Issue date: 05 Nov, 2020
CHRISTMAS. CHRISTMAS. Baldachin of Sant Bartomeu, Sant Julià de Lòria
The baldachin in the Chapel of Sant Bartomeu, in the parish of Sant Julià de Lòria, is one of the most important works of religious art in the Principality of Andorra. It is a canopy consisting of a polychromed wooden panel with a central motif of Christ in Majesty surrounded by four angels, above which is written: At the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. Heaven, Earth and Hell. The panel includes Gothic and Renaissance elements, allowing the work to be dated to the 15th century. It is therefore one of the few examples of Renaissance painting that still exists in Andorra today.
Hanging from the roof truss inside the chapel four metres above the ground, the canopy protects the altarpiece over the altar, while also dignifying and sacralising the chancel space.
The passing of centuries and water leaking through the roof
damaged the paintwork, which was exquisitely restored in 2005 by Mireia García, who considers it to have been painted by Çanou.
The altarpiece that presides over the chapel’s altar consists of a predella, two tiers and a pediment, with scenes from the Piety, the Ordeal and the Martyrdom of San Bartolomé, represented in a polychromed carving overlooking the ensemble from the central niche of the altarpiece.
According to the original documentation conserved at the Solsona Archive, Miquel Rubial, a sculptor from Cervera, received the commission for the altarpiece in 1606 from Bartomeu Moles, head of the Casa Molines family, owners of the chapel, and for centuries one of the wealthiest and most prestigious families in the parish.
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