New contributions about the altarpiece of Saint Dominic of Guzmán from Tamarite de Litera: iconography, origin, sponsors and chronology

Abstract

The altarpiece of Saint Dominic of Guzmán from Tamarite de Litera is one of the oldest cycles dedicated to this saint and at the same time one of the most complex and unknown. About a century after Dominics had allowed to represent their patron saints for stimulating their worship and their Order, it was made this complex cycle dedicated to their founder. The documentation collected and a boss preserved "in situ" has permitted me to locate saint Dominics chapel in the collegiate church of Tamarite de Litera where probably had been shown this altarpiece until it was replaced and moved to the sacristy of san Michel's church from the same village where it was found. It was sponsored for some member of the Entença's family, as it indicates one of the coats of arms that appears in its frame, it was made during the second third of XIV century, according to the comparison with other works of their environment and the graffiti made on the central figure. It contains some unique scenes in their type which only can be explained by the intervention of a theologian who knew the life of this Saint perfectly and probably some Italian manuscript which he used as a pattern.