The Story of Seville

by Walter M. Gallichan

Don Miguel de Mañara was born in the year 1626, and is supposed to have married the señorita of the House of Mendoza. There are several stories of the young rake's career in Seville, and of his resolve to dedicate his riches to the service of the Church and to the poor of the city of his birth. One day a gift of some choice hams was sent to Mañara. In compliance with the regulations, the hams were detained by the customs' officers until the dues upon them were paid. The Don was extremely angered at the detention of the hams. He went out, in a furious passion, to upbraid the officials for the delay. As he paced fuming through the streets, 'the Lord poured a great weight upon his mind,' and Mañara was suddenly convicted of the sinfulness and folly of his life. Such is one account of Don Miguel's 'conversion.' Another annalist informs us that Mañara, while stumbling homewards after a night of carousal, saw a funeral procession approaching him. The priests and the usual torch-bearers accompanied the bier. Stepping up to the bearers, the young man said: 'Whose body is that which you are carrying?' The reply was startling: 'The body of Don Miguel de Mañara.' The prodigal reeled away, filled with horror; for he had looked upon the corpse, and seen his own features. Upon the next morning Mañara was found insensible in a church. It was the turning-point in his life. He became an ascetic and devotee. Because he liked chocolate, he refrained even from tasting that innocent beverage. He was seen no more among the dissolute of Seville, and his money went to the building and decoration of the Hospital and Church of the Holy Charity. In his treatise Discurso de la Verdad (Discourse upon Truth) Don Miguel Mañara tells us of the hollowness of existence apart from holiness. He reflects often upon the solemnity of death, and the necessity for practising virtue and charity. His repute as an almsgiver of discretion was so great that one Don Gomez de Castro gave him an estate worth 500,000 ducats for charitable disbursement.

In the Sala del Cabildo of La Caridad, you may see a portrait of the pious founder, painted by Juan de la Valdés. Mañara has a sad, thin face. He is seated at a table covered with black velvet and gold, and he appears to be reading aloud. A charity lad is seated on a stool, with a book on his knees. Mañara's Toledan sword is exhibited in a case. He died in 1679, and bequeathed his fortune to the hospital, except some legacies to servants. To his confessor the Don presented his ivory Christ. His sister received a picture, which was upon his bedstead, representing the Saviour on the Cross. The work was said to be from the brush of Murillo.

The founder was interred in the vault of the hospital church. There is a legend that, two months after burial, the corpse was found without any trace of decay. It is also related that by the touch of some documents which had belonged to Mañara, a knight of the Order of Santiago was cured of a headache.

In Mr. C. A. Stoddard's account of La Caridad, in Spanish Cities, the name of the founder is given wrongly as Mañana. Mr. Stoddard writes that Don Miguel desired to be buried at the church door, with the epitaph upon his tomb: 'Here lies the worst man in the world.' Mañara was, however, buried in a vault of the church, and in the inscription upon the stone he was lauded as 'the best of men.'

For viewing Murillo's pictures in the Hospital Church of La Caridad, it is best to seek admission in the afternoon. The Charity Hospital is built in the Greco-Romano style from designs by Bernard Simon de Pineda, or Pereda. Visitors should examine the five large azulejos of the exterior, said to have been designed by Murillo, the friend of the founder. The centre is Charity, a woman with a child in each arm and a boy at her side. Other designs represent Santiago slaying Moors, and San Jorge spearing the dragon.

Sir Stirling-Maxwell speaks of the Church of La Caridad as 'one of the most elegant in Seville.' The aisle widens beneath a lofty and ornate dome. One of the chief objects of interest is the famous retablo; but the church is mostly visited by admirers of Murillo. The eleven works of the master, which once adorned the building, were painted in four years. Soult carried away five of the paintings. Four of them were sold by the French marshal, and one was presented to the Louvre. Mr. Stoddard praises Moses and the Rock as one of the finest pictures of Murillo. There are three groups in the scene. Water gushes from a dark rock in the centre of the picture, and Moses, with hands folded, offers thanks for the miracle. Behind is Aaron, in an attitude of worship. The Israelites press forward to quench their thirst. Le Sed (The Thirst) has been reproduced by engraving, and is well known.

The other pictures by Murillo are the Infant Saviour, the Annunciation, and the San Juan de Dios. In the last painting the saint, assisted by an angel, is bearing a sick man to the hospital. Christ feeding the Five Thousand (Pan y Peces) and the Young John the Baptist are large pictures, showing Murillo's broad method.

The curious paintings by Juan Valdés Leal are described in the chapter on 'The Artists of Seville.' They are at the west end of the church.

The court through which one enters the hospital is very handsome, and a good example of the Sevillian patio. A Sister of Charity conducts the visitor to the wards and to the council room of the institution. The sick and the convalescent recline upon their beds, and there is a hush in the long chambers. The patients are all men. They appear to be well cared for, and the wards are clean and sunny.

In the Plazo de Alfaro, number seven, is the house where tradition states that Murillo lived. From the Plaza de Giralda follow the Calle de Barceguineria, and take the second street on the right hand side, passing the Church of Santa Teresa. Turn to the right at the end of the Calle de Santa Teresa. Murillo's house is in a corner of the Plaza de Alfaro. It is now occupied by the Señores López Cepero, two cultured and courteous brothers, the nephews of a greatly respected dean of the Cathedral, who in his day collected a number of fine pictures, and did much to encourage artists in the city.