Altarpiece of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fair Love of the Virgin of the Castle of Roncal

In 1738, Francisco Pejón took over positionfor two altarpieces destined for the towns of Roncal and Burgui respectively. submitWhen the master was about to finish the altarpiece for the basilica of Nuestra Señora de San Salvador de Urzainqui, which was due to be completed on 1 March 1738, he contracted the altarpiece for the Virgen del Castillo in the town of Roncal. The deed of agreement was signed on 27 February with the patrons of the church of Nuestra Señora del Castillo, the mayor and aldermen of the town together with the church steward.

designLike their neighbours in Urzainqui, the people of Roncal considered that the old altarpiece no longer met the necessary conditions for the worship of the Virgin, and so they decided to commission the master Pejón, with whose modelhe would make the new altarpiece. The materials were to be paid for by the patrons, as was the payment of 2,000 reales. The survey of the work was entrusted to the master experts who would be appointed if necessary and, with regard to the deadlineexecution, it was only agreed that the master would start work as soon as possible, without stopping until it was finished.

The ground plan of the altarpiece is straight and its elevations include a sotabanco with carved work and lateral doors on the sides of the altarpiece, a bench with corbels incorporating busts of children, a single body divided into three sections and an attic between foliage flutings. The supports that articulate the central body and the attic compartment are dressed Solomonic columns, with chamfered sinuses and buds at the ends. The dadoes of the entablatures have been converted into cylinders and their corresponding cornices into semicircles, making this part of the altarpiece extraordinarily dynamic. A profuse decoration based on plant foliage covers the panels of the bench, the tops of the niches and the finials, and also extends to the attic and the bracelets of the main body. The cards that finish off the niche of the main figure and the crowning of the attic stand out for their designand execution of the relief. The iconography once again worships the saints of special devotion in the town. On either side of the patron saint, which is a beautiful Romanesque image from the second half of the 12th century, are the 18th-century sculptures of Santa Bárbara and Santa Orosia.