The Story of Seville

ures in

is to educate the p

er

teenth century. It was originally a monastery, founded by the pious San Fernando, in the year 1249, for the monks of the order of the Merced, whose duty it was to redee

brought from Italica, and stored within the quiet cloisters. Numerous pictures, rescued from the convents and churches by the efforts of Dean Manuel López Cepero, were hung upon the walls

by the canvases of the Sevillian favourite. There are some fine instances of the work of Zurbaran. The elder Herrera and Valdés Leal are also well represented. But there are only two specimens of Luis de Vargas and Juan de las Roelas, while the works of Velazquez,

n a tolerable state of preservation

emed this picture above all his works, and was wont to call it su lienzo (his own picture). In literary conception the work has much merit. It is executed in the misty, vaporoso manner. The light is skilfully handled and the figure of the saint is well realised. Robed in black, and bearing a white mitre in his hand, he stands at the door of his Ca

r. The deposition of the drapery in St. Leander and St. Buenaventura is admirable. The picture of Santas Justas y Rufina, supporting the famous Giralda Tower, to guard it from the ravages of the tempest, should be compared with the picture of the same saints by Fra

ery widely credited, says that the cook at the Capuchin Convent, having rendered Murillo some service, was asked by him what recompense he desired. He at once craved a sketch from the hand of the great mast

CEPTION

nz, a later Spanish critic, says that the stream of light which floods the picture is worthy of Correggio. There are four Immaculate Conceptions. In one the Virgin i

ssion of the faces is individual and life-like, and the form of the martyr, bound to his double-cross, is well drawn. The chief merit of the work rests in its colour, which is Venetian in many of its tones. Very beautiful is

oteworthy instance of the power of Herrera, and exemplifies his vigorous individual style. The favoured saint of Seville ascends to heaven in a flood of yellow glory, which reveals the steel blue of his cuirass, and the rich crimson of his flowing mantle. Two angels bear the axe and chain, the trophies of his trium

s Marías y San Juan, en busca (search) de Jesús. The figures convey the idea of motion, while eager expectancy finds expression in look and gesture. The series of pictures illustrative of the life of San Jerónimo are also interesting, notwit

e blessed Trinity, the Virgin, St. Paul, and the hosts of glory. Below sit the venerable figures of the Doctors of the Church; on the right kneels the Bishop Diego de Dega, the founder of the college, while the Emperor, Charles V., with a train of ecclesiastics, stands upon the left. The dark, mild face of the figure immediately behind th

O CALVARY

ctures are executed with remarkable fidelity, but the finest of the three is St. Hugo visiting the monks in their refectory. It is painted with realistic and individual truth. The monks, clad in the white robes of the Carthusians, sit around a table at their mid-day repast. In the foreground stands the aged figure of St. Hugo, attended by a young page. The saint has come to reprove

has depicted the boy Jesus in the picture, El Ni?o Jesús. A boy clad in a simple gown of darkest grey; no halo surrounds his head, and upon his knees rests a twisted crown of thorns. One of the prickly spines has pierced the boy's finger, and with the verity of life Zurbaran depicts him pressing the finger to extract the thorn. The drawing of the figure is faulty and the execution of the

ess portraits of the one, and the dull, faultily drawn, religious composition of the other, offer little inducement to linger. Were it no

ief idea they convey is one of intense crudity of colour. Among the numerous pupils and imitators of Murillo not one is worthy of attention. The work

N THE REFECT

rdom of St. Andrew. The colour is good, there is a slight confusion of detail, but the picture is not without charm. The portrait of himself, by Doménico Theotocópuli,[F] 1548-1625, better known as El Greco, the genius of Toledo, will be found near the door. It is a

y fifteenth century, classified as belonging to the Escuela Flamenca, by artists whose names have not been preserved. The tones in many of these antique pictures are wonderful, and they are all painted with a na?ve simplicity. The colour in the two compositions, E

no (road) del Calvario, is a work of much beauty. The central picture of the Crucifixion is finely conceived, and

of the sixteenth century, is a quaintly-conceived allegorical picture. This finest portion repre

uary in

ember that statuary was executed, almost without exception, for the religious uses of the Catholic Church. The images were needed to increase the pious fervour of the populace; they were carried in the religious processions, and often they were

ven covered with a canvas, like a skin, and then painted to counterfeit life. This barbaric custom-a relic of heathen days, did much to seal the doom of the art of sculpture in Spain. In seeking to imitate life the artists frequently rendered their statues grotesque. The ambition of a

al Spanish sculptors whose works deserve praise, an

ed in many lands, and to his skill we owe the fine tomb of Henry VII., in Westminster Abbey. He settled in

haggy locks, needs to be seen alone. Its original home was a lonely grotto in the gardens of the Jeronimite Convent; and in such a place of quiet solitude we must picture it, before we can appraise its worth. Cean Bermudez twice visited it in company with

Seville in the year 1607; he died in 1649. Like its companion work of art the Santo Domingo suffers from its situation. Such works are utterly unsuited to the crowded gallery; they need the silent cloister, or quiet corner in some

os Cálices, in the Cathedral. It is unrivalled among the statues of Spain. The anat

IFIXION