The gothic rosette of Santa María del Mar
THE GOTHIC ROSETTE OF SANTA MARIA DEL MAR CHURCH IN BARCELONA
By: Marta Jordan Bonet
There was a time when Ribera's district was the core of Barcelona. Alexandre Cirici i Pellicer, in his complete guide Barcelona pam a pam (see bib.) explain us about the importance of that district in the history of Barcelona, where a majestuous medieval street was built, wider and more straight than the others: the street of Montcada, with its palaces of solid and sober exteriors, characteristic of medieval catalan architecture. It was possible as a result of the incoming splendor that started with the maritime activities of the city, and from which emerged the new urban social classes, willing to record their great success and economic power.
'During the XIVth and XVth centuries, Barcelona was a privileged place in the Mediterranean to encourage intense creativity that was embodied in architecture, sculpture and painting.'
'During the XIVth and XVth centuries, Barcelona was a privileged place in the Mediterranean to encourage intense creativity that was embodied in architecture, sculpture and painting.'
AROLA, Raimon; CIRLOT, Victoria; VIVAS, Pere, Barcelona gótica (Barcelona, Ed. Triangle, 2014)
The greatest and solemn testimony of that commercial force on the medieval city, which remained for centuries and brought a strong heritage value to our mediterranean city, was the construction of the great church of Santa María de la Mar, erected as the Cathedral of the Ribera, and built by the joint effort of the people of the sea. Some decorative elements still show that effort of the most popular classes in the works of it, like the guilds of the Macips of Ribera, also known as the 'Bastaixos of Capçana (guild of workers that transport merchandises from the river or the sea, to the city).
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| Figurative decoration of a door (Santa Maria del Mar) |
Medieval Barcelona became a harbour of great communications, a fact that transformed its urbanism. That great church, near to the Mediterranean Sea -that rose over the old chapel of the Sorra del Mar (Sand of the Sea) of the martyr of the city, Santa Eulàlia-, was dedicated to the Mare de Déu (Mother of God), expressed in the forms and liturgy of the marian cult, and as a manifest of a flourishing bourgeoisie that sought the beauty and purity of natural forms, crowning the Mother of God in her temples.
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The tombstone at the door of Moreres (1329). Alfons IV 'el Benigne', King of Aragó, King of València, King of Sardenya and Còrsega and Count of Barcelona (1327-1336)
An inscription at the door of Moreres still attests this, informing us about the year of construction of that ambitious work, and according to a contract signed between the masters of work and the workers in 1329. This document was found and published by Agustí Duran i Sanpere.
'In the name of the Holy Trinity in honor of Madonna Sancta Maria began the work of this church on the day of Sancta Maria in March of the year 1319(sic) reigning Nanfós (Alfonso IV) by the grace of God King of Aragon who conquered the Kingdom of Sardinia'
Mistranscription (only the year) of the commemorative tombstone at the door of Moreres in Santa Maria del Mar according to:
BASSEGODA I NONELL, Joan, Santa Maria del Mar, catedral de la Ribera. Esbós d'una història de sis segles. In the bibliogràphic christmas: L'expansió de Catalunya en la Mediterrània (VI Centenari de Santa Maria del Mar, 1383), (Barcelona: Fundació Jaume I, 1983).
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| Tombstone with inscription at the Door of Moreres (Santa Maria del Mar) |
According to Domenge, the contractual document that confirms the definitive datation of 1329 -the same that the tombstone of Moreres really settles-, was found, as its said, by Duran i Sanpere after the first published work of Bonaventura Bassegoda i Amigó, but yet slightly appointed in the Bassegoda's collective monography of 1976 (op. cit):
DOMENGE MESQUIDA, Joan, Santa Maria del Mar i la historiografia del gòtic meridional. Barcelona Quaderns d'Història, 8 (2005) (Barcelona: AHC/Ajuntament de Barcelona, 2005), 'The location, by Agustí Duran i Sanpere, of the contract for the construction of the church, signed between the workers of Santa Maria and the quarryman masters Ramon Despuig and Berenguer de Montagut, added some basic information to the history of Bassegoda and allowed to identify, with name and lineage, the responsables of the constructive highlights so praised by Rubió and Lavedan', p.196.
As the tombstone reflects, we are at the end of feudalism, when the kings
tried to dominate the old feudal counts, controlling the baronies, from
matrimonial alliances, purchases, inheritances and some other conflicts. But here the
tombstone names his son as reigning, the successor of Jaume II, the king Alfons
IV, also king of islands like Sardinia, as the inscription says. He was known as the Benign King, of short reign, who opened a triumphant
chronicle of Ramon Muntaner, with his coronation in Zaragoza.
The awareness of a single family between Catalunya and
Aragon wasn't yet erased, despite the fact that two centuries had already
passed under the reigning of the House of Aragon, as the last king of the Casal de Barcelona (House of Barcelona) Ramon Berenguer IV, made the known dynastic union, by interests
of state, of both territories, with a suitable marriage with Petronella I of
Aragón in the XIIth century.
Alfons died in Barcelona. His son, the next king since 1327, was born in the castle of Balaguer (Lleida), and after the
reign of Alfons was portrayed in the Chronicle as Pere III of Catalonia, IV
of Aragon and II of Valencia. Known as Pere El Cerimoniòs or Pere del Punyalet), with his idea of power and vindication of the state, he showed himself as the ideal sovereign, protected
from providence and surrounded by the esteem of his vassals.
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In the year 877, centuries before the construction of the church of Santa Maria de la Mar, the tradition told that the bishop Frodoi discovered the remains of the martyr of Barcelona, Santa Eulàlia, in the old church of les Arenes o Sorra del Mar (Sand of the Sea). Very remarkable was the fact that in 1339 (according to the Chronicle of the same Pere III the Cerimoniós) there was a solemn ceremony that ended in a noble feast. A great procession went from the Cathedral of Barcelona to Santa Maria de la Mar and back again, to transfer the remains of Santa Eulàlia contained in an ark in Santa Maria to the tomb on the chapel of the Holy Cross altar at the cathedral, were actually still remains. There were the most powerful personalities of that time, with the kings Pere III of Catalonia and Aragon, Jaime II of Mallorca, the infants, the Catalan widowed queen Elisenda de Montcada, the highest hierarchies of the catalan church, and the knights and nobles that arrived at the city for the event too, for its transfer.
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| Crypt of Santa Eulalia, under the major altar (Cathedral of Barcelona) |
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The impressive rosette of Santa Maria del Mar. Iconography and symbolism
'Along the Gothic period the mural painting decays. The adequate surfaces to display it have disappeared. The walls are torn by large windows, and these are the ones that show polychrome stained glass windows, offering a new space to the iconography.'
MONREAL Y TEJADA, Luis. Iconografia del cristianismo (Barcelona, El Acantilado, 2003)
On the main front of Santa Maria del Mar was built a magnificent gothic rose window, a great work of art and architecture where we can still contemplate the beautiful scene of the Coronation of the Mare de Déu by the Most Holy Trinity, with all the iconographic and symbolic elements that the cult required in medieval catalan gothic art.
'If you look at east, it presents the Imafront, full of holes by the majestic rosette, flanked by two airy and severe abutments, girding the main portal, where shines a composition of sober sculptural richness. The front is retailed by a clean leveled line, characteristic of our ogival architecture. The roseness of Montjuic's stone, six centuries old, retails the blueness of mediterranian sky.'
'If you look at east, it presents the Imafront, full of holes by the majestic rosette, flanked by two airy and severe abutments, girding the main portal, where shines a composition of sober sculptural richness. The front is retailed by a clean leveled line, characteristic of our ogival architecture. The roseness of Montjuic's stone, six centuries old, retails the blueness of mediterranian sky.'
BASSEGODA i AMIGÓ, Bonaventura (et al.), Santa Maria de la Mar: monografia històrico-artística del temple (Barcelona: Editores Técnicos Asociados/Universitat Politècnica de Barcelona, 1976)
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| Rossete of Santa Maria del Mar (outdoor) |
The current rosette corresponds to a reconstructive effort, as the previous one was destroyed by a terrible earthquake in 1428. The mention of this natural disaster is related in the book of Pere Joan Comes written in the fifteenth century, and in this historical source remain expressed the drama. It occurred the second day of february, the Feast of Purification of Nosta Dona Santa Maria, about eight o'clock in the morning, when there was a strong shock. Half an hour later, when people were in the parish churches celebrating the religious festival and blessing candles, was felt a terrible tremor and roar again that caused the death of some twenty-five people by detachment of stone blocks. And also, when trying a last and desperate escape, they fell flat on top of each other.
The earthquake reached an intensity of nine and its magnitude was six and a half. Its epicenter was located in the catalan Pyrenees, and it caused damages in France and the rest of Catalonia too. In considered the most intense that we have suffered, with a total of thousand estimated deaths, ending up exterminating an entire population in Queralbs.
The great reconstruction work of the new rossette was made in 1459 by Pere Joan and Andreu Escobar along with the glassmaker from Toulouse Antoni de Luinyi. The splendid and colorful rose window consists of one-hundred and twenty-one overtures. In the center of it, three figures were represented in an inverted triangle arrangement, showing the well-known iconographic subject of the Coronation of the Virgin, who is represented with a pink tunic and a blue mantle; this cloak as an attribute of sovereignty and promise of protection to the faithful. The mantle of the Virgin is related to the celestial vault. The figure, with her reconstructed face, has a lower angle than the other two figures.
The younger figure on the left represents the Son of God, and
the elderly character on the right (also his face suffered a
reconstruction) is the Father of the Holy Spirit, both dressed in symbolic
colors, red and green. Those two figures hold a seated position, while the
Mother of God remains on her knees, a sign of respect and submission. A dove, symbol of the Holy Spirit, flies over the head
of the Virgin and the hand of the Son, who crowns the Mother of God along with the Father. The sacred crown continued to be a very archaic symbol
of power and glory. It turns the Virgin into the Queen of Heaven, being the christian
crown the symbol of glorious reward and holiness.
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| Rossete of Santa Maria del Mar (interior detail) |
The crown in the Middle Ages was a mediator and a link between two worlds, the earthly and the heavenly. The medieval kings were crowned by the church, by linking this factual power with the state. By rejecting such tradition, a serious conflict involved church and king here in Catalunya: advised by one of his noble barons, Pere III el Cerimoniós did not accept the coronation of the archbishop, starting some tensions between both estates.
The whole set has a cosmic symbolism, exemplifying a higher order than the earthly one. The rosette is a Sun that radiates with its twenty-four flashing rays represented. The Virgin holds a Moon on her knees, female cosmic symbol, the opposite of the Sun king. The blue background of the composition is also a symbolic color used to represent the celestial vault, with angels.
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| Rosette of Santa Maria del mar (interior) |
There is a geometrical order that engages with the christian cosmos, through the use of concentric circles, with the symbols of the evangelists, the twelve apostles, and a series of saints and martyrs, all of them, to glorify the act of the Coronation of the Virgin.
The french glassmaker in collaboration with
the catalan master builders made a superb work thirty-two years after that terrible earthquake, which leads us to the final conclusion:
both, medieval men and women, were able to reborn with hope, as a Phoenix Bird, and reconstruct what they considered their greatest work, the temple
of their christian beliefs and a symbol of popular effort, promoted by elites
that governed, those who wanted to express with art their power, the same power that emanated
from the divine mandate.
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Bibliographic addenda
CHEVALIER, Jean; GHEERBRANT, Alain, Diccionario de los símbolos (Barcelona: Herder, 2015)
CIRICI PELLICER, Alexandre, Barcelona pam a pam (Barcelona; Editorial Teide, 1971)
RIU, Manel, Lecciones de Historia medieval (Barcelona: Editorial Teide, 1986)
SOLDEVILA, Ferran, Història de Catalunya, 3 v. (Barcelona: Editorial Alpha, 1962)
TOMAN, Rolf (ed.), El Gótico: arquitectura, escultura, pintura (Barcelona: Könemann/Tandem Verlag, 1999)
VILAR, Pierre (dir.), BATLLE, Carme, Història de Catalunya. L'expansió baixmedieval, vol. III (Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1988)
VV.AA., Diccionari d'història de Catalunya (Barcelona: Edicions 62, 2004)
CHEVALIER, Jean; GHEERBRANT, Alain, Diccionario de los símbolos (Barcelona: Herder, 2015)
CIRICI PELLICER, Alexandre, Barcelona pam a pam (Barcelona; Editorial Teide, 1971)
RIU, Manel, Lecciones de Historia medieval (Barcelona: Editorial Teide, 1986)
SOLDEVILA, Ferran, Història de Catalunya, 3 v. (Barcelona: Editorial Alpha, 1962)
TOMAN, Rolf (ed.), El Gótico: arquitectura, escultura, pintura (Barcelona: Könemann/Tandem Verlag, 1999)
VILAR, Pierre (dir.), BATLLE, Carme, Història de Catalunya. L'expansió baixmedieval, vol. III (Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1988)
VV.AA., Diccionari d'història de Catalunya (Barcelona: Edicions 62, 2004)
Translation: Xavier Soler Àvila
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