BAROQUE ALTARPIECE OF LAS CLARAS

The Convent of Santa Clara is the oldest of the female monasteries preserved in the city. Its origin dates back to the first half of the 13th century when a group of noblewomen decided to unite in community to live ascetically and protect themselves when their husbands went to war. They settled in the hermitage of Santa María, giving rise to the beaterio (beguinage) of Dueñas de Santa María. Over the years, and thanks to privileges from popes and kings, it became the Royal Monastery of Santa Clara. This convent has been home to the Poor Clare community for approximately eight hundred years. In 2019, due to a lack of vocations, the nuns left this place to settle in other monasteries of the order.

It is an emblematic space now converted into the Santa Clara Convent Museum. It showcases the great spiritual, artistic, and historical legacy that the convent has preserved throughout the centuries. During the tour of the monastery, visitors can contemplate a large number of artworks that bring them closer to the life and spirituality of the community of Poor Clare nuns. The highlights are the medieval paintings covering the walls of the lower choir, the cloister, the baroque church, and the exceptional medieval coffered ceiling that was accidentally discovered above the church's baroque vault in the 1970s. The subsequent restoration received the Europa Nostra Award for Heritage Conservation in 1988.

Among the many surprises that the visit to the Convent of Santa Clara in Salamanca holds is the conventual church and its altarpieces. The origin of this church dates back to the 13th century, undergoing significant remodels on two occasions: one, as a consequence of the fire that occurred in 1413, and another, in the late 17th and early 18th centuries to adapt to the tastes and needs of the era. The church, small in size and with a rectangular plan, is covered with a barrel vault with lunettes. This false vault concealed the church's original coffered ceiling for centuries, which was discovered and restored at the end of the 20th century and today constitutes one of the convent's main attractions.

The church is adorned with seven baroque altarpieces, all finished with splendid gilding. The main altarpiece was commissioned in 1701 by Joaquín de Churriguera and Pedro de Gamboa. It is presided over by the image of Saint Clare, patron saint of the convent, accompanied by the Immaculate Conception, Saint Anthony of Padua, and Saint Francis of Assisi. The sculptures have been attributed to José de Larra Domínguez, brother-in-law of the Churriguera brothers.

The church of the Las Claras monastery consists of a single rectangular nave. Of Gothic origin, its interior underwent a profound transformation at the beginning of the 18th century. Under the original wooden roof, a false barrel vault with lunettes was built in the early 18th century, made of brick covered with plasterwork and elaborate Baroque decoration.

The church is embellished with seven Baroque altarpieces, whose golden glow seems to illuminate the temple upon entering its interior. The main altarpiece was commissioned in 1701 to Joaquín de Churriguera and Pedro de Gamboa. Although smaller in dimensions, this altarpiece is closely related to the one his brother José created for the Church of San Esteban. Carved in gilded wood with gold leaf, its design harmoniously adapts to the semicircular arch of the vault. It consists of a predella, a central body divided into three sections (streets), and an attic, crowned by a cresting (peineta) decorated with a cherub.

The central body of the altarpiece is articulated in three sections (streets), delimited by Solomonic columns and topped at the ends by stipes. All its ornamentation constitutes an exaltation of the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The six columns feature exuberant decoration, with bunches of grapes and vine leaves almost completely covering their surface, leaving hardly a centimeter free.

The tabernacle, located under a baldachin, is also flanked by Solomonic columns. The door protecting it is decorated with a painting representing Jesus Christ carrying the Sacred Host. In the central niche is the image of Saint Clare of Assisi with the monstrance, while in the attic is the figure of the Immaculate Conception. On both sides, two young angels among volutes point with their hands to the Virgin, highlighting her presence. The niches in the side sections house the sculptures of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Anthony of Padua, thus completing the iconographic ensemble of the altarpiece.

The side altars, in the same style as the main one, although of smaller dimensions, are dedicated to Saint Bonaventure, the Calvary, Saint Catherine of Bologna, Saint John the Baptist, and Our Lady of the Rosary.