its identification has been "widely disputed."126 On the other hand, there are several

examples in other mediums that represent different moments of the Wedding Feast at

Cana, but for the purpose of this paper only those that have as their main theme the

transformation of the water into wine will be considered.127 An example of the Wedding

Feast at Cana comes from a fragment of an ivory plaque from the reliquary of San

Felices, Northern Spain (ca. 1090) (Fig. 20).128 The plaque is divided in two fragments

and the central part is missing. In terms of iconography there are some similarities

between the plaque and the illumination of the Wedding Feast at Cana in the Bible of

Avila. From the parts that are still visible in the ivory plaque we can suggest that the

moment that is being depicted is the transformation of the water into wine. The scene is

divided in two registers. On the first register is Christ making the gesture of benediction

with His right hand in a similar fashion to that of His counterpart in the Bible ofAvila. To

the left, next to Christ, there is a woman who is probably the Virgin Mary. This grouping

of the Virgin Mary and Christ looking towards the right is similar in both examples as is

the fact that Christ wears a cross halo, but no other figure does, not even the Virgin Mary.

The long rectangular table, decorated with draperies and a number of the obj ects, such as


126 Yarza Luaces, J., Iconogurafia de la M~iniatura Ca;stellano-Leonesa,~~11~11~~1 1973, p. 29,
mentions that the iconography of the Epulon has been questioned, but he does not explain
nor cite the source of this dispute or the scholars involved in it.

127 Luis A. Grau Lobo, Pintura Romanica en Castilla y Leon. Valladolid: Junta de
Castilla y Leon, 1996, p. 110. In the hermitage of San Baudelio de Berlanga (Soria) there
is a series of scenes from the Life and Passion of Christ done in the mid-12t century and
one of the frescos represents the Wedding Feast at Cana, but the moment that is being
depicted is not the transformation of the wine, but the blessing of the couple.

128 The Art of2~edieval Spain, ad 500-1200. Ed. John P. O'Neill. New York: The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993, p. 267. Julie E. Harris mentions that the relics of
Felices of Bilibium were translated to the monastery of San Millan de la Cogolla in 1090,
and it was then that the ivories of the reliquary of San Felices were done.