Images of an unnoticed visual culture. The red mural paintings of San Martín de Arbulu (Álava)

Abstract

Many of the churches built in Alava between the 12th and 13th centuries were decorated with red mural paintings on a white lime background. Those on the apse wall of the church of San Martín de Tours are an extraordinary case, both for the quantity of painting preserved and for the uniqueness of their subject matter. Based on the data obtained in the last restoration, this article undertakes for the first time a complete study of the paintings, first establishing a chronological framework for the different layers preserved. Afterwards, the currently visible layer that corresponds to the oldest of all is analyzed, identifying its main figures. Thus, a hitherto unnoticed visual culture emerges, made up of pieces that have received little attention from the history of art, such as tombstones or stelae of different chronologies, which will allow us to think about the meanings of these images in relation to time.