preste proceeded to the incensation and veneration of the cross of relics carried by the subdeacon, the relics of St. Fermin, St. Paul and St. Stephen, which in the cloister processions of the first class were carried by chaplains dressed in dalmatics, and the processional cross. Once these ceremonies were completed, the procession departed from the choir preceded by the perrero with his scepter or rod, the macero of the cathedral with his pole, the crucífero or bearer of the processional cross between ceroferarios, the master of ceremonies, the two sochantres chanting, the two sochantres singing, and the two sochantres carrying the processional cross, the two sochantres singing the corresponding antiphons, the three chaplains with the relics preceded by two infantes with axes, the Cabildo, chaplains, acolytes, infantes and the preste in the middle of the deacon and subdeacon, -the latter with the cross of relics-. The procession, unlike others of first class as the Circumcision, did not go through the naves of the cathedral, but went directly to the cloister leaving the fence or via sacra through the door on the side of the pulpit of the Epistle. Entering the cloister through the Amparo door, the procession turned left towards the altar of the Magi. The first station was at this altar, after which the procession continued along the east aisle of the cloister and down the south wall to the door of the Archdeaconry, where the second station or stop took place. In the 18th century, however, this second statio was celebrated a little further on, in front of the image of the Virgin of Amparo in the mullion of the door of the Dormition of the cloister, which would explain the Marian antiphon that was sung at this station. Once the procession finished, it returned to the cathedral, and entering the fence by the same place by which it had left, the clergy went to the choir and the preste and ministers to the main chapel to begin the high mass.

In this procession and in its stations the sochantres, infants and music chapel sang a series of responsories and verses with texts allusive to the festivity of the day and to the Virgin. The first ones made reference letter to two of the manifestations or epiphanies that the Church commemorated on this day: the manifestation to the gentiles through the adoration of the magi and the confirmation by the voice of the Eternal Father of the category of Christ as Son of God in his baptism in the Jordan River. According to the tradition of the Western Church, the music and texts destined to these liturgical functions began to be compiled since the XII century in independent books called processional, whose content and music varied from one church to another according to their own traditions. In the case of Pamplona, the responsories and verses of this solemnity were copied since the 18th century in the first volume of the Cantoral, responsories for all the Dominicas of the year, mysteries, or festivities of N.S.J. and his Dominicas infra octav. The practical theoreticalguide confirms that this notebook of parchment leaves, dated by Aurelio Sagaseta in the XVIII century, was still used in the cloister processions at the end of the XIX century, since the texts and folios cited in the nineteenth century ceremonial coincide with those of this processional, which he guide called Dominicalibus. Thus, at the first station before the altar of the kings, the sochantres sang the responsory Hodie in Jordane [Today in the Jordan the Lord was baptized, the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him; the voice of the Father was heard: This is my beloved son, my favorite]. Then the infants responded with the verse: Descendit Spiritus Sanctus [And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form, like a dove, and a voice was heard in heaven]. Then the music chapel sang to the accompaniment of figle Reges Tharsis et insulae munera offerent [The kings of Tarshish and the kings of the islands will offer him gifts; the kings of Arabia and Sheba will bring him presents]. The station concluded with the prayer of official document by the preste. Then, the sochantres intoned the Alma Redepmtoris Mater and the procession was resumed until it reached the door of the Archdeaconry, where the second station took place. Then the infants responded with the verse and responsory that followed this Marian antiphon during the Christmas period until the Purification on February 2: Post partum virgo inviolata permansisti [After childbirth you remained an inviolate virgin]. Dei Genitrix intercede pro nobis [Mother of God, intercede for us]. The prester concluded with the corresponding prayer Deus, qui salutis aeternae, with a brief ending and without first saying Dominus vobiscum. Once the second station was finished, the procession went to the cathedral, the sochantres singing in the meantime the second part of the responsory Hodie in Jordane. At the time the photograph was taken, the procession was made in exactly the same way as at the end of the 19th century, judging by the Choir Regulations of 1931 then in force. We do not know, however, if the antiphons, responsories and secular verses were sung then, since although the Regulations copy the ceremonial of the 18th and 19th centuries, they do not mention the texts and music that were interpreted. It is possible that they had been replaced by the texts contained in the Porcessionale monasticum published by the Abbey of Solesmes in 1893, a copy of which is kept in the cathedral's file de Música.

Once the liturgical services were over, the altar of kings was used to solemnize the exhibition of the relic to the people, a fact that is faithfully reflected in the photograph of Cía. El guide of the 19th century indicated that the relic was venerated on the altar during the whole day at position by the main sacristan assisted by another priest. For this purpose, benches covered with a cloth were to be placed in front of the altar. The press of the time is an eloquent testimony, together with this photograph, of the popularity that this tradition enjoyed among all the social classes of Pamplona. Diario de Navarra pointed out in 1927 that "over the happy houses the family and pious tradition of this town spread, parading countless issue of people of all ages, classes and conditions through the austere cloisters of the Cathedral, where the Holy Kings were adored and blessed, who, together with the Child of Bethlehem, are venerated there". The same newspaper reports what was reflected in this photograph in 1933 when, in spite of the political circumstances, there was an "endless parade of the faithful before the evocative adoration of the Three Kings, which is venerated in the cloisters of the cathedral". With the passing of time, the tradition of visiting the relics had become part of the identity and imaginary of the city, since, as the aforementioned newspaper explained in 1937, spurred no doubt by the political and ideological context of the national side in the midst of the Civil War: "...the piety of the neighborhood manifested itself in fervent display of an old tradition, going [...] to worship the Three Wise Men in their stone enclosure in the cloisters of the cathedral, as our fathers did, taught by their ancestors who thus interpreted a sense of conservation and spirituality that was born and will die with the centuries, facing the adversities of life unscathed". Another outstanding element of the photograph and typical of this workshop were the mats that were placed on the floor in order to mitigate the rigors of the Pamplona winter that made that the visit to the kings was made "between foggy skies or snow or rain beats, skidded by the cold the stone effigies and numb knees of the faithful on the mat of the floor moistened by the footsteps"(Diario de Navarra, January 7, 1945).

In conclusion, in spite of the dubious quality attributed to Cía's photographs, it is obligatory to point out that the image taken has a remarkable evocative power and beauty. The photograph also shows the triple relationship of its author with the file Municipal, with the cathedral and with Gerardo Zaragüeta. As far as the file Municipal is concerned, its location in this deposit makes it possible that it was this institution that was behind the commission of this photograph, since we do not know who could have commissioned it promote. It is possible that it was Cía himself who took the initiative to take the snapshot, choosing as topic a prototypical image of the secular cathedral ceremonial of Pamplona. In this sense, the photograph only highlights the points in common between Cía and his great friend Gerardo Zaragüeta, who also stood out for his photographs of ceremonies inside the cathedral's cloister. Without going any further, that same year of 1933 Zaragüeta would immortalize a moment of the Palm Sunday procession secluded in the cloister due to the anticlerical context of the 2nd Republic, a photograph that we already analyzed and commented in this section of pieces of the month. This photograph by Cía, together with the aforementioned one by Zaragüeta, are of great interest and constitute a B exception in the photographic panorama of Pamplona at the time, in which photography of religious ceremonies or ephemeral architecture inside churches is extremely scarce. They are, therefore, a precious document for scholars of ceremonial and ephemeral architecture who, in most cases, only have written documents for the study of these historical-artistic realities.

SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

file Pamplona Cathedral. Box 1.324, book 49, Notum 3.º (1770-1883), f. 141.
file Pamplona Cathedral. Box 3.016, book 47, Notum 1.º (1725-1743), ff. 1-1v.
file Music Pamplona Cathedral. Cantoral, responsories for all the Dominicas of the year, mysteries, or festivities of N.S.J. and his Dominicas infra octav.
ANDRÉS FERNÁNDEZ, D., "Fit processio et cantantur antiphonae sequentes: Typology of liturgical music forms in processional books", Medievalia, 17, 2014, pp. 103-129.
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