THE PASSION ALTARPIECE

TYPOLOGY 

The initial structure and its location would seem to indicate that the different groups of figures must have been modified somewhere around 1730 when the altarpiece was moved from the presbytery to its present location and the position of the figures was altered to fit in with the new Baroque altarpiece.  As Moreno Alcalde stated, there are several indications that this is indeed the case: today, we can see that the lower part of the figure of Mary Magdalene is undefined whereas the group of figures gathered in the scene of the Swooning of the Holy Virgin Mary is much more detailed and is hidden by other figures. We may also observe the rather peculiar way in which the figure of Veronica has been placed to one side and almost isolated and the distances between the groups of riders and thieves.

More than likely, the original altarpiece offered a complex continuous scenario conceived as a whole, although the Crucifixion scene was higher than the others, thus giving the impression of the altarpiece having a typical inverted "T" shape. The main central section of the altarpiece would be framed by the small reliefs we can see on the sides today. The background reliefs, however, would probably have been located in a very similar position to where they are today.