CLOTHING

Modelled in terracotta, the image of Our Lady of Las Nieves was venerated, in the early days, without clothing or jewellery. The fashion of dressing the devout images began by first placing a simple headdress on them, and later, cloaks, sackcloth and robes, thus covering the original body of the sculpture.
In the case of the Patron Saint of La Palma, there are inventories of clothes and vestments of the Virgin as early as 1571. In the first third of the 17th century, the costume of the Virgin of Las Nieves became fixed in the style of the court costume, whose most characteristic features had been defined in the mid-16th century, under the reign of Emperor Charles V and his son Philip II. This style of apparel worn by leading women, such as Queens and Princesses, placed special emphasis on erasing the natural forms of the body through bodices lined with cardboard and the inner welt that gave rigidity to the skirt, accentuating the contrast with the narrowness of the waist and the large lower hem.
Thus, the costume of the Patron Saint consists of several pieces such as: the Basquiña, which is the outer skirt or skirt, always accompanied by the inner hem which gives it its flared shape; the Jubón, also called the Jubón or bodice, with narrow, tight sleeves; and, separately, the Sleeves Largas or Perdidas, which were worn independently of the Jubón; the Mantle, worn from the shoulders; and finally the rostrillo, framing the oval of the Marian face and the headdress to cover the head. The garment of the Child is composed of a so-called vaquero or vaquerito, which is nothing more than a skirt in the form of a wide dalmatic; and of stockings and shoes.
The dresses are made of different fabrics and colours, in silk, velvet, taffeta, damask, lampazo, tisu and lamas, brocades or fabrics worked with silk, gold and silver threads; fabrics to which gallons, trimmings and fine gold fringes were added.
As a complement to the Marian vestments, the jewellery box of Nuestra Señora de las Nieves is a unique example, resistant to plundering, wars and confiscations, where the profane and the devotional go hand in hand. Most of the adornments are made up of charms, pomas, amulets against the evil eye, animal-shaped pendants, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, rings, rosaries, crosses, reliquaries, medals, brooches and chest roses, strings and strings of pearls, among other items; all made of precious stones set in gold or silver, and many of them from the New World, as well as from other faraway places, gifts from the people of Palencia grateful for the favours obtained through the intercession of their Patron Saint, Nuestra Señora de las Nieves.