Santa Capilla del Pilar: Architecture & Sculpture in Zaragoza
Santa Capilla del Pilar in Zaragoza: A Masterpiece of Baroque Art
Architecture by Ventura Rodríguez (1750/54-1765)
Sculpture by José Ramírez de Arellano
The Holy Chapel, located inside the Basilica del Pilar in Zaragoza, was designed by the royal architect Ventura Rodríguez (1717-1785). Rodríguez, influenced by the works of Bernini, incorporated 18th-century ideas into his design, creating a unique and impressive structure. The Madrid architect faced a significant challenge: he could not move the sacred pillar of the Virgin from the place where, according to tradition, it had been placed by angels in the early hours of January 2nd, 40 AD, during the coming of the Virgin to Zaragoza to comfort James the Apostle and the early converts.
Ventura Rodríguez entrusted the construction to the prominent sculptor José Ramírez de Arellano from Zaragoza. The Holy Chapel is conceived as a large canopy, built with rich and varied materials. Jasper from various sources was used for the columns, while stone formed the base, entablature, and other parts of the temple. These were combined with gilded bronze for the bases and Corinthian capitals. The dome’s closure was made of wood, painted on the outside and gilded on the inside with stucco decorations. This creates a complete integration of architecture and sculpture, with a typically Baroque theatricality.
The Holy Chapel rises in the second section of the central nave of the basilica, between the four large pillars supporting the dome. It has a cruciform plan with rounded ends. It is configured by three curved doors with entablature and pediments and a solid wall opposite the main gate. On this wall, there are three altars:
- Two side altars in the form of niches with canopies:
- To the left, the Group of Seven Converted by the Apostle James.
- To the right, the image of the Virgen del Pilar on the Holy Column, placed inside a silver dressing room with a green marble background studded with stars formed by jewels donated by the faithful.
- Between these two stands the splendid altar sculpture group, in Carrara marble, representing the Coming of the Virgin. The Virgin, pointing toward the viewer, moves on a golden bronze glow as if miraculously floating between the two columns. She turns her face toward the group of James and his disciples, pointing with her right hand to the Holy Column, cleverly linking the three altars and constituting a single narrative space.
The space is covered with an oval dome and four quarter-spheres. The curved dome has open holes that provide a view of the fresco decoration by Antonio González Velázquez, painted on the dome that rises above the Holy Chapel. This gives lightness to the structure and puts the interior space in a dynamic relationship with the exterior, that is, the space of the Basilica del Pilar that surrounds it.
The exterior of the structure is decorated with statues of saints and angels in white stucco, reinforcing the theatrical sense of the whole. Other notable sculptors, such as Carlos Salas and Manuel Álvarez, created oval medallions arranged on the outer walls of the enclosure, depicting scenes from the life of the Virgin. Carlos Salas himself sculpted, a few years later, between 1767 and 1769, the great relief of the Assumption in the Chapel of the Holy retrochoir.