Parish of San Julián: the main altarpiece

The main altarpiece is an enigmatic work of art whose exact chronology, authorship and promoter are unknown. The chronology suggests the 1520s or 30s, which would make it the first great pictorial work of the Renaissance in Navarre. Indeed, the typology of the altarpiece is typical at that time, called "pigeonhole", characterized by a very compartmentalized structure. It consists of a bank with niches that shelter sculptures, a main body of three floors divided into five streets and a decreasing attic topped by a pediment. The architecture responds to Renaissance aesthetics, with stylized balusters and a proliferation of grotesque, whose fanciful figures arranged symmetrically cover the friezes separating the floors. Unfortunately, we cannot contemplate the original polychromy, but a bright and uniform gilding applied in the 19th century.

As for his authors, at least from the pictorial panels, we speak of an artist of Flemish or Germanic origin for his landscapes and types, taste for detail, intense coloring or inspiration in engravings of that origin; yes, a painter familiar with the novelties from Italy, probably through engraving, as can be seen in the treatment of perspective, the taste for symmetry or the arrangement of some characters. For lack of a name, he is known as the "master of Ororbia".

The paintings by the "master of Ororbia" and his workshop deal with the life of St. Julian (second floor), the birth and infancy of Christ (third and second floor, respectively), and the passion, death and resurrection of Christ (attic). In addition, in the central street, above the carving of St. Julian, the Virgin Mary is represented accompanied by St. Abdon and St. Senen, in the manner of a sacra conversazione. The most interesting from an iconographic point of view are the scenes of the saint's life: he killed his parents, something that a deer had revealed to him would happen (left panels), after which he dedicated himself to penance, building a hospital and helping travelers crossing a dangerous river (right panels). These events are used to represent the daily life and the typical attire in the early sixteenth century, being very well known the scene of the construction of the hospital, where we can see all the details of a work at that time.

The masterpiece of the altarpiece is the carving of St. Julian, a figure of very elegant bearing that seems to be inspired by the representations of Emperor Charles V. The clothing and headdress are similar, with a flat hat, short hair and even the chain of the Golden Fleece, which in Ororbia has been replaced by a cross. The saint is accompanied by a dog and a hawk, reference letter to his fondness for hunting. This image does not preserve the original polychrome either. The sculptures of the bench are of a discreet quality, with the exception of the Virgin with the Child and San Juanito or Virgin of the Rosary, coming from a disappeared Romanist collateral altarpiece, whose face is of great beauty and is covered by a veil folded on itself, following classic models. For its part, the image of St. Christopher, placed on a platform for procession, must be put in relation to an old brotherhood that resided in a Shrine of Our Lady of Fair Love located south of the town.

As is well known, the choice of iconographies often depended on the criteria of the promoter, who is unknown in the Ororbia altarpiece. In any case, it should be emphasized that the main devotional images - located in the central street - St. Julian and St. Abdon and St. Senen, are clearly related to the greatest riches of Ororbia's past: the transit of travelers and agriculture. San Julián did his penance by hosting those who wanted to cross a river, and San Abdón and San Senén were the protectors of agriculture until the spread of the cult of San Isidro in the Baroque period.