ROMANESQUE CHURCHES OF NORTHERN SPAIN. PART 1: Itineraries with Aguilar de Campóo (Palencia) as a base. Itinerary 2
Itinerary 2
The three churches in this itinerary are northwest of
Aguilar de Campóo and all can be visited in a morning or an afternoon. San
Cornelio y San Cipriano at Revilla de Santullán has an elaborately carved
entrance with one of the few examples where the sculptor has depicted himself.
The other two churches are included because of their interesting frescoes by
the ‘Master of San Felices’ who was active during the second half of the 15th
century in Aguilar de Campóo and the surrounding area.
SAN CORNELIO Y SAN CIPRIANO
Revilla de
Santullán, Palencia
Revilla de Santullán is 11 kilometres due
north of Aguilar de Campóo ‘as the crow flies’. Take the P-220 north from
Aguilar for 13 kilometres to the centre of Porquera de Santullán and then turn
left on to the P-2123. After driving a further 600 metres you will reach
Revilla de Santullán. The church of San Cornelio y Cipriano is at the southern
end of the village. Its GPS coordinates are 42°53'25.21"N,
4°17'35.29"W and it is at an altitude of 1,003 metres.
1. South elevation of the church.
Originally this was a feudal village
belonging to the king. Then, in 1285, Sancho IV donated it to the monastery of
Santa Maria la Real in Aguilar de Campóo and that explains how a small village
was able to employ stone masons of such high workmanship that they were able to
build a small but superb church.
EXTERIOR
The church has a single nave and apse
preceded by a straight presbytery. The nave roof is higher than the roof over
the presbytery and apse. It rests on a cornice decorated with nailheads. The
apse has two buttresses which end about a metre below the top of the wall,
dividing it into three vertical sections. The apse roof rests on a cornice with
convex moulding. It has a central, indented, splayed loophole window surrounded
by an archivolt resting on capitals. The dripstone and right abacus are
decorated with palmettes encircled by their own stems. The left abacus has an
undulating stem and the left capital
has a pair of roughly executed confronted lions. The right capital has two anthropomorphic creatures holding on to
stems. The south presbytery has a loophole window with capitals of stylized
leaves. The bell-cote is situated above the west wall.
CORBELS
The church has a total of fifty-seven
corbels depicting musicians, dancers, animals, and geometrical shapes. They
include a masturbating mouth-puller, a sheela na gig touching her genitals, an
upside-down pregnant woman (possibly mistakenly placed upside-down during a
restoration), a flute player touching his head, and man masturbating.
SOUTH ENTRANCE
The entrance is now covered by a large
porch running the full length of the south façade. It has a modern skylight to
illuminate one of the most beautiful and best preserved Romanesque entrances in
the province of Palencia. The roof over the projecting entrance rests on a
cornice decorated with rosettes and eight corbels. The slightly pointed arch of
the door is decorated with chevron and is surrounded by five splayed archivolts
(photo 2) and a dripstone resting on a continuous abacus, forming right angles,
and on capitals and columns. The abacus and the dripstone are decorated with a
row of flat three-quarter height beads.
2. The arch and its archivolts over the
south door.
The first
archivolt has a representation of the Last Supper with figures that are almost
three-dimensional. There is a pair of apostles per voussoir with, on the
keystone, Christ in the act of blessing. Each figure is placed within an arch
supported by Solomonic columns. Above them there is a representation of the
Heavenly Jerusalem. At the far left, one of the prophets is holding a book. On
the far right there is an unusual representation of the sculptor, seated and
holding the tools with which he is carving the stone in front of him. Behind is
a book of designs from which he is copying. Above him, written on the arch, is
‘MICAELIS ME FECI(T)’ – Michael made me
(photo 3).
3. An apostle on the left and the sculptor
on the right.
The second archivolt has a roll moulding;
the third has an arcade above which there is chevron decoration; the fourth has
two roll mouldings; and the fifth has roll and concave moulding. The monolithic
columns rest on torus bases and a plinth.
Left capitals, from
outer to inner
1. Two confronted griffons.
2. A rearing griffon on the right and, on
the left, Samson sitting on a lion, prizing open its mouth.
3. A centaur, with a bag over his shoulder,
shooting an arrow at a rearing griffon. His hands and the bow are missing.
4. A pair of confronted griffons standing
on rolled-over acanthus.
5. A pair of addorsed griffons standing on
rolled-over acanthus with their heads turned in a menacing manner.
6. A pair of confronted harpies wearing
Phrygian hats – an indication of their magical powers and their eastern
provenance – standing on top of much weathered leaves. At the side there is a
standing knight wearing a full coat of mail. He holds a large shield and has
inserted his sword into a rearing lion which is attacking him (photo 4).
4. A pair of confronted harpies and a knight
being attacked by a lion.
Right capitals, from
inner to outer
1. The three Marys carrying unguent jars in
front of the empty tomb, the lid of which is being lifted by an angel (photo 5).
5. The three Marys carrying unguent jars and
an angel lifting the tomb lid.
2. A floral capital with slender tall
leaves surmounted by bunches of grapes or seeds.
3. A row of slender palm leaves opening
towards the top with bunches of seeds.
4. A knight, wearing a full coat of mail, seated
on a griffon. He holds a spear in his right hand and is throttling the beast
with his left. On the right side, there is another griffon looking at the
previous scene.
5. A pair of griffons, curled around each
other and biting one another’s necks.
6. A row of elegant acanthus leaves, curled
over at the top.
INTERIOR
The church has a pointed triumphal arch
resting on capitals, a straight, barrel-vaulted presbytery, and a round apse.
The apse and presbytery are decorated with paintings executed by the so-called
‘Master of San Felices’ in a mixture of fresco and tempera dating from between
1475 and 1500. Some panels have disappeared – the American art historian, Post,
recounts the acquisition of several panels by Lady Limerick of Hall Place,
Bexley, Kent, England. The remaining panels of the Annunciation, the
Visitation, the Epiphany, the Flight into Egypt, the Massacre of the Innocents,
and the Ascension follow no regular order.
6. Some of the frescoes in the apse and
presbytery.
The north capital (photo 7) has Daniel
praying, while two lions lick his feet. On the sides, there is a pair of
volutes. On the south capital (photo 8), over several rows of flattened
caulicles, crossed over and forming volutes, is the angel sent by God to
protect Daniel:
Daniel answered, “O king, live forever! My God sent
his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because
I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O
king.” The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den.
And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he
had trusted in his God.
(Dan.6: 21-3)
7. Daniel praying while two lions lick his feet.
8. The angel sent by God to
protect Daniel.
The font is Romanesque and dates to the
first part of the 13th century. It is decorated with two rows of tetra-foil
leaves within indented circles separated by vertically placed bands.
The bestiary and the scenes of men
confronting beasts are a recurrent theme in late Romanesque sculpture. In San
Cornelio y San Cipriano we find two influences: (1) the strict plastic
characteristic of stylized floral capitals and the use of flat three-quarter
height beads (simibezantes) derived
from the Cistercian monastery of San Andres del Arroyo juxtaposed with (2) the
decorative exuberance of the late Romanesque style. In general these traits
occurred in churches built between 1180 and 1200. They are magnified in this
church because of its high level of workmanship.
The entrance is of the type seen in the
province of Palencia at Arroyo, Eufemia de Cozuelos, Mave, San Andres de
Aguilar, and Zoila del Paramo. According to Garcia Ginea, the animal and figurative
capitals follow the style found in the monastery of Santa Maria de Aguilar de
Campóo by the so called ‘Master of the Massacre of the Innocents’. The figures
of the Last Supper in the first archivolt of the entrance have been carved by a
different mason: they are in the style of the ‘Master of Moarves’ also seen in
Santa Eufemia de Cozuelos and Dehesa de los Romanos.
Bibliography
Enciclopedia del
Románico en Palencia, Fundación Santa María La Real, Volumen 1, pp. 415-424
Románico Guías, Palencia 2006, Fundación Santa María La Real, pp. 64-66
SAN JUAN BAUTISTA
Matamorisca, Palencia
The village of Matamorisca is 6.6 kilometres
north-northeast of Aguilar de Campóo ‘as the crow flies’ and is reached by
taking the CL-626 out of Aguilar for 7.2 kilometres. The church of San Juan
Bautista is situated a on a rocky hill about 200 metres east of the village. Its
GPS coordinates are 42°50'33.04" N, 4°18'25.34" W and it is at an
altitude of 960 metres.
The first written documentation about the
village appears in a document dated 1042, in which Fronilde Fernández donates
land, animal and buildings to the monastery of Santa María in Aguilar for the
salvation of his soul and that of his sister Elvira. In 1103, Munia Fortúnez
donated the monastery more property in Matamorisca and in 1173 Cardinal Jacinto
put Matamorisca’s church and other properties in the north of Palencia under
the protection of the monastery.
The church as we see today is the result of
several restorations. It was built in the second half of the 12th century. Very
little remains of the original north nave. The belfry and south nave were added
a few years later and during the 16th and 17th centuries the bell-cote was
replaced by a tower and a sacristy was added. The north and west doorways have
been blocked off.
The south entrance (photo 1) is late-Romanesque
with a pointed door surrounded by four archivolts resting on jambs decorated
with engaged columnettes. According to Hernando Garrido there were itinerant
master masons from the Cantabrian region of Trasmiera who worked in the area of
the Palencia Mountains sculpting the doorways, capitals and windows at very reasonable
prices.
1. The late-Romanesque south entrance.
The frescoes, most of which are in the south
apse (photo 2), were executed by the ‘Master of San Felices’ towards the end of
the 15th century. He
also painted in Santa María la Real at Valberzoso, San Juan Bautista at Olea de
Boedo, San Cebrián de Mudá and San Felices de Castillería.
2. The frescoes of the south apse.
East Wall, top down
and left to right
1st register: Two panels, one each side of
the window, of the Annunciation.
2nd register: Three panels depicting the
Nativity, the Adoration, and the Circumcision (photo 3).
3. The Circumcision.
3rd register: Three panels depicting the
legend of St Eustace who was a Roman general with the name Placidus (in the 15th century this legend was also attributed to St
Hubert). While hunting a stag in Tivoli near Rome, Placidus saw a vision
of the crucified Christ lodged between the stag's antlers. He was immediately
converted, had himself and his family baptised, and changed his name to Eustace.
In the first panel the saint has fallen from his horse, having seen the stag
with the vision of Christ on the cross between its antlers (photo 4).
4. Placidus falls from his horse, having
seen the vision of Christ between the stag’s antlers.
In the centre panel he is stands in front
of his wife with a falcon perched on his wrist. In the third panel he is in bed
with his wife having told her about his vision. The following is an excerpt
from The Golden Legend:
And when he was come home to his house, and had told this
thing to his wife in their bed, she cried: My Lord! and said: And I saw him
this night that is passed, and he said to me: Tomor[row] thou, thy husband, and
thy sons, shall come to me. And now I know that it was Christ. Then they went
to the bishop of Rome at midnight, which baptized them with great joy, and
named Placidus, Eustace, and his wife, Theospis.
South Wall, top down
and left to right
1st register: A single panel depicting an
unknown female saint.
2nd register: A single large panel to the
right of the window depicting a scene from the Last Judgement. St Michael stands
on the left holding the weighing scales. In front of him, on the right, are the
blessed, all of whom are praying. Behind are the condemned, roped together, being
led by devil.
3rd register: Two panels, the first being a
small one with the donor of the frescoes holding a maquette of the church. The
large second panel is of another scene from the Last Judgement. On the left are
a number of coffins with the condemned emerging from them. In the centre the
devil sits in front of a cauldron and on the right is the gaping mouth of
Leviathan.
Font
The sandstone font is late Romanesque and
dates to the 14th century. It is decorated with two superimposed rows of blind
arcades. The arches rest on projecting capitals which form crosses with the
pilasters that they rest on.
Bibliography
Enciclopedia del
Románico en Palencia, Fundación Santa María La Real, 2002, Volumen 1, pp. 347-351
Románico Guías:
Todo el Románico de Palencia, Fundación Santa María La Real, 2006, p. 55
Hernando Garrido, José Luis: Sobre esultura románica de inercia en el norte de Palencia, CAqv, 4, 1991, pp. 142-143.
SAN CORNELIO Y SAN CIPRIANO
San Cebrián de
Mudá, Palencia
The church of San Cornelio y San Cipriano
is situated in the village of San Cebrián de Mudá which is 15 kilometres
northwest of Aguilar de Campóo ‘as the crow flies’. Take the CL-626 out of
Aguilar for 17 kilometres to Rueda de Pisuerga and then turn right and drive 4.9
kilometres northeast on the PP-2125 to San Cebrián de Mudá. The church is
situated southeast of the Plaza Mayor (town square). Its GPS coordinates are
42°53'30.72"N, 4°23'10.44"W and it is at an altitude of 1,040 metres.
The late 12th century church is surrounded
by a hidden necropolis which came to light when a few tombs were unearthed when
parts of the church were remodelled. There are few historical references to the
village – the earliest dates from 1228 when the monastery of Aguilar de Campóo
bought land in San Cebrián de Mudá. From that time forward there are further
written references to other land purchases by Aguilar. In 1352 half of San
Cebrián de Mudá is documented as belonging to the monastery of Santa María la
Real in Aguilar, the other half belonging to the families of Pero Royz and
Iohan Ferrández.
EXTERIOR
The church has been built with reddish
sandstone ashlars excavated from a nearby quarry. It has a rectangular nave
with an entrance on the south and a bell-cote dating from the end of the 12th
century. The square apse – which is higher than the nave – and the sacristy
both date from the 15th century.
The handsome bell-cote on the west side
follows the type prominent in this area. It has three storeys; the lower serves
as the base for the upper two storeys which are staggered. It has a window with
an arch decorated with billet and it is surrounded by an archivolt and
dripstone, both decorated with nailheads. The capitals and the abaci are much
weathered; only the right capital has remains of large interlacing. Access to
the belfry is through an external staircase on the north wall.
Entrance
The south projecting entrance is sheltered
by an enclosed porch built in the 18th century. The door is surrounded by a
pointed arch with nailhead decoration around it, three splayed archivolts
resting on capitals and columns, and a dripstone decorated with nailheads. The
archivolts have convex and concave mouldings. The capitals are decorated with
schematic fern leaves with a pronounced central nerve; the leaves cross-over
one another creating a central rhomboid. This type of capital can be seen in
other churches in the province of Palencia – such as in the Ermita de Santa
Eulalia at Barrio de Santa Maria, San Cristóbal at Rueda de Pisuerga, and San
Pedro at Vergaño – which implies there was a local workshop of masons who
worked extensively in this region.
INTERIOR
The apse, which was renovated in the 15th
century in Gothic style, is higher than the nave. The ceiling of the nave is
barrel-vaulted with five transverse arches which rest on engaged columns and
capitals and have buttresses on the exterior. There are ten Romanesque capitals
but only eight are visible, the other two are behind the Baroque altarpiece.
Three of the eight visible capitals are carved with figures; the others are
decorated with various kinds of leaf. They are all shallowly carved.
North Capital 1: A man stands under an arch.
South Capital 2: A man, wearing a short tunic and
holding a lance, confronted by two rearing lions.
South Capital 3: Two men, wearing short
tunics, blessing what appears to be a leaf ending in a ball.
FRESCOES
The church has frescoes on all three walls
of the apse and on the north wall of the nave. They were painted in tempera by
the so called ‘Master of San Felices’ who worked on several churches in the
region of Palencia and south Cantabria. The Fundación Santa Maria la Real
restored the paintings and the building in 1992. To see the paintings on the
apse east wall it is necessary to go behind the altarpiece.
Apse North Wall, top
down and left to right (photo 1)
1st register: A single panel of Jesus
praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.
2nd register: Three panels depicting Jesus
carrying the cross and helped by Simon of Cyrene, the Flagellation, and
probably Jesus brought before Pontius Pilate.
3rd register: A single large panel
depicting the Last Supper.
1. Apse north wall frescoes.
Apse East Wall, top
down and left to right
1st register: Three panels, the
outer two having geometrical designs while the central one depicts the Annunciation.
2nd register: Two panels, the
first being the Circumcision and the second, the Nativity.
3rd register: Three panels
depicting the Adoration of the Magi, the bishop and martyr St Cipriano, and the
Massacre of the Innocents.
Apse South Wall, top
down and left to right (photo 2)
1st register: Three panels depicting the
virgin and martyr St Apolonia, St Catherine of Alexandria with the instruments
of her successive martyrdoms (a wheel of knives and a sword), and St Barbara.
2nd register: Two panels, one on each side
of the window, the first being the Visitation and the second, the saints Lucía
and Águeda, both of whom are carrying the palms of martyrdom.
3rd register: Three panels depicting the
archangel Michael holding a pair of weigh scales and trampling the devil, a
damaged scene with a reaper holding a sickle (probably from the Apocryphal
Gospels), and the Flight into Egypt.
2. Frescoes on the right hand side of the
apse south wall.
Nave North Wall
There are several paintings on the north
wall of the nave. One of them depicts the Mass of St Gregory (photo 3) in which
Pope Gregory (c. 540–604) is shown saying mass just as a vision of Christ as
the Man of Sorrows has appeared on the altar in front of him. This vision was in
response to the Pope's prayers for a sign to convince a doubter of the doctrine
of transubstantiation.
3. Fresco of the Mass of St Gregory.
Bibliography
Enciclopedia del
Románico en Palencia, Fundación Santa María La Real, Volumen 1, pp. 585-590
Románico Guías, Palencia 2006, Fundación Santa
María La Real, p.100
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