Seville: an historical and descriptive account of "the pearl of Andalusia"Calvert, Albert Frederick
History
Seville: an historical and descriptive account of "the pearl of Andalusia"
Calvert, Albert Frederick
Art -- Spain -- Seville; Painters -- Spain; Seville (Spain) -- Description and travel
After the Alcazar, the most noteworthy monument in Seville, dating
from the reign of Don Pedro, is the church of Omnium Sanctorum. This
edifice occupies the site of a Roman temple, and was built by the Cruel
King in 1356. It exhibits a very happy combination of the Moorish and
Gothic styles. It is entered by three ogival doors, and is divided
into three naves. To the left of the façade is a graceful tower, the
first storey of which is Moorish, ornamented somewhat after the style
of the Giralda. On one of the doors is a shield bearing the arms of
Portugal, which, tradition says, commemorates the pious generosity of
Diniz, king of that country, when he visited Alfonso the Wise. If the
Sevillians have writ their annals true, this goes to prove that an
earlier structure than the present must have existed here. This, by the
way, was the parish church of Rioja the poet.
San Lorenzo exhibits the fusion of the contending styles in an
interesting fashion. It has five naves; and the horseshoe windows in
its tower were converted into ogives at the time of its adaptation to
the Christian cult. The arcades of the naves are ogival in the middle,
and become by degrees semi-circular towards the extremities as the roof
becomes lower. This church contains the miraculous picture of Nuestra
Señora de Rocamadour. Rocamadour, in southern France, was a celebrated
shrine of pilgrims in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
Several other churches in Seville date from this epoch, and present, to
a greater or less extent, evidences of the conflict between the Moorish
and Gothic styles. In addition to those mentioned, Madrazo names the
following: Santa Marina, San Ildefonso, San Vicente, San Julián, San
Esteban, Santa Catalina, San Andrés, San Miguel, San Nicolas, San
Martin, San Gil, Santa Lucia, San Pedro, and San Isidoro. When a mosque
was converted into a Christian church, the same authority remarks, the
horseshoe arch was pointed, bells were placed in the minaret, and the
orientation was altered from north to south, to east to west. The five
last-named churches were erected in the thirteenth century. Santa Maria
de las Nieves was, until the year 1391, a synagogue. The decoration is
in the plateresco style, and the doors are Gothic. The church contains
a painting by Luis de Vargas, and a picture attributed to Murillo.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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