Among the elements that, over the centuries, have varied in context and, therefore, in use and function, we can highlight the curtain or velum, which was used in the royal ceremonial, in the presentation for the worship of sacred images and in the painting galleries of the great collectors.

In the cult of the famous images of medieval times, the velum was part of their staging. The action of veiling and unveiling made concrete in those times the dialectic of its presentation, of agreement with the liturgical function and the feast to be celebrated. 

Nevertheless, in certain environments, their value and function in the religious field survived, because it was understood that the ease with which the images could be seen did not exactly contribute to their greater veneration and worship. Documents and printed books of the XVI, XVII and XVIII centuries refer to the curtains that hid the venerated icons, as well as donations of the same, made in very rich embroidered fabrics. If we make a small review, among some of the Marian monographs of great projection and significance, we can verify it. In some cases, the lesser ones, they were only used to hide those who changed the mantles of the images, although in the majority they were authentic candles.

We know from the documentation and the histories of the Marian images and of different saints, such as the works of Faci (1739 and 1750) or Villafañe (1740), the significance of the curtain in their worship. The cases of Valvanera, Sagrario of Toledo, Montserrat, the Pilar of Zaragoza or Iziar are very eloquent. 

Father Roque Alberto Faci, in dealing with the images of Alcañiz, explains the convenience of venerating the images well hidden "so that devotion is preserved: if they are handled, they lose their luster". The veils, in his opinion, helped the icons to conserve their majesty, modesty and pure and sincere affection. He brings the news of the Dominican bishop Fray Juan Lopez, who argued about the loss of devotion of a Holy Crucifix of the convent of St. Andrew in Medina del Campo, after having removed three curtains or veils with which it used to be covered. quotation to St. Clement Alexandrinus, recalling that the ease in discovering the Majesty is the cause that it is not venerated as it should be.

Different data on the use of the velum, we have in relation to the great sanctuaries and the main Marian advocations of Navarre.

In the case of the Virgin of El Puy de Estella, that staging went a little further than the use of the veil itself, since it consisted of opening and closing the box or ark, an exceptional piece that has come down to our days, where the Marian icon was kept, with a door from the beginning of the 15th century with paintings of the Annunciation and the apostleship. The old cabinet was replaced by the curtain to veil it in the last eighteenth-century altarpiece (1754), where the image no longer appeared in the niche of the same, but in his dressing room, converted into a real chamber of wonders. 

The same concept of the Virgin, inside a cabinet or tabernacle, had other images such as the one of Roncesvalles and the titular image of the cathedral of Pamplona. The one of Roncesvalles was venerated in the main altarpiece, since its construction, from 1623. From a text by sub-prior Huarte, we know that it was previously next to the old main altarpiece, on the gospel side, in a niche that had cost more than one thousand two hundred ducats, in the time of prior Don Diego González (1575-1579). In that place it was "with greater decency and veneration than it is now, because before it was venerated and adored by the people, going a priest with a surplice and stole or some canon with a luminary and the little door was opened with great reverence and those who adored it in this way said goodbye with contentment and spiritual joy. But as now they have raised it and placed it in the new altarpiece very high and no one can reach it or adore it, nor can it almost be seen, devotion and even many alms are being lost". We also know the valuable testimony provided by the text of the visit to the collegiate church of 1590, which includes the strict and careful ceremonial to open and close that place, where the image was deposited, as well as the restriction of its processional outings, after opening the closet and removing the "veil and the curtain".

In the cathedral of Pamplona, we have testimonies of the presence of the curtain since the XVII century. Specifically, we know that in the entrance of Bishop Don Pedro de Roche, the sacristans were ordered to "uncover the image of Our Lady and put pillow in the chapel and light and put some candles and axes", which comes to insist on the extraordinary character of the presentation of the image before the eyes of the faithful. At a later date, the cabinet with silver doors was made, which was inaugurated on August 5, 1737. The cost of the piece amounted to 8,957 reales, corresponding to 1,407 ounces and three ochavas of silver, 3,110 reales paid to the silversmith and 2,137 reales paid to the sculptor, gilder and locksmith. The silversmith may have been Juan José la Cruz who, around the same time, had carved crowns of gold, diamonds and emeralds for the image of the Virgin and for the Child. The crystals that decorated the frames of the niche were brought from Holland and Bayonne. In the reliefs of the cabinet, when it was open, one could see Saint Fermin, Saint Saturnine, Saint Francis Xavier and the image of the Virgin of the Tabernacle. For the latter and for Saint Fermin, the well-known devotional prints by Francisco Picart (1714) and Carlo Grandi (1731), respectively, were used as models. Unfortunately, during the post-war restoration works, the piece that we know of thanks to several photographs disappeared.

Likewise, the cabinet with its sliding doors, which contains the silver urn of Saint Felicia in her basilica in Labiano, has been preserved, as well as the large urns with their gilded doors, in the case of the bodies of saints, brought from Rome for the cathedral of Pamplona and his native town of Garde, by the archdeacon Pascual Beltrán de Gayarre, in 1731. Another cabinet, with its interior curtain, in this case rococo, is conserved in the dressing room of the basilica of San Gregorio Ostiense of Sorlada, destined to keep the great silver chest with the relics of the saint and his holy head.

In addition to its engravings with the curtain uncovered, we know that some founders of anniversaries demanded that the image be uncovered. An enterprising son of that town, Jerónimo Íñiguez, had ordered several plates to be opened to print engravings of the Virgin. At a given moment, the board of trustees of Ujué decided to buy the aforementioned plates in order to dispose of them and order the engravings to his liking and under his conditions of print run and price. The matter was solved with the submission of the plates on the part of Íñiguez, in exchange for the foundation of an anniversary in the mentioned sanctuary, consisting of the celebration of a sung mass in front of the Virgin, "uncovered and with two lights".

In the case of the Virgin of Codés, we know that in 1649, the bishop of Calahorra, Juan Juániz de Echalaz, granted forty days of indulgence to all the people who were present when the image was unveiled, praying a Salve for the intentions of the Church. 

In the sanctuary of the Virgen del Camino de Monteagudo, the visitor of the bishopric of Tarazona, Don Jerónimo de Toledo, had ordered in 1606 the following: "We order that a veil or curtain of silver or gold cloth be made for the image of Our Lady, so that the image may be with more decency and veneration and so that the laymen cannot easily reach it because it is so easily accessible, as it is leave".

The curtain was also an element of the protocol and royal ceremonial that, with late medieval precedents, had wide projection in the centuries of the Ancient Regime. In the chapels and churches, a curtained and framed chapel was provided for the monarchs, so that they could have a reserved space. The custom of watching over and unveiling the monarchs is lost in the oriental civilizations and with a sacralizing character it passed to the Christian sovereigns, as they were divinized. Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy attended mass in one of those cubicles and the label of those sovereigns was adopted by the Habsburgs with their own peculiarities, making the curtain a royalty for those of their lineage. Among its functions was the intimate contact of the monarch and the altar, in those moments when more intimacy was required, leaving open the part that communicated with the altar, while the sommelier drew the remaining curtains of the chapel. The days of curtains in the Royal Chapel coincided with great solemnities and attendance of public, when before the arrival of the sovereign, the sommelier drew the curtain and let the king "patent" before his court, in what Jorge Fernández-Santos describes as a true ostensio regis. Pompous ceremonies in which the two Majesties were present, the Eucharistic and the king, both with their curtains, the altar and the king. The curtains, made of rich fabrics, were intended to make clear the respect of the subjects to the human majesty, and that of the king and of all to the divine Majesty.

It is significant to note that towards the end of the sixteenth century and especially in the seventeenth century, the religious use of the veil disappeared in many places of worship, a time when documents and canvases testify to the irruption of the curtain in the presentation of private works, particularly in the painting cabinets. In the latter, the best piece of the collection was covered to generate curiosity and expectation among visitors. When the owner of the collection deemed it appropriate, he proceeded to unveil the painting, generally the most outstanding for its authorship, composition or monetary value. As is known, the representation of collectors' galleries or interiors decorated with art objects, with the presence of dilettantes or amateurs, was a common genre among the Flemish painters of the 17th century, glorifying the internship of collecting, as a cultured and sophisticated activity. In many cases, the works did not strictly show the client's collection, but metaphorically alluded to his artistic interests and his place as an art aficionado. On the other hand, the curtain protected the painting from dust and excessive light. It was pulled back only when the owner wanted to show or view the work. Unveiling the painting only on very special occasions not only prevented the work from becoming obsolete, but also increased its effect on the viewer.

According to V. Stoichita in his study on "La invención del cuadro" (Barcelona, El Serbal, 2000), the sources deal with images that used the curtain: the works of subject licentious. Velázquez's Venus in the Mirror or Caravaggio's Profane Love were contemplated, after removing the curtain, by the collector's most intimate persons, generally men.