The National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC) has incorporated into its fund four fragments of the Romanesque portal of the monastery of Saint Peter of Rhodes attributed to Master of Capstany. They are made of white marble and would have been part of the biblical cycles that decorated the large portal of the cenobi (sculpted in the second third of the 12th century and destroyed in the 19th century). The fragments have been bought for 250,000 euros in the galleries Artur Ramon Art, Palau Antiguitats and Clavell & Morgades Antiguitats. Only one of the pieces had been exhibited before; the other three, unpublished, will now be shown for the first time at the MNAC. They represent two heads, a small fragment of clothing and the lower part of a character in a scene of healing a woman.
The sculptural pieces, attributed to Mestre de Cabestany and his workshop, have been acquired for 250,000 euros and become part of the National Collection that, year after year, the MNAC increases with new acquisitions. Before buying them, specialist technicians from the Museum have examined them on different occasions.
Only one of the pieces had been exhibited and published before. The other three are almost unpublished and will now be shown to the general public for the first time. They are worked in white marble and included human figures and historical scenes dated between 1160 and 1163. They represent a head (7 x 11.5 x 10 cm), a second head with part of the right shoulder (12 x 7.5 x 8 cm), a fragment of the lower part of a character belonging to a New Testament scene of the healing of a woman (25 x 27 x 9 cm) and a small fragment of clothing (12 x 6 x 10 cm).
These pieces would have been part of the biblical cycles that decorated the large front of the church of Sant Pere de Rodes, built in the second third of the 12th century and destroyed during the first third of the 19th century. Unanimously, the portal has been attributed to the anonymous sculptor known as Mestre de Cabestany, an artist comparable to the one who represents the Master of Sant Climent de Taüll.
Various public and private institutions of Catalonia and from abroad preserve some of the reliefs and fragments that have survived, and which have been the subject of interest by Catalan and international specialists. “Despite their fragmentary state, the four reliefs are a faithful reflection of the great technical quality and sculptural strength of their author; in addition, they offer a sufficiently eloquent range of the monumental scope of the aforementioned Empordà portal and its historic theme”, he emphasizes Department of Culture.
The study of these pieces has made it possible to carry out new research on the Master of Cabestany and the cover of Sant Pere de Rodes, which will be published in book form (‘The Capstan Master. Sparkles of marble‘, 2023), where a new hypothetical reconstruction of the destroyed cover will be revealed, as well as a new interpretation of the function and context of this masterpiece.
“The admission of the pieces to the National Museum will contribute to filling the void that currently exists regarding the sculpture of the Master of Cabestany, one of the most original and prolific Romanesque artists, given that he was active in Catalonia, Navarre, Rosselló, Occitania and Tuscany,” she emphasizes Generalitat. Despite being an anonymous artist, he is one of the most unique and studied figures in Romanesque sculpture, with an international bibliography. With this acquisition, it will be possible to explain at the National Museum another of the masterpieces of medieval Catalan art through a space dedicated to the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes, alongside other centers of stone sculpture such as Repoll and, above all, of the large groups of wall paintings.
Evangelical passages
In the twelfth century, under the patronage of the viscounts of Peralada, the portal of the church is sculpted, currently missing due to looting. The only remains that remain in their original location are on the two lower sides of the main door. They are two fragments of marble, sculpted with plant motifs, fantastic animals and human heads. The rest of the portal was dispersed and many elements ended up in the hands of collectors.
Despite everything, the location of some fragments preserved or known through photographs has allowed it to be studied and different reconstructions proposed. The pieces show that reliefs of different sizes were worked on, both on stone and on reused Roman marbles. The portal was characterized by abundant figuration, which represented evangelical passages, with the characteristics typical of the work of the master of Cabestany, such as the use of the drill technique and Roman models in the composition that the master learned from the ‘observation of early Christian sarcophagi.
Millennium of the church
The acquisition coincides with the year in which the millennium of the consecration of the church of the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes, where the sculptural pieces originate, is celebrated. The consecration, which took place on October 5, 1022, led to the consolidation of the monastery’s domains at the beginning of the 11th century and the beginning of a long period of splendor which, as the Generalitat emphasizes, “today is is reflected in the set of constructions of the monument and which have made it one of the most loved and admired in Catalonia”.
To commemorate these thousand years of the consecration of Sant Pere de Rodes, fromCatalan Cultural Heritage Agency of the Department of Culture, different events and celebrations have been held that will last until May 2023.