Wild boar in San Pedro de Caracena, Spain
Wild boar
Wild Boar.
Apse of San Pedro de Caracena (Exterior view).
End of the 12th century.
Carved stone.
Soria (Spain).
Description
This corbel belongs to the apse of the church and it is placed on the southern part. A single Wild Boar is depicted in a frontal position, and it does not interact with any other figures. It is part of a complex hunting scene made up of five consecutive corbels with a hunter with a lance playing the olifant, a dog, the wild boar, another dog and a second hunter carrying another lance.
We can consider these figures as a simplification of the hunting scene that we can see in one of the capitals of this church’s open gallery; although the conservation of these corbels is worse than the ones on the apse.
The symbolism is very similar to the sister scene that we can find in the nearby church of Santa María de Tiermes (Soria); furthermore, both scenes were probably made by the same workshop. This scene could be interpreted as a psychomachic combat against evil or sin, as well as a scene of daily life, depicting the defensive hunting that the inhabitants of that area used to practice. Nevertheless, it is interesting to note the fact of the reiteration of the topic in the decoration of this church.
Bibliography
- GAYA NUÑO, Juan Antonio, El románico en la provincia de Soria. Madrid: CSIC, 1946.
- HERNANDO GARRIDO, José Luis, “Apuntes sobre la caza en el arte medieval hispano”, Codex Aqvilarensis, 19 (2003), 102-126.
- PALOMERO ARAGÓN, Félix, “Breves apuntes sobre la escultura monumental de San Pedro de Caracena (Soria): relaciones con otros monumentos y Escuela Silense”, Boletín del Seminario de Estudios de Arte y Arqueología: BSAA, 56 (1990), 351-363.
- RODRÍGUEZ MONTAÑÉS, José Manuel, “Caracena” en GARCÍA GUINEA, Miguel Ángel y PÉREZ GONZÁLEZ, José María (dir.), Enciclopedia del Románico en Castilla y León. Soria I. Aguilar de Campoo: Fundación Santa María la Real – Centro de estudios del Románico, 2002.
- URIA RIU, Juan, “La caza de la montería en León y Castilla en la Edad Media, Clavileño, 35 (1955), 1-14.
Author
Diana Olivares Martínez
