“En la ciudad de dios”
La
advocación mariana de Miguel Suárez y las pinturas murales de la casa del
fundador de Tunja
Nuevos
documentos e interpretaciones*
Abel
Fernando Martínez Martín[1]
Andrés
Ricardo Otálora Cascante[2]
María
del Pilar Espinoza Torres[3]
Universidad
Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia
Reception: 04/11/2014
Evaluation: 06/11/2014
Approval: 30/04/2015
Research and
Innovation Article.
Resumen
En
este texto se exponen algunas fuentes documentales obtenidas en el Archivo Regional de Boyacá (ARB), que
identifican la importancia de Miguel Suarez de Figueroa, hijo mayor y heredero
de Gonzalo Suárez Rendón, fundador de la ciudad de Tunja, en la terminación y
decoración de las techumbres de la Casa
del Fundador y a su vez como patrocinador principal y fundador de la Capilla del Rosario, situada en la
Iglesia de Santo Domingo. Además, se ofrece una interpretación iconográfica del
techo de la Sala Principal de la Casa del Fundador diferente a la
expuesta por los historiadores Santiago Sebastián y José Miguel Morales
Folguera.
Palabras clave:
Tunja, arte colonial, Pinturas Murales de Tunja, Miguel Suárez de Figueroa
“In the city
of god”
The Marian Advocation of Miguel Suárez and the wall
paintings in the Founder’s Manor in Tunja. New documents and interpretations.
Abstract
This text exposes some
documental sources gathered from the Regional Archive of Boyacá (ARB, by its
acronym in Spanish), which identify the relevance of Miguel Suárez de Figueroa,
eldest son and heir to Gonzalo Suárez Rendón, founder
of the city of Tunja, in charge of the finishing and decorating
of the roofs of the Founder’s Manor, as well as the main sponsor and founder of
the Rosario Chapel, located in Santo Domingo church. Furthermore, an
iconographic interpretation of the roof of the main hall in the Founder’s Manor
is proposed, different from the one exposed by the historians Santiago
Sebastián and José Miguel Morales Folguera.
Key words: Tunja, colonial art, wall paintings in Tunja,
Miguel Suárez de Figueroa
« Dans la cité de
Dieu ». La dévotion Marianne de Miguel Suárez et les peintures murales de la
maison du fondateur de Tunja. Nouveaux documents et interprétations
Résumé
Dans ce texte on étudie quelques sources documentaires
trouvées dans l’Archive Régional de Boyacá, lesquelles montrent le rôle
centrale joué par Miguel Suárez Figueroa —fils aîné et héritier de Gonzalo
Suárez Rendón, fondateur de la cité de Tunja— dans
l’achèvement et la décoration des plafonds de la Maison du Fondateur et dans le
parrainage et la fondation de la Chapelle du Rosario, située dans l’Église de
Saint-Domingue. On offre, en outre, une interprétation iconographique du
plafond de la Salle Principale de la Maison du Fondateur qui est différente de
celle des historiens Santiago Sebastián et José
Miguel Moraux Folguera.
Mots clés: Tunja, Art colonial, Peintures Murales de Tunja, Miguel
Suárez de Figueroa
1.
By way of introduction
In the year 1583, in the city of Tunja,
its founder Gonzalo Suárez Rendón[4] died.
Upon his death, his elder son succeeded him. Miguel Suárez de Figueroa[5] was the fruit of his marriage with Mrs. Mencia de Figueroa. From that marriage were born two more children, Isabel and Nicolás. The latter, upon the death of the founder, was eight years old[6]. One of the sons of Nicolás, Gonzalo Suárez, would be, on the death of his uncle Miguel, he who inherited his goods. Miguel Suárez, did not have children with his wife Beatriz de Castro Alencastro, who was the sister, at the same time, of Nicolás´s wife, Luisa Castro Alencastro[7].
To conclude this small biographical review of the family of the founder of Tunja, it is necessary to clarify that Gonzalo Suárez Rendón had another daughter, probably before his marriage with Mrs. Mencia, with a Yanacona indigenous woman from Perú, named Ana. This mestizo daughter was in doubt in the founder´s will, but recognized in the one of his son Miguel, as his sister[8]. Also, Mrs. Mencia and Juan Nuñez de la Cerda had a daughter as the result of their marriage, Also, Mrs. Mencia and Juan Nuñez de la Cerda had a daughter as the result of their marriage, named by Miguel as Maria de la Trinidad; the name that she received upon entering into the convent of the Conceptionists of the city of Tunja[9], where she was entered by Miguel after the death of her mother in the year 1599[10]. Juan Núñez de la Cerda had died a few years before in 1596[11].
Thus, in this article it is highlighted how, Miguel Suárez Figueroa obtained most of the inheritance of Gonzalo Suárez Rendón. For that reason, all of his father´s goods and the furnishings that he owned, including the house on the Main Square, came into his hands. This made him one of the richest and most important men of the New Kingdom of Granada; a legacy that he took advantage of, we will soon see, to finance some of the main and emblematic monuments of the city of Tunja, such as the famous Rosario Chapel, located in the Church of Santo Domingo, and the no less important decoration of his residence, the so-called Founder's Manor.
2.
An
Unfinished House
When he died, Gonzalo Suárez Rendón left the ancestral house of the Main Square, located next to the Main Church of Santiago, unfinished:
I declare that I have and possess some main houses, with two lots of the main parish church for it and Pedro Hernández Mercader and, on the other hand, two royal streets: one is where Juan de Villa Nueva lives, with a plot of Diego de Patarroyo that previously belonged to the teacher of the school Don Pedro Garcia Matamoros, in the other street lives Diego Rincon. The said main houses have two rooms, one that leads to the main square of this city and the other room leads just to the front of the plot of the parish church. The said two rooms have six bedrooms and I have to make corridors in the houses, twenty-four pieces of marble carved into bases and capitals and eight ledges to make these corridors[12] (...). [translated from an excerpt in Old Spanish]
Image 1. Founder's
Manor
The lot that is referred to in the document, which is next to the Main
Church, today the Cathedral. It is that which is currently occupied by the Atarazana. Source: Photographic records of the
MD, MA and Doctor(c) in History Abel
Fernando Martínez Martín,1960
Image 2.
In this recent
picture of the interior of the Founder’s Manor, the upper story can be observed
with the columns that the founder left, but that his heir, Miguel Suárez de
Figueroa, would finally use in the construction of the second floor. Source: Photographic records of the MD, MA and Doctor(c) in History Abel Fernando Martínez Martín, 2013
What emerges from this testament, dated from 1579, is very relevant: that the present corridor with columns of which the house enjoys (Image 2)
was not made by the date of the will.
In an earlier version from the year 1566, Gonzalo Suarez points out that the entrance to his house was on the side of the Main Church, today the Cathedral:
I say and declare that in this city of Tunja, where I am a neighbor, I have some main houses with two finished rooms: one has a view of the public square of this city and the other room is incorporated, and it leads to the greater parish church of this city that has a large white stone portal with marble, and large doors with a golden elevation to make and some corridors. I have twenty-two marbles carved and a certain number of bases and capitals, engraved stone ledges and a lot of wood and beams to make these corridors[13].[translated from an excerpt in Old Spanish]
What can be deduced is that the present entrance, with its beautiful late renaissance cover, was not finished yet.
In the inner yard of the present Founders Manor, a stone doorway is located as a threshold (Image 3), whose decoration resembles the decoration of the supports of the roofs of Tunja, including those of the Founder's own Manor. We ask ourselves: will this be the doorway that was located in the lateral entrance door of the house in the times of Gonzalo Suárez? The answer to this question has not yet been confirmed, but what is clear is that the mentioned lateral entrance and the remains that can be seen from the interior of the house, was the main entrance to the courtyard and the ground floor, as well for the upper part as the corridor was not yet completed. Nor, in the empty lot mentioned by the founder, was the Atarazana built that served as storage for materials for the definitive construction of the Main Church, with that, the access that connected the Founders Manor and the Cathedral of Tunja was closed and probably that made that the entrance by the main façade was opened in the time of Miguel Suárez (Image 4).
Image 3.
Doorway in lintelled stone that was probably located in the lateral
entrance, next to the Main Church, in the times of Gonzalo Suárez Rendón. Source: Photographic records of
the MD, MA and Doctor(c) in History Abel
Fernando Martínez Martín, 2013
Image 4.
Doorway to the Main Square, today Plaza Bolívar, constructed at the
request of Miguel Suárez. Source: Photographic records of
the MD, MA and Doctor(c) in History Abel
Fernando Martínez Martín, 2013.
In summary, the thesis that we
propose is that the house was finished in the time of Miguel Suárez de Figueroa,
not only for the information provided by the
founder's will, but for other notarial documentation that
describes the conditions of
the house towards the year 1612[14], in which it is demonstrated, that by then
the work of the house was finished, and was one of the most well-known of the
city.
However, some final questions arise in relation to the completion of the house:
When was the completion of Miguel's house using some of the materials left by his father? When did the work of the front doorway that faces the current Plaza Bolivar begin? What happened to the side doorway of which Gonzalo Suárez speaks in his will? Is it perhaps the doorway that is currently in the inner yard of the house?
So far these are questions to which we cannot give certain answers, we can only offer interpretations based on the documentation that we have found.
For example, we do know that Miguel Suárez de Figueroa points out an obligation with the sculptor and stonemason, Bartolomé Carrión, author of the doorway of the Main Church, to have paid him money and gold for some works done:
Know how many see this obligation, they will see as the Captain Don Miguel Suárez, alderman of the city of Tunja, which in the New Kingdom of Granada of the Indies, said I recognize through this present document that I must and I force myself to give and pay, and that I will give and I will actually pay to Bartolomé Carrión, a stoner residing in this city, to whom I owe one hundred and thirteen pesos and five pesos of fine gold of molten ore framed with the royal mark of the king, our lord (…)[15] [translated from an excerpt in Old Spanish]
Would Carrión be the author of the two doorways of the house, the
one on the side and that of the Main Square? In our opinion, this hypothesis is more than plausible, since by that time
the master of stone, Carrión, was a recognized
sculptor; the most recognized of the city. But also, if we compare Carrión´s style, the one used in the façade of the
Cathedral, and the work of the Founders Manor, stylistic similarities are observed:
the good execution of the
carving of the stone; the taste for the decoration with elements of Renaissance
type, with touches of a certain mannerism in the broken cornice that appears in
both works; the grooved columns and the capping of the same in capitals. It is more than likely
then, that the doorways are the work of Bartolomé Carrión.
3. About the Pictorial Decoration
In the will of Gonzalo Suárez Rendón of the year 1579, the founder only makes reference to some painted emblems “on thin wall cloths[16].” Our opinion is that the house, given that its structure was not completely finished, did not count then with the mural of the ceiling, and there would only be mural paintings on some walls, of which remains are still observed. Thus, the painting of the walls, including the two shields, the extravagant borders which runs through some rooms, is older than the ceiling and could have been made in the time of Gonzalo Suárez.
The decoration “a la romana” (Roman style), or with grotesque motifs, became a true fashion in the city of Tunja. Many houses, institutions and churches resorted to this type of decoration[17], in times when the air of counter-reformism still had not arrived in the city, the grotesque motifs decorated the walls of convents, churches and houses, within a Catholic project based on the assimilation of certain pagan motifs and models of Greco-Roman reference, which was very successful in the Spanish Renaissance or Plateresque. Some historians, like the Spaniard Santiago Sebastián, indicated in their time, that the mural painting of the roofs of the Founder´s Manor was work of the second husband of Doña Mencia:
Dead Mr. Gonzalo in 1583, the second husband of Mencia de Figueroa, Juan Núñez de la Cerda, ordered to paint the roof of the house that belonged to the founder, the weapons of Doña Mencia, his wife, as can be seen in a circular and quartered emblem, where in the first quarter or quarter of honor, a fleur-de-lis and a rampant lion are displayed in the middle of the quarters[18]. [translated from an excerpt in Old Spanish]
This opinion was also followed by José Miguel Morales Folguera[19]. However, it should be noted that this thesis has never been supported by any documentation.
Our opinion is radically opposite. In the first place, the inheritance of Gonzalo Suárez Rendón, the house and other goods and furnishings, passed to Miguel, his eldest son, in an unfinished condition. The customs of the time indicate that Doña Mencia, when marrying de la Cerda, would leave that house to go to live in the one of her new husband. In this way, the will awarded to Miguel Suárez was fulfilled, which would rule out that it was de la Cerda who ordered the paintings in "another person’s house."
Secondly, we have found in documentation that Miguel Suárez became the economic protector of his mother and her husband, to the point of having paid for his own funeral: “[…] and to his said father (it refers to Juan Núñez de la Cerda, father of his sister, María de la Trinidad) gave him in the time that he lived a large quantity of silver and gold; when he died I buried him at my expense for the love we had for him[20].” Under these economic conditions it is quite difficult to think that de la Cerda could pay the costs of such decoration.
In third place, there are other reasons not to award the financing of the work to de la Cerda. He, as it has been said, passed away before Doña Mencia, in this sense, the thesis maintained by Sebastián and Morales would then be very contradictory - until now the most accepted-, that such decoration would be in relation to the iconographic models established in the Moral Emblems of Sebastián de Covarrubias[21], whose edition is from 1610 and that it probably took one or two years to reach America. In this way, we would face a dilemma: or the theory of the models of Covarrubias is not completely certain as a likely reference of the paintings; or it will be necessary to correct the dates of relation of the pictorial works, so they can be awarded to de la Cerda and Doña Mencia.
On the other hand, another interpretation, that Sebastián and Morales have confused Sebastián de Covarrubias Orozco with his brother, Juan de Orozco, who did edit a work similar to the one of his brother, in the year of 1589, in Segovia: a work that does agree on dates with the iconographic references contributed by these two historians and which is much earlier than his brother's. The work of Juan Orozco had a first edition with clear Mannerist intentions; not so, in the second edition, made in the year 1604 in Zaragoza, Baroque[22] influences are already observed. Therefore, if we admit as valid, as Sebastián and others affirm, that the works of the roofs, at the earliest, should not have been done before 1590, then it cannot be the work of Sebastián de Covarrubias, the referent and it can, on the contrary, the work of his brother Horozco, which at no time is mentioned by those authors. In addition, if between 1590 and 1620, dates given by Sebastián and which we also share, the paintings of the roofs would be made, then it is impossible that by chronology it was Juan Nuñez de la Cerda who was his sponsor.
4. Miguel Suárez de Figueroa and the Marian advocation
Miguel was part of the first generation born in the New Kingdom of Granada. He lived in Tunja all his life. He fostered his architectural and artistic development; and actively participated in public life, occupying various positions, as a member of the powerful elite[23]. As was to be expected in a man of the elite of his time, he was an active Catholic, with a particular devotion for the virgins of the Rosary and of the Immaculate Conception, and actively contributed to the promotion of their chaplaincies. He also participated in the payment of the congregation and censuses in favor of the convents, as in the case of the Royal Convent of Santa Clara[24], the Church of Santa Lucia[25] and the Convent of Preachers of Santo Domingo[26], to which he had a particular fervor:
He increased the chaplaincy instituted by his father, with a new call to the religion of Santo Domingo[27] (…).
In his devotion to the Virgin of the Rosary, he is owed, as evidenced by the documentation that has been consulted in the files of Tunja, for the building of the Chapel of the Rosary, located in the Church of Santo Domingo, as well as its first decoration; mostly missing today. It was the Dominican friars who made a "treaty" with Miguel Suárez for the realization of this chapel:
As Mr. Miguel Suarez de Figueroa, captain of the cause of those in this city and neighbor, Perpetual Alderman in it by his majesty, the greatest benefactor of this convent, and as such seeking and desiring to do good, offering to make and to raise up the chapel that today has Our Lady of the Rosary, showing his good nature as his devotion. He paid for its bases, rose it and covered it as it is presently, and spending on its work from his legacy and most of what he obtained from official laborers and materials, which was a lot, and moreover at his expense he sent to be bought from the Kingdom of Spain, the tabernacle of gilded wood, on which our Lady the Virgen Mary is placed today and, thus, helped with his legacy with most of the cost that the large tabernacle has had, which he sent to be made in said chapel, that all worked on walls of flowers and apart from the carpenter, goldsmiths and gold passed and valued and other materials. To continue, said Captain Don Miguel, who does and with his good created the fervor for our Holy Virgen in festivities, which started in our city by his order and mandate. Said chapel, spiritual offering as in the temporal it was necessary to do everything with splendor and generate the applause of all the city at the expense of his legacy, a large sum of money, more than what he has given for this chapel[28]. [translated from an excerpt in Old Spanish]
The Dominican friars were thankful for the works, naming him "founder and patron of this chapel[29]." This most important fact, now brought to light after our investigation, questions the information that until now has been handled in relation to the fact that the unique architect of the foundation of the Chapel of the Rosary was Captain García Arias Maldonado[30]. Although Maldonado may have thought of his creation, what is now proven, is that it was Miguel Suarez who carried it out. His connection with this work and with the Marian advocation was such that in his will Miguel orders:
I order that the day of my burial would
serve to take me from this life, my body be buried in the monastery of Santo
Domingo of this city of Tunja, in the chapel of Our
Lady of the Rosary. My attorney, in the recess that I have
prepared and inherited, make the steps of the altar from wall to wall,
that is mine, and I have the deed in my possession of patron of the chapel. And
if I did not have that and finished said recess the day of my death, that it is
finished at my expense as quickly as possible, the bodies of my wife Doña
Beatriz de Castro and Doña Isabel Suarez, my legitimate sister, be buried there
and my body be put beside my wife until this recess is finished. Once they are
finished, my body should be put under the altar of Our Lady and so with the
bodies of my wife and sister. I order and it is my will that all the
descendants of my parents who wish to, be buried in this recess[31]. [translated from an excerpt in Old Spanish]
The Marian advocation of Miguel Suárez was widely recognized. His younger nephew, Juan Suárez de Figueroa, heir of Miguel, states:
We declare that Captain Don Miguel Suarez said while
he lived as a devotee of the Monastery of Preachers of said city, that he built
a chapel at his expense, the most beautiful and had particular care in making
the celebration of the festivity every year in said chapel with every splendor
and in the clause of the will he left. He entrusted said captain, Don Gonzalo
Suárez, his nephew, that with particular care continues the devotion that the
festivity demands[32].
On the other hand, from December 5, 1587 to January 20, 1578, the canvas painted in Tunja by Alonso de Narváez, between 1555 and 1556, recently renovated (1586 in Chiquinquirá), was on display in the Main Church of Santiago, brought to the city in solemn procession to contain the deadly epidemic of smallpox that ravaged the city. According to Magdalena Vences Vidal[33], the first and only mural representation of the Virgin of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá corresponds to the one that is painted in the corridor, on the tympanum of the access door to the large hall of the Founder's Manor (image 5); which allowed, the artist, who remains anonymous up to this day, to see the original 20 steps from where he made the copy[34]. The Mexican author goes beyond what is expressed, when she says:
This is the result of religious, political and social repercussions that the Virgin of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá had among the inhabitants of the city of Tunja and was expressed as the corollary of the commitment of a group composed particularly of conquerors and clerics, who promoted the recognition of the sacred image of the virgin of Chiquinquirá, as a symbol of identity[35].[translated from an excerpt in Old Spanish]
Image 5.
Tympanum of the door that accesses the corridor
of the present Founders Manor, in which the remains of the mural of the Virgen del Rosario
de Chiquinquirá appears. Source: Photographic records of the MD, MA and
Doctor(c) in History Abel Fernando Martínez
Martín, 2014
On the other hand, the presence of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception was astonishingly profuse and constant during the urban development of the city of Tunja in the XVI century and first decades of century XVII. Religious images in churches, convents; advocations of hospitals, monasteries; paintings of miraculous virgins and iconographic programs on ceilings of colonial mansions, have as a central theme this dogma of the Catholic Church that caused great theological debates and to which the American towns advanced in three centuries. The Immaculate Conception is directly related to the Austrian Monarchy, from Charles V, passing his son Felipe II, and is more visible in the moments in which the Monarchy reached its last hours with the reign of the last one of the Austrian line, Charles II.
Also, the Immaculate Conception was a Virgin with command in place and in the banners of the Reconquest undertaken by the peninsular Christians in the face of the Muslim power. To her is added, the figure and name of the Apostle Santiago Matamoros; a saint who gives his name to the Main Church of Tunja and is represented on its doorway.
Both would draw on the urban fabric, a "celestial map" that would turn Tunja into a "New Jerusalem"; a "city of God" in the New World idea, recurrent in many other cities founded in America after the Conquest: one outstanding case being the city of Mexico. This shows the close relationship between the "Altar" (Vatican) and the "Throne" (the Spanish Monarchy) within the figure of the Patronato Regio[36].
The presence of the Immaculate Conception in Tunja,
whose iconographic reference can be observed in a symbolic way in the ceilings
of the Founder´s Manor, can be framed within two chronological events important
for the identity of the
entrusted elite of the first and second generation. First the appearance and
miracles of the Virgin of Guadalupe - which represents an Immaculate Virgin took place on the hill of Tepeyac,
close to Mexico City in December 1531, at a time when
diseases accelerated mortality in the basin of Mexico. In fact, the first
parish church of Tunja, with a thatched roof, received,
in 1539, the date of foundation of the city, the name of Guadalupe[37]. The
second, more local and important for the history of the city of Tunja, is the appearance of the Immaculate Conception in
the Monastery of the Conceptionists of Tunja on August 24, 1628. Once again, we must remember here
as a sign of the Marian advocation of Suárez de Figueroa, Doña Mencia and de la Cerda´s daughter, that was in the care of
Miguel Suárez after the death of her parents, was entered into the convent under the name of Maria de la
Trinidad. Like many other works
dedicated to the Immaculate Conception throughout America, what Sebastián said
about how Hispanic towns were quite ahead of the dogmatic declaration of the
Immaculate, made by Pius IX in 1854[38], is verified.
The paintings on the ceiling of the so-called Grand or Main Room are the only ones discussed in this article. It is a decoration of iconographic characteristics that has to do with the Marian advocation; in particular, with the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception. To support this statement, we start with the inclusion of three monograms that identify the Holy Family: Jesus, Mary and Joseph, occupying the upper part of the ceiling, and with the monogram of the Virgin located in its center. In addition, other symbols that allude to her figure such as the rose of the winds and different representations of roses without thorns. It should be remembered that one of the miracles of the Virgin of Guadalupe is related to the roses of Castilla cut by Juan Diego and delivered in the cloak to the Bishop of Mexico, where the Guadalupe image was captured.
In the right wood moulding the shields of the founder´s family are framed. For Santiago Sebastián, the shields represent the children of the founder and his stepfather Juan Núñez de la Cerda, a thesis that is followed by Morales Folguera[39].
For our part, the interpretation emphasizes that the shields of the north wood moulding represent, in the center the one of Mencia de Figueroa and to the sides the one of his children, Nicholas and Isabel, while the shield of the southern wood moulding is the one of Miguel Suárez de Figueroa, eldest son and heir of the founder.
At no time did we admit that Juan Nuñez de la Cerda is represented on the shields.
In the rest of the ceiling are
drawn 16 arcades, under which appear different animals and plants; sometimes
both appear together (image 6) Santiago Sebastián and José Miguel
Morales have highlighted, in
separate studies on the mural paintings of the city of Tunja
and, in particular, in this
house, the emblematic humanistic and moralizing character of these
representations. Our new interpretation, although it does not ignore the
emblematic humanistic and moralizing character of the two Spanish researchers, emphasizes
the Marian advocation that allows to re-signify all
the figures.
Image
6.
Decorated ceiling of the Founders Manor. Source: Photographic records of the MD, MA and
Doctor(c) in History Abel Fernando Martínez Martín, 2013
On the surface in front of the windows that are straight ahead of Plaza Bolivar (formerly the Main Square) we find eight arcades with elements of a vegetal and animal nature. In a reading from right to left - the location of the head of the animals allows us to follow the direction of reading -, we find, in the first arcade, an apple tree that based on our interpretation, refers to human virtues, highlighted by the recognition of the Greco-Latin tradition of the Renaissance, and which are determined by a religious spirituality. The apple tree would refer to the salvation of the human soul, of which the Virgin Mary would act as protector: "The virgin will appear accompanied by an apple to identify that it is free of the original sin, thus balancing the first existential failing of the human being[40]."
The second figure is the lanceolate ox, although, this one does
not show the pain and fatigue. The ox would symbolize Mary´s patience
with sinners.
The third figure is the date palm. Sebastián considers that its
origin is in an emblem of Sebastián de Covarrubias,
"and as this tree takes so long to bear fruit it is taken as an example of what a father should
do when he thinks of the inheritance of his children and even of his grandchildren,
hence the Virgilian motto factura nepotibus umbral[41].
But, in addition, the palm tree is recognized as a symbol of the emblematic Mary, in particular, of the Immaculate, as can be seen in the work that we show of Juan de Juanes (Image 7). Recall here, that Miguel Suarez had no children, as stated in his will[42]. It is very probable that at the time that Miguel ordered the making of the paintings, he still had the hope that his wife would conceive a child. And perhaps for that reason the presence of this palm, together with what will appear beyond it: the date palm represented with its respective fruits, although it takes a long time to bear them.
Image 7.
First painting known of the Virgen of the Immaculate
Conception, done in the 16th century by Juan de Juanes[43]. In the right
margin the date palm can be observed.
Under the following arcades we find the wild pig along with the flower that we identified as Heliotrope and not as a sunflower, as noted by Sebastián and Morales. The wild pig is considered a harmful animal from the ancient world, because it destroys the fields of the farmers. In their interpretation, Sebastián and Morales forgot about the flower that accompanies it that we consider not of less interest, but which complements the meaning of the emblem.
In the next arcade, having an immediately previous relation, appears again the flower of the Heliotrope. Our insistence on the Heliotrope is due to the fact that in the Marian tradition, in her litanies, Mary appears as a "fragrant heliotrope[44]." This flower appears in relation to the symbology of the abnegation of Mary, “that nothing does for itself or for me, that it does not care for itself, that it is absorbed thinking only of pleasing her Son[45]”; in the same way as the heliotrope "which has no more will than the sun[46]." Thus, the Virgin has no more will "than that of the Divine Sun of Justice[47]." In this case, the wild pig, an animal that embodied evil, would be contained by the symbolic representation of protective Mary.
In the next arcade, a horse appears with the front leg in movement. Behind it, again, the flower of the heliotrope. According to Sebastián, this representation suggests the emblem 25 of the Morales Companies of Juan Borja, in which he refers to Bucephalus, the well-known horse of Alexander the Great, who won him many victories and remained so faithful[48].
The horse had to overcome an adverse condition from primitive Christianity to its development in the Middle Ages. Its initial relationship with the biblical apocalypse, was gradually improving to become a symbol of pride and nobility[49]. Bucephalus, Alexander´s horse, would be the paradigmatic representation of these qualities: indomitable, courageous and loyal. The presence of the heliotrope acts like in other cases, as a catholic and Marian referent, "mitigating" the overflow of excess. Also, to serve as appropriation, in the sense of inclusion in a new context of references, of an element from paganism.
In the next arcade, we find the elephant. For Sebastian the elephant, since the Middle Ages, symbolized meekness, strength, compassion, humanity, temperance and also religion[50]. Morales agrees with Sebastián and refers these virtues to the treatises of Ripa, Valeriano, Covarrubias and Alciato[51]. For our part, without ruling out the above interpretations, since most of these emblems can have more than one interpretation, we prefer to insist on the character of the dogmatic teachings of Christianity[52].
On the other hand, the elephant also refers us to Paradise, because he lived with Adam and Eve before the original sin[53]. Additionally, the ivory that comes from the elephant, considered as a chaste and cold animal, a symbol of temperance, was used as container to keep the Sacred Forms, "that were compared to the pure body of the Virgin[54]."
On the other surface, in front of the Apple tree mentioned in the first arcade, we find a pomegranate. Sebastian points out:
The pomegranate, which is full of symbolism in the Bible, with the significance of the unity of the universe; mainly because of its internal structure and shape, the pomegranate was considered as an adaptation of the manifold and diverse within the apparent unity. But the general context of the program will have to look for a moral message, such as Zincgreff to his emblem 81, with the representation of a fruit and the motto sunt mala mixta bonis, that is to say that in human affairs, there is no goodness or malice, just as the pomegranate, the honor of the most beautiful garden, appears among thorns[55].
Precisely, and apart from being the pomegranate symbol of the New Kingdom of which Tunja was an outstanding and important city, we prefer to refer to the Catholic referents, understanding that the pomegranate is a symbol of the Catholic Church, of its unity that manifests in its fecundity:
The POMEGRANATE, is a symbol of the Church, by the unity of its many seeds in the fruit, which also shows its fruitfulness. Its red color indicates the attendance of the Spirit. Being crowned evokes the triumph to which it has been called. Hence, Mary, mother of the Church, its prototype and image often carries it in her hand, in which the praise of the Song of Songs (IV, 13): "Your plants are a grove of pomegranates and fruit trees the most exquisite[56]."[translated from an excerpt in Old Spanish]
Below the two following arches, we have a set of figures composed of a deer chased by a dog and accompanied by a small bird. Sebastián and Morales consider that the scene is inspired by the emblem related to the cowardice highlighted by Covarrubias[57].
On the contrary, our interpretation, based on a representation that will have some success in the ornamentation and the silver, which the researchers María del Carmen Heredia and Amelia López-Yarto Elizalde highlight in a text about it, we consider it a scene that must be interpreted as a warning to the Christian soul "harassed by the dangers and temptations of the world[58]." The symbolism of the dog as an impure animal in front of the deer, referred to in the medieval Bestiaries as an animal capable of eating demon snakes, starts from the Book of Proverbs[59]. The dog in the Book of the Examples is considered as hypocritical, flattering and ungrateful[60]. Finally, the bird that is behind the deer, a robin, a bird linked from the middle Ages to the suffering of the Virgin for the death of Jesus.
The figure of the Cypress, which appears under the following arch, is a plant form traditionally related to the Immaculate (Image 7). Rabano Mauro proposes the cypress as an image of the Virgin Mary, the church and Christ. While Peter Calles, a religious writer of the XII century, exalts Mary by comparing her with the cypress for the elevation of her contemplation[61].
In the next arch, there is an animal that is difficult to decipher. Sebastian and Morales do not agree on its identity. Sebastián, identifies it as "a feline of difficult identification, although he has mountain cat paws[62]." Morales identifies it as a bear or a feline, and points out that the iconographic model is taken from the emblem number 40 of Cavarrubias, "which represents a bear that has just given birth to an amorphous figure, until she is perfected, after being long licked by her own mother[63]." This meaning follows the stories of Aristotle and Pliny in affirming that the cubs are “tamed of white flesh and in form a little bigger than rats with no eyes, no hairs[64]."
However, if it were a bear, this animal had a bad reputation in the Bestiary, related to laziness for hibernating[65]. In the case of the feline sustained by Sebastián, it may well be a lynx; an animal represented in bestiaries with spots, similar to those of the leopard, and looking like the wolf. In medieval bestiaries, the lynx, like the panther, was an emblem that represented the figure of Christ; and of vigilance exercised by it over the Christians.
With respect to the tree that appears below the next arch, there is no consensus either. For Sebastian, it is a laurel; while for Morales it could be a peach tree, saying that he does not know the meaning of this in the iconographic program. To us it seems more like a peach than a laurel tree. In that case, within Marian emblems, the peach is a symbol of virtue and honor.
Three last figures appear on this surface: the rhinoceros, a tree difficult to identify and again the image of the horse. About the rhinoceros both Sebastián and Morales have given their opinion, quite coincident in relation to courage, as it is expressed in Camerarius: Non ergo revertarinultus[66]. An interpretation that would have to do more with the myth of the unicorn, which from antiquity the rhinoceros was associated with; for this reason, this animal was associated with the figure of the Virgin Mary.
About the tree, Morales identifies it as a laurel, which from ancient times was associated with the gods and with the prize that is awarded to the victors[67]. The laurel is also present in the Marian symbology and iconography, as the Immaculate may appear with angels crowning her with laurel, as shown in the representation of Rubens for King Philip IV (Figure 8).
Image 9.
Peter Paul Rubens. Immaculate Conception[68],
1628/29. Oil on canvas.
Below the last arcade, we again find the image of the horse, the last duplicate motif. Both the horse and the heliotrope are related to the human soul. The human soul is represented in the horse in two ways as Cesar García points out:
Throughout the process, the horse is instituted, during the Renaissance, as a symbol of the soul. Its iconographic ambivalence corresponds to its conceptual duality. Like a horse of natural appearance, it operates as a symbol of the unpurified soul[69].[translated from an excerpt in Old Spanish]
The aim of the images in the mural painting was to literate, therefore, it was necessary to imprint on them a meaning of virtue or vice to animals, plants and objects. This can be particularity appreciated in the Founder´s Manor.
On the other hand, thanks to the documentary records related to the Marian advocation of Miguel Suárez de Figueroa and a mature analysis on the emblematic Marian advocation, especially on the symbols related to the advocation of the Immaculate Conception and the Virgin of the Rosary, it can be deduced that the mural paintings of the Main Hall of the Founder´s Manor, were the product of the Marian advocation of the eldest son of Gonzalo Suárez Rendón; and that the reference to the Immaculate Conception was due to the fact that Miguel Suárez did not have children who inherited his goods, the reason why the iconographic program is realized in the form of a prayer or petition.
1.
Conclusions
We have traced, in this text, different aspects related to the figure of Miguel Suárez de Figueroa, eldest son and heir of the goods of the founder of Tunja, Gonzalo Suárez Rendón, trying to shed light on certain parts that until now have been very confusing and dark. In this sense, we have been able to demonstrate, based on new documentation consulted in the ARB, that Miguel Suárez had a particular relevance in the religious, political and cultural life of the city in the late 16th century and the first decades of the17th century. He is credited with the promotion of the cult of the Virgin of the Rosary, with building and decorating her chapel in the Church of Santo Domingo; and in addition, the exaltation of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception as from a very early date and previous to its peninsular exaltation.
On the other hand, Miguel Suárez, who now appears in this text as a figure that deserves more attention and study than that given so far, would not only finish building the so-called Founder's Manor, but would be the patron of its decoration. In this article, we have focused on the iconographical analysis of paintings on the ceiling of the Great or Main Room, on the religious motifs presented by the arcades, the three rounds of the monograms and the same monograms of the surface, although there is only one complete monogram, which is the one on the left side and that symbolizes Jesus; the other two are mostly erased, but for this interpretation it is agreed with Morales that the monogram of the center has part of the M of Mary, and the right probably belonged to Saint Joseph, thus constituting the symbol of the Holy Family. Artistic motifs such as roses without thorns, cypresses, pomegranates, olives, apples, flowers, palms and peaches are distinctive symbols of the Virgin Mary, especially of the advocation of the Immaculate Conception, just as animals like the ox, the wild pig, the horse, the elephant, the dog, the deer, the robin, the feline, and the rhinoceros have a deep biblical meaning related to the Virgin Mary, not only as the Mother of Christ but as the Mother of the Church.
Given the evidence and references, in relation to the Marian advocation of this iconographic program, we think that this decoration can be considered as an advocation to the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, both for personal reasons linked to the lack of descendants of the heir of the founder, and for reasons of a Christian moral type, which link this iconography with Spanish Renaissance humanism.
In this sense, it is concluded that the sponsor of these artistic motifs is Miguel Suárez de Figueroa since related documents were found such as: the obligation to Bartolomé Carrión in 1599, another document of great importance is the first treatise of the Convent of Preachers with Miguel Suárez de Figueroa from the year 1625, in which the Dominican monks point to Miguel Suárez as the first benefactor of the convent and the founder of the Chapel of the Rosary, so much so that he paid for most of it, considered by traditional historiography, as the work of Captain García Arias Maldonado, an assertion that is rebutted with the findings of this document.
Documental Sources
Archivo
Regional de Boyacá ARB. Tunja-Colombia. Fondo Notarial I y II. Antiguo
Archivo
Regional de Boyacá ARB. Tunja-Colombia. Fondo Histórico.
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To cite this article:
María del Pilar
Espinoza Torres, ““In the city of god” The Marian advocation of Miguel Suárez
and the wall paintings in the Founder’s Manor in Tunja.
New documents and interpretations.”, Historia y Memoria, No. 11
(July-December, 2015): 179-211.
* This text is derived from the research
project “Imagen de la pintura
mural de la ciudad de Tunja” (Image of the wall
painting in the city of Tunja). Director of the research work: Doctor in the
History of Art, Antonio E. de
Pedro Robles of the Master’s
degree in History of the Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia.
[1]
PhD candidate in History,
Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia. Part-time
instructor, School of Medicine, Universidad
Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia. Email address: abelfmartinez@gmail.com
[2] Odontologist. Specialist in Forensic Anthropology. Master’s degree in Anthropology and PhD candidate in History from
the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Teaching fellow
of the Faculty of Human Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Email
address: arotalorac@unal.edu.co
[3] Bachelor’s degree in
Plastic Arts, Master’s degree candidate in History from the Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de
Colombia. Email address: espinosatorresm@gmail.com
[4] The last version of his will dates from
1579. See: “Testamento de Gonzalo Suárez Rendón”[will] (Tunja, 1579), in the Regional
Archive of Boyacá (ARB, by its acronym in Spanish) Fondo
Notarial II /Leg. 129. / Folios 183 – 198 Antigua.,
1579.
[5] In his will, Gonzalo Suárez Rendón, declares that he has a daughter, Isabel Suárez, who
is older than his son Miguel. Isabel Suárez is called Isabel de Godoy by
historian Flórez de Ocáriz.
When her father was still alive, this daughter married Cristóbal
Núñez de la Cerda, brother of Juan Núñez de la Cerda, second husband of Doña Mencia.
[6] Called Nicolás Moscoso in his father’s
will and Nicolás Suárez de Figueroa in his brother’s. At that time, it was
frequent to use, even among brothers, different surnames from the family.
[7]“Testamento de Gonzalo Suárez de Figueroa”
[will] (Tunja, 1653), in ARB, Fondo Notarial II. /leg. 125. / Folios 83- 88, Antigua., 1653.
[8] In his will,
Miguel Suárez, affirms that he had paid for the dowry of his “sister on his
father’s side” called Isabel, so she married Alonso Rivera. From that marriage,
another daughter was born who later married Sebastián de la Peña. The dowry for
that marriage was also paid by Miguel Suárez. See: “Testamento
de Gonzalo Suarez de Figueroa” [will] (Tunja,
1653), in ARB, Fondo Notarial II. /leg. 125. / Folios
83- 88, Antigua., 1653.
[9] “I hereby declare that my mother, in her
second marriage with Don Juan Núñez de la Cerda had a
daughter called María de la Trinidad. She is my sister, but when she was very
young, as her parents had died, she was left under my care. She was left
without any property, so I sent her to a convent of nuns, where she is at
present and I gave her the endowment with which she entered the convent. That, in addition to other valuables were about four
thousand patacones.
While he was alive, I gave her father a large sum of money in gold, and when he
died I buried him at my expense, for the love I had for my mother.” “Testamento
de Miguel Suárez de Figueroa.” [will] Tunja. 1637, in ARB Fondo Notarial I. /leg. 133. / Folios. 526 – 548 Antigua., 1637.
[10]“Inventario de Bienes de Doña Mencía
de Figueroa” [inventory] (Tunja.
1599), in ARB. Fondo Histórico.
/leg. 29. / t. II. / Folios 221- 223,
Antigua., 1599.
[11]“Poder de Mencia
Figueroa a favor de Miguel Suárez Figueroa” [power] (Tunja, 1596), in ARB. Fondo Notarial I. /leg. 61./ Folios 247, Antigua.,1596
[12]“Testamento de Gonzalo Suárez Rendón” [will] (Tunja, 1579), in Archivo Regional de Boyacá (ARB) Fondo Notarial II /Leg. 129. / Folios 183 – 198 Antigua., 1579.
[13]“Testamento de Gonzalo Suárez Rendón.” [will] (Tunja, 1566), in ARB Fondo Notarial II. /leg. 129./ Folio 196- 206, Antigua.,1566
[14]
See: “Censo del
Capitán don Miguel Suárez de Figueroa y su mujer a favor de la
capellanía de Baltasar García Castaño” [Census] Tunja
1612 in ARB Fondo Notarial
I. Legajo 94. Año 1612. Folios 489- 492 Antigua
[15]
“Obligación de Miguel Suárez de Figueroa para Bartolomé Carrión” [Contractual obligation](Tunja, 1599), in ABR, Fondo Notarial II. /leg.
75. / t. I. / Folios 58- 59, Antigua., 1599.
[16]“[…] I declare that I have six fine wall
cloths with some emblems on them”. “Testamento de Gonzalo Suárez Rendón.”[Will] Tunja. 1579 in ARB Fondo
Notarial II. Legajo. 129. Año. 1659, Folio 183- 199,
Antigua.
[17] In 1590, in the dispute between the
Chief-Magistrate of Tunja, Antonio Jove, and the painter Juan de Rojas
over some grotesque located in the house of the Cabildo, on the north-east corner of the Main Square, the taste for
Roman style painting can be observed, which started to be seen in the city
during the rule of Philip II. See: Laura Liliana
Vargas Murcia, Informe Final del
proyecto: Búsqueda y Análisis de fuentes de archivo para el estudio del Arte de
la pintura en la Nueva Granada (siglos XVI a principios del XIX). (Bogotá: ICANH, 2010). Antonio Jove, a man
with experience in the government of the Indies, and familiar with the customs
and tastes of the court, was the first Chief-Magistrate of Tunja,
appointed directly by the King. He was very active as magistrate in the civil
and urban organisation of the city. See:
Ulises Rojas, Corregidores y Justicias
mayores de Tunja y su provincia desde la fundación de la ciudad hasta 1817.
(Tunja: Imprenta del Departamento, 1962).
[18]Santiago
Sebastián, Estudios sobre el arte y la
arquitectura coloniales en Colombia. (Bogotá: Corporación La Calendaría, re-edited in 2004), 267- 268.
[19] Sebastián and Morales base themselves on a quote from the historian Ulises Rojas (reference: Correspondencia Bogotá; Tomo V, 1965, p. 25). Unfortunately, it has not been possible to find out where they took the quote from because in the given reference it does not appear; nor in the review we have made of Rojas's works.
[20]“Testamento
de Miguel Suárez de Figueroa.”[Will] Tunja. 1637, in ARB Fondo Notarial I. /leg. 133. / Folios. 526 – 548 Antigua., 1637.
[21] Sebastián de Covarrubias Orozco, Emblemas
Morales (Madrid: Imprenta de Luis Sánchez, 1610).
[22]
See: Juan de Dios Hernández Miñano, “Los emblemas
morales de Juan de Horozco”. (Consulte don the 20
October, 2014),file:///C:/Users/DOCTORADO%20HISTORIA/Downloads/Dialnet-
losEmblemasMoralesDeJuanDeHorozco-107392.pdf.
[23] See: Juan Flórez de
Ocáriz, Libro Primero de las Genealogías del Nuevo
Reino de Granada. (Bogotá: Instituto Caro y Cuervo, 1990), 431.
[24]
“Censo a favor de Santa Clara”[Census](Tunja,
1630-1631), in ARB Fondo Notarial I. /leg. 123./
Folios 38- 39., Año 1630 -1631
[25]
“Censo en favor de Santa Lucia” [Census] (Tunja,
1612), in ARB Fondo Notarial I. /leg. 93./ Folios
182- 183,
Año
1612.
[26] “Censo en favor de Santo Domingo” [Census] (Tunja, 1617), in ARB Fondo Notarial II. /Leg. 85. / t. II. / Folios 248- 251., Año 1617.
[27]Juan Flórez de Ocáriz,Libro Primero de las Genealogías del Nuevo Reino
de Granada. (Bogotá: Instituto Caro y Cuervo, 1990), 431.
[28]
“Primer tratado del Convento de Predicadores Santo Domingo con Miguel Suárez de
Figueroa” [Treaty] (Tunja, 1625), in ARB Fondo
Notarial I. /leg. 115. / folios 589-591.Antigua., Año
1625.
[29]
“Primer tratado del Convento de Predicadores Santo Domingo con Miguel Suárez de
Figueroa” [Treaty] (Tunja, 162), in ARB Fondo
Notarial I/ leg. 115. / folio 589. Antigua., Año
1625.
[30]
Ulises Rojas, Escudos de Armas e Inscripciones antiguas de
la ciudad de Tunja. (Tunja: Imprenta Departamental, 1939), 52.
[31]
“Testamento de Miguel Suárez de Figueroa.” [Will] (Tunja, 1637)… folios, 526 - 548.
[32]“Mortuoria
de Gonzalo Suárez de Figueroa” [Death notice] (Tunja,
1653), en ARB Fondo Notarial II./ leg.125, folios 83-
88., año 1625 Antigua.
[33]Magdalena
Vences Vidal, Estudios en torno al Arte
Libro II: La Virgen de Chiquinquirá, Colombia: afirmación dogmática y frente de
identidad. (México D.F: Museo de la Basílica de Guadalupe, Insigne y
Nacional Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe, 2008).
[34] At dawn on the 7 October, 1571, in the
entrance to the gulf of
Lepanto, the greatest naval battle in the Mediterranean took
place, where the Holy League, formed by Philip II, Pope Pious V and the serene Republic of Venice, defeated the
Ottoman Turks, bringing their naval dominion in the Mediterranean to an end. As
a result of this victory, the Pope established the celebration of the Virgen of
the Rosary on the day of that victory.
This advocation was sponsered
by the prudent King Philip II in his vast territory of his overseas empire. See Henry Kamen, Poder y
Gloria. Los Héroes de la España Imperial. (Barcelona: Austral-Espasa,
2010), 64-165.
[35]Magdalena
Vences Vidal, Estudios en torno al Arte
Libro II: La Virgen de Chiquinquirá, Colombia: afirmación dogmática y frente de
identidad… p. 171.
[36]
See: Jaime Salcedo Salcedo, Urbanismo Hispano-Americanos Siglos XVI, XVII y XVIII (Bogotá:
CEJA, 1996) and Santiago Sebastián. Álbum
de Arte Colonial de Tunja, (Tunja: imprenta
departamental, 1963)
[37]
Ernesto Collantes Porras, Ernesto,
Crónica Colonial de Tunja y su Provincia. (Tunja: Biblioteca de la Academia
Boyacense de Historia. 2006), 21-23.
[38]
Santiago Sebastián, Álbum
de Arte Colonial de Tunja (Tunja: Imprenta Departamental, 1963).
[39]José
Miguel Morales Folguera, Atenas del Renacimiento en el nuevo Reino de Granada… 251
[40]
Cesar Álvarez García. El simbolismo del
grutesco. (León: Universidad de León, 2001), 169- 170.
[41]
Santiago Sebastián. Estudios sobre el
arte y la arquitectura coloniales en Colombia…326
[42] “I hereby declare that I married through
the Roman Catholic Church Doña Beatriz de Castro and during our marriage we had
no children”. “Testamento de Miguel Suárez de Figueroa.” [Will]
(Tunja 1637), in ARB, Fondo Notarial I, leg. 133.
/folios. 526 – 548., 1637 Antigua
[43]Juan
de Juanes
http://www.evangelizarconelarte.com/una-ventana-abierta-a-mar%C3%ADa-luz-de-esperanza/simbolog%C3%ADa-mariana/.
[44]
Lucio Marmolejo, Mes de María mexicano o
sean las flores de Mayo consagradas a la Santissima
Virgen María. (México: Librería mexicana, 1860), 130.
[45]
Lucio Marmolejo, Mes de María mexicano o
sean las flores de Mayo consagradas a la Santissima
Virgen María…130.
[46]
Lucio Marmolejo. Mes de María mexicano o
sean las flores de Mayo consagradas a la Santissima
Virgen María… 130.
[47]
Lucio Marmolejo. Mes de María mexicano o
sean las flores de Mayo consagradas a la Santissima
Virgen María… 130.
[48]
Santiago Sebastián. Estudios sobre el
arte y la arquitectura coloniales en Colombia… 326.
[49]
María Dolores-Carmen Morales Muñiz, “El simbolismo animal en la cultura
medieval”, Revista Espacio, Tiempo y
Forma, serie III, t.9, (1996) 229-255.
[50]
Santiago Sebastián, Estudios sobre el
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