The Story of Seville

by Walter M. Gallichan

The Capilla de San Hermenegildo is noteworthy for the image of the saint by Montañez, and the tomb of Archbishop Juan de Cervantes by Lorenzo de Bretaña. The marble of the tomb is much worn.

The Capilla de la Antigua is a larger chapel, with fourteenth-century decorations of the altar. There is also a fine monument to Cardinal Mendoza, executed in 1509 by the Italian Miguel. The figures are very quaint. Adjoining this chapel is the Altar de la Gamba, with the Generacion by Luis de Vargas, a famous picture described in the art chapters of this book. The immense painting opposite is St. Christopher, by Mateo Perez de Alesio, painted in 1584.

For painting the San Cristobal Alesio received four thousand ducats. The saint is quaintly clad in hose, and the figure is gigantic. Sir Stirling Maxwell draws attention to the fine colouring of the parrot seen in the distance. Mateo de Alesio, who was an Italian by birth, died in the year 1600.

Passing through the Capilla de los Dolores, which is unimportant, we come to the splendid Sacristía de los Cálices, built by Riaño and Gainza in the years from 1530 to 1537. Diego de Riaño, sculptor and designer, was often employed by the Cathedral authorities. He delighted in lavish and fantastic embellishment, and introduced the Italian methods of ornamentation. Martin Gainza was of the same school. He was an architect and sculptor of great repute, and he assisted Riaño in much of his work.

The Crucifix is the work of Montañez. It was removed from the Cartuja Convent. Murillo's Angel de la Guarda, or Guardian Angel, is in this sacristy. This picture was presented to the Cathedral by the Capuchins in 1814. It is one of the best of Murillo's works. Borrow much admired the Guarda, and Sir Stirling Maxwell describes the diaphanous drapery of the child's dress in terms of praise. The angel holds a child by the hand, and points to heaven. Notice the rich colouring of purple and yellow in the vesture of the angel.

On the same wall are the Ecce Homo, the Virgin, and St. John, the work of Morales; St. Dorothy by Murillo; a painting of Fernando de Contreras by Luis de Vargas; Pietà and Death of the Virgin by a German artist, and a picture by Juan Nuñez of the fifteenth century.

Goya's fine painting of St. Justa and St. Rufina is here. Elsewhere in this book I have told the legend of these guardian saints of the Giralda. Goya's conception of them is unconventional, and unlike that of Murillo, who represents the two maidens with halos around their heads. We have the figures of two charming potter-girls in Goya's picture, two creatures of earth, lovely, but not ethereal. The Holy Trinity of 'El Greco' (the Greek) is one of the interesting examples of this great Toledan artist's work. Zurbaran is represented in the Sacristía by his painting of St. John.

The Sacristía Mayor is in the Renaissance style. It was built by the designers of the Sacristía de los Cálices about the year 1532. Campaña's admirable Descent from the Cross is here, but the picture has been indifferently restored. There is also a work of Murillo, SS. Leandro and Isidoro.

The Cathedral Treasury is in this sacristy. One of the principal objects of interest is the splendid custodia, used for carrying the Host. It is the work of Juan d'Arphe, a celebrated gold-worker, who was born in Avila in 1535. In 1564 he constructed the custodia of that city, and in 1580 began a work of a similar character for Seville Cathedral. Many designs were submitted for the inspection of the Chapter, but Juan d'Arphe's was chosen as one unequalled in Spain. The custodia is about twelve feet high, round in form, with four storeys, each one supported by twenty-four columns. Some of the columns are Ionic; the rest are Corinthian and composite in design. Between the columns are a number of statuettes, and the base and cornices are profusely adorned with bas-reliefs. In the first storey there was originally seated a figure of Faith, but it was changed in 1668 for one of the Virgin of the Conception, when the custodia was restored by Juan Segura. The second storey is the repository of the Host, and in the third and fourth storeys are figures of the Church Triumphant and the Holy Trinity. Crowning the edifice was a small dome and cross, which was replaced in 1668 by a statue of the Faith. The custodia is of beautiful and simple design.

The Tablas Alfonsinas, a reliquary, given to the Church in 1274 by Alfonso el Sabio, are in the Treasury. Crosses, plate and sacerdotal vestments are among the treasures. The canonical robes date from the fourteenth century. The keys of Seville, yielded to Fernando el Santo on the day of conquest, are also shown here.