Page 167 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

48 he is called "francos," cannot be easily reconciled Fresdelval), are presumed to postdate it. He died
with stylistic evidence that points to his origin in in 1500 (Wethey 1936; Burgos 1500).
Gil de Siloe the Netherlands or the Lower Rhine region The alabaster tomb of Juan n of Castile and
Netherlands or Lower Rhine (?), active 1486-1500 (Lopez Mata 1946,103; Burgos 1501). Nothing Isabel of Portugal, for which this figure of San-
SAINT JAMES THE GREATER certain is known of Gil's activities prior to 1486, tiago was sculpted, is one of the most unusual and
when he provided the designs for the tombs at the extravagant funerary monuments of the fifteenth
1459-1493 Carthusian monastery of Miraflores, near Burgos. century. The Carthusian monastery in which it is
alabaster with traces of polychrome and gilding These tombs were not begun, however, until situated was founded in 1442 by Juan n, who
3
45.9 x 17.8 x 14.6 (iSVs x 7 x 5 /4J 1489, and in the interim Siloe must have com- ceded the former palace of Miraflores for the pur-
references: Burgos 1500; Burgos 1501; Laurent C. pleted the retablo for the funerary chapel of Luis pose. However, the monastery was almost
1577; Iglesia 1659, 3; Rada y Delgado 1874, 3:322; de Acuna in Burgos Cathedral, and another altar- entirely destroyed by fire in 1452, less than two
Turin y Juaneda 1896; Lopez Mata 1946, 103; piece, now lost, for the chapel of Alonso de Burgos years before the death of its founder. It remained
Wethey 1936, 31, 130, nn. 116-118 at the Colegio de San Gregorio in Valladolid. for Isabel la Catolica to pursue the construction
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Upon completion of the royal tombs in 1493, Siloe and decoration of her father's foundation. Work at
Cloisters Collection, 1969 was commissioned to execute the main altarpiece the monastery came to a complete standstill
for the church of San Esteban in Burgos (now during the troubled reign of Enrique iv and did
destroyed). Between 1496 and 1499 he was once not resume until 1477, shortly after Isabel
Like numerous other sculptors active in Castile again at Miraflores, at work on the monumental secured the throne. Construction of the monastic
during the second half of the fifteenth century, main altarpiece. With the Miraflores altarpiece, church was directed by Simon de Colonia, who
Gil de Siloe was from northern Europe, though the documented activity of Gil de Siloe comes to completed it in 1488. During the course of the
his precise origin remains uncertain. A document an end, though other works attributed to him next decade, Gil de Siloe and his shop executed
describing him as a native of "urliones" (Or- such as the Saint Anne altarpiece in Burgos the tomb of Juan n and Isabel of Portugal, that of
leans?), and another, recently discovered, in which Cathedral and the tomb of Juan de Padilla (from Isabel's brother, the Infante Alfonso, and the
polychromed wood retablo mayor (Tarin y
Juaneda 1896). Significantly, the royal tombs at
Miraflores distinguish and exalt the particular line
of succession through which Isabel la Catolica
asserted her disputed claim to the throne of Cas-
tile. As a dynastic monument, Miraflores func-
tions to affirm the legitimacy of Isabel's claims.
The alabaster figure of Saint James the Greater,
the patron of Castile, is one of sixteen that once
adorned the top of the star-shaped tomb of Juan u
and Isabel of Portugal. The largest of these fig-
ures, the four Evangelists, remain in situ at the
cardinal points of the eight-pointed star. The
remaining points and interior angles were origi-
nally adorned with twelve standing figures of
saints, including the Santiago and the eight stat-
uettes still at Miraflores. It is possible that two of
the latter originally belonged to the adjacent tomb
of the Infante Alfonso. Although written descrip-
tions of the monument have listed varying num-
bers of figures (Wethey 1936, 31,130, nn. 116-
118), there is no reason to doubt that there were
originally twelve standing figures situated in the
twelve available points and angles of the tomb.
Moreover, the earliest description of the tomb
specifically cites twelve figures: "en las quatro
principales esquinas los quatro Evangelistas, y en
los demas angulos, ay doze estatuas menores..."
(Iglesia 1659, 3).
A lithograph and two early photographs show
that this figure was formerly situated to the left
of the figure of Saint Luke, near the head of the
effigy of Isabel of Portugal (Rada y Delgado 1874,
3:322; Laurent C. 1577. It cannot be assumed,
however, that this was its original location. Physi-
cal evidence suggests that the Saint James was
singled out for special devotion and was at some
point removed from the tomb for a period of time.
The figure's gilding and polychromy cannot be
considered original as formerly maintained

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