Between days March 13 and September 13 of this year 2015 the Exhibition Camino El Origen (The Way The Origin) was held in the Museum Centro Gaiás in the Ciudad de la Cultura of Santiago de Compostela.
The exhibition addresses three fundamental issues:
The figure of Saint James the Apostle.
The Way.
The Pilgrim.
The works in the exhibition are presented in small rooms each one of them with the common thread of a printed text on the wall that guides the visitor about what is going to see in each room.
The visitor accesses a room, read the text printed on the wall observes the works on exhibition and goes to the next room.
There are 12 rooms in the First Floor and 11 in the Second Floor.
The exhibition starts in the Ground Floor of the Museum Centro Gaiás.
Ground Floor. Staffs.
“Receive this staff as support for the journey and your efforts during your pilgrimage so that you are able to defeat the throngs of enemies and thus arrive safely at Saint James´ feet and, after having completed your journey, you come to us delighted with the consent of the same God, who lives in and rules over Heaven without end. Amen”. (Codex Calixtinus).
Staffs generously donated and collected in july and august (2014) at the Pilgrims Reception Office of the Cathedral of Santiago.
First Floor
Texts written in panels placed at ground level just before entering the room 1. An introduction to the exhibition accompanied by a sound story:
The Hermit.
In a place called Arcis Marmaricis, Pelagius the Hermit saw some strange lights in the woods where he lived, Libredon.
With a mix of curiosity and fear, he approached the place from where the lights emanated. He immediately decided to tell the Bishop of Iria, Theodomir.
The Bishop.
Who, after much insistence of the part of Pelagius, went to the place. After several days of fasting, he found, half hidden amongst the brambles and clearly abandoned, a small building that contained three tombs. Aware of the importance of his discovery, Theodomir told the king, Alfonso II the Chaste, who resided in Oviedo.
and The King.
To celebrate this discovery, the King, accompanied with his family and his court, visited the shrine containing the bodies of St. James and his two disciples, Theodore and Athanasius.
Room 1
The part of the exhibition whose fundamental theme is the figure of Saint James the Apostle starts here.
Saint James the Apostle.
Saint James was one of Jesus´ closest disciples. In addition to James´ kinship with Jesus, together with Peter and John he witnessed some of the most significant events of Jesus´ public life, the resurrection of the daughter of Jairus, the conversation regarding the future destruction of Jerusalem, his Transfiguration, and, of course, James was one of the three disciples who accompanied him in the Garden of Gethsemane.
This part of the gospel narration should be connected with the other part that refers to his vocation, together with Peter, or to his gospel-preaching in Hispania, where he arrived before returning to Judea and was put to death by Herod Agrippa.
These features, and the fact that he was the brother of John, the son of Zebedee and Salome, or that he witnessed the apparition of Jesus on the banks of the river Tiberias, are responsible for his iconography and form of representation, going beyond his recurring depiction as Apostle or pilgrim.
Dyptich of the Pasion. Anonymous, c a 1350. Ivory. 22 x 22 x 1,4 cm. Church museum. Council of the Catedral de Oviedo. Catedral de Oviedo.
The vocation and preaching of Saint James, Apostle of the Lord. Reims atelier, 1618. Wool tapestry. 202 x 388,5 cm. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims (France).
The Apostle Saint James. Anonymous, 17th century. Painted wood. 183 cm. Museo de los Corporales. Parish church of Santa María de los Sagrados Corporales, Daroca, Zaragoza.
Room 2
Preaching in Hispania and the martyrdom of Saint James.
“It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword”. (Acts 12. 1-2). Through these words the Bible records the moment of the martyrdom and death of Saint James. These events took place during the rule of Herod Agrippa, between the year 41 and 44, probably towards the end of his reign. An entire iconographic tradition is based on these two verses. In the Golden Legend it is adorned with episodes such as the one about the magician Hermogenes and his assistant Philetus, or the one on Abiathar and the scribe Josiah, who was baptised by the Apostle with water from a flask delivered by his actual executioner. They are short pious stories that define and humanize the figure of Saint James, while at the same time they are reminiscent of his gospel-preaching in Judea, Samaria and Hispania, the main scene in the altarpiece donated by John Goodyear.
According to The Golden Legend, the beheading of Saint James took place on 25 March, day of the Annunciation and of the Incarnation of the Lord.
Altarpiece with scenes from the life of the Apostle Saint James. Offering to the Apostle from Father John Goodyear, parish priest of Chale, Isle of Wright (United Kingdom). Nottingham atelier ca. 1456. Polychrome alabaster and wood. 90 x 186 x 7 cm. Museo Catedral de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela.
Apostle Saint James, the Elder. Anonymous, first half of the 18th century. Wood. 72 x 190 x 66 cm. Museo Nacional de Escultura, Valladolid.
Room 3
Saint James and Our Lady of the Pillar.
The miraculous apparition of Our Lady before Saint James in Zaragoza, on 2 January of the year 40 is one of the most famous and popular miracles from the Saint´s hagiographic tradition. It brings together two unique devotions: the one corresponding to Saint James and to Mary. However, saving this consideration, the episode illustrates the Apostle´s human condition. In the story, the apparition “in mortal flesh” of Our Lady took place during a moment when Zebedee´s son suffered from a weakness of spirit, for he had only been able to preach the gospel to a small group of converts. It was during this moment of despondency when Saint James witnessed the apparition of Mary through the clouds, accompanied by angels bearing a jasper column - symbol of the strength of the faith -. She commanded him to build a temple on the banks of the Ebro in her honour.
It is a long-lasting tradition and one that is reproduced in the basilica of Zaragoza in the passionate invocation of her shrine: “Blessed and praised be the hour in which Blessed Mary came in mortal flesh to Zaragoza”.
Our Lady of the Pillar appearing to Saint James the Elder. Mariano Salvador Maella, 1780. Oil on canvas. 131.5 x 99 cm. Colección Concello de Santiago de Compostela.
The coming of Our Lady of the Pillar. Sketch of dome for Holy Chapel. Antonio González Velázquez, 1752. Oil on canvas. 98 x 198 cm. Metropolitan Council of Zaragoza, Basílica Pilar de Zaragoza.
Construction of the Holy Chapel. Sketch of dome for Holy Chapel. Antonio González Velázquez, 1752. Oil on canvas. 98 x 198 cm. Metropolitan Council of Zaragoza, Basílica Pilar de Zaragoza.
Apparition of our Lady of the Pillar to Saint James and the seven Apostolic men. Pietro van Lint, 1645. Oil on canvas. 122,5 x 191 cm. Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao.
Room 4
The Translatio of Saint James.
The story of the Translatio is a basic piece within the historicity of the episodes that have to do with death of Saint James and the later discovery of his remains in Fisterra, Galicia. The testimony of a pilgrim from Piacenza en route to the Holy Land and the verses by Venantius Fortunatus are coupled with the older story of the transferring of the remains of the Apostle. This is narrated in the letter from Pope Leon I or II, included in the Codex Calixtinus and in the Historia Compostelana, which says: “Fearing the Jews, the body of the blessed apostle Saint James was collected by his disciples. Guided by an angel of the Lord, they arrived in Jaffa, by the sea… suddenly, by the God´s design a vessel appeared. With great joy they went on board, carrying the disciple of our Redeemer, and with favourable winds filling the sails… they arrived at the port of Iria… After landing they left the blessed body… in a small area of land known as Libredón… where it is now venerated”.
There are many episodes that refer to the transfer, which crossed the lands of Queen Lupa, resulting in the imprisonment of Athanasius and Theodosius, the disciples of Saint James, or the submission of the oxen which transported his body.
However, along with all this data, we must bear in mind that the transfer of the body of Saint James to Compostela took place on 25 july.
Translatio. Juan de Vitoria, 1552. Oil on panel. 86,5 x 93 cm. Museo de Bellas Artes de Murcia.
Disembarkation of the body of Saint James. Master of Astorga, 1501-1525. Oil on panel. 99 x 77.50 cm. Lázaro Galdiano Foundation, Madrid.
Room 5
The Miracles of Saint James.
Based on the Codex Calixtinus and The Golden Legend, there are many miracles where the protagonists are the pilgrims to Compostela and the Apostle Saint James. Undoubtedly, along with those referring to the translatio of his body, the most popular and widespread one and the one that was most commonly represented is that of the pilgrim accused for a theft he has not committed and sentenced to be hanged. He was kept alive by being supported by Saint James, while his father travelled to the Saint´s sepulcher. Upon his return, the father found that his son was alive and that he had been saved. This miracle included different locations, such as Santo Domingo de la Calzada, along the French Way, in whose cathedral the testimony of this prodigy is maintained.
In these stories Saint James very often adopts the appearance and condition of a pilgrim.
Flos sanctorum on the lives of saints. Pedro de Ribadeneyra, 1751. Ink printed on paper. 31 x 22 x 5.5 cm. Museo das Peregrinacións e de Santiago de Compostela.
The bridge of life. End of the 15th century. Oil on panel. 114 x 135 x 15 cm. Museo de la Catedral de Astorga, León.
Queen Lupa. Anonymous, 15th century. Oil on panel. 135 x 115 x 15 cm. Museo de la Catedral de Astorga, León.
The miracles of Saint James. Fragment from the altarpiece for the Apostle Saint James. From St. Jaume de Frontanya (Bergueda – Barcelona). Anonymous, early 14th century. Tempera painting and varnish on panel. 56 x 208 x 10 cm. Museu Diocesá i Comarcal de Solsona, Lleida.
End of Part 1.
Click Here for Part 2
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