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Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

junta de fábrica

English translation:

Building Committee

Added to glossary by Kate Major Patience
Oct 21, 2011 11:58
12 yrs ago
5 viewers *
Spanish term

junta de fábrica

Spanish to English Art/Literary Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting Goya
El boceto fue presentado para su aprobación por la Junta de Fábrica del Cabildo Metropolitano de Zaragoza el día 27 enero de 1772, según se explica en la ficha que antecede.

You'll notice that this term really only seems to turn up in texts related to the Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar in Zaragoza, and this is also my context: the work commissioned to Goya for the vault of the choir.

But how can I translate this term?

Do you think I should skip the "de Fábrica" bit, and leave it as the Board of the Chapter?

Your opinion would be much appreciated.

UK Eng

El boceto fue presentado para su aprobación por la Junta de Fábrica del Cabildo Metropolitano de Zaragoza el día 27 enero de 1772, según se explica en la ficha que antecede.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +4 Building Committee
4 Production Board
4 board/administrators of the building (and maintenance) fund
3 Board of Manufacturing

Discussion

Jenni Lukac (X) Oct 23, 2011:
to Phil: Fabric is used to speak of the physical structure of buildings such as cathedrals, but it doesn't make sense in this context. The "fábrica" was a fund for building and maintenance that usually came under the jurisdiction of the treasury / treasurer of the organization fiscally responsible (cathedral, convent, order, civil entity) for the building's upkeep and construction. The administrator(s) of the fund kept inventories, adjudicated works, meted out funds for projects, provided oversight, etc.
philgoddard Oct 21, 2011:
Why has no one suggested "fabric"? It's the same in English - the outer structure of a building.
Charles Davis Oct 21, 2011:
Building Committee is fine Or "Buildings Committee" (Durham Cathedral has one of these to this day, for example), since it was responsible for maintenance of all the buildings under the aegis of the Chapter, not just the actual cathedral.

"Fábrica", in the eighteenth century, referred to a major building, like a cathedral, for instance:
"Se toma regularmente por qualquier edificio suntuoso. Lat. Aedificium" (Diccionario de autoridades, 1732, V, 703b, s.v. "Fábrica"). Even today it can refer to construction, specifically masonry or brickwork (una pared de fábrica).

I once did some research in the Toledo Cathedral Archive, which has a section called Obra y Fábrica, containing papers on precisely this subject.
patinba Oct 21, 2011:
I think Board of the Chapter would do nicely The DRAE (quite useful for Spanish up to about this time, but not much later ) includes these definitions for fábrica:
6. f. En las iglesias, renta o derecho que se cobraba para repararlas y costear los gastos del culto divino.
7. f. Fondo que solía haber en las iglesias para este fin.
At most it would be a Maintenance Board. References to production or manufacturing would be misleading.
Terri L. Myers Oct 21, 2011:
I would agree with either of these answers, and would definitely prefer some reference to production or manufacturing over leaving "de Fabrica" out entirely.

Proposed translations

+4
3 hrs
Selected

Building Committee

Relating to what seems to be a different commission, the Goya specialist Edith Helman translates the term this way in her article 'Identity and Style in Goya', The Burlington Magazine
Vol. 106, No. 730, Francisco de Goya y Lucientes 1746-1828 (Jan., 1964), pp. 30+32-37.

"Goya had accepted the commission from the Junta de fabrica, or the Building Committee, of the Pilar Cathedral, to paint one of the domes, the Media Naranja and the four medallions surrounding it. The sketches for the medallions were rejected by the Committee, which..." [apologies - rest of article and indeed specific page number hidden behind a paywall!]

Of course, this citation in itself doesn't make it the correct translation, but I'm struggling to come up with a better alternative.



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Note added at 3 hrs (2011-10-21 15:25:47 GMT)
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Also I wouldn't skip the 'de fábrica' bit, as it looks to me as if the junta just had specific responsibility for commissioning and approving building and decorative work for the cathedral, rather than serving as the governing body for the cabildo.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2011-10-21 15:29:07 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

And just to support the translation of fábrica as building, another DRAE definition of the term is 'Construcción o parte de ella hecha con piedra o ladrillo y argamasa.'
Peer comment(s):
agree patinba : A good option.
10 mins
Thanks :)
agree Charles Davis : Absolutely right. It was a committee responsible for maintenance of the cathedral buildings.
1 hr
agree Evans (X)
1 hr
agree Julie Waddington : This looks like the best option to me too. I must admit I hadn't considered the historical aspect of the question enough when I posted my response.
4 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Great - thanks everyone. "Building Committee" was my choice and approved by the client. Thanks again."
24 mins

Production Board

Perhaps this refers to a specific team/board dealing with production as opposed to the General Board.

If UK English is required, maybe (City/Metropolitan) Council would be preferable to Chapter.
Something went wrong...
46 mins

Board of Manufacturing

I am not sure about the context and how this phrase fits into the context that you are translating. I believe the phrase refers to a Board that represents the factories in the area and speaks for this group.
Something went wrong...
21 hrs

board/administrators of the building (and maintenance) fund

"office of the building fund" is also frequently used, although you might want to reject this option as a translation for the word "junta." Maintenance is probably optional, although maintenance was a large part of the work of fábricas. fabrica ecclesiae: 'the construction of a church'. By the 12th century, the administrative office for the management of the building fund (bona fabrica); journals.cambridge.org/.../action/cjoGetFulltext?... - Traducir esta página; publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft4d5nb394;...
(Visitors to my office have for years been struck by the large map of Spain, covered ..... Still, a royal junta continued to discuss the single tax for another decade. ..... The building and maintenance funds of churches (fábricas ); the emoluments ...
de M CHOWNING - Citado por 3 - Artículos relacionados
Trust Funds, Spanish Finance and Colonial Silver', Bibliotheca Americana, vol. ...... Fabrica Espiritual (building fund), the cathedral - were immediately faced .
www.somosprimos.com/.../spanishterms.htm - Traducir esta página
Andaluz;, A native of Andalucia, southern province of Spain. Anexo (anejo);, Dependent .... Included thefabrica, or income for the upkeep and maintenance of buildings, and the superavit, or superfluous funds at the end of each year. Cabildo ..... Fabrica;, Income used for the repair and upkeep of cathedrals. Factory. Factor ...
In any case, I'd use the Spanish and add any English translation as explanation.
I'd want to do a much more research before seriously considering it, but I have seen several translations (almost all from Italian) that suggest that "vestry" could also be acceptable, including "Diccionario nuevo y completo de las lenguas española è inglesa, inglesa y ..." Escrito por Tomás Conelly ((O.P.)),Tomás Higgins ((O.P.)),Imprenta Real (Madrid) in 1797 (in Google books), which translates "vestry" as "junta de mayordomos de la fábrica de una parroquia, que por lo común se tiene en la Sacristía. http://books.google.es/books?id=fA1L3zHNozIC&pg=PA583&lpg=PA... www.linguee.es/ingles-espanol/traduccion/vestry.html
spain.info. thumb up thumb down. The current church is a humble building, with a rectangular ... Actualmente, la Opera, en calidad de "fábrica", está vigente bajo la Ley ... the Pisa Cathedral vestry board also looks after the maintenance and ... la Junta Parroquial y los otros funcionarios, presentar al Obispo el ...


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