Behind the altar is the Sacristy, adorned with terra-cotta statues by Miguel Florentin, Juan Marin, and others. Here is kept a reliquary shaped like a triptych, presented to the church by Alfonso the Wise, and called the Alphonsine Tables.
Behind the Capilla Mayor, at the eastern extremity of the nave, is the Capilla Real (Royal Chapel). The building—which, as Ford remarks, is almost a church by itself—was begun by Gainza in 1514, and finished in 1566 by his successors, Fernan Ruiz, Diaz de Palacios, and Maeda. The chapel is of the Renaissance style, and has a lofty dome. There is a handsome frieze showing the figures of children carrying shields and lances. The chapel is divided by light pillars into seven compartments, of which the midmost is occupied by the altar of the Virgin de los Reyes. This image was the gift of St Louis of France to St Ferdinand. “It is of great archæological interest,” says Ford; “it is made like a movable lay-figure; the hair is of spun gold, and the shoes are like those used in the thirteenth century, ornamented with the lilies of France and the word “Amor.” In 1873, the fine gold crown belonging to this image Estilo Monstruoso, in Seville.
The entrance to this chapel is flanked by the Capillas de San Pedro and de la Concepcion Grande. In the south aisle is the chapel of the Purification or of the Marshal, containing a remarkable altar-piece by Peter Kempener—exhibiting the portraits of the founder, Marshal Pedro Caballero, and his family. Adjacent is the Sala Capitular, in fine Renaissance style, the work of Gainza and Diego de Riaño (1531). The roof is formed by a fine cupola, supported by Ionic columns, beneath which is some admirable plateresco work, with escutcheons, triglyphs, etc. The hall contains a portrait of St Ferdinand by Francisco Pacheco, the “Conception” and ovals by Murillo, and the “Four Virtues” by Pablo de Céspedes. Beneath the windows are seen reliefs by Velasco, Cabrera, and Vazquez.
The sacristy (Sacristia Mayor) is in the Renaissance style, and lies south of the Sala Capitular. It was built by Gainza in 1535, after designs by Riaño, who had died two years earlier. One of the three altars against the southern wall is adorned by the beautiful “Descent from the Cross” by Peter Kempener (a native of Brussels, called by the Spaniards Campaña), before which Murillo used to stand for hours in rapt contemplation. This priceless work of art was cut in five pieces by the French, with a view to its removal, and has not been very well restored. The sacristy contains also three interesting paintings, dating from the early sixteenth century, by Alejo Fernandez; and the “San Leandro” and “San Isidore” of Murillo.
In this chamber is kept the treasury of the Cathedral. In it might be included the superb silver monstrance by Juan de Arfe (1580-87). It is twelve feet high, and richly adorned with columns, reliefs, and statuettes. The treasury likewise contains another monstrance, studded with 1200 jewels; a rock-crystal cup, said to have belonged to St Ferdinand; and the keys presented to that sovereign on the surrender of the city. That given by the Jews is of iron gilt, with the words, Melech hammelakim giphthohh Melek kolhaaretz gabo (the King of kings will open, the King of all the earth will enter); the other key is of silver gilt and was surrendered by Sakkáf. The inscription upon it is in Arabic, and reads, May Allah render eternal the dominion of Islam in this city.
Proceeding along the south aisle, towards the main entrance, we first reach the Capilla de San Andrés, the burying-place of the ancient family of Guzman. Behind the chapel of Nuestra Señora de las Dolores is the fine Sacristia de los Calices. It is the work of those who built the Sacristia Mayor. It contains several fine paintings—the Saints Justa and Rufina (patrons of Seville) by Goya (among his finest works), the “Angel de la Guarda” and the “St Dorothy” of Murillo, the “Death of a Saint” by Zurbarán, the “Trinity of Theotocopuli” (El Greco), a triptych by Morales, and “The Death of the Virgin”—an old German picture. This crucifix over the altar is one of the most admirable productions of Montañez.
The next chapel (de la Santa Cruz) is adorned by a fine “Descent from the Cross” by Fernandez de Guadelupe (1527). The Puerta de la Lonja has a fresco, painted in 1584, of “St Christopher carrying the Infant Jesus across a River.” A representation of this saint is to be found in nearly all Spanish cathedrals, owing to a curious superstition that to look upon it secures the beholder for the rest of that day from an evil death. This fresco, which measures thirty-two feet high, is opposite the “Capilla de la Gamba” (or, of the leg—of Adam). Here we find “La Generacion”—Luis de Vargas’s masterpiece. “The picture,” says Herr Schmidt, “is wholly in the Italian style, and one of the best examples of this phase of the Spanish Renaissance.”
The large chapel of the Antigua contains the fine tomb of Archbishop Mendoza, by Miguel Florentin, erected in 1509. Here is also a very ancient mural painting, after the Byzantine style, of the “Madonna and Child,” which was placed here in 1578, and is of unknown and rather mysterious origin. The retablo is distinguished by marble statues in the baroque style by Pedro Duque Cornejo. The small sacristy behind this chapel contains pictures by Zurbarán, Morales, and others.
The Capilla de San Hermenegildo has a good statue of the saint by Montañez, and a fine sepulchral monument to Archbishop Juan de Cervantes (1453), by Lorenzo Mercadante de Bretaña, the master of Nufro Sanchez. The Capilla de San José contains “The Espousals of the Virgin” by Valdés Leal, a “Nativity of Christ” by Antolinez, and an inferior retablo (“The Massacre of the Innocents”). The Capilla de Santa Ana possesses a Gothic retablo, dating from about 1450, and divided into fourteen sections. It comes from the old Mosque-Cathedral. The lower part of the work, illustrating the life of St Anne, dates from 1504, the artists having been Hernandez and Barbara Marmolejo. From beneath the tribune a staircase leads to the Archives, which escaped demolition at the hands of the French, through having been sent to Cadiz. The last chapel in the south aisle (San Laureano) is dedicated to a saint, who, like St Denis of France, having been decapitated, performed the unusual feat of walking away with his head under his arm. Here is the tomb of Archbishop de Ejea, who died in 1417.
On the west side of the Cathedral are five small chapels. The Nacimiento chapel contains an admirable “Nativity with the Four Evangelists” by Luis de Vargas, and a “Virgin and St Anne” by Morales. To the right of the Puerta Mayor is the altar of Nuestra Señora del Consuelo, with a “Holy Family,” the masterpiece of Alonso Miguel de Tobar (1678-1738), esteemed the ablest of Murillo’s pupils. Facing this is the little altar of Santo Angel, with a “Guardian Angel” by Murillo. The altar of the Visitation has a good retablo by Pedro Villegas de Marmolejo (1502-1569), and a statue of St Jerome by his namesake, Geronimo Hernandez.