The third Duke of Alcalá, Fernando Enriquez de Ribera, established a great library here, and the Casa Pilatos was the rendezvous of a polished coterie. The Duke collected pictures, procured Roman relics from Italica, and had cabinets of coins and medals, and cases containing manuscripts. He was an amateur painter, a patron of the fine arts, and the encourager of struggling genius. Pedro de Madrazo, in his _Sevilla y Cadiz_, states that 'the Casa Pilatos is an august representation of the architectural genius of the sixteenth century; memorable for the reunions of Pacheco, Céspedes, the Herreras, Góngora, Jauregui, Baltasar de Alcázar, Rioja, Juan de Arguizo, and Cervantes.' Other writers describe the architecture of the palace as pseudo-Moorish. It is indeed a mixture of Gothic, Moorish, and Renaissance designs, adorned with _azulejos_, the decorations being _Mudéjar_ for the greater part. Pacheco, the friend of the Duke de Alcalá, painted the salon. Mr. M. Digby Wyatt, in his valuable work, _An Architect's Note Book in Spain_, describes the Casa Pilatos as possessing two special 'points of architectural value,' _i.e._, 'the entirely Moresque character of the stucco work at a comparatively late date, and the profuse use of _azulejos_ or coloured tiles. It is ... in and about the splendid staircase that this charming tile lining, of the use of which we have here of late years commenced a very satisfactory revival, asserts its value as a beautiful mode of introducing clean and permanent polychromatic decoration.' In the principal garden there are remains from Italica. The orange, lemon and jasmine grow profusely in this sunny, sheltered corner of the city. Here the cultured Duke Fernando Enriquez de Ribera discoursed with his illustrious guests, when the stars twinkled and the air was sweet with the odour of the jasmine and rose. No doubt Francisco Pacheco brought his pupil Velazquez to the symposia. We can picture Cervantes relating the story of his imprisonment in Algiers, or diverting the company with anecdotes of the thieves and sharpers of Seville, whose exploits are recorded in his novel of _Rinconete y Cortadillo_. Góngora, the poet, whose affectations and 'Gongorisms' offended George Henry Lewes, probably read his verses to a critical audience in the salon. Wit vied with wit, scholar discussed with scholar, and artists discoursed upon the new methods of painting. This was the intellectual centre of Seville, where kindred souls uttered their deepest thoughts, assured of sympathy and of comprehension. When the courtly owner of the palace died, his library, his treasures and curiosities were removed to Madrid, and Sevillian men of letters and painters lost a true friend.