Warning: Reading this article may be (yet?) Drier than usual. This is because, in essence, its goal is to make a synopsis of the greatest possible amount of information about the paintings and their history. Apologies in advance.
Reconstruction of the room with the paintings
Note: the vault does not match the original roof, probably of wood.
post In this and the next talk Romanesque paintings of San Pedro de Arlanza, a masterpiece of late Romanesque English painting and tragic example of institutional neglect and marketing of our history ... but for now we'll leave that part aside, and focus on the art itself.
San Pedro de Arlanza. Ruins
The monastery of San Pedro de Arlanza, dating back probably to the tenth century was one of the most important monasteries and historic Castilla. Linked to Count Fernan Gonzalez founder, who was buried there, his relationship with the English monarchy was strong during the Middle Ages. In the second half of the XI is undertaken the complete renovation of the building in what will be one of the first great Romanesque buildings in Castile.
The paintings in question were originally occupying the top floor of a two storey building attached to the cloister, the lower was the chapter house. Surely decorate the four walls, but the west wall was lost to be replaced by a baroque arcade.
San Pedro de Arlanza. In red, the paint room
It's a rare painting by its frame and secular themes, the only similar set in Spain seems to be to the chapter house of Villanueva de Sigena (Huesca). In both cases, the context seems to have been similar: a room used by the dignitaries who visited the monastery, favored by the nobility and the kings, although in the case of Arlanza lack of data does not allow secure.
Another reconstruction of the arrangement of the paintings in the room
The paintings were distributed by the three original walls preserved in the unit. In each of them is a central span on the sides of which are distributed key scenes. These are divided into four bands. The bottom is smooth maroon; on it is a frieze with scenes and different figures, white on red or blue. Above it are the main panels of large dimensions, they show, faced on either side of the span, an individual animal on a background plant or architectural decoration, are the most attractive parts of better quality. In the spandrels of the arches have small figures, mostly birds and castles. Crowning it all and uniting all the scenes ran a frieze with geometric and plant barely remains.
Wall by wall, the decor is arranged as follows:
North wall. Reconstruction North wall: it starts with a scene fragment decorated with plant, which then would be destroyed by the reform of the Baroque room that opened three arches on the west wall. Keep a door surmounted by the arms of Castile, a beautiful castle in gold on a red field. Then, the main panels. On the left, a kind of bird of long necks and legs, and under it a frieze of birds. On the right is not preserved, although a fragment contains drawings of the wing that could indicate another similar bird, facing the same direction. Between the two panels was a window arch resting on late-looking decorative capitals difficult to recognize. Is preserved the painting of one of the spandrels of the window, a fantastic creature.
east wall. this: in the center of this wall was the main entrance to the room, segmental arch-shaped with small birds in the spandrels of the south are being preserved. The two lions flanking faced with architectural scenes, the northern Islamist element (or simply Mozarabic tradition) and the southern Romanesque appearance. The best preserved is the south, the north is missing. Has retained only the south frieze with figures of fish.
Wall south. Wall Reconstruction South, is the best was preserved. Was centered around a double window with a castle painted between the two arches. The two main panels are retained: the left with a tap and the law imposing a no less spectacular dragon. Behind both, plant elements. The lower frieze is the most varied of the whole, shows a variety of animal figures, human or interacting fantastic almost seem as representations of fables, an idea reinforced by the anthropomorphizing of animals.
We can see in these paintings a distant influence of Moorish lighting, evident in the treatment of architectural motifs and, above all, in the use of bands of flat color as the background of the figures. However, are more like thumbnails much later manuscripts. There are, in particular, remarkable similarities to some of the miniatures of Tumbo A de la Catedral de Santiago de Compostela (1) (2) , especially in the expression of the lions whiskers. This would put them in the transition from Romanesque to Gothic, the known as "Art 1200". The authors of the work, and also the thumbnails above, could be of British origin.
A chronicle of 1563 says that by the year 1138 the teacher or Endestens Gudesteus made the paintings of the chapter house and church and galleries, in some cases it has been assumed that it was these that we talked. However, it seems unreasonable to assign a chronology to these paintings as early, so we think that the work involved the decoration Gudesteo, now defunct, of another agency, perhaps the ground floor of this.
reconstructions Credits: Compiled J. drawings Sureda and J. Gudiol and photographs of various authors. Aerial Photography: Prepared SigPac
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