Southern Spain, Painted by Trevor Haddon, Described by A. F. CalvertCalvert, Albert Frederick
History
Southern Spain, Painted by Trevor Haddon, Described by A. F. Calvert
Calvert, Albert Frederick
Spain -- Description and travel
In the south aisle are the chapels of the Mariscal, San Andres, las
Dolores, la Antigua, San Hermenegildo, San José, Santa Ana, and Santa
Laureana. These chapels are richer in sculpture than in painting.
Kempener designed the beautiful altar-piece in the Capilla del Mariscal,
and Montañez the grand statue of St. Hermenegildo in his chapel. On the
west side of the Puerta de San Cristobal, over a small altar, is the
"Generacion" of Luis de Vargas--the much praised "leg" picture which
has given its name to the chapel. The fresco of St. Christopher that
faces it is remarkable only for its size. You find such pictures of the
saint at the entrances to many Spanish churches, the old belief having
been that those who gazed upon it would not die unpreparedly that day. A
much more ancient and interesting mural painting in the Byzantine style
is to be seen in the large chapel of the "Antigua," where it was placed
in 1578. The retablo of St. Anne's Chapel is also very old, and comes
from the former cathedral. The next chapel, San José, is adorned by
Valdés Leal's "Espousals of the Virgin." The Cathedral does not contain
any fine ancient tombs. One of the best is that of Archbishop Mendoza,
by Miguel Florentin, in the Antigua Chapel.
As every visitor to Seville professes a special devotion to Murillo, he
will probably overlook the fine "Nativity" by Luis de Vargas to the
right, on entering, of the Puerta del Nacimiento, and hurry at once to
the more famous master's "Guardian Angel," between Puerta Mayor and
Puerta del Bautismo. His "St. Leander" and "St. Isidore" are to be seen
in the great Sacristy, where they are eclipsed by Kempener's beautiful
"Descent from the Cross," before which Murillo himself used to stand for
hours in rapt contemplation. The French cut this priceless work into
five pieces, intending to remove it, and although their design was
frustrated, the subsequent restoration was badly effected. The
Sacristia de los Calices is a storehouse of art treasures. Here you may
see Goya's "Saint Justa and Saint Rufina," a "Trinity" by "El Greco,"
the "Angel de la Guarda" and "St. Dorothy" of Murillo, the "Death of a
Saint" by Zurbaran, and the superb crucifix of Montañez. A "Conception"
by Murillo is in the Chapter House, a splendid hall in the Renaissance
style.
In the great Sacristy is preserved the "treasury" of the Cathedral. It
includes a wonderful monstrance by that prince of goldsmiths, Juan de
Arfe; and something more interesting in the shape of keys presented to
St. Ferdinand on the surrender of the city. The key presented by the
Jews is iron-gilt and bears the inscription in Hebrew: "The King of
Kings will open, the King of all earth will enter." The key offered by
the Moors is silver-gilt, and the Arabic inscription reads: "May Allah
render eternal the dominion of Islam in this city."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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