Navarrese School. Gothic. Circa 1350. 'Our Lady of Vesolla' Carved oak wooden sculpture. 98,...

Navarrese School. Gothic. Circa 1350.

'Our Lady of Vesolla'

Carved oak wooden sculpture.

98,5 x 36 x 34 cm.

A Franco-Navarrese master with great command of the gouge created this magnificent sculpture, particularly remarkable for the fact that the place where it remained for almost 700 years is known: the Romanesque church of Our Lady of Vesolla, located in the now uninhabited village of the same name, a 12th-century single-naved temple dedicated to the Purification of the Virgin. This hermitage, together with the carving it housed —the one presented here—, passed into private hands during the disentailment process in the 19th century. The Virgin of Vesolla therefore remained, until quite recently —perhaps the 1980s of the last century—, in its original location. Both the church and the sculpture belonged to a noble Navarrese family and were the property of Queen Fabiola of Belgium (Madrid, 1928 – Stuyvenberg Castle, Brussels, Belgium, 2014) and, by succession, of the Mora Gasch family, her heirs.

At present, a copy of our sculpture, made of resin with the permission of the current owners and with the mediation of the Government of Navarre, is exhibited in its former place of display, the altar of the Romanesque hermitage of Our Lady of Vesolla, which was restored under the auspices of the Directorate-General for Culture of the Government of Navarre, and reopened to the public in 2015. The original carving is the one presented here for auction.

The Virgin is documented in the Monumental Inventory of Navarre, Volume IV, Merindad de Sangüesa (plate 687; plate 686 shows the exterior of the church where it was housed) and has been published by Professor Clara Fernández-Ladreda in her work Medieval Marian Imagery. In both publications, the sculpture appears with a non-original polychromy, perhaps towards the end of the 19th century, which concealed the great beauty and refinement of the carving. Today, after the removal of the later polychromy, the sublimity and beauty of the sculpture’s genuinely Gothic features can be appreciated in all their splendour.

Provenance:

- Private Spanish collection.

Reference bibliography:

- García Gainza, María Concepción (dir.) (1989). 'Catálogo monumental de Navarra. IV, Merindad de Sangüesa'. Institución Príncipe de Viana.

- Fernández-Ladreda, Clara (1989). 'Imaginería Medieval Mariana'. Gobierno de Navarra.