From the very Digital Press Room of the Generalitat de Catalunya, we take and analyze the statement here:
Digital Press of the Generalitat (1)
* First and very substantial:
“the mural painting used in Espills is a tempera painting on plaster and lime,
according to the results of the analyzes carried out in the CRBMC laboratory.
This technique is not unique to the Romanesque mural painting of Catalonia, which is mainly based on the fresco technique, although it can incorporate other techniques.”
As reported, they are not frescoes but tempera paint, a technique where The pigments mixed with fatty binders are applied to the dry plaster, leaving a result very similar to a fresco, while at the same time achieving a singular resistance of the paint as demonstrated by the extraordinary quality of the Roman plasters.
It is the oldest pictorial technique known and which can be considered characteristic of the European Romanesque and Gothic styles.
After analyzing the extracted samples, they have ruled that the pigment is commonly used in all artistic styles that were prior to the s. XVIII-XIX, lor that it implies what is evident, that the paintings were made at any time between the construction of the church in the s. XI and the whitewashed temple of the s. XVIII.
* Second and very curious:
“The forced positions and gestures of the figures, inexpressive and
of a popular and barroer character, which disassociate them from the artists of the Romanesque period.
The black stroke of the drawing, very marked, does not refer to the usual styles of that time.”
Based on the fact that the pictorial line is rough and rude, that the figures have forced positions, inexpressive gestures and very marked black lines, their dissociation from the artists of the Romanesque period is ruled, despite these being precisely the most usual characteristics. of Romanesque pictorial art. An example of it:
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| Romanesque of the s. XII. Santa María de Ginestrarre (Pallars Sobirà) |
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Romanesque imprints of the Virgin of Solà (Pallars Jussà) * Third and very surprising: |
“The clothing of some of the female figures, reminiscent of a gipon and
a skirt with inner hemming, which was a structure of concentric metal circles
which was placed under the skirts to give them a flared shape.
It is an item of clothing not used in Romanesque iconography and,
which, in any case, is more characteristic of the end of the XV”.
They add in the report that the clothing of the female figure reminds them of a metallic structure made of concentric circles that was placed under the skirt to give a flared shape and that this seems more typical of fifteenth-century iconography. In any case, we can see that it is exactly the same as that of another female figure from the Roda de Isabena murals and no one doubts that it is Romanesque.
Similarity between the skirt of the Orante d’Espills and the female figure of the Romanesque murals of Roda de Isabena 12th century.
The two places belonged to the same diocese until very recently and we would say that those lines and style also belong to the same period.
* Fourth and totally unheard of:
“And finally, the fact that everything points to the use of the ladder procedure,
which consists of using a template with a certain shape
to keep repeating it in the decorative ensemble.
This procedure is not found in Catalan Romanesque wall painting”.
The experts point out that the climbing procedure has been used in this composition, which consists of using a template with a certain shape to repeat it in the decorative set, such as the repetition of stars to simulate the celestial dome or details of ornamental borders.
Climbing has no practical sense unless the same drawing has to be reproduced a large number of times while being, at the same time, totally understandable, that It has been used in all pictorial expressions since time immemorial, using for this purpose any object that could serve as a pattern tablet: cardboard, leather, branches, vegetable leaves, wood or, in short, whatever was closest to hand.
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One of the first climbs in history. More than one of us, as children, have obtained a good profile of these, from our mothers. |
It is argued in this same statement, something very curious: that this UNIVERSAL procedure is not found in Catalan Romanesque mural painting!
* Fifth and very important:
“The remains of decorative tape that traces the stone ashlars
on the north wall are fresco paintings from the Romanesque period,
in accordance with the original architectural style of the church”
They also confirm in this statement that the decorative tape that follows the mural stone ashlars of the north wall AND which is from the Romanesque period and, in addition, is painted in fresco.
So after the Romanesque mural taping, they waited three or four centuries to paint the apse with Romanesque iconography and with the same predominant white and red tonality as the painting on the wall.
Taking these data into account and knowing that a temple was not considered definitively finished until it had been plastered and decorated with pictorial themes whose character was figurative as well as catechetical, this would be a very obvious case of not corresponding to reality.
* Conclusion
It is not surprising that the same experts are confused and admit the uniqueness of these paintings; that they have requested the rehabilitation of the hermitage and the security of the space to preserve them in their original location and that, at the same time, recommend the removal of the paintings and their transfer to a museum, if this is not possible.
While waiting for the final date, which surely may take some time, we have no choice but to hope that in this “official truth” common sense shines like never before and that it is never extinguished by the influence of the powerful, unfortunate gentleman social scourge that feeds our vanity.
| Romanesque mosaic of Espills that, capriciously, bears a great resemblance with the mosaics of the Baths of Caracalla ***
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| First Romanesque Gathering at the Virge del Solà. Health and Romanesque |
