The Secrets of

San Juan de la Peña Monastery

The secrets of San Juan de la Peña Monastery

Since I was a student I had been interested in Romanesque art. My father most favorite’s place was San Juan de la Peña Monastery. It’s located in the north of Spain, in Jaca (Huesca).

The Romanesque monasteries which were built between ninth and eleventh cen-tury had a very interesting cloisters which were been provided by capitals. These capitals had been sculptured in different ways. It could have been sculptured with leave motifs or with unknown monsters. But in some cases these cloisters showed a stunning scene on their capitals.

I’m trying to explain how interesting is to decode each sculpture of San Juan de la Peña Monastery.

What’s on in Medieval Europe.

The Aragon Crown was one the most powerful kingdom in Europe. It had the control of Mediterranean commerce.

The kings from Aragon and Navarra were buried in S. Juan de la Peña Mon-astery. It’s was the center of the religious and politic power between eleventh and twelfth century. “Sancho el mayor”, Ramiro I, or Alfonso I “the Warrior” became it a place of pilgrimage.

History

During the time of Christian Reconquest this was an ideal place for monks. The first infor-mation about this its use dates back to 920. The king Sancho “El may-or” from Navarra occupied the mon-astery under the Benedictine’s rules and became during XI and XII century in the references places for Aragon and Navarra’s kingdoms.

From 1.100 onwards, south-ern cities reached

greater political power as a result Poblet Monastery became the most important one of the Kingdom.

The Building

Three apses covered by vaults from the rock. In the middle S. Juan apse, the others were devoted to S. Mikel and S. Clement.

The Holy Grail, is documented its presence the fourteenth of December of 1134. The King of Aragon, Martín “El humano” it had been moved to Zaragoza.

There is a pantheon for nobles. In their sepulchers shows us an lovely orna-mental repertory:

Up, the soul of the dead is been rising up by angels.On the right, a fantastic animal, half eagle and half lion. It’s called Griffin.

Down Coats of arms sculpture.

Inscriptions into the stones. It said who dead, which were his charge and when he died. Only abbeys and important charges of the monastery could have inscrip-tions.

The cloister

To enter to the cloister, over the arc it can read: “Through this door opens the way of the faithful heavens to joint the faith with the fulfillment of the com-mands of God”.

During the second half of the twelfth century, Agüero’s Master, who had sculptured several works in the north of Aragon, was the author of the capitals sculptures. There were four rows of columns. Now a day the north and west ones are well preserved.

You should imagine monks walking around the columns, prying and watching the figures. In the morning, while they were listening the wildlife’s sounds in the high mountain, they should had been felt saved in their innermost thoughts. They walked everyday around the same courtyard, the same sculptures, the same message. The cloister was a stone Bible; every capital shows a scene which every monk had to think about it.

The capitals

The first: The creation of Adam

Up, the scene of the creation of Adam, who was a sinner, he covers himself with his left hand, and the other in his throat. Broken, Eva in the paradise garden.

The second: The punish Adam and Eva.

Adam is working the field with an ox, Eva is weaving. The other side:

Cain and Abel offering a lamb sacri-ficed.

The third: The annunciation

Saint Gabriel holds a cross and Mary is with her cousin Isabel (down, on the Saint Gabriel left).

And shep-herds in the annunciation.

The Fourth: Saint Joseph dream and the scape to Egypt.

Perhaps the most known of the cloister. An angel warns Saint Joseph that he must scape. In the other side, Bethle-hem (right).

The fith: The magic kings in front of Herodes.

Three Jewish wise reading the holy scriptures.

In the other side, there are two theories. The first, it’s an innocent murder. The second, It’s Cain killing Abel.

The sixth: Salome dance

A man over the castle (left of the capital), it could be St. John the Baptist over the Herodes’ Castle. On the right, a woman dancing, it could be Salome.

The seventh: The three magic Kings.

The tenth: The temptation from the demon to Jesus.

The eleventh: Jesus walking over the sea.

Down, apostles in boats.

In the west side:

The twelfth: The miracles weddings canna

Jesus blesses while a man is pouring water into the jar.

The thirteenth: Jesus forgiving an adulterate woman.

The well-known scene shows Jesus giving permission to an adulterate woman for go away.

The fourteenth: The Resurrection of Lazaro

Christ with a cross in his hand, bless Lazaro’s body and his sisters, Marta and Maria.

The sixteenth: The holy dinner.

Jesus feeding an apostle while he is trying to get the fish which is on the table. Saint John the Baptist putting his head onto the shoulder’s Christ.

Finally: A pair of Griffins.I try showing the sightseeing from the cloister. On the left a pair of Griffins.

Information based from:http://www.jdiezarnal.com/monaste-

riodesanjuandelapena.html.

Text and Photos by Marcos Lacasa.

Design by Marcos Lacasa.

Doubts and Questions in http://foro.photodigiscoping.com/index.php?topic=5754