17/12/2008
Vitoria-Gasteiz, December 17,
2008 - Next Saturday, Fundación Catedral
Santa María will open to the public the Cathedral’s recently restored
main sacristy, which now boasts its original Baroque chromatic
appearance once again. Reservations for visits, which are free of
charge, must be made in advance and are available until January 5. A
newly restored neo-Classic nativity scene is also on display.
The Cathedral of
Santa Maria has undergone painstaking restoration work for almost a
year to solve its conservation problems and recover its Baroque look.
The layers of paint that had accumulated have been stripped off and the
space’s image is now closer to its original chromatic look.
Opening this space to the public during the Christmas season will also
allow visitors to enjoy a glimpse of the newly-recovered neo-Classical
nativity scene with Neapolitan influences made up of the figure of the
Virgin Mary with the Christ Child, St. Joseph, three shepherds and
three animals. Created by San Esteban de Ágreda in 1780, the shapes in
this delicate series are purifed and restrained, yet replete with the
conservative religiosity characteristic of the weighty Baroque
tradition.
Free guided tours are available between December 20 and January 5;
reservations must be made in advance at the Cathedral’s Visitor
Reception Centre (Plaza de las Brullerías) or at 945 255 135.
The Cathedral’s main sacristy
Although references to an earlier building date back to the sixteenth
century, most of the Cathedral of Santa Maria’s main sacristy was built
between 1734 and 1736, when the building was still a collegial church.
The sacristy, with its rectangular layout and tapering angles beneath a
semi-circular elliptical vault, was used by clergymen in the olden
days. Part of the wall at the front of the cathedral was broken to
build it.
Studies indicate that the sacristy was painted on seven different
occasions, although the original layer is the most interesting and
boasts the highest quality. In addition to a thorough-going restoration
of the inner vaults and walls, the details of the reliefs and coats of
arms have also been restored to approximate their original chromatic
Baroque appearance.
The sacristy contains four enormous chests of drawers with
their corresponding back rests and a large table in the centre,
elements made to hold all the liturgical adornments, ornaments, and
sacramental chalices used in religious services. The construction
techniques used in these chests of drawers have been traced to the
nineteenth century, which leads us to assume that they were
replacements for earlier, eighteenth-century pieces. The back rests
date from before that to 1734 and correspond to the sacristy’s original
Baroque furnishings.
Now that the sacristy furniture has been restored, the original
polychrome of the back rests, the earliest and most daring work in
Álava in this decorative line, can be enjoyed once again. Blue, silver
and golden-toned drawings are the main protagonists of the series of
Chinese scenes that cover the shafts of the columns and backgrounds.
Between the columns, the back rests are complemented by a series of
depictions of an apostolate that includes St. Bartholomew, St. Philip,
St. James the Greater, St. Thomas, St. Paul, St. Matthew,
St. John, St. Simon, St. Peter, St. Peter the
Younger and St. Andrew. The central urns on each one of the
four back rests also display a series of images of St. Anthony of
Padua, St Vincent Ferrer, a painted crucifixion and St. John
Nepomucene.
Other outstanding artistic pieces are the eight medallions that feature
church fathers and scholars. An English clock that probably dates from
the mid-eighteenth century has also been conserved.