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
The Capilla de San Hermenegildo has a good statue of the saint by
Montañez, and a fine sepulchral monument to Archbishop Juan de
Cervantes (1453), by Lorenzo Mercadante de Bretaña, the master of Nufro
Sanchez. The Capilla de San José contains “The Espousals of the Virgin”
by Valdés Leal, a “Nativity of Christ” by Antolinez, and an inferior
retablo (“The Massacre of the Innocents”). The Capilla de Santa Ana
possesses a Gothic retablo, dating from about 1450, and divided into
fourteen sections. It comes from the old Mosque-Cathedral. The lower
part of the work, illustrating the life of St Anne, dates from 1504,
the artists having been Hernandez and Barbara Marmolejo. From beneath
the tribune a staircase leads to the Archives, which escaped demolition
at the hands of the French, through having been sent to Cadiz. The
last chapel in the south aisle (San Laureano) is dedicated to a saint,
who, like St Denis of France, having been decapitated, performed the
unusual feat of walking away with his head under his arm. Here is the
tomb of Archbishop de Ejea, who died in 1417.
On the west side of the Cathedral are five small chapels. The
Nacimiento chapel contains an admirable “Nativity with the Four
Evangelists” by Luis de Vargas, and a “Virgin and St Anne” by Morales.
To the right of the Puerta Mayor is the altar of Nuestra Señora del
Consuelo, with a “Holy Family,” the masterpiece of Alonso Miguel de
Tobar (1678-1738), esteemed the ablest of Murillo’s pupils. Facing this
is the little altar of Santo Angel, with a “Guardian Angel” by Murillo.
The altar of the Visitation has a good retablo by Pedro Villegas de
Marmolejo (1502-1569), and a statue of St Jerome by his namesake,
Geronimo Hernandez.
Near the north-western corner of the church the Puerta del Sagrario
leads into the Sagrario or Parish Church. This was built between 1618
and 1662 in the Baroque style by Miguel Zumarraga and Fernandez de
Iglesias. The width of the single arch of which the roof consists is
believed to endanger the safety of the edifice. The rich statues that
adorn the interior are by Dayne and Jose de Arce. There is a notable
retablo by Pedro Roldan which came from a Franciscan convent now
suppressed. The wall of the sacristy is faced with beautiful _azulejos_
of the Arabian period, and in one of the side-chapels is a noteworthy
statue of the Virgin by Montañez. In the vault beneath this impressive
church the Archbishops of Seville are buried.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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