Processional cross

The mark on the processional cross, previously part of the Wurts Collection, indicates that it was crafted by Hernando de Oñate the Elder, a silversmith from Navarre active in the second half of the sixteenth century. Born in Olite around 1541, he relocated to Pamplona in 1563 to establish a workshop, although he occasionally stayed in Tafalla (1567), Corella (1568), and Villava (1574). He returned to Olite in 1580 and passed away in 1592 (Orbe Sivatte, Heredia Moreno 1998, 206–207). His documented work, primarily for ecclesiastical clients between La Ribera and the Central Zone of Navarre, includes numerous silver crosses produced between 1563 and 1591, all of which are considered lost (Orbe Sivatte, Heredia Moreno 1998, 212, 220; Orbe Sivatte 2000, 55, 110, 277, 351, n. 33). The Wurts artifact is significant, therefore, as it is the only surviving example. 
The Wurts cross, previously ascribed to a “goldsmith from northern Italy” active in the early sixteenth century (as indicated by a handwritten inventory card, no. 119, P.V. 7951), exhibits a late Gothic structural design. This design is marked by a tightly framed arrangement of plant motifs delineating the outer edges of the arms on both sides. This form is precisely mirrored in a processional cross from the Basilica of San Gregorio Ostiense near Sorlada, crafted by a workshop in Sangüesa in the mid-sixteenth century. This cross is similarly distinguished by quadrangular, mixtilinear terminals with molded edges (Cruz Valdovinos 1981, 338, 366–367; Labeaga Mendiola 2012, 68–69). Aligning with formal solutions prevalent in Navarre since the early sixteenth century, the circular medallions positioned at the ends of the arms of the Wurts cross feature half-length representations of the Fathers of the Church and the Evangelists. These figures, accompanied by their respective symbols, correspond to a type frequently adopted in the late sixteenth century (Orbe Sivatte 2000, 206). The depiction of the Fathers of the Church—each holding a model of an ecclesiastical building—seamlessly integrates into the work of Hernando de Oñate the Elder, as evidenced by a comparison with the same figures depicted on the base of a gilded silver chalice for the church of Santa Maria in Olite (Orbe Sivatte 1988, 59). The reclining crucifix, characterised by precise anatomy, is complemented on the reverse by the Immaculate Virgin against a sunburst background. This iconographic model is associated with recurring iconographic models on Navarrese parish crosses from the mid-sixteenth century (Biurrun Sótil 1935, 450; Weber 1975, I, 410, n. 1040).
A notable evolution in the Renaissance style is apparent in the ornamentation on the granite background, within the fields of the arms, on the cylindrical shaft, and on the globular knot of the Wurts cross (Orbe Sivatte 2000, 188). The decorative repertoire, which includes mixtilinear cartouches, fruit festoons, lion protomes, and anthropomorphic masks, is recurring in the designs of Wenzel Jamnitzer (mid-sixteenth century) and in the engravings for goldsmiths by Bernhard Zan (1581) (Hayward 1976, 350, n. 125–126; 355, n. 179). The widespread dissemination of models of Central European origin was facilitated, even in the Iberian Peninsula, by the circulation of artifacts and craftsmen of German origin (Heredia Moreno 2000, 101–102, 111–113). This context is relevant to the all-round inserts applied to the ends of the crossbar—characterized by their distinctive “amphora” shape with anthropomorphic handles and a turned lid—and the volute-shaped herms at the base of the upright, elements proposed by Hernando de Oñate the Elder on a silver-gilt pyx made for the church of Santa Maria di Tafalla (1560–1570), a work that demonstrates a clear openness to European Mannerism (Orbe Sivatte 2000, 253–256, 266, 316, n. 292).

Daria Gastone

Entry published on 12 June 2025

Fair.

Oxidation. Deformation, traces of welding, altered support structure, apical lacuna.

On the tablet at the intersection of the arms: “INRI.”

“O/H/ONATE” in a profiled field (mark of silversmith Hernando de Oñate the Elder);
location of the mark: on the recto and verso, upright and crossbar.

Rome, George Washington Wurts and Henrietta Tower collection;
Rome, Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia, 1933, donated by Henrietta Tower Wurts.

Handwritten inventory card, no. 119, P.V. 7951, unsigned, no date, Archivio del Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia.

Biurrun Sótil Tomás, La escultura religiosa y bellas artes en Navarra, durante la época del Renacimiento, Pamplona 1935, pp. 447, 450;
Weber Ingrid, Deutsche, niederländische und französische Renaissanceplaketten 1500-1650, München 1975, I, p. 410;
Hayward John Forrest, Virtuoso Goldsmiths and the Triumph of Mannerism 1540-1620, London 1976, pp. 350, 355;
Cruz Valdovinos José Manuel, Apuntes para una historia de la plateria en la basílica de San Gregorio Ostiense, in «Príncipe de Viana», a. n. 42, 163, 1981, pp. 335-384;
Orbe Sivatte, in Heredia Moreno Maria del Carmen, Orbe Sivatte Mercedes, Orfebrería de Navarra, 2, Renacimiento, Pamplona 1988, p. 59, n. 26;
Orbe Sivatte Asunción, Heredia Moreno Maria del Carmen, Biografía de los plateros navarros del siglo XVI, Pamplona 1998, pp. 206, 207, 212, 220, 227, 231;
Heredia Moreno Maria del Carmen, La platería germánica en España en la época del emperador y la repercusión de los modelos centroeuropeos en la península, in García Fernando A. Martín (a cura di), El arte de la plata y de las joyas en la España de Carlos V, catalogo della mostra (La Coruña, Palacio Municipal de Exposiciones Kiosco Alfonso, 6 luglio-17 settembre 2000), Madrid 2000, pp. 101-115;
Orbe Sivatte Asunción, Platería del Reino de Navarra en el siglo del Renacimiento, Pamplona 2000, pp. 55, 110, 188, 206, 253, 256, 266, 277, 316, 351; 
Labeaga Mendiola Juan Cruz, Los talleres de platería de Sangüesa, in «Zangotzarra», a. n. 16, 16, 2012, pp. 12-110.