THE THREE WISE MEN ALTARPIECE

HISTORY 

On the 19th of February 1538, Juan Fernández de Ventosa and his wife María de Bazán founded a chaplaincy for the worship of The Three Kings (the Three Wise Men) that they themselves founded in the collegiate church of Santa María La Redonda in Logroño. We have some idea of their wealthy position not only because of the fact that they founded this chapel, but also because they were among the town's inhabitants who paid the most "Alcabala" or capital gains tax  - in their case, some 50,000 maravedís (old Spanish coins that amounted to a pretty substantial sum back then!).

The date indicated on the altarpiece itself (1554) confirms that the chapel was already in use by then. Positive confirmation of the date of the altarpiece did not happen, however, until 1579, which is the date that figures on the reed commissioned in 1566 by Diego Bazán in the name of his heirs, since both founders of the chapel had died before then.