ALTAR THRONE, BALDACHIN AND TRAVELLING CHAIR

The Altar-Throne of Nuestra Señora de las Nieves was created and conceived to solemnize the feast days of the Patron Saint. Due to its size and richness, it is unique in the Canary Islands. Its construction began in 1708 and continued until 1720. It has the structure of a stepped pyramid, in the Portuguese style, a very singular and common design in these festive apparatuses found on the island, unique in the Canary Islands, reflecting the great Lusitanian influence on the island of La Palma. Made of polychrome wood, the altar-throne of the Virgen de las Nieves is the only one entirely covered with embossed silver plates, showing the quality of some silversmiths who settled on the island during the first third of the 18th century, such as Diego Viñoly or Diego Sánchez de la Torre.
The altar-throne is ready to be crowned by the image of the Virgin, placed on its baldachin platforms, made of embossed silver in 1665 by the silversmith Pedro Leonardo de Santa Cruz. The baldachin platform is a very traditional design in the Canary Islands, which serves as a platform for processional processions with the devotional image. In this case, the Baldaquino de las Nieves is the oldest example in the archipelago and is only used for processional processions of the Patron Saint over short distances.
For long-distance transfers of the Virgen de las Nieves, such as the descents to the city for rogations or for her five-yearly descents, the so-called Travel Chair, made around 1720, was used to replace an older one, dating from 1598. This type of litter is reminiscent of the hand chairs used by kings for their transfers to cities. This Travel Chair retained the glass engraved with the heraldic coat of arms of the Marquis of San Andrés, who had them brought from Paris, the city where he lived. These beautiful platforms were used until the Bajada of 1970, serving as a model for the current Travel Chair, which was first used in the Bajada of 1975.
As a complement to this festive apparatus and to these processional platforms; six octagonal lanterns, made in silver by goldsmiths from Palencia between 1765 and 1768, with the aim of accompanying and illuminating the Virgin on her departures from the Sanctuary.