Apostles from Àger

Apostles from Àger

Artist	Cercle of Pedret
Year	c. 1100
Dimensions	280 cm × 144 cm (110 in × 57 in)
Location	Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona

The Apostles from Àger is a painting exhibited at the National Art Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona.^[1][2]

Description

The church of Sant Pere in Àger, founded by Arnau Mir of Tost, who conquered the valley of Àger from the Saracens, was the see of a regular canonry exempt from ordinary jurisdictions (in other words, it did not depend on the Bishop of Urgell), with enormous estates from the donations by the founder and his descendants. In keeping with its importance, the church, now in ruins, was very monumental.

Of the paintings that once decorated it, only scattered fragments remain of the main and southern apses, of which the most outstanding and complete is that of the two apostles, Thaddeus and James, from the first arcosolium in the central apse. The two monumental apostles of Àger are presented in a face-on, hieratic position, with scrolls or volumes in their hands, which they are holding in alternating positions, at the same time as the colour of their nimbuses and their clothing also differs. The beardless one on the left is Thaddeus and the one on the right, with a beard, is James, as the inscriptions indicate. The pictorial style belongs to the Lombardicinfluenced Pedret Circle and shows a close relationship with that in the paintings in the cathedral of Saint-Lizier in Couserans (in situ, France).

As in Saint-Lizier, in each of the niches in the apse of Sant Pere in Àger there must have been a pair of apostles. All together they must have made up the Apostolic College, whose representation was fully meaningful in Augustinian chapter houses like that of Àger, who, in keeping with the Gregorian reform, wanted to strengthen the independence of the Church as an institution in the face of secular power.

Notes

1. ↑ Guia del Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya.p. 37 MNAC, 2004. ISBN 84-8043-136-9
2. ↑ The artwork at MNAC's Website

References

• Castiñeiras, Manuel; Camps, Jordi (2008). Romanesque art in the MNAC collections. MNAC. ISBN 978-84-8043-196-5. Retrieved 3 September 2012. 
• Museu Nacional D'Art de Catalunya. MNAC. 1 March 2009. ISBN 978-84-8043-200-9. Retrieved 3 September 2012. 
• Carbonell, Eduard; Pagès, Montserrat; Camps, Jordi; Marot, Teresa (1998). Romanesque Art Guide: Museu Nacional D'Art de Catalunya. Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. Retrieved 3 September 2012. 
• Carbonell, Eduard; Sureda i Pons, Joan (1997). The Medieval Treasures of the Museu Nacional D'Art de Catalunya. Lunwerg. Retrieved 3 September 2012. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Apostles from Àger.

• The artwork at Museum's website

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya
Romanesque works	Altar frontal from La Seu d'Urgell or of The Apostles Southern apse from Pedret Apse of Santa Maria d'Àneu Apse of Sant Climent de Taüll Erill la Vall Descent from the Cross Batlló Majesty Altar frontal from Avià Paintings from Arlanza
Gothic Art works	Mural paintings of the Conquest of Majorca Head of Christ Virgin of the Angels Altarpiece of Saint Barbara Nativity and Saint John the Evangelist Altarpiece of the Saints John Virgin of the Consellers Saint Augustine Altarpiece Resurrection of Christ
Renaissance and Baroque works	Saint Candidus Jean-Claude Richard, abbé of Saint-Non Mural Paintings from the Herrera Chapel Saint Peter and Saint Paul Madonna of Humility Immaculate Conception Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew St Paul
Modern Art works	The Spanish Wedding Desolation Ramon Casas and Pere Romeu on a Tandem Confidant from the Batlló House Terraced Village Paloma Cala Forn Portrait of my father Woman in Hat and Fur Collar Still life II The Corpus Christi Procession Leaving the Church of Santa Maria del Mar
See also	List of artists from the MNAC collection Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya Saint Agnes