Sculpture of Santa María la Real. Pamplona Cathedral

This project originated from a commission by Pamplona Cathedral to create a paper interpretation of Santa María la Real y del Sagrario, the patron saint of the cathedral and of Navarre. Incorporated into the museum collection, the piece offers a contemporary perspective on one of the temple’s most representative images, establishing a dialogue between historical heritage and the expressive possibilities of contemporary craftsmanship through this highly versatile material.

To achieve this, I explored different paper sculpture techniques before selecting layered construction, a method that allowed me to build the volumes and highlight the intricate details of the piece.

The sculpture is created in white and blue, colours traditionally associated with the Virgin Mary. Although it is a small-scale work—41 cm in height—it is composed of 530 individual pieces. The mantle, made up of 162 elements, is inspired by the Tree of Life and incorporates characteristic symbols of Marian iconography, such as lilies and the fleur-de-lis.

The sculpture is displayed on a paper representation of the cathedral’s floor plan, positioned beside the 16th-century spiral staircase, one of the cathedral’s most distinctive architectural features.

The making-of process of the mantle can be seen in this Instagram reel: making of the Santa María la Real mantle.