The Story of Seville

by Walter M. Gallichan

In the crypt of the Convent Church of La Trinidad is shown a rock, to which the saints were bound when scourged by their persecutors. There is a poor shrine in a dim cellar; and the sacristan shows a long, dark passage, full of water, which is said to be a part of the Roman prison, where heretics were confined and starved to death. The story of the saints of Triana is legendary; but it is no doubt credited as actual history among the devout of the city.

It is recorded that the martyrs incurred death for breaking a statue of Venus. Tradition is hazy concerning the place of their burial. In one account we learn that SS. Justa and Rufina were laid to rest in Burgos. Another historian assures us that they were buried in Seville, while a third story relates that their bones are in the mountainous Asturias, in the North of Spain.

A big book might be written on the churches of Seville alone. There are so many of those edifices, and few of them are devoid of interest to the antiquarian, art lover, and student of ecclesiastical history. The amalgamated Moorish and Renaissance elements in the Seville churches lend a charm to the architecture and the adornments. This strange combination of styles is only to be found in the Christian churches of Spain. Almost everywhere we are confronted in Andalusia with this seeming incongruity, the employment of designs for religious edifices from the hand of the despised and detested Mudéjar. The phenomenon is strange and instructive. The zealous Catholic kings, sworn to the extirpation of the Moslems, allowed the Moors to build their churches in the style of temples devoted to Allah.

The same monarchs who ordered the destruction of the beautiful Moorish baths in Córdova and Seville were willing that Mohammedan genius should have full play in the design, construction and decoration of Christian temples.

But, after all, was it not a question of necessity? When a nation has only two honourable professions, the military and the clerical, where is the scope for a development of skill in the industrial arts? The Moriscoes were martial, but they never neglected the peaceful occupations. Sadly had Spain to learn that the neglect of culture and the arts was the cause of her decline. Germans, Italians and Moors were employed in the erection and adornment of ecclesiastic and civil buildings. The Teutons Johann, and his son Simon, of Cologne, were the chief architects of Burgos; and it is probable that German designers and masons performed a large share in the building of Seville Cathedral. At Burgos, Toledo and León we may note the influence of French architects.

The interiors of the churches of Seville are so dark that it is often difficult to see the pictures clearly. Even on the brightest days the sunshine penetrates imperfectly through the stained windows, and in some cases the works of art are in the gloomiest chapel or recess of the building. The sacristans are usually to be found in or near the churches, and they are mostly courteous to the visitor, and anxious to point out the most important paintings, statues and relics. But in their desire to please, they sometimes ascribe the pictures to the wrong artist. A daub by an unknown artist becomes a work of Zurbaran, if the stranger appears to be greatly interested in that painter.

Several spurious Murillos were shown to me. Now and then, the sacristan knows very little about the art treasures of his church. When you ask who painted a picture or carved an image, the attendant shrugs his shoulders, and murmurs No se (Don't know). The boys who volunteer as guides are of no service to the visitor. In the chapter of information I have given the name of a reliable guide.

CHAPTER XII
Some Other Buildings

'Fair is proud Seville; let her country boast

Her strength, her wealth, her site of ancient days.'

Childe Harold, Stanza lxv.

THE palacios and fine casas of Seville are numerous. Some of them retain a distinctly Mudéjar design in their architecture, and all of them possess an Oriental atmosphere or tone. One may spend many hours in visiting the courts of the big houses of the city. As a rule, the porter has instructions to admit strangers into the courts, but very rarely within the houses. But from the courts one may gain very considerable knowledge of the progress of architectural style in the dwelling-houses of the South of Spain, where, above all, we may trace the influence and art of the Morisco designer and craftsman.