The Exhibition

Under the title Six Stages in the Making of a Town, this exhibition, constituting as it does the contribution of the Ages of Man Foundation to the celebration of 1,400 years of documented history of the El Burgo de Osma diocese, strives to evoke throughout its six constituent rooms, which seemingly afford a vertical view of history, the gradual evolution of a town and its lands El Burgo de Osma , from its beginnings as a Roman settlement to the Romantic nuances marking the close of the 19th century.

Primera estancia: La vieja Uxama

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Máscara de Gorgona, Placa dedicada a Mercurio (s. II - III), Reja de ventana. (s. III) procedentes de Uxama
Museo numantino y Ayuntamiento de El Burgo de Osma. (cgm)

The ancient Roman town was called Uxama, the memory of which is kept alive by means of invaluable archaeological remains.

Segunda estancia: Los tiempos de devastación y de esperanza

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Beato de El Burgo de Osma (ppa)
Bote Árabe
Beato de El Burgo de Osma (ppa)
Subsequently, and once they had been converted to Christianity, these lands were subjected to Islamic rule, a fate which was to befall most of old Hispania. The Moslem occupation is splendidly illustrated by the representation on show of the old fortress at Gormaz and the exhibition reflects two key aspects of those dark times. On the one hand, one is overwhelmed by the undying hope displayed by the subjugated Christians, who turned to reflect on the Book of the Apocalypse, illuminating the latter with prodigious figures; one of the surviving copies of the Book, which are known as beatos, is held at the cathedral. On the other hand, several exhibits reveal the eastern influence exerted on all contemporary cultural manifestations, the greatest exponent of which is undoubtedly the small hermitage of San Baudelio de Berlanga, itself situated just a short distance from El Burgo.

Tercera estancia: Los franceses o el asentamiento del románico

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Sepulcro de S. Pedro de Osma

However, it would not be long before Christian Europe left its mark on these lands. Just as would happen in other Spanish towns such as Toledo, where the oriental influence was deeply felt , a number of Cluniac monks and bishops were to come to El Burgo in what was deemed to be a kind of pacific French occupation but which nevertheless resulted in the establishment of the theology, liturgy, general way of life and social structure characteristic of the Romanesque civilization. Pedro de Osma, the first bishop of this diocese, was himself of French descent. As if in response to this influx of foreign ideas, a canon of Osma, Domingo de Guzmßn, would immediately found a religious order of fratres particularly devoted to the theological concerns and dialectics arising at all the major cultural centres of the day.

Cuarta estancia: Un obispo en sus iglesias

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Retablo de S. Ildefonso
Misal Romano. Siglo XV.

From this point in time on, the history of the episcopal town of El Burgo and its lands would evolve parallel to that of Europe as a whole, a fact that is shown in the exhibition by a collection of works of art and books that are every bit as sophisticated and surprising as those found in the great European episcopal sees.

Quinta estancia: El barroco intranquilo y el barroco de razón

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Aparición de la Virgen al obispo Juan de Palafox

This is exactly what would happen with the Baroque. Here too in El Burgo, alongside forms of the restless, tormented Baroque, we also find examples of the Baroque of Reason, the Neoclassical Baroque, such as the great chapel housing the remains of one of the bishops of Osma, the Venerable Palafox, who was to be caught up in the political and ecclesiastical struggles of his time, and the cathedral ambulatory, which was surely erected as if in defiance of medieval art.

Sexta estancia: La desolación romántica

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The final exhibition room evokes a time of darkness, decadence and ruin, but one into which both the shadows and the fascinations of Romanticism are seen to fall. Indeed, even when portrayed amidst its own ruins for example those resulting from the successive stages of ecclesiastical disentailment , the town manages to transmit its very own charm and mystery, seen here through a series of contemporary drawings and paintings. In this light, the aim of the exhibition is to act as a kind of excavation of past centuries or as a tower soaring up and back into the mists of time. It strives to go beyond what would be the mere illustration of the history of a small town and bishopric lying in a tiny corner of the world, in order to reveal, in a wider sense, the very essence of mankind, tracing the evolution of the latter from the Hispania of the times of Uxama right up to the present day.

The exhibition is not limited to a classification and evaluation of a series of historical records of man laid out along an inspiring guided journey around the edifice chosen to house the exhibits, and on this occasion transgresses the cathedral walls in order to show the visitor the episcopal town that sprang up around it, and beyond that the whole area of the diocese, which today shares the boundaries of the province of Soria. This is because the bishopric of Osma, the episcopal see and the town itself all ultimately owe their 1,400 year existence to the diocese and its inhabitants. Consequently, the concept of six stages referred to above is repeated in the form of six areas located at all corners of the varied and surprising lands that constitute the diocese. Six itineraries that complement the exhibition and give us an excuse to enrich our knowledge.