MONSTRANCE, TEMPLE TYPE. SILVER, GLASS. 16TH CENTURY, WITH RESTORATIONS.

Portable temple monstrance. Gilded silver, glass. 16th century, possible restorations. Monstrance made of gilded silver (the finish has been lost in some places) composed of a base, a shaft or stem and a two-storey upper architectural structure with some figures at the top. The base has a flat base on which tubular shapes with discs are placed, followed by a mixtilinear shape with an openwork front with circular details and an upper part with plant elements in relief (flowers, scrolls, palms, etc.) and a heraldic shield. The shaft or stem begins with an architectural shape with flying buttresses and tubular shapes with discs (similar to those of the base) and continues with another body of niches with sculptures of saints, which have columns with double faced balusters and arches with arched elements finished on the outside by winged angel heads with leaves in their hair; this area ends with an architectural element that recalls the lower part. The upper two-storey area has a hexagonal base and architectural, figurative and vegetal decorative elements with a marked classicist influence, together with others of a classical Gothic type, and is topped by a Deesis with a rocky floor (the Virgin and Saint John flanking a crucified Christ). Just below the gallery of trilobed arches that top it off, two garlands of leaves and fruits hang; and two heraldic shields are engraved. Next, there is the virile for the Holy Form, sheltered in a structure with grotesques functioning as columns and angels playing musical instruments. Above this, another structure shows seated children holding the emblems of the Passion and an enclosed space with balustraded balconies with crosses in the centre, within which a haloed figure appears blessing and holding an orb topped with a cross (in reality, this figure tops the virile, but can be seen through this gap); there are also niches with figures. Between one floor and another, there are a series of chains attached to small rods that ensure that the vault does not open. One of the two engraved heraldic shields already mentioned shows a Tau, also known as the Cross of Saint Thecla or Saint Anthony, common in Tarragona and in orders such as the Franciscan Order, for example. The other heraldic shield, which is very similar to the one on the base (here the border is different, there are more plants...), is cut, with a bull or ox passing to the left in the upper part and three plant stems (perhaps reeds) coming out of the ground (under which there is another line that could allude to a water course) in the lower area. The temple custodians are a relatively frequent typology in the Burgos and Valladolid schools (in fact, it seems to be common in Castile and León except for some areas such as Palencia), although they appear throughout the Spanish school together with the tower custodians and the type known as "sun custodians". Compare, for example, with the monstrance from the Church of Santa Eulalia in Paredes de Nava, or that from the parish church of San Pedro de Aibar (dated around 1476-1488, perhaps made in Burgos by Juan de Santa Cruz), that from the parish church of Sasn Juan Bautista in Horta de Sant Joan (workshop in Tortosa, 16th century (documentation from around 1520); note the high base, with an openwork front with circles), the Samaniego monstrance (Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art of the Basque Country, made by Sancho de Salcedo –doc. Santo Domingo de la Calzada, 1495-1511-), the Arisgotas monstrance (Parish Museum of the Town of Orgaz, dated before 1547 and made by Francisco Martínez de San Román from Toledo), etc. Weight: 3 kg.

· Size: 21x21x58 cms