Title

Our Lady of Sorrows

Anónimo castellano

Generic classification

Object

Date

Century

Cultural context / style

Dimensions

Material

Technique

Iconography / Theme

Provenance

Current location

Object history

The origin of this carving is not entirely clear, although Corti (1994) believes it comes from the Palencia area. To justify his hypothesis, he refers to other pieces with the same morphology, finding similarities in Palencia, specifically in the Calvaries of the parish church of San Esteban de Lomilla de Aguilar, the church of Nogales de Pisuerga, Perazancas de Ojeda, and Corvio (Navarro, 1939; Hernández, 2011). If we look at the Virgin of Calvary in San Esteban de Lomilla de Aguilar (Palencia), we can see that the appearance and arrangement of the drapery are the same, so it is likely that both pieces come from the same workshop.

This carving was acquired in 1921 by Enrique Larreta, an Argentine writer and diplomat. In the early 20th century, Larreta lived in Madrid and devoted himself to buying numerous works of art with the aim of later installing them in his residences in Buenos Aires. It is not known where he bought it, but at that time he visited the retrospective art exhibition commemorating the 700th anniversary of Burgos Cathedral. Advised by Zuloaga, the writer acquired several pieces, including a crucified Christ dating from 1300 and belonging to the Castilian school (Nobilia, 2018). Could he have bought this Virgen Dolorosa in Burgos? We do not know. Larreta took the carving to Buenos Aires and installed it in Acelain, an Arab-style residence that the writer had designed together with Martín Noel, where it is still kept today.

Description

The Virgin stands with her head slightly tilted to the right and her hands clasped at chest level, a position reminiscent of Byzantine pieces (Mâle, 1947). She wears a skirt with a round neckline, a long blue cloak, and a long veil that falls over her shoulders. Although only this figure is preserved in Acelain (Tandil, Buenos Aires), it is likely that it would have been accompanied by Saint John and Christ, forming a Calvary. In terms of its state of preservation, there are cracks in the cloak and holes in the head and base (Corti, 1994). In addition, the original color of the skirt has been lost. The number "2333" appears on the base, probably referring to its inclusion in a previous inventory.

Locations

• First half of the XIV^th c.

  region

  Possibly from the province of Palencia, Palencia (Spain)

• ca. 1921

  private collection

  Enrique Larreta, Buenos Aires (Argentina) *

• Third quarter of the XX^th c. - present

  museum

  Acelain, Buenos Aires (Argentina)