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Statue of Santiago

V

vanrobin

Vanrobin
Donating Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Frances, Norte, Ingles, Portuguese
Primitivo 2025
Does anyone have a good photo of the Statue of Santiago in the cathedral at SdeC? I am not sure where exactly it is, but have been told that there is one in a small chapel off the north transept. It is I understand a depiction of Santiago Matamoros that is deemed politically incorrect at present and that the Moors at the base (dead I presume) are covered up by a bank of flowers!
Any information and especially a photo would be much appreciated. I am preparing a talk on Santiago.
 
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They have moved it to a chapel according to Ivar's recent video.
 
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vanrobin said:
Thanks Lynn, great photo! Where was the statue when you took this picture? I understand the it was moved into a chapel and Ivar's recent video seems to confirm this.
Click to expand...
It was a small chapel on the left hand side as one walks toward the exit door of the Cathedral (the door that exits toward San Martín Pinario). Teodomiro's tombstone was in that space when I was there last August.
 
vanrobin said:
I understand a depiction of Santiago Matamoros that is deemed politically incorrect at present and that the Moors at the base (dead I presume) are covered up by a bank of flowers!
Click to expand...
You can see a statue of Santiago Matamoros on a white horse and Moors at the base when you look at the high altar in the middle of the Santiago Cathedral. High above the statue of Santiago in his pilgrim outfit is a statue of Santiago in battle outfit with Moors to the right and left on the ground (photo below, left)

The moorslayer statue of the high altar is a bit more pleasing than the one in a chapel on the ground floor of the Cathedral (photo below, right) that was eventually endowed with an arrangement of plastic flowers at the base and is currently stored in a different chapel. I guess it has become less an object for contemplation and prayers than a mere touristic curiosity given its notoriety due to the fuss, some years ago, about presumed 'political correctness'.

The statue presents a chopped off human head right in front of the viewer and shows the agony of dying and the brutality of war more drastically than the statue of the high altar.

 
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vanrobin said:
Thanks Lynn, great photo! Where was the statue when you took this picture? I understand the it was moved into a chapel and Ivar's recent video seems to confirm this.
Click to expand...
A news article says that the statue of Santiago with the dying moors and the plastic flowers arrangement has been moved to the Alba chapel which is an oratory next to the Pórtico de la Gloria; this chapel is currently closed due to the ongoing renovation works.

The article also says that this statue of Santiago had been on display in the previous chapel only since the 1950s and that it is not part of the original artwork of the Cathedral. It does not say where they displayed it before 1950.
 
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And here is what the chapel looked like before the start of the Holy Years 2021-22 (left) and what it looks like since January 2021 (right); the objects on display refer to Santiago and to Teodomiro.

 
LynnT said:
It was a small chapel on the left hand side as one walks toward the exit door of the Cathedral (the door that exits toward San Martín Pinario). Teodomiro's tombstone was in that space when I was there last August.
Click to expand...
Thanks again. This what I understood and you have confirmed it.
 
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Thank you for these photos. This all seems to answer the question and updates everyone about the statues of which there seem to be at least three: one high on the facade of the cathedral (Santiago as pilgrim) and the two inside (Santiago Matamoros triumphant, especially in the side chapel)
 
vanrobin said:
about the statues of which there seem to be at least three: one high on the facade of the cathedral (Santiago as pilgrim) and the two inside (Santiago Matamoros triumphant, especially in the side chapel)
Click to expand...
There are at least five statues of Santiago at the Cathedral:
  • high up outside on the facade (as a pilgrim);
  • one just after entering, at the centre of the Porta de la Gloria (as apostle);
  • one in a chapel (as a knight),
  • two at the main altar (as a pilgrim just behind the alter; as a knight high up and above the altar).
The representations as pilgrim and as apostle are older than the ones as a knight; the latter date from the centuries following the period of the Middle Ages. It was only then that this imagery became popular and mainly in Spanish art, not elsewhere in Europe.
 
I've taken several photos of the statue in the Cathedral over the years. "Santiago Matamoros sculpted in wood and painted ca 1751-53 by by José Gambino (1719-75)."
 

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2012 Camino
My very first time in the cathedral. Impressive ️
 

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Asking about a different statue of St. James. Is there one where pilgrims used to kiss the statue's feet? Is it still there? I don't plan more than a friendly wave. I just read that there was a not-so-subtle push to get pilgrims to stop kissing it due to swine flu, back in 2009.
 
My gut feeling is that the feet are fantasy / embellishment / Chinese whispers kind of mistake. Put swine flu pandemic kissing statues into Google News and you get hits from 2009 like this one: Swine flu no-kissing ban hits Spanish shrine - yes, that's the famous Santiago statue in the Cathedral.

If I am not mistaken, it is still not allowed to hug, touch or kiss the famous Santiago statue at the main altar in the Cathedral, due to the Covid-19 public health crisis. I know that at least last year, the faithful were not allowed, for example during Easter week, to touch or kiss reliquaries or statues or paintings as it is tradition in many Catholic parishes.

The statues belonging to the Portico de la Gloria at the Santiago Cathedral are forbidden to be touched but it has been like this for years and the reason is protection of invaluable works of religious art.
 
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I don't remember this. The main interactions I remember are:
- hugging the bust of St. James above the main altar
- putting one's hand on the Tree of Jesse below St. James in the Portico if Glory (no longer permitted)
- touching one's head to the head of the statue of Master Mateo behind the Portico of Glory (also, I suspect, no longer permitted)
 
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