The Story of SevilleGallichan, Walter M. (Walter Matthew)
History
The Story of Seville
Gallichan, Walter M. (Walter Matthew)
Seville (Spain)
In the Macarena quarter is the market street of the Feria. This
thoroughfare should be seen. It is the home of metal-workers, whose
beaten brass, iron and copper ware is interesting and artistic in
workmanship. Peripatetics here display a jumble of second-hand articles
upon the ground, such as books, old pictures, brass candlesticks, tools,
buttons, pistols, rusty swords, harness, and mule bells. There are
stalls of fruit, coloured kerchiefs, hats and caps, shoes, and common
china ware. The scene is bustling and bright.
Here the young and unknown artists of Seville were wont to sell their
pictures in former times. Murillo and many another painter of renown
stood here anxiously awaiting chance purchasers for their works. These
'fair pictures' were often daubs; but sometimes, no doubt, a buyer
secured the work of a young genius for a trifling sum. If a purchaser
wished a picture altered to his taste, the artist would retouch it upon
the spot.
These were hard days for young painters. But many who hawked their
religious pictures and portraits of the Virgin and the saints for
pesetas rose to fame, and gained wealth in their later days. A _pintura
de la Feria_ became a term in Spain for a meretricious picture. Some of
the Feria paintings were still-life subjects, and others were _sargas_,
large screens or banners used in sacred processions.
One of the sights of modern Seville is the Fábrica de Tabacos, a factory
where a large number of women and girls are employed. The building is a
handsome one, in the baroque style, in the Calle de San Fernando. The
_cigarreras_ work in overcrowded rooms. On public holidays they don
their smartest dress, and are to be seen at the _romerias_ and dances.
A survival of the ancient potter's art in Seville is the factory of La
Cartuja, in Triana, owned by the English firm of Prickman and Sons. The
works supply almost the whole country with china, and examples of
antique Spanish majolica may be seen here. La Cartuja was once a
convent. The church should be seen; it has a fine door in the _Mudéjar_
style.
Campaña's paintings in the Church of Santa Ana, in Triana, may be
inspected after a visit to La Cartuja. Near this church are the streets
inhabited by the Gitanas. The SS. Justa and Rufina, mentioned elsewhere
in these pages, made pottery in this quarter in the Roman days.
The custom of selling drinking water in the streets is common almost
everywhere in Spain. Velazquez painted the familiar figure of the
water-seller, who is to be seen to-day in the _calles_ of Seville,
crying _agua fresca_. The water is carried on the men's shoulders, in
graceful Oriental jugs of earthenware.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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