San Telmo Museum, closer than ever
The San Telmo Museum, inaugurated in 1902, is the oldest museum in the Basque Country, a museum that today presents itself renewed and with new objectives. Starting from the basis of its collections, which are almost entirely related to Basque society, San Telmo has been renovated to become a Museum of Basque Society and Citizenship, whose object is Basque society.
San Telmo is presented as a museum and, at the same time, a space for the dissemination of knowledge and the creation of thought, and aims to be an instrument for understanding the present and building the future based on knowledge of the past.
The museum currently has more than 35,000 items inventoried in various categories: Ethnography, Fine Arts, Photography, Archaeology and History.
It is worth noting that the San Telmo Museum is the only museum in its surroundings dedicated to Basque society from the perspective of a society museum, and at the same time, it is the only one in the city with a Fine Arts area.
Inaugurated in 1902, San Telmo is the oldest museum in the Basque Country
Museum renovations
Various actions have been carried out in the historic building, including the demolition of some of the volumes added in the 1932 renovation; the restoration, cleaning, consolidation and restoration of the original stone and wooden construction elements; the adaptation of the installations; etc. This is the part of the work that has caused the most unforeseen events, with interesting archaeological finds and traces of ancient paintings in the church.
17 canvases by Sert
For the inauguration, held on 3 September 1932, the painter José María Sert was commissioned to cover the walls of the church. For this purpose, he painted 17 canvases in Paris, using glazes on a metallic background, which narrate in a heroic and grandiose tone eleven scenes from the life and history of Gipuzkoa: its men, its deeds and its beliefs.
San Telmo Museum
Plaza Zuloaga 1 20003 Donostia / San Sebastián
Tel.: (00 34) 943 48 15 80 www.santelmomuseoa.eus
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