Granada and the Alhambra / A brief description of the ancient city of Granada, with a particular account of the Moorish palace

by Albert Frederick Calvert

In the centre of the middle nave, separated from the Capilla Mayor by the transept, is the choir, in that debased Churrigueresque style of which every one speaks ill. The only things notable within it are the fine organs, and the crucifix by Pablo de Rojas. Beneath the choir is entombed Alonso Cano (died 1667), one of the greatest of Andalusian painters, and a minor canon of the Cathedral.

One of his most characteristic pictures—the Virgén de la Soledad—is to be seen over the altar of the Capilla de San Miguel (the first chapel on the right on entering the church). It was stolen in 1873, and recovered in the city shortly after. The chapel is beautifully adorned with red marbles and serpentine. It was built by that high-minded, beneficent prelate, Archbishop Moscoso, in 1804. His tomb is by the sculptor Folch. In the chapel are placed—we do not know why—two elegant Chinese vases.

Between this and the next chapel is the entrance to the sacristy or old mosque, and to the left of it a small picture, before which that really saintly saint, St. John of God, was accustomed to pray. The Capilla de la Trinidad has some good paintings, among them a Trinity by Cano, two miniatures on copper by the same artist, a Death of St. Joseph by Maratta, and copies of works by Raphael and Ribera. There are genuine Riberas (The Child Jesus, St. Laurence, and St. Mary Magdalene) and more works by Cano in the extravagant eighteenth-century chapel of Jesus Nazareno. After this comes the handsome Gothic door of the Chapel Royal, by Enrique Egas; and beyond that the Chapel of Santiago, with a fine equestrian statue of the Patron Saint of Spain, presented to the Cathedral by the City in 1640. The old painting of the Virgen del Perdon was given to Isabella the Catholic by Innocent VIII., and used to be carried about by the queen. It is publicly venerated (not worshipped or adored, please note) on the anniversary of the Reconquest, January 2.

Passing the Cathedral sacristy with its handsome door by Siloe, we pause before the Puerta del Colegio. Behind the sculptured Ecce Homo, it is said Maeda carved a Lucifer of extraordinary beauty. He applied to Siloe for permission to give a proof of his skill, and was told by the testy architect to sculpture the Devil himself if he wanted to. Maeda was wag enough to take him at his word.

The chapel of Santa Ana covers the vault intended for the archbishops, and contains a good sixteenth-century altar-piece, and a St. Jean de Matha (a Frenchman, not a Spaniard) by Bocanegra. The six chapels that follow present no features of interest. The fourth chapel on the left side of the Cathedral is named La Virgen de la Antigua, after a Gothic image greatly venerated by Ferdinand the Catholic, and regarded with great reverence by the devout of Granada. Here are two portraits by Juan de Sevilla of Ferdinand and Isabella at prayer; the king is clad in armour. The paintings are in the Venetian style. Of the retablo by Cornejo, the less said the better. Cano’s realistic heads of Saints John and Paul reflect the fondness of the pietists of his day for the morbid—they are in the Chapel of the Virgen del Carmen. The first chapel, or baptistry, was erected by Adam and Aguado, at the expense of Archbishop Galvan, who is buried here near another occupant of the episcopal throne, Don Bienvenido Monzón. The fine reliefs of Saints Jerome and Isidore are by Mora. We have now reached the entrance doors, on each side of which hangs a good painting. The three pictures over the doors represent mystic allegories.

The most interesting feature of the chapter room, or Sala Capitular, is the noble porch, with its figures of Justice and Prudence, which, with the group of the Trinity, may be safely attributed to Maeda.

Before leaving the Cathedral, the sacristy should be visited. It contains Cano’s Assumption and two small statues by him; a Crucifix by Montañez; a Holy Family, by Juan de Sevilla; and a Mary Immaculate by Bocanegra. The treasury contains some wonderfully embroidered vestments, and good, but not extraordinary, examples of the silversmith’s craft. The signet ring of Sixtus III., and the monstrance presented by Isabella, have of course, an historical interest.

A casket is also shown to visitors, who are assured it is that in which were placed the jewels pawned by Isabella to provide funds for Columbus’s first voyage. If this is true, Pandora’s box was as nothing compared to this one! The Queen’s Missal, the work of Francisco Flores, is beautifully illuminated. It is placed on the high altar on the anniversary of the Reconquest. Those interested in arms will handle with curiosity the sword of Ferdinand the Catholic; the hilt has a spherical pommel and drooping quillons with branches towards the blade, which is grooved for about two-thirds of its length. Other relics of the Catholic sovereigns are their sceptre, Isabella’s crown, the royal standards used at the Reconquest, and a chasuble said to have been embroidered by the Queen.

By the door next to the Capilla de San Miguel we pass into the Sagrario (sacristy) occupying the site of the old mosque, which it replaced in 1705. It was designed by Don Francisco Hurtado and Jose de Bada, and it is well that the responsibility for so meretricious a piece of architecture should be divided. It may be dismissed as Churrigueresque. It is not, fortunately, devoid of interest. In one of the chapels is buried “the magnificent cavalier, Fernando del Pulgar, Lord of El Salar,” as the inscription records. This valiant knight and true, during the last campaign against Granada, rode into the city with fifteen horsemen, and set a lighted taper on the floor of the mosque, and, as others say, nailed a paper bearing the Ave Maria on the door. This exploit earned for him and his descendants the extremely valuable privilege of wearing their hats in the Cathedral. De Pulgar’s bones have fared better than those of the good Archbishop de Talavera, which were scattered when the old mosque was demolished. The Sagrario possesses several good paintings, including a San José by Cano, of whose works the Cathedral buildings, as may have been noticed, contain a fine selection. By the door next to the Capilla de Pulgar, and a darkish passage, the Chapel Royal may be entered.