The works probably began under the mandate of the prelate Don Esteban Gabriel y Merino (1523-1535); During the period in which he was in charge of the Diocese, a series of covers were carved with his heraldry, associated with Gothic temples, in which the new styles of the proto-Renaissance or Plateresque were introduced. In Santa María, and assigned to this style, two interesting portals with the Merino coat of arms are preserved, which have traditionally been attributed to Diego de Alcaraz, an important stonemason active in the Loma de Úbeda during the first half of the 16th century.

The construction process of this temple did not end with Bishop Merino, but lasted for much of that century. Andrés de Vandelvira, senior master of the Cathedral of Jaén since 1553, also had the obligation to review, appraise or give designs for the works projected by the diocese. In Santa María he intervened on two occasions, according to V. M. Ruiz Fuentes; on September 15, 1570 to give the plans for the chapel founded by Dª. Marina Ortega, located next to the tower; In 1571 he dictated the conditions to finish the bell tower, with the local stonemason Diego de Ávila taking charge of the work.

Only the portal remains of the chapel, with a simple semicircular arch, with mirrors in the spandrels, flanked by recessed pilasters and topped with a molded cornice. The first body of the tower is original, the rest being the result of a reconstruction in the mid-20th century.

On the side of the Epistle a monumental chapel opens, which according to G. Torres Navarrete was paid for by Alonso del Villar and his wife María Ximénez. Architecturally it responds to a Vandelvirian composition, made up of a large semicircular triumphal arch, with figures of angels reclining on the spandrels, lowered in double grooved pilasters and a raised and parchment key, framed at the ends by Corinthian semi-columns and recessed retropilasters, with the typical alternating rods used by the Master; raised on foundations on which an entablature decorated with studs stands on the cornice, in which a niche of classical molding stands in the center with an image of Mary with the Child, at the ends Saint John the Evangelist and another female image; the interior is covered with a delicate cassette vault decorated with rosettes.

The production of Andrés de Vandelvira has traditionally included the stone altarpiece of the Descent from the Cross, which, although mutilated, is preserved on the Epistle side. It is a burial chapel founded by Fray Miguel de Síles Martínez, Commander of Alcántara and prior of the Santo Domingo convent in the same city, in the opinion of G. Torres Navarrete.

In 1571, the date of the foundation of a chaplaincy in this burial, the complex was probably completed. Sculpture work has been attributed to the sculptors Luis de Aguilar or Juan de Reolid: the beautiful relief of the Descent (partially mutilated), the four missing sculptures of San Pedro, San Pablo, San Benito and Santo Domingo of the lateral niches and the Christ crucified, supported by two angels, with which this unique Renaissance funerary altarpiece is finished.

OTHER NON-ARCHITECTURAL ARTISTIC MANIFESTATIONS

The Main Chapel of Santa María was embellished with two major interventions designed in the 16th century, which still stand there. Its Gothic vault was decorated with a pictorial program based on Virtues inserted in tondos and various motifs imitating marble, all done in tempera on plaster.

The main altarpiece, made up of three streets, two floors and an attic, has reached our days somewhat retouched, but it retains much of its original structure carved during the 16th and 17th centuries, being gilded in the 18th century by the painter José García from Ubeta. of Espantaleón.

In the sacristy, the drawers and marble table (18th century) are beautifully made. Of his imagery, the Reclining Christ (20th century), by Víctor de los Ríos, and a Crucified (20th century), by Francisco Palma Burgos are notable.