Art in Burgos Cathedral

[PilgrimCheryl]

I walked the Camino this summer and have an art question.
In the Burgos Cathedral is a dramatic painting of a woman kneeling before a man while another man stands behind her with a sword on her left breast. Her right breast has been cut off and is on the ground. Can anyone tell me the name of the painter and the subject? I thought maybe this was a portrait of St. Agatha, the patron saint of those who have had a mastectomy, but I do not think that is correct.
gracias,
Cheryl

 

[renegadepilgrim]

I'll be in Burgos next month....I can find out then.

 

[PilgrimCheryl]

Thank you! IT is located near the choir area in the main section of the cathedral. I think there were flat screen tv's across from the painting.

 

[Gwendolyn]

I wish I had the answer, but I had to reply because this painting has stayed with me since I saw it in 1998. I look forward to hearing the reply as well.

Gwendolyn- Seattle

 

[PilgrimCheryl]

I wish I had the answer, but I had to reply because this painting has stayed with me since I saw it in 1998. I look forward to hearing the reply as well.

Gwendolyn- Seattle

It is powerful and disturbing image, don' t you think?

Cheryl

 

[sillydoll]

Judith from Canada who walked with us this month has a book on the Cathedral art. She'll be back home next week - perhaps she will be able to answer your question.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

This book might help:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/ ... dition=new

 

[peregrina2000]

I think I may have found the answer. I was just looking through lovingkindness' blog and pictures, and on the very top of page 7 there is a picture of a saint holding a breast on a plate, and the caption is -- Santa Agueda (along with lk's wondering what's going on).

So, if lk identified the saint correctly, the story is easy to find. It's Saint Agatha in English and one church website gives the gory details: http://www.stagathaonline.org/stagatha.htm

Quite gruesome, but then you already knew that from seeing the statue.

I'm not sure I'm right about this, but it is a possibility, I think.

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[vandrefalk]

i'm petty sure you're right Laurie, that it's St Agatha. But I'm still wondering who the painter is.

 

[SabsP]

Wow, interesting topic! I know there's a painting of Santa Agueda / Saint Agatha in Montpellier from spanish artist Zurbaran?

And there's a local parish in Burgos dedicated to Santa Agueda.
http://www.trivago.it/burgos-31947/chie ... o-i4416756

 

[PilgrimCheryl]

Fabulous detective work! Many thanks to all you artistic sluths. Agatha is the patron saint of those who suffer from breast cancer. I am so glad to finally know this story about the painting! If I return to Burglar I will visit that lovely church dedicated to her. And I hope to learn more about the artist. Many thanks

 

[PilgrimCheryl]

Oops. That's Burgos, not burglar.

 

[renegadepilgrim]

I hadn't checked this thread in a while. Just went to the Cathedral last night. Took a picture of the brass plate under the painting. I will take a look at it when I get to Santo Domingo de la Calzada tonight and see what it says. Might identify the painter. I can't remember what it said.

 

[PilgrimCheryl]

Thanks for taking the time to look! Buen camino!

 

[PilgrimCheryl]

Renegade pilgrim, How was your journey after Burgos? Will u still be on the camino Nov. 1 and able to participate in the All Saints Festivities? And were u able to find the name of the artist who painted st. Agatha, in the Burgos Cathedral? Buen camino!!

 

[renegadepilgrim]

Still in Spain...we are wrapping up our last two days as hospitaleras in Sto Domingo de la Calzada. We are heading to Madrid tomorrow to try to beat the rush of people getting back to their villages for All Saints Day. We will be in Madrid for that, which I hear is much more Halloween and much less All Saints Day, which irritates me to no end...if I wanted an American tradition, I would stay in America... (end of rant)

Here is what was on the plate below the painting. I have a photo but our internet is not fast enough for me to upload to my Picasa album...so you will have to wait for an actual photo when I return home next Friday.

On the plate:
Martirio de las Santas
Centola y Elena
Fray Juan Rizi (S XVII)

Translated from Google Translate:
Martyrdom of the Holy
Centola and Helen
Fray Juan Rizi (S XVII)

 

[PilgrimCheryl]

Gracias!!! Thank you so much for doing this!! I don't know what it all means but I look forward to learning more about the painter and the painting.

 

[BernardII]

The City of Burgos is famous for its very impressive Cathedral, built in the Gothic and most extravagant style.There is a two story cloister and on the upper floor is a large Cathedral Museum which contains many tapestries of the 16th and 17th centuries, and many works of art having to do with the church. There are beautiful gold masterpieces created by goldsmiths of the past. Among these are communion cups, processional crosses, and reliquaries. In the Chapel of Corpus Christi there is a wooden chest that El Cid (Rodrigo Diaz) left as a security for a loan. It is said that El Cid filled it with gravel and used it as collateral to trick the moneylenders. El Cid was born in Burgos and he is buried in the Cathedral, together with his wife Doña Jimena Diaz. They are found under the lantern like dome under the floor, where their names are inscribed in the floor. The cloister has a modern mural of El Cid in front of the City of Burgos, painted by the artist Candido Perez in 2007.

 

[sillydoll]

The tour guides will tell you that the first gold brought back to Spain by the conquistadores was used to decorate altars in the Burgos cathedral. Arrrrgggghhhh - gives me the creeps!
I much prefer the simple Rpmanesque churches to the elaborate opulence of the cathedrals.

 

[Arn]

Gold for an altar may appear ”creepy” on the surface, but may also be taken out of context.
When Pope Alexander VI divided the non-Christian “New World” between Spain and Portugal (Treaty of Tordesillas 1493), it was a given that along with the conversion of souls to the Church any treasure found would be tithed to the Church; not directly to Roma, but to the local diocese of the nobleman putting up the money for the venture (venture capital). Along the same line as a people/person vowing to erect an edifice to a person, spirit, God (or all three) following an answer to a wish, prayer, request or petition. Many a church, school, or hospital contains “gifts” from parishioners, fund drives by students selling caramel apples and wealthy benefactors.
Though in this case the beneficiary of this munificence is the Burgos Cathedral, many a simple church was erected through the efforts of the local people seeking to provide a safe and secure place to gather and honor their God. In this case, the “treasure” offered was the sweat, skills and materials available.
Our Church of St. Margaret in Winter Harbor, Maine was constructed by Irish shipwrights, with the inside ceiling looking suspiciously like the inside of a ship’s hull turned upside down. In both cases, those responsible for improvements/ornamentation of the structure could sit in wonder and appreciation of their efforts, while long after their deaths; tour guides would spin their presentations to fit the sensibilities of the present time and the current audience.
Arn