Description
Valladolid, Juan Álvarez after the design by Juan A. García de Bouzas, 1733. Gilded silver and silver
The commission of this piece by the Compostela Cabildo is based on the appreciation to Saint Barbara for her intercession in favor of the cathedral after being struck by a lightning strike in the year 1731. For this reason, the festivity of Saint Barbara was established, which still remains in the cathedral today, and, shortly after, the task was given to the silversmith from Valladolid, Juan Álvarez, who had to follow the design commissioned to the cathedral painter, Juan A. García de Bouzas. The saint, carefully dressed properly for the time, is identified by its most traditional attributes: the palm of martyrdom on her right hand and the tower with three windows on the left.