Castilian Portapaz, 1525-1540.

Castilian Portapaz, 1525-1540.
"Nativity".
Cast bronze, chiseled and gilded.
Published in "Silver and bronzes in the Bordonaro collection", Volume II, by Cesar Gonzalez Zamora. Ref.243, card nº 162.
Remains of gilding.
Weight: 523 gr.
Measurements: 16 x 11 x 6 cm.

Castilian Portapaz from the first half of the 16th century, conceived as a miniature architecture in the form of a semicircular doorway, a representative example of the Renaissance devotional goldsmithery widespread in the episcopal sphere.

The composition is organized on a plinth decorated with bars, from which emerges a Latin cross, the central element of devotion. In the main body there is a shallow niche, which houses a Nativity scene, with the figures of the Virgin, St. Joseph and the Child, treated with a narrative and popular modeling.

Flanking the niche are ringed columns with marked imoscapo, resting on identical episcopal coats of arms, in which a band of dragons separates the castle at the top and the lion at the bottom, a clear heraldic allusion to the Castilian sphere.

The architrave bears the inscription BENEDITVS.FR., flanked by two birds, while the semicircular tympanum depicts a frontal bearded bust with a staff, identified as Saint Dominic de la Calzada, accompanied by the legends STO and DOMI. The upper end takes the form of a knob, and it conserves a rear handle of circular section, in the form of a "ce", destined for liturgical use.

From the iconographic point of view, the presence of Santo Domingo de la Calzada and the episcopal heraldry are related to Bishop Don Alonso de Castilla y Zúñiga, who occupied the diocese between 1523 and 1541. This context has led to consider the serial production of these cope-holders, destined for diffusion throughout the diocese, a circumstance that explains the existence of copies preserved in various public collections.

A piece of notable historical and devotional interest, representative of the serial production in gilded bronze of the Spanish Renaissance, especially attractive to collectors of liturgical goldsmiths, sacred art and objects for ceremonial use.