Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor (Toro)
The collegiate church Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor in the small town of Toro in the autonomous community of Castile-León is one of the most important Romanesque and Gothic buildings in Spain .
location
The collegiate church is located on a hill above the Duero river on the southern edge of the town of Toro at a height of approx. 720 m .
history
The construction of the collegiate church began around 1160, ie in the time of Ferdinand II of León in the styles of the Leonese Romanesque (cf. the old cathedrals of Zamora , Salamanca and Plasencia ); However, the construction work on the western part dragged on until 1240 and ended in the Gothic style. It is believed that the Gothic west portal dates from the end of the 13th century. The church building, especially the crossing tower , has been stabilized and restored several times in the past.
architecture
Exterior
The church is a three-aisled building with a transept and three apses , which - depending on their importance - are designed differently: The middle apse is particularly emphasized by pillars and two superimposed wreaths of blind windows; the side apses are - apart from one set window with column surround and a horizontal cornice - undivided. All three apses end in console friezes below the eaves . Late Romanesque wheel windows can be found on both sides of the transept and above the central apse .
.jpg)
Crossing tower
The architectural highlight of the Romanesque church building is undoubtedly the two-storey four -storey tower (cimborrio) with its sixteen-sided floor plan, both inside and outside , although four sides are particularly emphasized by round corner turrets, which serve both as a decorative element and as a static stabilizer. While the corner towers in the lower part have hardly any architectural decor, the two levels of the central tower with their windows - accompanied by small pillars and ending in oriental-looking multi - pass arches - are designed completely the same.
Comparable constructions can only be found on the old cathedrals of Salamanca and Plasencia as well as on the cathedral of Zamora .
-
- Floor plan of the Colegiata
- North portal
- Pregnant Maria
- Angel Gabriel
- James d. Ä.
- Evangelist John
- North transept and reredos to Juan de Ávila
- Crossing
- Main apse and ascension retable
- South transept
- Sacristy and museum
- Tracery window
- tower
- West portal
- St. Thomas Chapel
- South portal
-
West tower
The tower in the north-west corner of the building has a square floor plan in its lower part, which develops into an octagonal bell chamber further up . It is stabilized on all sides by buttresses .
North portal
The inner arch of the north portal without a tympanum shows a multi-pass arch. In the next archivolt there are angels with outspread wings that are oriented towards the middle person (God / Christ). The outer archivolts arch presents the 24 elders of the Apocalypse ( Rev 4,4–5 EU ) with musical instruments; in the middle shows a bearded God the Father accompanied by two intercessors (Mary and John).
Tower and Romanesque north portal
Romanesque north portal
Romanesque north portal (detail)
Two elders with a psalterion
.JPG)
Interior
On the first pillar of the three-aisled nave, the beautifully clad and very feminine figure of a belted (pregnant?) Mary can be seen, who looks half curious, half surprised at the figure on the opposite pillar, who can easily be identified as the Archangel Gabriel - both figures together make a preaching group . The following two pillars carry statues of James the Elder. Ä. ( Santiago ) and the Evangelist John . The crossing area with its two-storey, 16-part ribbed dome resting on pendants is one of the most extraordinary achievements of European Romanesque. Through a total of 24 windows - eight more are covered by the outer corner turrets - light falls in from all sides, so that the almost windowless nave from above, i. H. is illuminated by "Heavenly Light". Such windowed crossing towers are also known as lantern towers ( cimborrios ).
Furnishing
The furnishings include two altarpieces - one made of wood in the main apse and one dedicated to Juan de Ávila , the “Apostle of Andalusia” canonized in 1970, in the north transept. The jewels of the Sacristy Museum are an ivory crucifixion group with tortoiseshell appliqués from the 17th century and a Flemish panel painting called “Madonna with the Fly” ( Virgen de la Mosca ) - but in reality it is a representation of the saint Family or a Sacra Conversazione with Maria Magdalena and St. Catherine of Alexandria - standing in the background as a servant , who is very likely - she is sitting in front of the actual scenery - a hidden (posthumous?) Portrait of the im Queen Isabella of Castile who died in 1504 . After the picture was dated around 1520 for a long time and was puzzled about the painter, the painting is now attributed to Fernando Gallego (1440–1507 / 8) by many researchers and dated earlier. Mary holds an apple in her right hand, which she (the gesture is unclear) seems to be keeping away from the Christ child, because the apple is already a symbol of temptation and sin in the Old Testament. On the other hand, the scene can also be interpreted to the effect that Christ as “ New Adam ” is called to take upon himself the original sin of mankind and to overcome it through his death on the cross - that is why the little Christ boy stretches out his left hand to the apple. Incidentally, the fly sits on the red robe of the Madonna, at the level of her left knee; According to recent studies, it is a later addition - as is the halo around the head of Mary, which is said to have replaced an older veil.
West portal
The west portal ( Portada de la Majestad ) is one of the most important achievements of the Spanish Gothic. The portal itself is dated to the time of Sancho IV (r. 1284–1295); the colored version comes from the 18th century - however, it is likely to have been based on medieval models, possibly even traces of color. In the center of the depicted people is Mary, who already appears as the Queen of Heaven at the Trumeau pillar of the portal with the Christ Child in her arms. In the portal walls there are depictions of Old Testament kings ( David and Solomon ) and prophets. In the stone lintel above there is a depiction of the death and ascension of Mary ; the tympanum shows the scene - which is extremely popular in the Gothic era - as it is crowned by God sitting on God's right hand. The scene in the tympanum, which takes place against a blue background (= sky), is accompanied by two kneeling angels with candlesticks and two flying angels with censer . In the six archivolt arches above there are a total of 78 individual figures, which are often not clearly identifiable: The eight kneeling figures of the innermost archivolt hold incense casks and candlesticks in their hands and are marked as angels by their wings; the ten figures in the next sheet are to be understood as (Old Testament) kings because of their crowns; the twelve sculptures in the third archivolt would therefore be the twelve apostles ; the next two arches show 14 bishops and 16 female figures; in the outermost archivolts arch are the elders of the apocalypse with their musical instruments (see web link). The admonishing depiction of the Last Judgment, which is so central in Romanesque art, is completely shifted to the outside : On both sides of Christ there are initially two angels with the instruments of suffering ( Arma Christi ), next to them two intercessors and two trumpet angels; on the left of Christ joins the procession of the damned, which ends in hell ; on his right hand, angels lead the saved into heaven.
literature
- Rolf Toman (ed.), Achim Bednorz (photos): The art of the Romanesque. Architecture, sculpture, painting. Könemann, Cologne 1996, p. 200ff, ISBN 3-89508-213-9 .
Web links
- Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor - photo + brief information
- Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor - photo
- Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor - photos + information (spanish)
Coordinates: 41 ° 31 '12 " N , 5 ° 23' 40.4" W.