THE NATIVITY ALTARPIECE

TYPOLOGY 

The Sotopalacios Nativity fragment must have formed part of a much more comprehensive work. It was probably the central part of an altarpiece comprising three reliefs dedicated to scenes from the life of the Holy Virgin, possibly scenes depicting the Betrothal and Epiphany rather in the style of the altarpieces made by Rieden and Funchal. Like those, this particular altarpiece would have had the shape of an inverted "T" characteristic of Brussels-made altarpieces such as those manufactured by Willem Aerts, the craftsman to whom this work has been attributed.

One of the missing scenes could be the one described in Burgos Cathedral's Centenary Exhibition catalogue as: "a wooden relief depicting a landscape .... the remains of a missing Flemish-style altarpiece". Apparently, in 1921, the altarpiece exhibited a Rococo polychrome re-decoration described as having gilt rocky outcrops. This could well indicate its date of manufacture as being XVIII century. However, given the fact that the manufacture and importation of carved Flemish altarpieces ceased around mid-XVI century, this possible date of manufacture must be discarded.