Virgala Mayor / Birgara Goien / Birgaragoien
Image copyright © Iñaki Jiménez Fernández de Retana, 2021
Image and permission received from the author via Juan Carlos Abascal Ruiz de Aguirre (e-mail of 27 January 2025)
Results: 43 records
animal - bird - 3
Scene Description: above the Eucharist scene
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Mikel Unanue, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph taken 20 July 2009 by Mikel Unanue
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
animal - mammal - boar? - head
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Juan Ramón Ugarte, 2009
Image Source: detail of a digital photograph taken 14 November 2009 by Juan Ramón Ugarte
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 6 July 2010)
animal - mammal - lion - rampant - 3
Scene Description: probably together with the other two and the castles/towers
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph [date unknown] by the Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion [image supplied by Mikel Unanue with stated permission from the source]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail from Mikel Unanue 20 Sept 2009)
cleric - abbot - giving sign of benediction - holding staff
Scene Description: the staff may be intended for a bishop or an abbot, but the head appears naked and tonsured: is he an abbot?
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph [date unknown] by the Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion [image supplied by Mikel Unanue with stated permission from the source]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail from Mikel Unanue 20 Sept 2009)
cleric - monk - tonsured - 3
![they may form part of a single scene with the next figure on the right [cf. Font notes]](/static-50478a99ec6f36a15d6234548c59f63da52304e5/compressed/1090723015_compressed.png)
Scene Description: they may form part of a single scene with the next figure on the right [cf. Font notes]
coat of arms - Castile?
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph [date unknown] by the Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion [image supplied by Mikel Unanue with stated permission from the source]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail from Mikel Unanue 20 Sept 2009)
design element - architectural - arcade
![irregular arches; some missing; others incomplete [cf. Font notes]](/static-50478a99ec6f36a15d6234548c59f63da52304e5/compressed/1090723010_compressed.png)
Scene Description: irregular arches; some missing; others incomplete [cf. Font notes]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph [date unknown] by the Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion [image supplied by Mikel Unanue with stated permission from the source]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail from Mikel Unanue 20 Sept 2009)
design element - architectural - arch - blind
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph [date unknown] by the Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion [image supplied by Mikel Unanue with stated permission from the source]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail from Mikel Unanue 20 Sept 2009)
design element - architectural - capital - 4
Scene Description: on the colonnetes of the base
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Juan Ramón Ugarte, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph taken 14 November 2009 by Juan Ramón Ugarte
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 6 July 2010)
design element - motifs - braid - 2-strand - beaded-tape - inscribed 6-petal flowers
![all around the basin [cf. Font notes]](/static-50478a99ec6f36a15d6234548c59f63da52304e5/compressed/1090723012_compressed.png)
Scene Description: all around the basin [cf. Font notes]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph [date unknown] by the Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion [image supplied by Mikel Unanue with stated permission from the source]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail from Mikel Unanue 20 Sept 2009)
design element - motifs - interlace - linked rings - beaded-tape - floral or foliage motifs
Scene Description: all around at the lower end of the underbowl, below the arcade and the scenes
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion, 2009
Image Source: detail of a digital photograph [date unknown] by the Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion [image supplied by Mikel Unanue with stated permission from the source]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail from Mikel Unanue 20 Sept 2009)
design element - motifs - moulding
Scene Description: on the bases of the colonnettes of the base
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Mikel Unanue, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph taken 20 July 2009 by Mikel Unanue
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
human figure - male - bearded
Scene Description: he may form part of a scene with the three other figures in the left arch, but, unlike them, he is neither a monk nor tonsured; wears a belt with a container -in which he has his left hand- attached to it
human figure - male - head
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Juan Ramón Ugarte, 2009
Image Source: detail of a digital photograph taken 14 November 2009 by Juan Ramón Ugarte
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 6 July 2010)
human figure - male - head - bearded
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Juan Ramón Ugarte, 2009
Image Source: detail of a digital photograph taken 14 November 2009 by Juan Ramón Ugarte
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 6 July 2010)
human figure - male - seated - wearing a hood
Scene Description: [cf. Font notes]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph [date unknown] by the Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion [image supplied by Mikel Unanue with stated permission from the source]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail from Mikel Unanue 20 Sept 2009)
sacrament - eucharist
![[cf. Font notes]](/static-50478a99ec6f36a15d6234548c59f63da52304e5/compressed/1090924020_compressed.png)
Scene Description: [cf. Font notes]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph [date unknown] by the Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion [image supplied by Mikel Unanue with stated permission from the source]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail from Mikel Unanue 20 Sept 2009)
view of basin
Scene Description: scene possibly represented by the figures in the two adjacent arches
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Mikel Unanue, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph taken 20 July 2009 by Mikel Unanue
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
view of basin
Scene Description: the state of the basin -inverted- during the cleaning process
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph [date unknown] by the Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion [image supplied by Mikel Unanue with stated permission from the source]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail from Mikel Unanue 20 Sept 2009)
view of basin
Scene Description: the state of the basin -inverted- during the cleaning process
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph [date unknown] by the Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion [image supplied by Mikel Unanue with stated permission from the source]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail from Mikel Unanue 20 Sept 2009)
view of basin - detail
Scene Description: the basin showing a detail of the damage prior to its restoration
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion, 2009
Image Source: detail of a digital photograph [date unknown] by the Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion [image supplied by Mikel Unanue with stated permission from the source]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail from Mikel Unanue 20 Sept 2009)
view of basin - east side
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph [date unknown] by the Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion [image supplied by Mikel Unanue with stated permission from the source]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail from Mikel Unanue 20 Sept 2009)
view of basin - north side
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph [date unknown] by the Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion [image supplied by Mikel Unanue with stated permission from the source]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail from Mikel Unanue 20 Sept 2009)
view of basin - underbowl
Scene Description: the inverted font as it was being excavated after years of burial underground and prior to its restoration
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion, 2009
Image Source: greyscale version of a digital photograph [date unknown] by the Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion [image supplied by Mikel Unanue with stated permission from the source]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail from Mikel Unanue 20 Sept 2009)
view of basin - underbowl - detail
Scene Description: the font immediately after its restoration
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph [date unknown] by the Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion [image supplied by Mikel Unanue with stated permission from the source]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail from Mikel Unanue 20 Sept 2009)
view of basin - underbowl - detail
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Juan Carlos Abascal Ruiz de Aguirre, 2025
Image Source: digital photograph taken 25 January 2025 by Juan Carlos Abascal Ruiz de Aguirre
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author (e-mail of 25 January 2025)
view of basin - underbowl - detail
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Juan Carlos Abascal Ruiz de Aguirre, 2025
Image Source: digital photograph taken 25 January 2025 by Juan Carlos Abascal Ruiz de Aguirre
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author (e-mail of 25 January 2025)
view of basin - underbowl - detail
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Iñaki Jiménez Fernández de Retana, 2021
Image Source: digital photograph 12 September 2021 by Iñaki Jiménez Fernández de Retana
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Juan Carlos Abascal Ruiz de Aguirre (e-mail of 27 January 2025)
view of basin - west side
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph [date unknown] by the Diputacion Foral de Alava, Servicio de Restauracion [image supplied by Mikel Unanue with stated permission from the source]
Copyright Instructions: Permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail from Mikel Unanue 20 Sept 2009)
view of church exterior - apse - window
Scene Description: Source caption: "Birgaragoien - San Andres eliza - Leihoa"
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Ibai1984, 2023
Image Source: edited detail of a digital photograph 24 April 2023 by Ibai1984 [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Birgalagoien_-_San_Andres_eliza_-_Leihoa.jpg] [accessed 21 August 2023]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-4.0
view of church exterior - south portal
Scene Description: Portada románica de la Iglesia de San Andrés de Vírgala Mayor (Arraya-Maestu, Álava)
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: edited detail of a digital photograph 3 February 2018 by Zarateman [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:V%C3%ADrgala_Mayor_-_Iglesia_de_San_Andrés,_portada_románica_18.jpg] [accessed 21 August 2023]
Copyright Instructions: CC-Zero
view of church exterior - south portal - detail
Scene Description: Portada románica de la Iglesia de San Andrés de Vírgala Mayor (Arraya-Maestu, Álava)
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: edited detail of a digital photograph 3 February 2018 by Zarateman [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:V%C3%ADrgala_Mayor_-_Iglesia_de_San_Andrés,_portada_románica_13.jpg] [accessed 21 August 2023]
Copyright Instructions: CC-Zero
view of church exterior - south portal - detail
Scene Description: Portada románica de la Iglesia de San Andrés de Vírgala Mayor (Arraya-Maestu, Álava)
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: edited detail of a digital photograph 3 February 2018 by Zarateman [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:V%C3%ADrgala_Mayor_-_Iglesia_de_San_Andrés,_portada_románica_07.jpg] [accessed 21 August 2023]
Copyright Instructions: CC-Zero
view of church exterior - south view - detail
Scene Description: Source caption: " Iglesia de San Andrés (Vírgala Mayor, Álava)"
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: edited detail of a digital photograph 3 February 2018 by Zarateman [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:V%C3%ADrgala_Mayor_-_Iglesia_de_San_Andrés_05.jpg] [accessed 21 August 2023]
Copyright Instructions: CC-Zero
view of church exterior - southwest view
Scene Description: Source caption: " Iglesia de San Andrés (Vírgala Mayor, Álava)"
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: digital photograph 3 February 2018 by Zarateman [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:V%C3%ADrgala_Mayor_-_Iglesia_de_San_Andrés_01.jpg] [accessed 21 August 2023]
Copyright Instructions: CC-Zero
view of font
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Mikel Unanue, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph taken 20 July 2009 by Mikel Unanue
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
view of font
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Iñaki Jiménez Fernández de Retana, 2021
Image Source: digital photograph 12 September 2021 by Iñaki Jiménez Fernández de Retana
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Juan Carlos Abascal Ruiz de Aguirre (e-mail of 27 January 2025)
view of font
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Iñaki Jiménez Fernández de Retana, 2021
Image Source: digital photograph 12 September 2021 by Iñaki Jiménez Fernández de Retana
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author via Juan Carlos Abascal Ruiz de Aguirre (e-mail of 27 January 2025)
view of font base
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Juan Ramón Ugarte, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph taken 14 November 2009 by Juan Ramón Ugarte
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 6 July 2010)
view of font base
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Juan Ramón Ugarte, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph taken 14 November 2009 by Juan Ramón Ugarte
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received via Mikel Unanue (e-mail of 6 July 2010)
view of font in context
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Mikel Unanue, 2009
Image Source: digital photograph taken 20 July 2009 by Mikel Unanue
Copyright Instructions: Standing permission
view of font in context
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Juan Carlos Abascal Ruiz de Aguirre, 2025
Image Source: digital photograph taken 25 January 2025 by Juan Carlos Abascal Ruiz de Aguirre
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author (e-mail of 25 January 2025)
view of stoup
![re-cycled from a replacement font, later used as holy-water stoup and now a planter [cf. FontNotes]](/static-50478a99ec6f36a15d6234548c59f63da52304e5/compressed/1250125007_compressed.png)
Scene Description: re-cycled from a replacement font, later used as holy-water stoup and now a planter [cf. FontNotes]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Juan Carlos Abascal Ruiz de Aguirre, 2025
Image Source: digital photograph taken 25 January 2025 by Juan Carlos Abascal Ruiz de Aguirre
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author (e-mail of 25 January 2025)
INFORMATION
FontID: 14158VIR
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Church/Chapel: Iglesia Parroquial de San Andres
Church Patron Saints: St. Andrew
Church Location: c/ Mayor, 01129 Virgala Mayor, Alava, Spain
Country Name: Spain
Location: Alava / Araba, País Vasco / Euskadi
Directions to Site: Located on the A-132, in the municipality and 3 km NW of Arraia-Maeztu, 22 km SE of Vitoria/Gasteiz
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, in the baptistery
Century and Period: 13th century (early?), Romanesque
Workshop/Group/Artisan: Palencia workshop?
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Montse Estela, of http://www.romanicat.net/, for bringing this font to our attention, to Mikel Unanue for the photographs and measurements of the font. We are also grateful to the Dpto. de Restauracion de la Diputacion Foral de Alava, Spain, and to Juan Ramón Ugarte, for their photographs of this font, and finally Juan Carlos Abascal Ruiz de Aguirre and Iñaki Jiménez Fernández de Retana for their photographs of the font
Font Notes:
Click to view
Illustrated in the Patrimonio Monumental del Pais Vasco [http://www.ehu.es/paisvascoromanico/index.html] [accessed 1 January 2009]. Baptismal font consisting of hemispherical basin raised on a columnar base; the basin has a band of beaded braid forming large circles in which are inscribed six-petal flowers; on the underbowl is an arcade of round arches containing a series of scenes [L->R]: priest saying Mass; priest blessing; then a blank from which two arches and their contents appear to have been chiseled off [censorship?]; in the next arch is a hooded seated person (monk?) resembling one of the Labours-of-the-Months types, but reading a book and wearing a knotted rope (?) belt; a blank arch; [other arches may be here, but we lack the information at present]; a scene that appears to occupy two arches: in the left arch are three tonsured monks; in the right arch is a taller bearded male with long hair, not a monk but a merchant or such; he wears a dagger at the waist, and rests his left hand on a purse or small drum [NB: these last two arches lack the actual arch-head, and have only the supporting columns and the spandrels; the arches of the arcade are uneven and unequal; the ones over the two priestly figures are made to accommodate pairs of birds facing opposite sides;another arch houses a rampant lion looking right; in the following arch are three towers over which are two rampant lions (?) [is this a Castile-related emblem? the royal house?]; under these scenes runs a band of what appears to be foliage of varied shapes; the bottom of the underbowl appears to have been altered [cut?]; the base consists of a broad and plain central shaft and four external colonnettes qith marked capitals and moulded bases; between the capitals of the outer colonnettes are human [one bearded] and animals heads. [NB: we have received the following information from a local source: "Durante años estuvo enterrada debajo de otra de mucho menor valor y en las ultimas obras ralizadas en la Iglesia se descubrio la existencia de la pila actual" [=The font was buried under another one of less artistic value, but was unearthed during the latest work in the church] [source: e-mail of 5 Jan 2009 from Elena Fernandez de Mendiola, elena@goig.org]. [NB: unconfirmed information from the Dpto. de Restauracion de la Diputacion Foral de Alava, Spain, indicates that the base of the font was found broken in thirty-eight pieces]. The font was excavated in 2000 based on information available in the Parish books ["La primera noticia que se tiene de su recuperada pila bautismal esta recogida en la ingente obra de Micaela Portilla en el Tomo V del Catalogo Monumental de la Diócesis de Vitoria. En él se señala que en el Libro de Cuentas de la Parroquia de Vírgala Mayor existe un asiento contable de 1.828, por el que se le encarga al cantero D. Vicente Nanclares la realización, entre otras obras, de una pila nueva en sustitución de la vieja ya deteriorada, y el enlosado que iba a servir para cubrirla"-- source: Mikel Unanue, October 2009]. A detailed and illustrated article by Mikel Unanue on the discovery of the font can fr found in the Amigos del Romanico website [http://www.amigosdelromanico.org/opinion/opi_091112.html] [accessed 15 November 2009].
A communication to BSI from Juan Carlos Abascal Ruiz de Aguirre (e-mail of 25 January 2025) reiterates and confirms some of the above information about the 'new' [i.e., replacemente font]: it was later used as holy-water stoup in is now -January 2025- used as planter inside the church ["La pila "nueva" [...] pasó a ser primero benditero en vez de bautismal y hoy como puedes ver para contener una planta"].
COORDINATES
Church Latitude & Longitude Decimal: 42.752, -2.4755
Church Latitude & Longitude DMS: 42° 45′ 7.2″ N, 2° 28′ 31.8″ W
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone, limestone
Font Shape: hemispheric (mounted)
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round
Rim Thickness: 16 cm [calculated]
Diameter (inside rim): 87 cm*
Diameter (includes rim): 119 cm*
Basin Total Height: 59 cm*
Height of Base: 46 cm*
Font Height (less Plinth): 105 cm*
Square Base Dimensions: 57 x 57 cm*
Notes on Measurements: * [the basin weighs 677 kg., the base 80 kg. though much restored with other materials than the original stone -- measurements and weights courtesy of Mikel Unanue; some may be originally from the Dpto. de Restauracion de la Diputacion Foral de Alava, Spain]