Title

Saint Martin

Anónimo castellano

Generic classification

Object

Date

Century

Cultural context / style

Material

Technique

Iconography / Theme

Provenance

Current location

Inventory Number in Current Collection

Object history

This Gothic sculpture of Saint Martin comes from the Leonese municipality of Cacabelos, in the region of El Bierzo. It was carved in the 15th century by an anonymous artist for the church of San Martin, located in the vicinity of the aforementioned municipality. As a consequence of the terrible conditions of the church of San Martin de Cacabelos, the carving was moved in 1860 to the Monastery of Carracedo, located some five kilometers from Cacabelos (Fernández et al, 2012).

According to historian Vicente Fernández, the monastery guarded the figure until 1908, when it was sold to finance the repair of its roof, which was in a dilapidated state. The parish priest, Emilio Prieto, obtained permission from the bishop of Astorga to sell the work to José María de Palacios y Abárzuza, Conde de las Almenas. This prominent art collector moved it to the Palacio del Canto del Pico, in Torrelodones (Madrid), a residence designed specifically to house his vast art collection (Fernández et al, 2012).

In 1927, the difficult economic situation of the Count of Las Almenas forced him to sell and auction a large part of his collection in New York. On January 14 of that year, he placed an advertisement in the New York Times with the headline "ANTIQUE SPANISH ART FOR SALE", touting the collection as "one of the most important collections of medieval and early Renaissance art from Spain ever brought to this country" (New York Times, 1927). It was then that the carving passed into the hands of Archer M. Huntington, who incorporated it into the holdings of the Hispanic Society of America, where it remains today (Codding 2017, 160).

Description

St. Martin, son of pagan parents, was a Roman soldier interested in both military life and Christianity. According to the hagiographer Sulpicius Severus, one day at the gate of Amiens, St. Martin found a beggar suffering from the cold. St. Martin, moved by compassion, divided his cloak and offered him half of it to keep him warm. According to the Golden Legend of Jacob of the Vorágine, that same night Christ appeared to him in a dreamño and said, "Look what Martán has given me," revealing to him that the beggar he had helped was in fact Christ himself (Codding 2017, 160).

This transformative experience led St. Martín to leave the army, be baptized, and dedicate his life to religion, eventually becoming bishop of Tours. After his death, his figure was venerated, and the fragment of his cloak became a relic. Saint Martín embodies the Christian values of charity, which contributed to his popularity and the creation of numerous carvings and representations in his honor (Codding 2017, 160).

The work in question, preserved in the Hispanic Society of America, dates from the 15th century and is one of the earliest documented representations of this scene in the Iberian Peninsula. It is a polychrome gótic piece, carved in round bulk, although with a simpler finish on the back, suggesting that it was destined to form part of the altarpiece of San Martín in the church of Cacabelos (Codding 2017, 160).

Saint Martín is depicted as an elegant young man, mounted on a white horse and dressed in a saya, a hat, and the cloak that he dividedó to give to the beggar. The cloak is decorated with golden patterns, chevrons and a wide ruffled collar. The plastic details on the face, hair and garments are evidence of the author's technical and artistic skill. Likewise, the artist demonstrates a basic knowledge of equine anatomy, achieving a somewhat crude representation, but in accordance with the artistic standards of his time (Lenaghan 2000, 156).

The sculpture conveys a remarkable naturalness, showing St. Martín fully focused on the action he is performing. His gaze seems to be directed directly toward the beggar, raising the possibility that the work originally included the figure of the needy (Codding 2017, 160). In this sense, Lenaghan argue that the beggar was either a separate piece that was lost over time or a figure that the sculptor never got around to including in the work (Lenaghan 2000, 156).

Locations

• 1450 - 1860

  church

  Iglesia de San Martín, Pieros, Pieros (Spain)

• 1860XIX^th c. - 1908 XX^th c.

  monastery

  Monasterio de Santa María (Carracedo), Carracedo (Spain)

• 1908 - 1927

  private collection

  Collection of Conde de las Almenas, José María de Palacio y Abárzuza, Madrid y Finca Canto del Pico, Torrelodones (Spain) *

• 1927First quarter of the XX^th c. - present

  museum

  The Hispanic Society of America, New York (United States)