Title

Altar

Generic classification

Object

Century

Cultural context / style

Dimensions

Material

Technique

Iconography / Theme

Provenance

Current location

Inventory Number in Current Collection

Object history

The description provided by The Metropolitan Museum of Art regarding the provenance of this altar, which forms part of The Cloisters collection, refers to it as "made in Castile." We know that the work was part of the collection of George Grey Barnard, whose architectural and sculptural repertoire constituted the bulk of The Cloisters' collection in its early days, thanks to the philanthropic efforts of John D. Rockefeller Jr., the driving force behind this unique medieval museum in northern Manhattan. David Simon pointed to its possible origin in Salamanca or Zamora, and recognized the work in an old postcard from the Barnard collection, with the same appearance it has today (Simon, 1984). The truth is that certain similarities can be seen with other Romanesque examples from Zamora that are still preserved in their original location, such as the altar of the church of Santa María de la Horta (Zamora), and the capitals are also reminiscent of a capital from the same church in Zamora. The figures depicted also bear certain similarities to those preserved in some buildings in the city, such as the church of San Cipriano. Furthermore, the motif, in the form of a plinth, on which the bases of the columns rest is similar to that seen on the bishop's door of Zamora Cathedral, as well as on other Romanesque buildings in the city.

Among the churches in Zamora that suffered significant damage in the 20th century is San Leonardo, from which the lion sculpture currently preserved in The Cloisters (The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York) also comes. The church must have been one of the most beautiful Romanesque buildings in the city, although we must refer to the drawing by José María Avrial y Flores from 1850 and the descriptive notes by Manuel Gómez-Moreno for the Monumental Catalog of the province of Zamora, compiled between 1903 and 1904, in order to get an idea of what the building was like before its destruction. As late as 1908, the pilgrimage of San Mauro was still being celebrated in the temple, which means that it must have been in a decent state of repair. although shortly afterwards the building's ruin was accelerated, first with the demolition of the tower in 1912 —a towerthat some authors compared to that of Santa María de la Antigua inValladolid—and later with the purchase of the building by the Zamora antiquarian Fernando Martínez with the aim of selling off its main artistic treasures (Sadía, 2014). Florián Ferrero briefly alluded to the possibility that the church of San Leonardo was the place of origin of this altar preserved in The Cloisters (Ferrero, 2013), and referred to Simon's description of the work to endorse this possibility (Simon, 1984). 

Every January 15, the pilgrimage dedicated to San Mauro was celebrated in the church of San Leonardo, as a relic of the saint was preserved there. Fernández Duro wrote: "It is celebrated in the same city, in the church of San Leonardo, where the crippled are the first to go to worship a relic of the saint, their patron, which is kept there. This primacy among similar festivals is expressed in the local adage:'Of the saints of January, Saint Mauro is the first' (Fernández Duro, 1882). Thus, the iconography of the church, the figures represented on the capitals and on its altar, probably had a connection with the dedication of the church, Saint Leonard, or with such devotion: Saint Mauro. On this altar, preserved in The Cloisters, Simon interpreted the figure represented at the end as Saint Peter with the book and the key, but it is likely that they are shackles. This attribute often accompanies representations of Saint Leonard, protector of prisoners, whom prisoners invoked to break their chains. Regarding the figure housed in the next arch, Simon said that it looked like a kind of Atlas, an interpretation that leaves us with doubts. Could it be a captive? This would allow for a joint reading of both figures. This iconographic theme also appears in the aforementioned lion relief that once adorned the exterior of the temple of Saint Leonard, on one side of the door, paired with a similar lioness on the other side. This sculptural ensemble depicts two captives freed by Saint Leonard.

In any case, this altar has been altered, as ancient parts have been combined with modern ones, something that may have taken place when it was part of the Barnard collection; he was a sculptor and may well have repaired or completed the piece, or perhaps this took place when the work circulated on the antiques market, before it was acquired by him. The original body probably comes from a temple in Zamora, perhaps, in view of all the above, from the church of San Leonardo.

Description

The altar is articulated at the front by four arches resting on six columns, which are unevenly distributed, with two of them, paired, supporting one of the arcades. The capitals feature plant motifs. The bases of the columns rest on a plinth decorated with small arches, a frequent motif in Zamora Romanesque architecture. There are two figures under the arches on the left. The one at the end, as mentioned above, may be Saint Leonard, and the one next to it may represent a captive. The capitals, columns, and arches are of varying styles. Finally, the slab that forms the altar table and the stepped base on which it stands are modern.

Locations

• Unknown date

  province

  Zamora, Zamora (Spain)

• 1925

  private collection

  George Grey Barnard, New York (United States) *

• 1925 - present

  museum

  The Cloisters. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (United States)