Catalogue

RELIEFS AND CARVINGS OF THE MAIN ALTARPIECE AND COLLATERAL ALTARPIECES

Pentecost Relief
© J. Muñiz  CC-BY-NC-ND

ICONOGRAPHY 

As the Castillonuevo carvings and reliefs were made up of three different altarpieces, the diversity of their iconographic proposals is logical. The reliefs of the collateral altarpieces are dedicated to the Passion of Christ  (Christ carrying the cross to Calvary, and the Virgin Fainting at his feet), and to the Pentecost scene, with the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Both are accompanied by images of saints. Only the image of St. Catherine with the book, the wheel and king Maxentius at her feet can be identified; perhaps the other saint was St. Barbara, with whom she is often paired.

The reliefs of the main altarpiece are dedicated to the Life of the Virgin, with illustrations of her Birth, Presentation at the Temple, and a third relief that has been interpreted as the Circumcision, but with the incomprehensible absence of the Virgin and the Child; perhaps it corresponds better to the Rejection of St. Joachim’s Offering.