Parroquia de San Esteban en Burgos

Parroquia de San Esteban en Burgos 

Charles Claude Bachelier after Genaro Pérez Villaamil, 1842 

Lithograph 

The parish church of San Esteban is one of the oldest churches in Burgos, built in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries on the east side of the hill on which the castle once stood. Although the Gothic façade is very fine, Escosura makes clear in his commentary that he and Villaamil have chosen this interior view for the exceptional quality of its several features: the rose window, the choir, the organ loft, the tomb and the pulpit. 

Although the rose window dates from the time of the original construction it was extensively restored in the fifteenth century after being damaged during an attack on the castle during the War of the Castilian Succession (1475-1479). Escosura praises the quality of the ‘luz misteriosa y opaca, que contribuye poderosamente al recogimiento del ánimo y religiosa piedad de los sentimientos’ [mysterious and opaque light, which contributes powerfully to the restoration of the soul and sentiments of religious piety]. 

San Esteban underwent several improvements in the sixteenth century, two of which can be seen in this impressive lithograph: the choir, with its beautiful pierced arch and balustrade by Simón de Colonia, the architect of the Chapel of the Condestable in the cathedral; and the equally fine, though more sober, organ loft by Nicolás de Vergara. Escosura judges the pulpit to be one of the best for its design, decoration and craftsmanship and laments that, in any other country, this building ‘would attract the attention of everyone, but in Spain it is completely unknown’. He concludes: ‘if the publication of España Artística can rescue even a part of our treasury of monuments from oblivion, it will have done the country no small favour.’ 

The church suffered extensive damage by French troops during the Peninsular War in 1813, was repaired, and declared a national monument in 1931. It has since been de-consecrated and is now home to a museum of altarpieces. 

Title: Parroquia de San Esteban en Burgos | Paroisse de St. Étienne à Burgos. 

Author/Artist: Charles Claude Bachelier (1801-1900, lithographer) after Genaro Pérez Villaamil (1807-1854, artist). 

Technique and Material: Lithograph on paper. 

Dimensions: 410 x 315 mm (image), 525 x 375 mm (page). 

Published: Plate 42 from Genaro Pérez Villaamil and Patricio de la Escosura. España artística y monumental. Three volumes. Paris: A Hauser, 1842-50. Volume 1. 

Date: 1842. 

Marks and Inscriptions: Lower edge, left: ‘G.P. Villa-Amil dibujó’/ ‘Paris, chez A Hauser Boul des Italiens, 11’; centre: title as above; right: ‘Bachelier lith’ / ‘Imp. Lemercier, Bernard et Cie. à Paris’. 

Institution: Barry Ife Collection.