These words, which form a portion of the address delivered by the late Lord Leighton to the students of the Royal Academy Schools, in the year 1889, epitomise the salient points in the artistic history of Seville. An almost impenetrable gloom shadows the early records of her art. Only one work remains to testify to the skill of her artists, during the thirteenth century. This is a rare old Bible, written on vellum and richly illuminated. It was transcribed for Alfonso, the Wise, by Pedro de Pampeluna, in the thirteenth century, and its numerous miniatures represent the pristine efforts of the Sevillian school of painting. During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the artists of Seville were wholly dominated by the Flemish school. The great master of the Low Countries, Jan van Eyck, visited the Peninsula, and from that time the Flemish influence continued to increase in potency. Flemish works of art were largely imported into Spain, and three Flemish artists, according to Professor Carl Justi, were employed in the court of Isabella la Catolica. The Gothic characteristics of the Northern school are manifest in all the pictures of this period. They may be readily recognised by their long lean figures, their definite, almost harsh outlines, and their rich colours, which are frequently embellished with gold. The pictures painted during these years bear little trace of Italian influence, although we know that in the year 1466 a Florentine painter, Dello, who belonged to the school of Giotto, was living in Seville. No authentic works from his hand remain, but he amassed great wealth, as a proof of which we are told that he always painted in an apron of stiff silk brocade. Many of these paintings, dating to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, bear no signature. They are classified without distinction as the _Escuela Flamenca_, and the Spaniards apparently regard them with scant reverence. They are all interesting, while many of them possess great charm, and reveal well-developed artistic power. The Gothic influence is dominant, but a distinctly Spanish tendency can frequently be discerned. Local dress and customs are often depicted, and the pictures are executed with the relentless vigour, which is the specific characteristic of the early Spanish school. Examples of these Hispano-Flemish pictures will be found in the Museo, in the _Cap de Santa Ana_ and the _Cap de la Antigua_, in the Cathedral, and in many of the churches. The earliest Sevillian artist of whom we have any distinctive record is Juan Sanchez de Castro, who lived in the city from 1454 to 1516. Sir W. Stirling-Maxwell calls him 'the morning star of the school of Andalusia.' He quickly absorbed the Flemish influence, and his works are wholly Gothic, both in conception and manner of treatment. No details of his life are extant, but the wreckage of time has spared his work, and we can still study both a fresco and a panel painting executed by his hand.