Raquel Alonso Álvarez

The cruces gemmatae of Oviedo between the eleventh and twelfth centuries

ABSTRACTTwo early medieval jewelled crosses are preserved in the treasury of the Cathedral of Oviedo. The first, known as the Cross of the Angels, was donated by King Alfonso II in the year 808. The second, the so-called Cross of Victory, was given as a gift to the Cathedral by King Alfonso III in 908. The original function of these crosses remains unknown, as the early medieval sources are silent on the subject. Nevertheless, evidence suggests that the earlier of these two crosses was displayed on the main altar of the Cathedral of Oviedo before the twelfth century, while it seems likely that the second cross functioned as a processional cross. Around the turn of the twelfth century, the bishops of Oviedo began to develop a propagandistic programme using a series of old objects that were incorporated into new discursive contexts, in particular the corpus of texts redacted by Pelayo of Oviedo (1089–1153), consisting of the Liber Testamentorum and the Corpus Pelagianum. From this point on, the crosses beca...ABSTRACT Two early medieval jewelled crosses are preserved in the treasury of the Cathedral of Oviedo. The first, known as the Cross of the Angels, was donated by King Alfonso II in the year 808. The second, the so-called Cross of Victory, was given as a gift to the Cathedral by King Alfonso III in 908. The original function of these crosses remains unknown, as the early medieval sources are silent on the subject. Nevertheless, evidence suggests that the earlier of these two crosses was displayed on the main altar of the Cathedral of Oviedo before the twelfth century, while it seems likely that the second cross functioned as a processional cross. Around the turn of the twelfth century, the bishops of Oviedo began to develop a propagandistic programme using a series of old objects that were incorporated into new discursive contexts, in particular the corpus of texts redacted by Pelayo of Oviedo (1089–1153), consisting of the Liber Testamentorum and the Corpus Pelagianum. From this point on, the crosses became the stars of a series of legendary tales, whose enduring popularity has helped preserve these objects. This article reviews the historiographic process by which the first of these two crosses was transformed into acheiropoieton, and the second, into a Christian battle standard at the Battle of Covadonga.

Hornija, Bamba, Pampliega: las elecciones funerarias de los reyes hispanovisigodos

Resumen: El estudio emprendido en las iglesias de San Miguel de Lino y en Santa Maria de Naranco llega a la conclusion fundamental de que un importante conjunto de piezas escultoricas procedentes de Santa Maria de Naranco fueron reutilizadas en la tribuna de la iglesia de Lino. Los cuatro arcos situados en las puertas de las habitaciones y las escaleras de acceso a la tribuna de la iglesia de San Miguel de Lino son piezas reutilizadas, de spolia, cuya original procedencia se encuentra en el contiguo edificio civil de Santa Maria de Naranco (848). Los estudios precisos de caracter arqueologico y artistico asi lo confirman con un alto grado de confianza. Se pueden, pues, valorar con cierta fiabilidad los elementos introducidos en la obra original y aquellos que han sido objeto de una disposicion para la que no habian sido fabricados y que cumpliran ahora una funcion de sustitucion como elementos reaprovechados. Palabras clave: spolia, tribuna regia, arquitectura aulica, arte asturiano, taller aulico. Abstract: A study of the church of San Miguel de Lino and Santa Maria de Naranco has concluded that a significant group of sculptures from Santa Maria were reused in the tribune of Lino. The four entry arches to the rooms and the stairs that give access to the tribune of the church of San Miguel de Lino are spolia from the neighbouring civil building of Santa Maria de Naranco (848). Detailed archaeological and artistic studies have confirmed this hypothesis to a high degree of certainty. We may thus reliably judge the elements that were originally in the building and those which were displaced from their original layout and have been reused as substitutes. Keywords: spolia, royal tribune, court architecure, Asturian art, court workshop.