Page 160 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

coat-of-arms on the chapel's screen (Burgos 1496).
Judging from the 1487 inventory, the reli-
quaries were not part of a series of apostles (apos-
tolado) f as has been suggested (Rico Santamaria
1985, 445), but were simply meant to house the
relics of three saints especially venerated in
Burgos. Santiago, patron of Castile, was particu-
larly important. Burgos was not only at the time
the unofficial capital of the kingdom, la cabeza de
Castilla, it was one of the major cities on the pil-
grimage route to Santiago de Compostela.
Luis de Acuna, the prelate who commissioned
the reliquaries, was an important political figure
during the years immediately preceding the reign

38

Master IF (possibly Juan Gonzalez Frias) and among the first to be established (Estepa Diez
1984, 287-288).
RELIQUARY OF SAINT JAMES Burgos Cathedral once possessed a large
THE GREATER number of relics, which were kept in the sacristy
1456-1457 until 1765 (Martinez Sanz 1866, 270-272). The
reliquaries of Saint James, Saint Peter, and Saint
Castilian Paul are almost certainly identical with the ones
gilt silver, painted, with precious stones listed in a 1487 inventory of the sacristy:
5
height 67 (26 /s)
references: Burgos 1496; Martinez Sanz 1866, 270- b.i El pulgar de senor Sant Pedro apostol esta
272; Lopez Mata 1950, 96, 98; Lopez Martinez 1961, en el apostol
309; Estepa Diez 1984, 287-288; Rico Santamana b.n De los huesos de senor Sant Pablo apostol
1985, 445 esta en el apostol
Excmo. Cabildo Catedral—Burgos b.m De los huesos de senor Santiago apostol
esta en el apostol
(Lopez Martinez 1961)
This silver gilt figure of Santiago, Saint James
the Greater, is one of a set of three reliquaries in The Roman numeral in is inscribed on the base
Burgos Cathedral in the form of standing figures of the Santiago reliquary, corresponding to the
of apostles, the others depicting Saints Peter and inventory number. The listing of these relics
Paul. They date from the tenure of Luis de Acuna under the alphabetical headings a—g can probably
as bishop of Burgos (1456-1495); his coat-of-arms be understood as a reference to the compartments
appears on the Santiago reliquary. The reliquary within the reliquary cabinet in the sacristy in
also displays the Caput Castellae, the crowned which the relics were stored. This arrangement
head of a king atop a castle, the mark of the may have been altered in 1495 upon the comple-
Burgos silversmith's guild. The mark of the sil- tion of Alonso de Sedano's "altar of the relics"
versmith himself consists of two letters: IF. (retablo de las reliquias). Significantly, it must
Burgos was one of the principal centers of silver- have been Luis de Acuna who initiated this proj-
smith's production in Castile in the fifteenth cen- ect, as the artisan responsible for the ironwork,
tury, and its guild was one of the most prestigious the rejero, was later required to place the bishop's

EUROPE AND THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD 159