Valtierra de Albacastro / Balterra / Ualterra

Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

Results: 40 records

B01: design element - architectural - arcade - round arches - 13

Scene Description: contains Christ in one and the twelve Apostles in the others

B02: Christ - Christ in Majesty

Scene Description: Christ in a blessing position inside one of 13 arches. The others are occupied by the 12 Apostles.

B03: Apostle or saint - Apostles - St. Peter

Scene Description: St Peter carries a large key and a book and has a fish next to him

B04: Apostle or saint - Apostles - Judas Iscariot - with his coin purse

Scene Description: Judas Iscariot holds a book in one hand; from his right hand hangs the coin bag on a string.

B05: Apostle or saint - with book - 10

Scene Description: the other ten Apostles, each in his own arch

BIS01: design element - patterns - ribbed - concave

LB01: animal - reptile - snake - two-headed snake - 2

Apostle or saint - Apostles - St. Peter - with 1 key - holding book

Scene Description: several sources identify this figure as Peter [cf. FontNotes]; there is a second figure on the font who also appears to hold a key [ImageNo. 1220419023]

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

Apostle or saint?

Scene Description: unidentified [cf. FontNotes]

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

Apostle or saint?

Scene Description: unidentified [cf. FontNotes]

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

Apostle or saint?

Scene Description: unidentified [cf. FontNotes]

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

Apostle or saint?

Scene Description: unidentified [cf. FontNotes]

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

Apostle or saint?

Scene Description: unidentified [cf. FontNotes]

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

Apostle or saint?

Scene Description: the right arm of the figure reaches behind the pillar into the next arch

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

Apostle or saint? - unidentified - 2

Scene Description: a bearded figure on the left reaches to the clean-shaven figure on the right, who reaches towards the bearded figure; there is a mask between the two figures, at the bottom

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

Christ? / Mary?

Scene Description: several sources identify this figure as Christ [cf. FontNotes] but the figure shows rather female characteristics [see also ImageNo. 1220419026]

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

Christ? / Mary?

Scene Description: this figure is very similar to the one one claimed to be Christ [Image No. 1220419025]; like the other one it shows rather female characteristics as well

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

design element - architectural - arcade - round arches - columns - columns with capitals and bases

Scene Description: The column on the right, is the only one in the arcade; its capital and base are described as 'gloutons' in the Enciclopedia entry [cf. FontNotes].

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

design element - motifs - roll moulding

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

design element - motifs - sawtooth

Scene Description: all around

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

design element - patterns - ribbed - concave

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

symbol - mask

Scene Description: seen here below the extended hands of the figure on the right

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

view of basin - detail

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

view of basin - detail

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

view of basin - detail

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

view of basin - detail

Scene Description: the figure on the lerft appears to hold a key in the right hand [see also Image No. 1220419022]

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

view of basin - detail

Scene Description: [see also figures 1220419025, 1220419026, 1220419027]

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

view of basin - detail

Scene Description: [see also figures 1220419024, 1220419025, 1220419026]

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

view of basin - interior

Scene Description: showing the centre drain

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

view of church exterior - detail

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

view of church exterior - northwest view

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

view of church exterior - southwest view - detail

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

view of church interior - baptistery

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

view of church interior - looking northeast

Scene Description: with the baptistery chapel on the north side of the nave

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

view of font

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

view of font

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

view of font - south side

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

view of font - southwest side

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

view of font - upper view

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

view of font in context - south side

Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Pedro Lozano Huerta, 2022

Image Source: digital photograph April 2022 by Pedro Lozano Huerta

Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 17 April 2022)

INFORMATION

FontID: 02096VAL
Church/Chapel: Iglesia Parroquial de San Andrés
Church Patron Saints: St. Andrew [cf. ChurchNotes]
Church Location: [Valtierra de Albacastro] Diseminado Diseminados, 4, 34492 Albacastro, Burgos, Spain
Country Name: Spain
Location: Burgos, Castilla y León
Directions to Site: Located off local road BU-V-6214, in the municipality and 3 km E of Rebolledo de la Torre, 25 km NW of Villadiego, 60-65 km of Burgos capital
Ecclesiastic Region: Diócesis de Burgos
Historical Region: Comarca de Páramos
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, in a wall niche, on the E end, N side of the nave
Century and Period: 12th - 13th century, Romanesque
Cognate Fonts: similar to the font from Albacastro [now at the Museo del Retablo, Burgos], and probably by the same master
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Pedro Lozano Huerta for his photographs of this church and font
Church Notes: [NB: the dedication of this church appears at times as San Pedro, at times as San Andres]
Described and partially illustrated in Bilbao (1996) as a baptismal font of the Romanesque period; the basin is ornamented with an arcade of thirteen arches: an Apostle in each, most with their distinctive symbol, the thirteenth housing Christ with the right arm raised in benediction; the base is round and decorated with two-head snakes. Described and illustrated in the Enciclopedia del románico en Castilla y León (2002- ) much after Bilbao; it notes that it is surely by the same carver who produced the font from Albacastro [now at the Museo del Retablo, Burgos], and that is similar to the ones at Valcobero, Renedo de Valdavia, Moarves de Ojeda [="En el interior del templo, en una pequeña capilla-nicho abierta en el muro norte del primer tramo de la nave, se halla la pila bautismal, también románica. Hecha en piedra caliza, presenta una altura total de 72 cm, con un vaso troncocónico de 60 cm de altura y 104 cm de diámetro, dispuesto sobre una base circular que a su vez apoya sobre un amplio bancal, también circular pero hoy a ras de suelo. El vaso tiene el interior en forma avenerada y el exterior decorado con cenefa dentada y debajo con trece arquillos acogiendo figuras humanas, aunque sólo en un caso los arcos descansan sobre columna, cuyo fuste está rematado en la parte superior e inferior por sendos gloutons, es decir, dos mascarones que engullen ese fuste. Los personajes conforman un Apostolado, presidido por una figura coronada, con libro, en actitud bendicente, que hemos de suponer que representa a Cristo. Entre el resto de los apóstoles se reconoce a San Pedro –a la izquierda de Cristo–, con su atributo de las llaves, también con libro, pero representado imberbe y con el pelo formado por bandas talladas en punta de diamante. Sin embargo otro de los personajes también parece portar una llave y para Garbiñe Bilbao éste es Pedro, pues junto a él aparece también un pez, recordando el antiguo oficio del primer Papa, además de ser un símbolo del primer cristianismo; los demás portan libro y están en actitud bendicente o tocando al personaje contiguo. La talla es sumamente rudimentaria, con unos personajes rechonchos, que visten túnicas o capas de pliegues muy elementales y con unos rostros de sonrisas burdas y ojos almendrados, con el pelo formado por dientes de sierra, por profundas incisiones, pequeñas puntas o por escamas. El escultor trata además de no dejar ningún espacio vacío, rellenando los huecos entre personajes con motivos vegetales o geométricos; incluso entre dos de ellos aparece una pequeña cabeza de compleja interpretación. G. Bilbao menciona la figura de Judas con el atributo de la bolsa colgando de su mano derecha. Entre las figuras se conservan restos de coloración roja. El basamento se decora con un grueso bocel que en realidad representa a dos serpientes, con cabezas en ambos extremos, mordiéndose entre sí, con los cuerpos mostrando unas incisiones que simulan el escamado. Este motivo, aunque con numerosas variantes, es bastante frecuente, y así en Cuevas de San Clemente aparece una serpiente solitaria que se muerde la cola y en numerosas ocasiones aparece atacando a un león. La presencia del ofidio en el basamento de una pila bautismal quizá esté en relación con el papel que jugó en el nacimiento del Pecado Original y la cualidad salvífica del bautismo al respecto. La pieza está en la línea de muchas otras que muestran arcuaciones con los apóstoles –aunque generalmente el número de personajes es variable y los personajes no suelen tener la relación con los contiguos que aquí aparece–. Escultóricamente esta pila guarda enormes similitudes con la de Albacastro –hoy en el Museo del Retablo, en Burgos– y es muy probable que ambos ejemplares sean obra de un mismo escultor." The entry for this village in Emiliano Nebreda Perdiguero [www.archiburgos.es/wp-content/uploads/amo-a-mi-pueblo.pdf] [accessed 19 April 2022] notes: "iglesia dedicada a San Pedro Apóstol. Es renacentista [...] La pila, buena, es románica, de vaso, con bordes de sierra, escenas en relieve bajo arcos y pie circular con molduras". [NB: the identification of the human figures in the sources above is problematic; even considering the crudeness of the carving, the presence of two 'Christ-like' figures with what appear to be female characteristics is questionable, and the same can be said of the two figures holding keys: two Peters?]

COORDINATES

Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 42.68099, -4.164829
Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 42° 40′ 51.56″ N, 4° 9′ 53.38″ W

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, limestone?
Number of Pieces: two
Font Shape: bucket-shaped (mounted)
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round
Drainage Notes: no lining
Diameter (includes rim): 121 cm* / 104 cm*
Basin Total Height: 60 cm*
Font Height (less Plinth): 77 cm* / 72 cm**
Notes on Measurements: * Bilbao (1996) / ** Enciclopedia del románico en Castilla y León (2002- )

REFERENCES

Bilbao López, Garbiñe, Iconografía de las pilas bautismales del románico castellano: Burgos y Palencia, Burgos: Editorial La Olmeda, S.L., 1996
Fundación Santa María la Real, Enciclopedia del románico en Castilla y León, Aguilar de Campoo: Fundación Santa María la Real, Centro de Estudios del Románico, 2002-
Fundación Santa María la Real, Enciclopedia del románico, Fundación Santa María la Real, 2020+. Accessed: 2025-02-19 00:00:00. URL: www.romanicodigital.com.