The missing epigraphic texts of the main altarpiece of Pamplona cathedral

Some patrons of unique works of art left a record of their artistic promotion. In some cases through inscriptions and in others through their heraldic emblems. The latter abound in Pamplona Cathedral, from those that decorate the mural paintings to those that appear on some altarpieces, such as the relics with that of Bishop Prudencio de Sandoval, or that of San Fermín, with that of the palace of Errazu, to which the archdeacon Don Fermín de Apeztegui belonged.

In the case of the main altarpiece - today in the parish church of San Miguel de Pamplona - the coats of arms of the person who planned and paid for it, Don Antonio Zapata, bishop of Pamplona between 1596 and 1600, can still be seen, plumb against the end columns of the first sections of the altarpiece. A worse fate befell the registration , which was set in jasper stones on its pedestal, when the altarpiece was dismantled during the unfortunate post-war intervention in the cathedral. We know nothing about these pieces and they are considered to have disappeared. We know the Latin text of the inscriptions thanks to the diligence of the prior Fermín de Lubián, who took it at plenary session of the Executive Council in the 18th century, and to Mariano Arigita, who published it in his well-known guide del Viajero en Pamplona (1904).

Detail of the main altarpiece in the cathedral's main chapel, behind the grille, c. 1930.

The literal text of the altarpiece has been included in the programs of study , but it has never been developed, which is necessary since it contains various abbreviations and letters that need to be deciphered. Moreover, as we shall see, it indicates, in the best of syntheses, what the bishop did in this artistic business , extensively studied by Professor García Gainza.

The text released by Arigita reads as follows:

GOSPEL SIDE

ANTONIVS ÇAP
EPISC POMP
HOC D C SCALP-
TVRAE T PIC-
TVRAE AER S
F C A S MD
XCVIII

EPISTOL SIDE

ANTONIVS ÇAP EP POMP
H O SANCTISS
D G TPL ORN
A S MDXC
VIII

A similar reading of the registration was made by the prior Fermín de Lubián (1690-1770), a diligent, highly educated man with a great knowledge of diocesan and cathedral history, author of countless reports of different kinds; he was a native of Sangüesa and was well connected with the power elites in the Pamplona of his time. In his Relación de la Santa Iglesia de Pamplona (Account of the Holy Church of Pamplona), he included it, with the only difference being that, on the Gospel side, in the part corresponding to the third line, he interprets the "D" as an "O", which may make more sense to be developed as Hoc opus consecratum.

The development that we propose, after its study and enquiry with Professors Carmen Castillo and Javier Andreu, whom we thank for their clarifications, is as follows:

GOSPEL SIDE 

ANTONIVS ÇAPATA
EPISCOPVS POMPAELONENSIS
HOC OPVS CONSECRATVM SCALP-
TVRAE ET PIC-
TVRAE AERARIO SVO
FACIENDVM CURAVIT ANNO SALVLIS MD
XCVIII

EPISTOL SIDE

ANTONIVS
ÇAPATA EPISCOPVS POMPAELONENSIS
HOC OPVS SANCTISSIMVM
DEI GLORIAE TEMPLI ORNAVIT
ANNO SALVTIS MDXC
VIII 

It is clear from the contents that the bishop paid for the work out of his own money(aerario suo) and left a record of the fact. Likewise, he also wanted to leave test in writing how he supervised, managed and was in charge of the construction of everything related to the piece(faciendum curavit), being aware of how much a main altarpiece meant for the Pamplona cathedral, as a visual, ritual, spiritual and devotional point. To this we should add that he considered the sculptural part as well as the painting, expressed in its polychromy. Some of the Latin expressions had a long history in epigraphy, as they were used in many other inscriptions, both in Antiquity and in the Renaissance period.

Bishop Zapata carefully chose the best officials in Navarre at that time for his business and as a result of his knowledge of the arts, we know that he was one of the very few bishops who allowed himself to advise a master on the execution of the choir stalls in the parish church of Sesma. Convinced of the success of the art of the Escorial and Romanism, he distinguished himself by promoting works such as the sacristy of the cathedral and the silver plaques for the Corpus Christi, the latter the work of the silversmith José Velázquez de Medrano, not forgetting his participation in the commission for the catafalque for the funeral honours of Philip II. Incidentally, the registration of the silver litter also insists on his private funds with this text: "Antonius Çapata Eps. Pomp. Erarium hoc rerum secrarum ere suo F. A. MDXCIX".

registration on the pedestal of the altarpiece, according to Mariano Arigita

Its Escorial design can be defined as "School of Architecture", as they had done with a contemporary altarpiece, the main altarpiece in Cascante. This is how it appears, in 1595, in an order for the masters who had been entrusted with it to reside in Cascante and finish the work on the altarpiece, the assembly of which was entrusted to the same person as in Pamplona, Domingo de Bidarte.

Regarding its Vignolesque typology, we should remember the contract signed on 11 July 1597 in Cascante by the sculptor González de San Pedro, by which he transferred all the architectural work on the Pamplona cathedral altarpiece to the assembler established in Estella, Domingo de Bidarde, with the exception of the Corinthian and composite capitals. The document states that all the architecture was to be carried out "according to the art and well-finished and carved work and precepts of Viñola", whose treatise was much cited in the 1990s, due to the Spanish translation of his treatise on architecture, which was published in 1593 by Patricio Caxés.

quotation Iconographically, the author of the reliefs and sculptures of the cathedral altarpiece, Pedro González de San Pedro, developed an ambitious programme in which all the Christological, Mariological and anti-Protestant themes are to be found, together with the particular devotions of Bishop Zapata, which came to include his and his father's patron saints, as well as devotions that he himself had developed after his time in Toledo Cathedral: the imposition of the chasuble on Saint Ildefonso and the finding of the body of Saint Leocadia, unusual themes in these lands and only present in places where Toledo was present due to the work of other patrons and promoters.

To find out more

ALVARADO, F. (pseudonym of Mariano Arigita), guide del viajero en Pamplona, Madrid, Establecimiento Tipográfico de Fortanet, 1904.
CRIADO MAINAR, J., "Nuevas noticias documentales sobre el antiguo retablo mayor de la Catedral de Pamplona", Cuadernos de la Chair de Patrimonio y Arte Navarro, nº 1. programs of study sobre la catedral de Pamplona in memoriam Jesús Mª Omeñaca, Pamplona, Government of Navarre, 2006, pp. 145-160.
GARCÍA GAÍNZA, M. C., "Actuaciones de un obispo postridentino en la catedral de Pamplona", Lecturas de Historia del Arte. Ephialte (1982), pp. 110-124.
LUBIÁN Y SOS, F., Relación de la Santa Iglesia de Pamplona de la provincia Burgense, ed. by José Goñi Gaztambide, Pamplona, Real Cofradía del Gallico de San Cernin, 1954, p. 100.