El retablo-relicario en el barroco vizcaíno

Abstract

After the Council of Trento the worshipping of images was promoted in reaction to the assaults that the Catholic Church was suffering from the Protestants. The protestants denied any intermediary value to such images, while, at the same time, refusing to worship the bodies of saints. As a consequence of this spiritual renovation, altars with sacred figures proliferated and this also brought about an increasing desire to obtain the greatest possible amount of relics of the saints. Thus emerged the altarpiece reliquary, to keep such bodies and to expose them to public view. Their niches or glass chests, busts or urns kept the remains that benefactors keenly pursue. Our interest here is centred in outlining the Biskaian representatives of this typology.