Tympanum of Santa María a Nova

Piece made for the Franciscan tertiary convent, which, after originally forming part of the convent's church, was repositioned in another part of the church and finally placed on the Baroque façade made by Simón Rodríguez for what was the College of Exercisers, now the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Santiago de Compostela. The work is characterised by a certain schematic style, with other noteworthy details, such as the Gothic baldachin that covers the image, or the curious distribution of the procession of the Magus. The first of these is without a crown and in an awkward position, the second is considerably larger than the rest, almost exceeding the limits of the tympanum, and the third, on the contrary, is very small, in order to adapt to the space available and take the offering with both hands uncovered. The image of the donor also deserves attention, arranged on the right side, between the images of the Virgin and Child and Saint Joseph, kneeling and praying. Various hypotheses have been put forward as to the identity of this figure. It was probably a prominent figure in the city who may have been linked to the origin of the convent. On the basis of existing documentation on donations from the period, it is suggested that it could be someone belonging to the Alonso or Cana families, great benefactors of the convent.
On the far right we find the image of Saint Joseph, whose head shows certain proportional differences with the rest of the body, which led us to consider it to be a later addition. Along the lower part of the tympanum there are interlaced decorative geometric motifs and, below the image of the Virgin and Child, the inscription of the date of execution can be seen divided into two registers.