The Story of Seville

by Walter M. Gallichan

The organ music is often superb, and the choristers are highly trained. Besides the organ, reed and string instruments are used to accompany the singing during important festivals. The smoke of incense mounts in the lofty naves and aisles; the altars glow with candle-lights, and the sweet, rich voices of the boys hover under the vaulted roofs. Rich and poor alike sit or stand upon the flagged floors. The preachers are often very eloquent, and they preach in the purest form of the Castilian language.

The dim light of the interior of the Cathedral is a hindrance to the full enjoyment of the very numerous works of art that adorn the chapels. This gloom is characteristic of the Spanish cathedrals and churches. The best time in the day to inspect the pictures in Seville Cathedral is before eight in the morning. It is an early hour; but the light is then fairly good, and the chapels are usually quiet. I advise the visitor to spend several hours in the Cathedral, if he desires to study the inner architecture, carvings, pictures and statues. A mere ramble through the naves and a peep into one or two of the capillas will not suffice. It is well to select a portion of the interior for each day's inspection. Shun the loafers who offer their services as guides. They have no knowledge of the art treasures, and they possess a faculty of invention.

I trust that my description will assist the stranger in his tour of the Cathedral. The chief objects of art are indicated, or briefly described, in the remaining part of this chapter. The account is not to be taken as exhaustive. A thorough treatise on the architecture of the building alone would require more space than I have at my command, and it might prove somewhat tedious to the reader who is not acquainted with the technical terminology of architecture.

The Interior of the Cathedral.

Enter by the Puerta del Lagarto, in the Patio de los Naranjas. One's first impression when within the Cathedral is that of its magnitude and the 'frightful height,' which struck Théophile Gautier. The length, exclusive of the Capilla Real, is three hundred and eighty feet; the width is two hundred and fifty feet. The nave is one hundred and thirty-two feet in height, and over fifty feet in width.

There is great dignity in the lofty columns, and a sense of vastness possesses us as we gaze upwards. The floor is of fine marble. It was laid in the years 1787 to 1795.

The Capilla de los Evangelistas is the first chapel near to the puerta. It has a fine altar piece in nine parts, the work of Hernando de Sturmio, containing a picture of the ancient Giralda. The paintings are on panel, and the brown tints are characteristic of the early Sevillian School of Art.

By the Puerta de los Naranjas, the great door on this side of the Cathedral, there are two altars. One is the Altar de la Asunción, and the other is dedicated to La Virgen de Belén. The Assumption picture as executed by Carlo Maratta. The face of the Virgin is clear, but somewhat dark in tone, and the light is not favourable for viewing the picture. On the other side of the doorway the light is better. The altar is adorned by a painting of the Virgin, from the brush of the famous Alonso Cano. It is a rather conventional presentment of Holy Mother, but the features are not without beauty. On the whole, the painting is not equal in merit to most of the works of the last Andalusian master. The hands and feet of the figure are finished with the care characteristic of Cano's art.

Alonso Cano has been called the 'Michelangelo of Spain.' He studied in Seville under Pacheco and Juan de Castillo, and painted pictures for some of the religious houses. Cano was also a sculptor and architect. He was forced to leave the city after wounding an antagonist in a duel. In 1651 he was appointed a Canon of Granada, and during his residence in the old Moorish city, Cano painted works for the churches. The artist was of an irritable disposition; but he spent the latter part of his life in religious exercises, and gave freely to the poor. He died in poverty, in 1667, and received alms from the Church.

Writing of Alonso Cano, in his Spanish and French Painters, Mr Gerard W. Smith says: 'Although he was never in Italy, his fine feeling for form, and the natural charm and simplicity of his composition, suggest the study of the antique, while in painting, the richness and variety of his colouring could hardly be surpassed.'