Cordova: A city of the Moors

by Albert Frederick Calvert; Walter M. Gallichan

Like Seneca, the Arab teacher Averroes was a rigidly plain liver. He contented himself with common raiment, slept on hard couches, and made only one meal in twenty-four hours. Averroes was not only reputed for his culture and his philosophical treatises; he bore the character of amiability, simplicity of manner, and extreme courteousness. He rises far above Seneca in the conduct of life and the application of his principles to actions. He was a true moral philosopher. Cordova has produced many illustrious sons, but certainly not a greater man since his day.

For some time the philosophy of Averroes was regarded as highly dangerous among the Moors of Cordova. It was considered equally injurious to the Christian faith, for all the works of the Arab doctor were placed upon the Catholic Index.

Cordova gave many valiant soldiers to the world, but none more brave than the Gran Capitan. The hero’s name was Fernandez Gonsalvo, or Hernandez de Cordova. He was born in 1453, and arose to fame about 1495. ‘Nursed amid the din of battle,’ Gonsalvo accompanied his father to the courts of Alfonso and Isabella. He fought in Portugal, showing remarkable intrepidity at the great battle of Albuera. At Monte Frio the Great Captain led the besiegers in scaling the ramparts. At Granada his horse was killed beneath him, but he mounted that of his attendant, who lost his life in the encounter. In the Calabrian campaign, Gonsalvo led the army. For his prowess he was made Viceroy of Naples.

The life of the Gran Capitan is a chapter of moving romance. In the Spanish estimation he is almost as mighty and adorable as the Cid. Gonsalvo was over sixty when he died. He was a born commander, capable of judging character and of leading men, and possessed of extraordinary bravery and coolness in action. His manners were urbane and pleasing.

The city is associated with at least three famous painters of the Andalusian school: Pedro de Cordova, Pablo de Céspedes, and Juan Valdés Leal. The Museo of Cordova is not a very important collection of paintings, but it contains some works of Céspedes, Zurbarán, and Ribera. Zurbarán’s best work is not to be seen in Cordova. Ribera’s ‘Rest on the Flight into Egypt,’ in the Museo, is a fine picture, but it is injured by the state into which it has fallen through neglect. It is deplorable that so many of the paintings in the collection at Cordova are in a condition of decay. During our visit to the city we were appalled at the indifference exhibited by those in charge of the pictures.

There is evidence that Cordova under the Moors contained some works of the early Spanish schools of painting. Pablo de Céspedes, in an essay, states: ‘In the parish church of San Pedro, in our city of Cordova, on the right wall, there are many paintings of those times which escaped the barbarous fury of the Moors when they held that place, though they have not escaped the ravages of time and the neglect of those intrusted with the care of the church. The consequence is, they are scarcely intelligible from the injury which they have received and the dust which has accumulated upon them. This sort of painting, rude and savage as it is, appears to have been the ashes whence was destined to spring that fairest Phœnix of modern art which has since burst forth in such splendour and riches.’

The first painter of Cordova of whom we have a brief record is Pedro de Cordoba. In 1475 he painted the Annunciation, which is still to be seen in the Capilla del Santo Cristo of the Mezquita. The picture is representative of Gothic art; but it is in a poor light, and the canvas is in a condition of neglect.

Cordova was ranked as the second centre of art in Andalusia; and the Italian influence, which succeeded the Gothic, was exemplified in the productions of the cultured and versatile Pablo de Céspedes, who was born in the city in 1538. This artist, who wrote a celebrated poem on the art of painting, is ranked among the writers as well as the painters of his nation. He studied in Italy, and became one of the canons of the Cathedral of Cordova. In Rome he painted frescoes after the manner of Correggio. ‘The Last Supper,’ and two pictures of ‘St. John’ and ‘St. Andrew,’ are in the Mezquita, and in these we see the intellectual quality of this painter’s art. Cean Bermudez, the Spanish critic, ranked Pablo de Céspedes high as a colourist, and especially in flesh-tints. Most of the pictures by Céspedes have perished.

Juan de Valdés Leal was born in Cordova in 1630. Most of the painter’s life was spent in Seville, where he was regarded as the rival of Murillo. His most sincere, and one of his earliest compositions is in Cordova, in the Church of the Carmen. This work is interesting because it instances the dramatic qualities of the painter. The retablo is painted in eleven different parts, representing the life of the prophet Elijah. Most of the work of Valdés Leal is to be seen in Seville.

Antonio de Castillo y Saavedra, born in Cordova in 1603, revived the best traditions of Céspedes. Castillo was one of the first of the Spanish landscape-painters, but his strength lay in the presentment of figures. His colour is not his forte, as will be seen from a study of his pictures in the Museo. Perhaps his most admirable work is the ‘Denial of St. Peter.’ Castillo unfortunately attempted to imitate Murillo, and it is said that he was envious of the reputation of that more popular painter. This artist seems to have spent most of his time in Cordova, where he died in 1667.