The Girona Art Museum acquires a fragment of the Sant Feliu altarpiece with the support of the Friends of the Art Museum
- This is a fragment of the dust cover of the main altarpiece of the church of Sant Feliu from the early 16th century.
- The purchase was made through the Friends of the Art Museum, who made the donation to the museum.
This week, the Girona Art Museum received the donation of a piece that belonged to the old main altarpiece of Sant Feliu de Girona, specifically a fragment of the side that framed it. The Art Museum exhibits and preserves a large part of the altarpiece as a whole, while another part is in the Basilica of Sant Feliu. The Friends of the Art Museum , who occasionally support the museum with acquisitions for its collection, made the purchase and yesterday the donation was received and made effective to the museum.
The piece, a fragment of about 123 cm high and about 90 cm wide, is the work of the sculptor from Burgos, Pere Robredo, who settled in Girona between 1507 and 1512. Robredo created the carved decoration of the entire upper body of the altarpiece, including the dust covers, as well as the secondary figures that adorn the uprights. His work is the result of a workshop, characterized by the introduction of details, ornaments and elements typical of the Castilian Plateresque Renaissance.
The fragment in question was part of one of the side panels, called guardapols or pulseras, that surround the altarpiece as a frame. The side panels were dedicated to the iconography of the tree of Jesse, the representation of the genealogy of Jesus Christ. from Jesse, father of King David. A theme that served to reinforce the link between the Old and New Testaments. This fragment, with a crowned character carrying a mace in his hand, would correspond to one of these kings of the dynasty, without being able to identify which one.
The main altarpiece of the church of Sant Feliu de Girona It was a work of great size and complexity executed over sixteen years, from 1504 to 1520. Today it is one of the best preserved examples of the transition from the Gothic style to the new Renaissance models in Catalonia. In its execution, over sixteen years, different craftsmen worked on it: Joan Dartrica (1504) carried out the woodwork and the decorative carving or tracery; the imagery was commissioned from Joan of Aragon (1505), Pere Coll and Pedro Robredo (1507); and the gilding and painting were carried out by Pere de Fontaines (1515) and Joan of Burgunya (1518), who completed the work in 1520. The altarpiece became a grandiose ensemble of nearly 15 meters high and 11 meters wide, and one of the most expensive of the time, paid for in large part, thanks to testamentary bequests.
This new piece completes the altarpiece which in 1936, at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, was dismantled from Sant Feliu and stored in the cathedral of Girona. In 1943, a new altarpiece was rebuilt for the church of Sant Feliu using parts of the old one. The other parts are preserved in the Art Museum, exhibited in a room dedicated to the altarpiece.