The piece of the month of June 2024

TWO ALLEGORIES OF NAZARENE AESTHETICS IN THE COLLECTION OF THE MUSEUM OF NAVARRA. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE BIOGRAPHY OF MARTÍN MIGUEL AZPARREN

Ignacio J. Urricelqui Pacho
Ph.D. in Art History

The reality of painting in Navarre in the mid-19th century is still unknown today and its state of affairs has been reduced to a large extent to the decorative program of the Throne Room of the Palace of Navarre, initiated in 1860 as a result of the advertisement of the visit of Queen Isabella II to Navarre and the words of the Marquis of Castelfuerte demanding that foreign artists be commissioned to carry out the work "so as not to use unskilled people, whose work, making a fool of the Diputación, would reveal the mediocrity of its scope "^1. As is well known, the project was finally awarded to Maximiano Hijón, who was inspired by the history of the Old Kingdom and in 1864 hired several painters to paint a series of historical scenes and portraits of the kings of Navarre; specifically, Alejandro Ferrant, Joaquín Espalter, Constancio López Coronas, Francisco Aznar and Francisco ^Mendoza2.

However, when these commissions were contracted, a series of paintings had been installed on the ceiling some time before, awarded in 1861 to Martín Miguel Azparren, the only painter from Navarre who participated in the decorative project and who, therefore, was considered qualified to take part in it. His name has been linked, as the only known artistic merit, to this pictorial decoration in which he represented Navarre "symbolized by a beautiful and robust matron who, with her eyes fixed on the temple of wisdom and supported by her illustrious arms and venerable privileges, receives progress with palms "^3. The study of documentary and newspaper sources, as well as the finding of two paintings in the collection of the Museum of Navarre, reveal a singular artistic personality in the context of painting in Navarre in the mid-19th century and a network of relationships with significant personalities both in Navarre, in the province itself and in Madrid, and on the other side of the Atlantic.

Martín Miguel Azparren (Eugui, 1818 - Bayonne, 1867)

Martín Miguel Azparren was born in Eugui on May 8, ¹⁸¹⁸⁴. student of the School of Drawing of ^Pamplona5, around 1839 he emigrated to Mexico, obtaining in 1841 the letter of ^security6. This information is very revealing since it places the painter in the phenomenon of migration to this country, being part of the many young Spaniards who embarked in the second third of the 19th century to "make America "^7. This fact relates Azparren to a context totally different from his origin and links him to the renovating artistic environment around the School of Fine Arts of the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico. Thanks to the protection of the Mexican businessman of Basque origin Anselmo Zurutuza Olarra (1801-1852⁾⁸, and not of the Diputación Foral de Bizkaia as had been sustained until ^now9, he was able to go to Rome, where he is located in 1847 together with the colony of Spanish artists that included Manuel Arbós, Benito Soriano Murillo, José Fernández and Miguel Fluyxench, and sculptors such as Antonio Solá, informing that "D. Miguel Azparren is already very advanced and has made many programs of study in different cities of Italy "^10.

In 1852 he was in Paris, from where he wrote to the Navarrese deputy Juan Pedro Aguirre informing him of the shipment of several copies of paintings from the Louvre Museum to Mexico and of two allegories addressed to his name, a letter that we will comment on later. Already in this letter Azparren expresses his interest in taking charge of the pictorial decoration of the throne room of the provincial palace, about which he would return in ¹⁸⁵³¹¹ proposing a program that, in essence, would be the one that would finally be executed. In 1856 he addressed the Pamplona City Council, to which he offered a project professor for the School of ^Drawing12, and two years later he again addressed the Provincial Council, offering once more to carry out the pictorial decoration of the Throne ^Room13. Although he was not awarded the contract, he was hired in 1861 to do the decorative ceiling paintings for 30,000 reales vellón, which would be finished by February ¹⁸⁶²¹⁴.

By then and since the 1950's, Martin Miguel Azparren had set up a photography studio in Bayonne at ⁷¹¹⁵ rue d'Espagne. Already in 1852 he sent his paintings from Paris to Aguirre through Agustin Zaragüeta "de Bayonne". Although he specialized in portraits, which he signed "M. M. Azparren peintre-photographe", he made another subject of photographs, like the one published in 1859 by L'^{Illustration16} with an "Arc de triomphe élevé à Bayonne sur le passage de l'Empereur. D'après une photographie de M. Azparren", or the four photographs he sent from this city to the Provincial Council of Navarre in November 1861, reproducing the main figures of his decorative composition of the throne ^room17. In 1862 he is mentioned as a photographer in ^Bayonne18. Having finished his work for the Diputación, in 1862-1863 he still tried to apply for the place post of drawing teacher at the Municipal School of Pamplona, but without ^success19. In 1863 he appears as administrator of the Société Artistique de ^Bayonne20 and in 1864 he is mentioned in the Guide de l'étranger à Bayonne et aux^environs21 . He was best man at the wedding of his operator Emile ^Balossier22 and died in Bayonne on June 19, 1867, appearing in the certificate of death as "peintre photographe "^23.

Two allegories of Nazarene aesthetics at the Museum of Navarre

The programs of study dedicated to the decorative program of the Throne Room of the Palace of Navarre is limited, as far as Azparren is concerned, to mentioning his authorship and describing the paintings. Although we have previously expressed his affiliation with the Nazarene aesthetics, we would like to delve a little deeper into this idea. As is well known, the Nazarene ^trend24 developed from 1810 onwards in Rome around a series of German painters settled there who, turning their backs on the official artistic environment, turned their eyes to the past in search of refund its original purist sense, recovering religious and allegorical themes and techniques such as fresco painting. Although initially forbidden to a closed circle, the Nazarene aesthetic would spread throughout Europe during the first third of the 19th century, expressing itself in Spain in specific areas, Madrid and Barcelona, although also in some peripheral areas, such as the Basque ^Country25. Significantly, this aesthetic would gain momentum in Mexico, where in 1843 German painters such as Johann Friedrich Overbeck or Peter von Cornelius were seen as paradigms of a painting morally adequate to the interests of the ^nation26 and where at the end of the decade it would gain momentum around the School of Fine Arts of the Academy of San Carlos and the figure of Pelegrín Clavé, appointed professor of painting in ¹⁸⁴⁶²⁷. This would be the context in which Azparren trained, moving to Rome thanks to the protection of ^Zurutuza28, and later to Paris, where he is documented in 1852.

In order to understand this context, the letter that the artist wrote to the Navarrese deputy Juan Pedro Aguirre from Paris on August 17, ¹⁸⁵²²⁹ is fundamental. In it he informs him of the shipment to Veracruz of "ten copies of paintings that I have had executed in the Louvre Museum and two originals of mine destined for Mr. Zurutuza", as well as the shipment of two boxes "to the consignment of Agustín Zaragüeta of Bayonne", one of which "contains two paintings in their frames" destined for Aguirre representing an allegory of Charity and another of the "Genius of Progress for Science and Industry". Likewise, it informs of the sending of a "average figure" as a gift to José Yanguas, secretary of the Provincial Council. This letter, in which Azparren also confirms his relationship with Isidoro Adove, a man of Zurutuza's ^trust30, shows the artist's relationships with Navarrese politicians, such as those mentioned above, as well as with Nazario ^Carriquiri31, to whom he requests that the allegory of Progress be sent "so that he can present it at the next exhibition and recommend someone to buy it, as it is a painting that can adapt very well to an establishment, administration or management of Caminos de fierro", as well as the Marquis of ^Fontellas32, as we shall see.

"Allegory of Justice". Attributed to Martín Miguel Azparren, ca. 1850.
Museum of Navarra.

Martinena Ruiz already reported that the allegory of Charity was placed in the palace's assembly hall next to another one representing Justice, and that it must have been sent ^earlier33. Both are currently in the collection of the Museum of Navarre. The allegory of Justice (CE000886), oil on canvas, 245 cm x 162 cm, is attributed to Azparren and we consider this attribution to be correct (fig. 1). On the other hand, the allegory of Charity, catalogued as "Virgen nutritia" (CE000909), oil on canvas, 248 x 164 cm, and which will undergo restoration treatment, is undoubtedly the work of Azparren and corresponds to the one sent in 1852 from Paris (fig. 2). Both, although they differ somewhat in execution, are interesting examples of the purist aesthetic followed by the Navarrese artist in those years and that will be confirmed in the Throne Room. And not only with Azparren, but also with Joaquín Espalter, the artist contracted to paint some of the historical scenes and ^portraits34. 

Azparren represents Justice in a hieratic and frontal sense, as a matron dressed in a white tunic with golden trimmings, covered by a red cloak and blue cap, seated on an architectural throne with grotesque pilaster on both sides, Corinthian capitals, arch with registration and straight cornice. On the arch we read the motto: "To each his own" which recalls the Roman jurist Domitius Ulpianus. The matron appears crowned and with her head surrounded by a nimbus, she holds a scale in her right hand and in her left, an open book leaning on her thigh, on whose even page reads "Without me there is no happiness", an idea of Platonic ^conception35. He rests his feet on the base of a circular wooden container, the left foot on a cylinder, and on the ground, a sword. This sculptural-looking ensemble is located on a viewpoint in front of a landscape with mountains on the left and, on the right, a walled enclosure overlooking the sea. Based on the attributes used, it is a combined personification of Human and Divine Justice, by the employment of crown and sword, usual in the former, and by the presence of a glowing halo surrounding her head, from agreement with the representations of the divine ^condition36.

"Allegory of Charity" (detail). Martín Miguel Azparren, 1852.
Museum of Navarra.

Regarding the allegory of Charity, it is a work of greater compositional quality and execution that shows progress in the artist's training . Following Azparren's own description in the letter he sent in 1852 to Congressman Aguirre:

presents Charity represented by a matron who gives a piece of bread to an old man and suckles a child, while another is covered with the mantle. This painting I have executed it according to the idea that was given to me by Mr. Marquis of Fontellas and I will celebrate that it obtains the approval of Vdes. It goes destined to that Excma. Provincial Deputation of which it does V. part and I recommend it to him so that it is served to present it to this Corporation with that interest that always has demonstrated to me.

The whole, to which is added a child standing on the right, is framed in a Renaissance style architecture, with a barrel vault with coffers, in whose tympanum is represented a scene of the Pietà.

In both paintings, the weight of the drawing and the employment of a classicist language, as well as primary colors, and the relationship of the figures with the architectural framework , of Renaissance inspiration, stand out. The physical treatment of the figures should be emphasized, particularly the face of Charity, a true allegorical portrait of delicate shades. The iconographic references of both paintings come from the Florentine Renaissance, with Piero del Pollaiuolo and his seven virtues of the Uffizi Gallery, including Justice, in the sense of integrating the female figure on an architectural throne, although the figure of Azparren is extremely hieratic, unlike Charity, more gestural and dynamic in her relationship with the figures that accompany her. It is worth remembering that Azparren would treat the topic of Justice, together with the other cardinal virtues (Temperance, Prudence and Fortitude) in his decorative program of the throne room of the Provincial Palace.

This brief study offers an unpublished biography of the Navarrese painter and photographer Martín Miguel Azparren and contextualizes him in the artistic environment of the mid-19th century both in Navarre and abroad, in Mexico, Rome, Paris and Bayonne, revealing his concerns to settle professionally in his homeland and the difficulties encountered to do so, and his attachment to the Nazarene aesthetics.

SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY

BROOK, C., Gli artisti spagnoli a Roma tra Sette e Ottocento. Preistoria di un'accademia, Roma, Viella, 2020.

COLL I MIRABENT, I., "Unes obres de Joaquim Espalter al Palau de la Diputació de Navarra", Butlletí del Grup d'Estudis Sitgetans, 76-77, February and May 1996, pp. 3-8.

DEL BURGO, J., Palacio de la Diputación Foral, Temas de Cultura Popular n. 15, Pamplina, Diputación Foral de Navarra, 1968.

FERNÁNDEZ GRACIA, R., "La historia pintada. El salón del trono de Diputación y la batalla de las Navas", in Ricardo Fernández Gracia (dir.), La imagen visual de Navarra y sus gentes: de la Edad average a los albores del siglo XX, Pamplona, Publications Service de la Universidad de Navarra-Fundación Fuentes Dutor, 2022, pp. 181-192.

HERNÁNDEZ-DURÁN, R., "Names worthy of report: Redacting the history of nineteenth-century Mexican art", RHAA, 24, 2015, pp. 129-145.

LERTXUNDI GALIANA, M., "Purismo y nazarenismo en los pintores vascos", Ondare, 21, 2002, pp. 389-397.

MARTINENA, J. J., El Palacio de Navarra, Pamplona, Government of Navarra, 1985.

MADRAZO, P., Spain. Its monuments and arts - its nature and history. Navarra y Logroño, t. II. Barcelona, Establecimiento Tipográfico-publishing house de Daniel Cortezo y Cª, 1886.

MARTÍNEZ place, P. J., Collecting in Madrid during the 19th century. Madrid, Centro de programs of study Europa Hispánica, 2018.

MEDINA REYES, G. M., Migratory flows to Mexico. La población extranjera en el centro de Veracruz 1821-1848. thesis doctoral. Centro de programs of study Históricos. high school de Mochoacán A. C., 2020.

MORENO RUIZ DE EGUINO, I., Basque Painters in Rome, Bilbao, BBK, 1992.

MUNIAIN EDERRA, S., "El Palacio de Navarra, muestrario de símbolos históricos", in Ángel Martín Duque (dir.) Signos de Identidad Histórica para Navarra, t. II, Pamplona, CAN, 1996, pp. 307-330.

PÉREZ RUIZ, F., "The just is happy and the unjust is unhappy. Justice and happiness in Plato's Republic", Pensamiento. Revista de research e información filosófica, 159, 1984, pp. 257-296.

REDÍN ARMAÑANZAS, A. E., "La teaching de las artes en Pamplona 1800-1873", Mito y realidad en la historia de Navarra, I, Pamplona, Sociedad de programs of study Históricos de Navarra, 1998, pp. 333-345.

REYERO, C., Imagen histórica de España (1850-1900), Madrid, Espasa Calpe, 1987.

REYNA Y PÉREZ, M. C. and KRAMMER, J-P., Casas y huertas en la Ribera de San Cosme, siglos XVI-XIX, Mexico, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 2009.

REYNA Y PÉREZ, M. C., "Anselmo Zurutuza: un personaje singular", in José Abel Ramos Soriano (coord.), Historias de la época colonial y del siglo XIX en México, México, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 2019.

RIPA, C., Iconología, Madrid, Akal, 2007.

RUIZ DE GORDEJUELA URQUIJO, J., guide de vascos y navarros en México, siglo XIX, México D. F., Instituto Nacional de programs of study Históricos de las Revoluciones de México, 2012.

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URRICELQUI PACHO, I. J., Arte y artistas en el Palacio de Navarra, Pamplona, Gobierno de Navarra, 2017.

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REFERENCES

The author wishes to thank Gerardo Manuel Medina Reyes and María del Carmen Reyna y Pérez for their advice on Spanish migrants to Mexico in the 19th century.

¹ Cit. Martinena Ruiz, 1985, p. 82.

² On this ensemble, in addition to Martinena Ruiz, 1985; Del Burgo, 1968; Muniain Ederra, 1996, pp. 307-330; Urricelqui Pacho, 2017; Fernández Gracia, 2022, pp. 181-192. For a view of the program in the context of history painting, Reyero Hermosilla, 1987, pp. 70-72.

³ Salón Regio 1887, pp. 7-8; Madrazo, 1886, p. 383.

⁴ file Diocesan of Pamplona. Libro de bautizados de la iglesia parroquial de San Gil Abad de Eugui. CJ 740-6, fol. 101 v.

⁵ Redín Armañanzas, 1998, p. 341.

⁶ Ruiz de Gordejuela Urquijo, 2012, p. 85.

⁷ On this topic, in addition to Ruiz de Gordejuela Urquijo, Medina Reyes, 2024, pp. 193-225.

⁸ Reyna and Perez and Krammer, 2009, pp. 85-92; Reyna and Perez, 2019; Medina Reyes, 2020.

⁹ Moreno Ruiz de Eguino, 1992, pp. 58, 61, 68, 69. Having consulted the corresponding conference proceedings of the Diputación de Vizcaya, we have not found any news of this pension.

¹⁰ J. P. "Variedades. Spanish artists in Rome", El Clamor Público, December 17, 1847.

¹¹ Martinena Ruiz, 1985, p. 69.

¹² Redín Armañanzas, 1998, pp. 341-342.

¹³ Martinena Ruiz, 1985, p. 77.

¹⁴ Ibid. pp. 84, 87, 92.

¹⁵ Voignier, 1993, p. 17.

¹⁶ L'Illustration, 1-10-1859, p. 253.

¹⁷ Martinena Ruiz, 1985, p. 90.

¹⁸ Annuaire-almanach du commerce, le l'industrie, de la magistrature et de l'administration. Paris, Chez Firmin Didot Frères, Fils et Cª, 1862: 2206, mentioned as a photographer installed in Bayonne.

¹⁹ Redín Armañanzas, 1998, p. 342.

²⁰ Livret explicatif des ouvrages de Peinture, Sculpture, Dessin, Gravure, etc. admis à L'Exposition de la Société Artistique de Bayonne. Deuxième Exposition 1863. Bayonne, Salon de l'Exposition, 1863, pp. IX, X.

²¹ Guide de l'étranger à Bayonne et aux environs. Bayonne, Imp. de Veuve Lamaignère, 1864, p. 75.

²² https://www.portraitsepia.fr/photographes/balossier/

²³ Archives Pyrénées Atlantiques. Bayonne. Actes de décès 1858-1868, fol. 755.

²⁴ Urricelqui Pacho, 2017, pp. 134-135.

²⁵ Lertxundi Galiana, 2002, pp. 389-397.

²⁶ Noticioso de ambos mundos, "Philosophy de las artes", El Museo mexicano o miscelánea pintoresca de amenidades curiosas e instructivas, t. I. México D. F. Ignacio Cumplido, 1843, pp. 111-112.

²⁷ Hernández-Durán, 2015, pp. 131-132.

²⁸ For the pensioned artists in Rome in this context, Brook, 2020, pp. 105-160.

²⁹ file Real y General de Navarra. CJ 25838. 2450/6. Letter from M. M. Azparren to Juan Pedro Aguirre, Paris, August 17, 1852.

³⁰ Of French origin, he was administrator of Zurutuza's companies and inherited Zurutuza's assets upon his death in 1852, Reyna and Pérez and Krammer, 2009, pp. 87, 91.

³¹ Nazario Carriquiri (1805-1884) was a politician and businessman from Navarre, as well as an outstanding collector. For this facet, Martínez place, 2018, pp. 329-330.

³² Fernando Vélaz de Medrano Álava, II Marquis of Fontellas, was then a foral deputy.

³³ Martinena Ruiz, 1985, p. 64.

³⁴ Coll i Mirabent, 1996, pp. 3-8.

³⁵ Pérez Ruiz, 1984, pp. 257-296.

³⁶ Ripa, 2007.