Choir stalls from San Benito el Real

The choral set of chairs of San Benito el Real of Valladolid, besides the artistic quality, holds a page full of information for the history of the Benedictine order in Spain. The Catholic Kings backed a reform that achieved reorganization in the government of the Benedictine monasteries, creation of a congregation that grouped the houses of the Crown of Castile and some of Aragon. Its center was the monastery of Valladolid where the abbots regularly met to choose the superior of the congregation and to solve matters related to their customs. In 1525 they agreed to make a set of chairs for the choir where each monastery would have its own chair. Each seat of honor has the name of the monastery, their holder, founder or religious or civil figure related to it and on the top, the coat of arms or of its founder, carved and colored, between small free-standing sculptures. In connection with the set of chairs of the Cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Calzada, the works were managed by Andres de Najera or de San Juan. Among the great number of artists that participated in the construction of the chairs, the sculptor Guillen de Holanda stands out, as well as others linked to the workshops in Avila. Within the different carvings, the one of the back of the chair that belongs to San Juan de Burgos stands out from the others for its quality. It has a representation of the Baptist, attributed to Diego de Siloe for its relation to Italian models, the mastery of anatomy and the elegance of gestures. High and low seats of honor, these with Christ life, have and exquisite ornamentation mainly of grottoes and other Renaissance motives, carved or inlayed in their backs.