Lower Cloister, Cathedral of Santa María, Burgos
Sala Beato Valentín Palencia
Picasso
Biblical Roots
3.03 — 29.06.26
Pablo Picasso, Maternity, 1921. Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso.
© Sucesión Pablo Picasso, VEGAP, Madrid, 2026
PROMOTION AND ORGANISATION
The exhibition Picasso. Biblical Roots, organised by the Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, the Arzobispado and Cabildo Metropolitano de Burgos, and the Fundación Consulado del Mar de Burgos, and curated by Paloma Alarcó, proposes a dialogue between the Cathedral of Santa María – a space of religious spirituality – and Pablo Picasso, an avant-garde creator deeply committed to tradition, in order to trace the presence of specific biblical sources throughout his long career.
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), the foremost figure of twentieth-century artistic experimentation, shaped his identity as a modern artist by uniting the ambition to take art beyond the limits of his time with a constant tension with the past.
From his earliest youth and across more than seven decades of artistic creation, he reconciled avant‑garde transgression with a steadfast determination to reclaim the foundations of Western culture, from Greco‑Roman Mediterranean myths to the Judeo‑Christian sacramental heritage.
Although Picasso lived most of his life in France as a foreigner, he never lost sight of his Spanish roots or his Catholic education in nineteenth‑century Spain, and his admiration for the masters of the Spanish Golden Age shaped many aspects of his art. He drew on the Bible both as a source of inspiration and as a metaphorical language, using Christian allegories and cosmologies to express his personal, earthly vision of the world and to seek answers to the enigmas of existence.
Pablo Picasso
Mother with Dead Child (II). Postscript to “Guernica”
París, September 26, 1937
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
© Sucesión Pablo Picasso, VEGAP, Madrid, 2026
Pablo Picasso
Christ Crucified
Barcelona, 1897
Museu Picasso Barcelona. Donación Pablo Picasso, 1970
© Sucesión Pablo Picasso, VEGAP, Madrid, 2026
Accordingly, the exhibition revisits the presence of episodes from Scripture in his work in order to reflect on the weight of memory and the continuing relevance of the Bible in the contemporary world. Comprising forty-four works, the exhibition is organised into six thematic chapters that reveal the singularity and paradoxes of his creation and demonstrate how, through biblical iconography, the Picassian world appears as a sequence of enduring narratives and symbols.
The exhibition path recalls his Catholic upbringing, celebrates motherhood and femininity, reflects on the transience of life, denounces the violence and suffering wrought by war, and explores death and identity, ultimately conveying a political message of hope.
Pablo Picasso
Study for the sculpture “The Man with a Lamb”
Barcelona, 1897
Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, Madrid
© Sucesión Pablo Picasso, VEGAP, Madrid, 2026
Pablo Picasso
Still life with skull and three urchins
Paris, January 6, 1947.
Museo Picasso Málaga. Donación Christine Ruiz-Picasso
© Sucesión Pablo Picasso, VEGAP, Madrid, 2026
Pablo Picasso
Head of a man
Mougins, August 23, 1971 (II)
Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picaso, Madrid
© Sucesión Pablo Picasso, VEGAP, Madrid, 2026
The reinterpretation of biblical motifs recurs throughout all his creative stages, from his youthful beginnings as a naturalist painter, through avant-garde experimentations and the classicist period, to the episodes of Surrealist violence and his heterogeneous late style. The appropriation of elements of devotional art and imagery, long rooted in his imagination, appears in scenes of direct Christian resonance – above all in his maternities and in references to the crucified Christ, the Magdalene, and the Pietà. Yet, more obliquely, other narratives likewise convey a delicate spirituality.
Picasso wove together the divine and the human, and the secularising impulse of the modern era did not prevent him from reclaiming the sacred within a modern, secular environment. Through biblical symbolism, he was able to express, with remarkable nuance, the full range of human emotion that defines the great artistic project of a contemporary master.
VISIT THE EXHIBITION
Limited capacity. To ensure access to the exhibition on your preferred date, we recommend purchasing tickets in advance.
General admission: € 10
Reduced admission: € 7 (adults over 65, pensioners, and visitors under 25 with a youth card)
Free admission: children under 14
Exhibition catalogue: € 34
Comprar entradas
Buy tickets
Buy tickets
Buy tickets
Buy tickets
Buy tickets
Buy tickets
Exhibition ticket office
Exhibition ticket office: Sala Beato Valentín Palencia. Monday through Sunday, from 9:30 a.m. to 6:45 p.m.
Cultural Cordón: Tuesday to Saturday from 11:30 to 14:00 and from 17:30 to 20:30. Sundays and public holidays from 11:30 to 14:00. (Closed on Mondays)
Centro de Arte Caja de Burgos CAB: Tuesday to Friday from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 20:00. Saturdays from 11:00 to 14:30 and from 17:00 to 20:00. Sundays and public holidays from 11:00 to 14:30. (Closed on Mondays)
Cultural Caja de Burgos Aranda de Duero: Monday to Friday from 19:00 to 21:00. Saturdays from 12:00 to 14:00. (Closed on Sundays and public holidays)
Teatro Principal ticket office: Monday to Saturday from 18:00 to 21:00. (Closed on Sundays)
PROMOTION AND ORGANISATION
COLLABORATION
OPENING HOURS
Monday through Sunday, 9:30 a.m. to 6:45 p.m.
ADDRESS
Sala Beato Valentín Palencia. Lower Cloister, Cathedral of Santa María, 09003 Burgos.
Visita la exposición
Aforo limitado. Para asegurarse el acceso a la exposición en el día deseado, recomendamos adquirir las entradas anticipadamente.
General: 10 €
Reducida: 7 € (mayores de 65 años, pensionistas y menores de 25 con carné joven)
Gratuita: menores de 14 años
Catálogo de la exposición: 34 €
Comprar entradas
Comprar entradas
Comprar entradas
Comprar entradas
Comprar entradas
Comprar entradas
Comprar entradas
Venta en Taquillas de la Fundación Caja de Burgos
Taquilla de la exposición: Sala Beato Valentín Palencia, en horario de lunes a domingo, de 9:30h a 18:45h
Cultural Cordón: martes a sábado de 11.30 a 14 y de 17.30 a 20.30 h, domingos y festivos de 11.30 a 14 h. (lunes cerrado)
Centro de Arte Caja de Burgos CAB: Martes a viernes: de 11.00 a 14.00 y de 17.00 a 20.00 h. Sábados: de 11.00 a 14.30 y de 17.00 a 20.00 h. Domingos y festivos: de 11.00 a 14.30 h. (lunes cerrado)
Cultural Caja de Burgos de Aranda de Duero: lunes a viernes de 19 a 21 h, sábados de 12 a 14 h. (domingos y festivos cerrado)
Taquilla del Teatro Principal: lunes a sábado de 18 a 21 h. (domingo cerrado)