SANTA MARÍA DEL MORAL CHURCH OF VILLAFÁFILA

BAROQUE ALTARBLAMENT

The Renaissance and Baroque styles are the only current ones in the altarpieces of the church of Sta. María del Moral de Villafáfila. Both are based on naturalism, but while the first limits itself to copying nature, the second exalts it, managing to move the heart of the believer by bringing asceticism and mysticism to it.

<<The altarpiece must be considered as an irreplaceable element of the information and devout practice of the faithful>>. (Martín Gonzáles, JJ <<History of sculpture>>, p.216). It has to replace the covers of the churches, so developed in the Gothic (cathedrals of Burgos, León, Toledo, etc.), because in these styles: Renaissance and Baroque they have the least artistic development.

The mass, with its back to the people (this was the way it was done until the times of the Second Vatican Council in the 20th century), required that the altarpieces reflect paintings accompanying the faithful in their prayers. There is a tendency to highlight the supernatural, imposed by the Council of Trent, of the Counter-Reformation, before the Protestants, who repress and even destroy the altarpieces and images.

The sculpture must be a faithful expression of the spirit, beauty of the soul over the body, although also, in the figure it becomes worship, to the beauty of the body in the personality,

The Baroque altarpiece presents great monumentality in a single gigantic body (unlike the Renaissance that presents several). Solomonic column or turbinaza is the most common. More than a support, it is a decorative object. Its stem, full of leaves, branches and vine clusters, are representative of the Eucharist. The stipe, a trunk of an inverted pyramid complicated by the addition of other bodies: necks with large constrictions and a Corinthian capital, are widely developed. The grotesques adorn the net spaces, friezes and columns. The rockery in the most generalized ornament due to its kidney-shaped and asymmetrical shape, is appropriately presented in the play of surfaces and volumes of the altarpiece (Rodríguez C. Ceballos, Alfonso, <<El Retablo Barroco>>, Cuadernos de Arte. Historia 16, nº 72).

The image has life, independent of the altarpiece that contains it. Altarpiece and image only rarely belonging to the same author, but to several. The altarpiece is the work of altarpieces and assemblers, the image of the image maker, which is usually unique. The prayer is sent to the image inside the altarpiece. She is meditated on and even made a participant in the real life of the believer. The altarpiece contributes to this representation.

The baroque altarpiece is usually made of pine wood, in Castilla y León generally from the Sierra de Soria. It can also be made of other woods, walnut, etc., although the value of these makes them generally prohibitive. They can also carry, in their sconces, wood from fruit trees: pear, apple, etc. Once the altarpiece has been built, it is polychrome (except for those made of noble wood) in order to achieve quality surfaces that reflect light.

The sculpture takes place in the craftsman's workshop. It is made up of the master sculptor, the officers and the apprentices. When the first one disappears, the most qualified officer takes his place. Between the master executor and the mayordomo of the ordering brotherhood of the execution of the altarpiece, contracts are made by writing, before a notary public, with an explanation of what has been agreed. The sculptor has to admit, at the end of the work, criticism and appraisal by other masters, forcing him to make amendments and variations in what has been executed, if he does not agree with what has been agreed upon.

Within the baroque, the school of Valladolid represents the pinnacle of the Spanish Baroque. His first followers: Esteban Jordan, Francisco de la Maza, Francisco Rincón and Pompeyo Leone, are pre-baroque, since they link with the Mannerist revival of Becerra and later, the most important of all: Gregorio Fernández and his followers: Francisco Díez de Tudanca, Antonio Ribera de Toro, Antonio Solanes, Tomás de la Sierra, Manuel Rincón, etc. Along with this school, others not so notable arose in Castile: Escuela de Toro with Sebastián de Ucete and Esteban Rueda.

The altarpieces that we are going to study all correspond to the type of chapel or niche altarpiece, because in the center of it there is a wide arcade, under which the venerated image is placed.

ALTARPIECE I HEAD OF THE SIDE NAVE OF THE EASTERN OR OF THE EPISTLE

Pre-churrigueresque baroque style. XVII century. 1699 [1] . It is known by the name of <<San Antón>> or <<San Antonio Abad>>. Measurement of 4 x 2.5 m.

It comes from the ruined church of San Pedro. It may be, although not with certainty, the one that belonged to Santa Lucía in the same church. Its author is Francisco Díez from Benavente: <<Two hundred reales that were given to Don Francisco Díez sculptor vº de Benavente on account of the altarpiece he is making for Santa Lucía>> in 1698 (Book. Fáb. San Pedro, 1605-1714, page 284).

The altarpiece was finished the following year, since in the accounts of 1699 two items for expenses are consigned: one to finish paying for it <<more than two hundred and thirty-seven reals and a half that were given to Francisco Díez vº de Benavente , with which the altarpiece that was made for Santa Lucía was finished>>, the other to << go for the altarpiece to Benavente>> (Lib. Fáb. San Pedro p. 287 vta. Pérez Bragado, C., Villafáfila: its parish churches, 1996, p. 429).

Presents this altarpiece, three parts vertically, bench, body and attic.

The bench has four large shelves or brackets, the base of the columns of the body, which divide it, horizontally, into three zones: two small lateral ones and a larger central one. This is presented as a flat space covered with watermarks.

The body, the most important, has four large Solomonic columns with five spiers, at different horizontal levels, abundantly decorated with bunches of grapes and twisted stems of fallen leaves, and flowers (typical Churriguera), ending in Corinthian capitals and decorated stilettos, which they support the <<buttresses>> of the attic. The central cloth is a large and deep niche, with a semicircular arch, which contains the image of San Antonio Abad, surrounded by a protruding frame that breaks in the upper part, giving rise to the so-called <<ears>>, <<knuckle>> and <<tanganillo>>, forming an astrologer of stones and gallons. In the center, on the frame, a large cornucopia develops. Between the lateral columns on each side, at a different horizontal level, there are smooth spaces,

The attic is made up of four unequal <<machones>> that rest on the stipes of the columns, (unlike the Churrigueresque altarpieces, which here also have Solomonic columns. Martín González, JJ, Sculpture Barroca Castilian. TI p. 68) of which the most central ones are worshiped with small <<festones>> (generalized since the middle of the 17th century). These <<machones>> following the order of the body, give rise to three spaces of which in the central one there is an oil painting, which represents Saint Jesse and the Virgin giving the Child Jesus to the old Simeon, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Holy, in the form of a dove. The lateral spaces have decorations consisting of fruits and leaves. The painting is bordered and topped by a large cornucopia. This attic is surrounded by an ogival type arch full of pebbles. The <<machones>> are covered by outstanding cornices or dust covers.

The entire altarpiece is gilded for the most part while the rest, to favor the luminous reverberations, present red and blue colors (capitals and cartouches). In this polychromy it is repeated in the other baroque altarpieces that we point out below, which makes it unnecessary to point it out.

ALTARPIECE I HEAD OF THE WESTERN OR GOSPEL SIDE SHIP

Pre-churrigueresque baroque style. 17th century, 1694. Altarpiece known by the name of the <<Angustias>>, because <<La Piedad>> is found in it. Measure 3.75 x 2.5 m.

It comes from the church of San Pedro. It was made in 1694 and cost 1,286 reales (Lib. Fábr. San Pedro. 1605-1714, p. 278 back.). Its author is surely the same as the previous one in San Antón, Francisco Díez, from Benaventa. It was gilded in later years, paying 3,000 reales (Lib. Fáb. S. Pedro, p. 289).

This altarpiece, like the previous one, presents: base, body and attic, although somewhat different.

The bench has two large corbels or brackets, the base of two of the columns of the body, which divide it, horizontally, equally into three spaces: the rectangular center bordered by a frame, which in the upper parts bears its <<ears> > - ledges and ravines – and between them a cornucopia. Inside there is a small tabernacle. The lateral spaces, one on each side, in turn have two vertically boxed portions, the outermost of which contains a fruity cluster appliqué.

The body has a large niche inside, where the titular image is found. Externally it presents a frame in whose upper part there are two segments of arch, of opposite curvature, joined by another straight one.

      A cord goes up to the attic bordering the niche. Laterally we find four large Solomonic columns with five spiers – two on each side -, with decoration identical to those of the previous altarpiece, placed in stages and very close together. Above them are the capitals and stipites that support the attic. A rectangular exterior space, <<tarjas>> or <<cards>>, on each side, with a fruity canopy completes this body set.

The attic, smaller than the previous one, has a central portion, with abundances of grotesque and litter, limited by the <<machones>>, placed on the stipites of the central columns. It is decorated with fruity hanging appliqués. Above them carries segments of cornices. It does not have lateral <<fins>>, common in altarpieces of this type.

Like the previous altarpiece, it has identical gilding and coloration. The columns and flat spaces, which carry both altarpieces, by receiving and reflecting the sunlight in the morning or afternoon, in each case, penetrating through the next window, give a certain air of grandiose luminosity, <<burnished gold luminaires>> the called Pedro Echevarría Goñi, <<Renaissance and Baroque Polychromy>>, notebooks of Spanish Art, nº 48, p. 30.

ALTARPIECE II OF THE WESTERN OR GOSPEL SIDE SHIP

Pre-churrigueresque baroque style. XVII century. It is the largest altarpiece of the four baroque ones that we present. Measure 4.50 x 3.75 m.

We know nothing of its origin, although it must be confirmed that it comes from one of the ruined churches of the town. There is no documentation. However, we dare to indicate that its sculptor may be the same as the previous altarpieces. He is totally similar to the first, in all the figure of him. We describe it lightly. It presents bank, body and attic.

The bench contains the shelves, the base of the columns of the body, which give rise to three spaces: the larger central one, covered with filigree, and the smaller lateral ones, at a different horizontal level from the rest, contain grotesques.

The body has in its center a large niche, with a semicircular arch, which rests on its lateral projections. Surrounding it is a frame, which breaks in <<ear>>, to house a large cornucopia. On each side of the niche there are two Solomonic columns, at different horizontal levels, with five aspirations with abundant viticultural decoration, finished in their Corinthian capitals and stipites. Next, it has flat portions (used improperly, since there are no niches, to place the images of the Virgin of Fátima and Saint Joseph, which, because they are of a different style, detract from the whole). Two other Solomonic columns, similar to the previous ones, and at the same level as the flat portion, end this body.

      The attic in its center has a painting, painted in oil representing the visitation of the Virgin to her cousin St. Elizabeth. Four buttresses (two on each side), which correspond to the columns of the body, end in new stipites, with their cornices.

The whole set has a semicircular shape with a smooth outer rim.

Quite possibly, judging by the resemblance, when building these studied altarpieces, the sculptor from Benaventa knew the corresponding ones from the churches of Santa Cruz de Medina de Rioseco, by Juan Argüelles (1663) and San Martín de Valladolid by Pedro de Cea, made some years before.

Do we find a sculptural focus in Benavente at the end of the 17th century or is it an isolated workshop? We know nothing, what we do know is that in 1728 the sculptor Francisco Díez was a neighbor of Toro and made the doors of San Lorenzo del Real from it. Was he part of the Ucete – Rueda School?

ALTARPIECE II. OF THE SIDE SHIP OF NACIENTE OR OF THE EPISTLE

Churrigueresque baroque style. 18th century Altarpiece known by the name of Ecce Homo. Measure 4 x 3.25 m.

It comes from the ruined churches where it would be besieged in its apse, given its semicircular curvature. Although not with certainty, we dare to assure that it was the main altarpiece of the church of San Pedro, since it had a pentagonal apse head in its central nave. Currently it appears tangent to the wall, as it has closed outer edges and a shell or attic.

Present yourself three sections: bank, body and shell or attic.

The Bank has a central part and two lateral parts separated by the bases of the columns of the body. This central part has, on the sides, two small rectangles, one on each side, vertically. Its center contains a stepped drawing on the top of which is a cornucopia. The lateral spaces are grotesque.

The body has a mixtilinear floor plan: it has concave lateral streets and a straight central one, separated by churrigueresque columns, which contain three niches, the one in the center larger and deeper than the lateral ones, these very superficial (as the 17th century progresses they become deeper). they end avengingly. Both are embroidered, more intensely the central one. In the first niche there was always the image of Jesus tied to the Column, while on the sides: San Antonio de Padua and San Blas. Currently, the center is occupied by the Heart of Jesus, an image of a different style, which contrasts with that of the altarpiece.

The columns have fluted shafts adorned with small carvings (rounded reliefs and pendants) in all their dimensions. Its upper part ends in Corinthian capitals, on which the stipe is superimposed, which constitute the support of the nerves that divide the attic and its triumphal arch. From 1710 the Solomonic column declines.

The shell has a semicircle of four spheres or caps. It is like a vault with two ribs, which end in the keystone of the exterior arch. This rib gives rise to three triangular spaces, which form the concavity of the shell.

The central space, painted in oil, presents a rocky landscape next to which you can see a portion of the firmament on which a depth, a cross without Crucified, is drawn. The character represented is María Magdalena: a young woman covered with a tight white tunic, over which she wears a red mantle, which leaves her arms and feet free. Her gaze is directed to a book that is in the lower left part, the Gospels?, remembering the moment of the Resurrection.

An essential fact of baroque in the illusion of depth, which strictly speaking is a false relief since the figure is inside the same board (Martín González JJ Sculpture Barroca Castellana, TI, p. 24).

The lateral spaces of the attic have in their center medallions with a sun and a moon, which may be symbols of God and the Virgin, surrounded by scallops and grotesques. The edge of the altarpiece, triumphal arch, is decorated with estípites and coiled ornaments. Everything is polychrome, as we have said in the other altarpieces.

Its author is unknown, but we can assure that he was perfectly aware of the altarpiece techniques of the sculptors Tomás and Pedro de la Sierra (father and son), authors of the main altarpieces of the churches of Santiago de Medina de Rioseco and Asunción de Rueda ( Valladolid), his best works. JJ Martín González says of the first: <<It constitutes the most complete work of Tomás de la Sierra and without a doubt the most copied altarpiece of the eighteenth century>> (Escultura Barroca en España, p. 458). This altarpiece had been designed by Joaquín Churriguera in 1703, in accordance with the most demanding standards of Churriguerismo [2] . The work of Tomás de la Sierra was widely disseminated in Tierra de Campos (García Chico, E., Monumental Catalog of the Province of Valladolid. Medina de Rioseco, 1960).

The difference that we can consider between the Rio Secan altarpiece and the one studied, lies in the number of bodies and streets. That one has two bodies and five streets. The columns of the same present, like those of the Renaissance, a third of size and the other two with pendants, while in the other all of them are with hangings. The sculptural richness is much greater in the Riosecano than in the studied one. The resemblance, however, is great, despite the fact that the first bears a remarkable tabernacle, which the other lacks. It is even greater with the altarpiece of the Assumption of Rueda, for having avanerated niches in the lateral streets, although in opposite positions: in one projecting and in the other incoming.

As can be seen in the altarpieces studied, the pigeonhole system of vertical and horizontal lines, which dominated Castile during the 16th century, is clearly maintained.

SOURCE: Parish Archives. Villafafila. St. Peter's Church. Factory Book (1606-1714)

Author:
Manuel de la Granja Alonso

Bibliography - Text:

Manuel de la Granja Alonso:
The Art of a Castilian-Leonese Villa Villafáfila 2008, p. 25, 26, 32, 66, 67 and 91.

The Baroque Retable of the church of Santa María del Moral Villafáfila: Yearbook 1999, Institute of Zamorano Studies. Florian de Ocampo. pp. 150, 151 and 152.

Manuel de la Granja Alonso and Camilo Pérez Bragado:
Villafáfila: History and current situation of a Castilian-Leonese town and its parish churches. 1996. p. 429, 432, 448, 452 and 453.

Photography:
José Luis Domínguez Martínez.

Transcription and editing:
José Luis Domínguez Martínez.

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