A region like a museum of pre-Romanesque art
Noteworthy fragments
Asturias: a region like a museum of pre-Romanesque art
Throughout the region of Asturias, an important assemblage of churches, chapels and cemeteries conserves pieces dating from the pre-Romanesque era that have been incorporated into later buildings.
Approximately one hundred windows, lattices, chancel screens, tombstones, inscriptions, decorative and architectural elements in this region provide evidence of the Asturian pre-Romanesque art.
This makes Asturias a region that serves as a museum, conserving evidence of an artistic style that has come down to us today in numerous chapels and churches, many of which continue in use for today’s worshippers, a fact that has contributed to their conservation.
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A number of elements and pieces of evidence that archaeology and research have been able to expand on and that, together with the collections exhibited in the different museums in Asturias, highlights the vitality and expansion of the Asturian style of pre-Romanesque art.
Below you will find a representative sample, for purposes of illustration, of pieces and elements that make Asturias a region that serves as a museum of the pre-Romanesque.
- Chancel screen of the Church of San Francisco, Avilés
- Window of the Church of San Lorenzo de Cortina de Llaranes, Avilés
- Chancel screen of the Church of San Tirso de Candamo, Candamo
- Window of the Church of San Cipriano de Pillarno, Castrillón
- Window of the Church of San Martín de Laspra, Castrillón
- Inscription on the Church of San Salvador de Deva, Gijón
- Capitals of the Church of Santa Eufemia de El Mundín, Llanera
- Panel of the chancel screen of Lugo de Llanera, Llanera
- Latticework of the Church of San Miguel de Villardeveyo, Llanera
- Inscription, jambs and latticework of the Church of Santa Eulalia, Morcín
- Window of the San Bartolomé’s Chapel at the cemetery in Nava
- Window of the Church of Santo Tomás de Priandi, Nava
- Windows of the Church of Santiago de Sariego, Sariego
- Lattices and inscriptions in the Church of San Martín de Argüelles, Siero
- Window of the Church of San Miguel de Bárcena del Monasterio, Tineo
- Window of the Church of San Pedro de Ese of Calleras, Tineo
- Latticework of the Church of San Martín del Mar, Villaviciosa
- Window of the Church of San Tirso, Oviedo
Fragment of the chancel screen of San Francisco
AVILÉS
Las barroteras y placas de cancel tienen una función litúrgica en el arte prerrománico asturiano pues son los elementos que separan físicamente el espacio sagrado o santuario, del destinado a los fieles, en las naves.
The small columns and panels of the chancel screen serve a liturgical purpose in Asturian pre-Romanesque architecture, since they are the elements that physically separate the holy space or sanctuary from the space dedicated to the parishioners in the naves.
In the church of San Francisco of Avilés, a fragment of a panel made of white limestone is conserved on which there is an image framed by two thick square-shaped bands in the shape of a wide band. Inside this, schematic plant motifs were carved: there is a sculpture of a double grapevine with swerving minds that shelter vine shoots and bunches of grapes.
It displays a certain connection with the panels of the chancel screen of Santa Cristina de Lena (Lena) and Santa María de Bendones (Oviedo).
César García de Castro, Arqueología Cristiana de la Alta Edad Media, RIDEA, Oviedo, 1995.
Lorenzo Arias Páramo, Guía del arte prerrománico asturiano, TREA, Gijón, 2008.
Convent of San Francisco of Avilés.
This was found during the repair work of the cornice of the roof. Originally it was embedded in one of the walls of the chapel of Christ, under the choir of St. James, and, in 1939, it was relocated to its current site, in the north span of the cloister.
Window of the Church of San Lorenzo de Cortina
AVILÉS
Situated on the west façade of the chapel, over the entrance to the temple.
It is a rectangular, monolithic limestone block, carved in the shape of a twin bifora. It features bevelled upper edges, two bays and a quadrangular mullion. The bays are finished with circles of fretwork above each of them, and they are framed with a cord decorated with rope motif.
It displays similarities with another window of the Church of Santiago de Sariego.
César García de Castro, Arqueología Cristiana de la Alta Edad Media, RIDEA, Oviedo, 1995.
Church of San Lorenzo de Cortina (Llaranes, Avilés).
Although the church is of pre-Romanesque origin, the current building dates from the 17th century.
Chancel screen of the Church of San Tirso de Candamo
CANDAMO
This is a magnificent piece that is outstanding among chancel screens with liturgical function in Asturian pre-Romanesque Architecture.
The ensemble of the panel of the chancel screen with panel and small columns in a single piece was designed from a monolithic prismatic block of limestone. Its decoration is concentrated on the front side: in the central part of the piece, the composition depicts three slender shoots with different leaf shapes. A stem sprouts from the upper central petal, and from the stem emerge four opposing series of rinceaux shoots rolled into a spiral.
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The iconography of the slab alludes to the true tree of life, which is Christ, and according to the text of the Book of Revelation or Apocalypse or St. John, was at the centre of the Heavenly Jerusalem. It also reflects the three Biblical trees and the mystery of the Trinity, one of the most important political and religious problems of the era: the Adoptionist controversy, in which three-person nature of God was debated.
Lorenzo Arias Páramo and Francisco Javier Fernández Conde, “Cancel prerrománico de San Tirso de Candamo: historia e iconografía”, Territorio, sociedad y poder: revista de estudios medievales, nº 1, 2006.
Lorenzo Arias Páramo, Guía del arte prerrománico asturiano, TREA, Gijón, 2008.
Church of San Tirso de Candamo (Candamo).
Window of the Church of San Cipriano de Pillarno
CASTRILLÓN
Embedded in the wall of the entry passageway to the rectory, on the south side of the church.
Carved in sandstone, it is a bifora with two narrow rectangular bays crowned with two small horseshoe arches, jambs and rectangular-shaped mullion.
It shows similarities with other Asturian examples, such as those in San Martín de Salas (Salas) and the San Miguel de Bárcena del Monasterio (Tineo).
César García de Castro, Arqueología Cristiana de la Alta Edad Media, RIDEA, Oviedo, 1995.
Church of San Cipriano de Pillarno (Castrillón).
Window of the Church of San Martín de Laspra
CASTRILLÓN
Embedded in the Western façade of the church.
Carved in sandstone, it features to bays separated by a circular mullion, flanked with two jambs carved in the style of engaged semi-columns. The upper finish of the bays is a horseshoe arch.
It displays similarities with other examples in Asturias, such as those at San Nicolás de Bañugues (Gozón), San Martín de Salas (Salas), San Román de Sariego (Sariego), San Miguel de Bárcena del Monasterio and San Pedro de Ese de Calleras (Tineo).
César García de Castro, Arqueología Cristiana de la Alta Edad Media, RIDEA, Oviedo, 1995.
Church of San Martín de Laspra (Castrillón).
The upper finish of the bays is a horseshoe arch.
Inscription on the Church of San Salvador de Deva
GIJÓN
It is currently situated above the southern gate of the church and is made up of four fragments of limestone pieces of the original slab.
The inscription describing the foundation and consecration occupies seven lines engraved in the epigraphic field; a cross accompanied by the Greek letters alpha and omega is situated in the centre of this field. Description reads as follows:
“In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the sake of whose love the Queen Velasquita, daughter of Ramiro, built the temple of our Lord and Holy Saviour; and the relics that are concealed herein; so that she might receive worthy rewards in the bosom of the Saints and dwell there happily and possess the Kingdom of God, Amen. This house of worship has been consecrated”.
The precedent for this type of inscription is found in the foundation stones of Alfonso III and at the Church of San Martín de Salas (Salas).
César García de Castro, Arqueología Cristiana de la Alta Edad Media, RIDEA, Oviedo, 1995.
Church of San Salvador de Deva (Gijón).
In the middle of the 19th century, it was found above the lintel of the south lateral door of the church. It was subjected to an unfortunate restoration that has distorted its original appearance.
Capitals of the Church of Santa Eufemia de El Mundín
LLANERA
This is a pair of pyramid-shaped capitals, carved on their four faces with the same iconography, divided into two sections, superior and inferior.
This arrangement is the result of the re-carving of the original format, since the upper section was carved from a cutting of capital that affected the decoration of the lower one. In the lower one, there are two semicircular arches slightly cambered, supported on columns with shaft torso and cubic impost capital, which provide shelter to various front-facing human figures with a long robe and arms resting on a curved staff.
In the upper part, two birds of prey facing each other, with their wide wings folded, like vultures, fight over a quadruped that they subject by the back with their claws. The columns have no abacus, but instead have double collar with rope motif.
The sculpture and themes of the pieces is closely related with the sculpture workshop that produced the series of capitals in the interior of the central chamber of Santa María de Naranco.
César García de Castro. Archaeological Museum of Asturias.
Origin: Ruins of the Church of Santa Eufemia de El Mundín (Llanera)
These were incorporated into the Archaeological Museum of Asturias by donation of Augusto Díaz-Ordóñez y Bailly, owner of the plot on which the chapel was located.
Panel of the chancel of Lugo de Llanera
LLANERA
White limestone block, fragmented into four pieces from an early date. It was recovered as the cover of a flagstone tomb dating to the High Middle Ages.
The back has not been carved, except from the fringe on the perimeter of the same dimensions as on the front. The front is carved in two areas. On the outside, the perimeter fringe highlighted over the basic field. Highly eroded, it seems to have been covered by a highly geometrical stylization of an ivy shoot. In the centre area, divided into two identical halves, separated by a band with a series of ripples, two pairs of heraldic lions are depicted facing an axial tree that sprouts from the water. There are images of several palm trees above the backs of each lion. The carving is at two levels with some motifs protruding and others hollowed out.
The motif is common in the iconography of trees and alludes to the apotropaic power (i.e., power to ward off evil) of lions and also to the Tree of Life.
César García de Castro. Archaeological Museum of Asturias.
Origin: Cemetery of the ancient Church of Santa María de Lugo de Llanera (Llanera)
It was added to the Archaeological Museum of Asturias after 1981, the year of the excavation campaigns in that area led by Emilio Olávarri Goicoechea.
Latticework of San Miguel de Villardeveyo
LLANERA
Embedded in the east façade of the current church, constructed in the 19th century, after the demolition of the previous medieval church.
This is a rectangular bay finished with semicircular camber, the perimeter of which is bordered with a double rope moulding. The lower part is filled by two rectangular bays finished with horseshoe arches; the curves of these arches are decorated with a thick cord, and are supported on two small, engaged columns on the sides and a free-standing column in the mullion. The pyramid-shaped capitals with little collars decorated with a rope motif. It is separated from the upper part by a band decorated with a rope motif. The lattice is finished off with a rosette with fretwork with two circumference bands decorated with rope motif.
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This example is a clear copy of the one located on the western façade of San Miguel de Lillo (Oviedo).
César García de Castro, Arqueología Cristiana de la Alta Edad Media, RIDEA, Oviedo, 1995.
Church of San Miguel de Villardeveyo (Llanera)
Inscription, latticework and jambs of the Church of Santa Eulalia de Morcín
MORCÍN
The consecration inscription is found on the wall on the side with the Evangelium, in the main chapel.
“Receive, Holy God, the holy offerings collected and gifts of the Archdeacon Ascarico and his sister the nun, at the church built in honour of Eulalia of Merida consecrated by the Bishop Placino/Oveco in the years 944/964 of the current era” (years 906-926).
The latticework is located on the back wall of the sacristy, situated to the south of the central chapel. It is a rectangular piece finished off by a semicircular arch featuring an arrangement of six circles of fretwork with intermediate triangular and diamond-shaped areas. The curves of the circle are emphasized with bands decorated with rope motifs.
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This is a piece unparalleled in Asturias, the date of which is determined by an inscription inside the church from the year 906.
The jambs located at the entry of the church –in very poor condition–, are reused pieces that conserve fragments of an inscription and residues of blue paint. Their decorative motifs have parallels in the south portico of Valdediós.
César García de Castro, Arqueología Cristiana de la Alta Edad Media, RIDEA, Oviedo, 1995.
Church of Santa Eulalia de Morcín (Morcín)
Window of the San Bartolomé’s Chapel at the cemetery in Nava
NAVA
The window is embedded in the west façade of the chapel of the parish cemetery.
It is a carved limestone block, composed of two bays finished off by small horseshoe arches resting on small columns with pyramid-shaped capitals. Above the frame of the arch, a processional cross emerges possibly accompanied on both sides by two other smaller crosses, in the style of Calvary, as appear in the central chapel of Valdediós.
César García de Castro, Arqueología Cristiana de la Alta Edad Media, RIDEA, Oviedo, 1995.
Chapel of San Bartolomé. Cemetery of Nava
Window of the Church of Santo Tomás de Priandi
NAVA
Embedded in the south wall of the Church of Santo Tomás, it is a bifora carved in a monolithic block of sandstone.
Two elongated bays completed by two small horseshoe arches above very unsophisticated, smooth imposts. Above the little arches, two bays are arranged loosely. The mullion, which has no capital, has a quadrangular cross-section.
César García de Castro, Arqueología Cristiana de la Alta Edad Media, RIDEA, Oviedo, 1995.
Lorenzo Arias Páramo, Guía del arte prerrománico asturiano, TREA, Gijón, 2008.
Church of Santo Tomás de Priandi (Nava)
Windows of the Church of Santiago de Sariego
SARIEGO
Three windows have been conserved: one in the western façade and another two in the southern façade.
They are rectangular slabs with three circular bays on the lintel, in which there are two bays finished by horseshoe arches supported on jambs and circular mullions with little collars.
On the capitals and frames of the arches, there are plant motifs, hearts and geometrical motifs that resemble Andalusian repertories present in San Salvador de Valediós and San Martín de Salas.
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One of the windows conserves the inscription: “Roman the priest made this” and that probably alludes to either the sculpture or to the sponsor of the church.
César García de Castro, Arqueología Cristiana de la Alta Edad Media, RIDEA, Oviedo, 1995.
Lorenzo Arias Páramo, Guía del arte prerrománico asturiano, TREA, Gijón, 2008.
Church of Santiago de Sariego (Sariego)
Lattices and inscriptions in San Martín de Argüelles
SIERO
Two lattices have been conserved in the southern façade of the church.
The latticework located to the west is set apart by a composition divided into two parts unified by a herringbone framework around its perimeter and divided by a horizontal band decorated with rope motif. In the upper part, a rosette with fretwork of global-shaped petals and engraved toruses, both decorated with a rope motif, and in the spandrels, four semicircles with engraved curves with interior fretwork.
The lower part shows two rectangular bays finished with semicircular arches with curves decorated with rope motif.
The second lattice, found on the eastern façade forms a double circle with curves decorated with double rope motif. In the interior of the smaller circle, a rosette is located with oval-shaped petals around a circular, central fretwork.
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It displays similarities with the latticework of San Miguel de Villardeveyo (Llanera) and San Miguel de Lillo (Oviedo).
Two inscriptions are extant: one is on the foundation stone of the church, located at the base of the right column of the main entry to church, but there is no consensus on the interpretation of the date:
“Built on the fourteenth day before the Calends of May (18 April), in the year MCXXI (1083 A.D.)”.
“Built on the fourteenth day before the Calends of May (18 April), in the year DCXXI (583 A.D.)”.
This inscription is of great interest since, if the earlier date is valid, it would demonstrate that Christian communities were present at the end of the 6th century in the central region of Asturias.
The second inscription is found on the lintel of one of the windows, in the inverted position, and refers to the rebuilding of the church in the 10th century:
“In name of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the year DCCCLXXXVIII (951 d. C), the priest Domingo restored this church. You, priests, together with the entire people, pray for me”.
César García de Castro, Arqueología Cristiana de la Alta Edad Media, RIDEA, Oviedo, 1995.
Lorenzo Arias Páramo, Guía del arte prerrománico asturiano, TREA, Gijón, 2008.
Church of San Martín de Argüelles (Siero)
It displays similarities with the latticework of San Miguel de Villardeveyo (Llanera) and San Miguel de Lillo (Oviedo).
Window of San Pedro de Ese de Calleras
TINEO
It is conserved embedded in the wall of the exterior back wall of the chapel of St. Peter’s.
It has been created in a monolithic, sandstone block and consists of two rectangular bays completed by small horseshoe arches with protruding imposts, straight jambs and cylindrical mullion.
It displays similarities with certain elements of the windows of Santianes de Pravia (Pravia), such as those horseshoes-shaped, and also with San Martín de Salas.
César García de Castro, Arqueología Cristiana de la Alta Edad Media, RIDEA, Oviedo, 1995.
Lorenzo Arias Páramo, Guía del arte prerrománico asturiano, TREA, Gijón, 2008.
Church of San Pedro de Ese de Calleras (Tineo)
Window San Tirso of Oviedo
OVIEDO
It is situated on the outside of the eastern wall of the central chapel of the current parish church of San Tirso.
It is the only element that is conserved from the original pre-Romanesque construction: it was part of the back wall of the central apse and supposedly corresponded to a chamber above the apse, typical of Asturian churches.
The windows present three brick arches supported on four reused marble columns, with classic base and slender shaft, free standing in the centre and engaged in the sides. The lateral capitals are reused Roman pieces of Corinthian tradition, carved with burin, while the two central capitals are of the original size, inspired in the laterals, with schematic plant decoration and Asturian collar with rope motif.
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This assemblage is framed by an alfiz that might be part of a subsequent reform undertaken between 10th-11th centuries and can be traced to Hispanic-Mozarabic influences.
César García de Castro, Arqueología Cristiana de la Alta Edad Media, RIDEA, Oviedo, 1995.
Lorenzo Arias Páramo, Guía del arte prerrománico asturiano, TREA, Gijón, 2008.
Church of San Tirso (Oviedo)
The archaeological excavations conducted in 1968 enabled documentation of the original height of the window, 3.06 metres above the floor.
Window of San Miguel de Bárcena del Monasterio
TINEO
The window is embedded in the east façade of the Church of San Miguel.
It is a rectangular piece with two narrow rectangular bays finished off by two small horseshoe arches above protruding imposts. The mullion consists of a capital with a smooth truncated-cone shape and straight jambs.
It shows similarities with other Asturian examples, such as those existing in the parish church of Pillarno (Castrillón) and in San Martín de Salas (Salas).
César García de Castro, Arqueología Cristiana de la Alta Edad Media, RIDEA, Oviedo, 1995.
Lorenzo Arias Páramo, Guía del arte prerrománico asturiano, TREA, Gijón, 2008.
Church of San Miguel de Bárcena del Monasterio (Tineo)
Latticework of San Martín de Mar
VILLAVICIOSA
Located on the back wall of the chapel of the temple and reused as bay of the apse.
Carved in sandstone and featuring a cross-shaped design, based on four triangular areas of fretwork around a central circle.
It displays similarities with the lattices of Santa Cristina de Lena (Lena).
César García de Castro, Arqueología Cristiana de la Alta Edad Media, RIDEA, Oviedo, 1995.
Lorenzo Arias Páramo, Guía del arte prerrománico asturiano, TREA, Gijón, 2008.
