Collection of altarpieces in the Saint Nicholas of Bari Church

Town: Bilbao
Church: Saint Nicholas of Bari Church
Location: High Altar and side wall of the Epistle and Gospel side
Artists: Diego Martínez de Arce (architect and planner), Juan Pascual de Mena (sculptor), José López Perella (painter of the polychrome) and Ildefonso de Bustrín (painter)
Patron: Council of Bilbao
Chronology: 18th century (1754)
Style: Baroque

Five beautiful altarpieces with the main sculpture of Saint Nicholas

Collection of altarpieces in the Saint Nicholas of Bari Church

Altarpiece in the Saint Nicholas of Bari

Altarpiece of Our Lady of Piety

Altarpiece of Saint Crispin and Saint Crispinian

Church:

The Saint Nicholas of Bari Church is located on the promenade Arenal in Bilbao. The Church was constructed between 1743 and 1756 following the design of Ignacio de Ibero, the same architect who had been in charge of the construction work at the Sanctuary of Loyola in Azpeitia/ Gipuzkoa.

Originally, it was the parish church of the suburb of San Nicolás, a district located outside the city wall of Bilbao, where sailors met at the beach or promenade to ask their patron saint, Saint Nicholas, for protection from storms.

It is a monumental church, which stands out due to its architecture, but also due to the magnificent collection of altarpieces inside.

History:

In 1752, the council of Bilbao decided to place an order for a collection of altarpieces for the Saint Nicholas Church, which was under construction at this time.

For this work, three of the best artists, who worked at this time for the king’s court in Madrid, were commissioned: Diego Martínez de Arce, an architect from Valladolid, was responsible for the design or planning of the altarpieces; Juan Pascual de Mena, a sculptor from Toledo, concluded the pictures, which had been painted by José López Perella from Madrid. The two latter were teachers at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts), the institution, which dominated at this time all aspects of arts. Important basque artists, such as the architects Juan de Aguirre and Juan de Iturburu, or the painter Ildefonso de Bustrín, who was in charge of the paintings, collaborated with the two teachers.

The altarpieces were refurbished between 2007 and 2011.

Description:

There is a collection of five altarpieces inside the Saint Nicholas of Bari church. They are arranged in a circle and perfectly adapted to the octagonal shape of the church. The main altarpiece, dedicated to Saint Nicholas, is located on the high altar. There are the co-lateral altarpieces of the virtue of Piety on the Gospel Side, the left side of the altar, and of Saint Crispin and Saint Crispinian on the epistle side, the right side of the altar. On the other side of the church are other two lateral altarpieces. They are dedicated to Saint Blaise on the gospel side and to Saint Lazarus on the epistle side. The five altarpieces were designed as a unity, as a coherent collection. This is notable in all aspects of their design. Concerning the architecture, they are all built in the eggshell style. This makes them appear deep in a relatively narrow interior. Furthermore, in all altarpieces carved wooden sculptures alternate with oil paintings. The architectural elements were left in the original dark tone of the wood so that the colour of the pictures stand out. Care was also taken for the choice of more than 20 Saints who were the most venerated by the people of Bilbao in the XVIII century.