Part 14 (1/2)

The inspection of these churches would fill a long day. But there are several more fine _parroquias_ to be visited, for it must be remembered that the churches are the art museums of Spain, and no one can gain knowledge of the development of architecture, sculpture and painting in the country without spending a considerable portion of one's time in the dim, perfumed naves and chapels. The stranger will be impressed by the garish decoration of the interiors of many of the churches of Seville.

Gilt is spread lavishly, and the effect is often tawdry. Some of the images are poor, especially in the modern churches, and one's taste is often shocked by their incongruity. The figures of the Virgin often lack dignity and beauty. But, as Mr. Henry James points out in his sketch 'From Normandy to the Pyrenees,' in _Portraits of Places_, those images of the Holy Mother are 'the sentiment of Spanish Catholicism' of modern times. They are, therefore, instructive from that point of view.

But from a devotional, as well as an aesthetic, standpoint, one is disposed to ask whether the sacred idols would not gain in n.o.bility, pathos and stateliness if the Virgin were represented in the realistic garb of a Jewish woman of the people, instead of in modern dress, with trappings of lace and jewellery. It is with no disrespect towards Catholic prejudices in this matter that one expresses this view. The mediaeval conception of the Madonna in painting appeals to the imagination, because in the works of the great masters there is beauty, simplicity and convincingness.

In the northern district of the city, beyond the Convento de Santa Paula, we may, in a few minutes, reach--

_Santa Lucia._--This church is now used for profane purposes; but its splendid Gothic portal remains. The Morisco tower is also notable.

_San Roque_ is in the Barrio de San Roque, not far from Santa Lucia. The church was destroyed by fire in 1759, and rebuilt in 1769. It is not of great interest, though the arches of the naves are graceful, and the small tower is worthy of note. In times of flood, the Guadalquivir inundates this suburb, and the water flows into the church.

_San Bartolome_ may be reached from the last-mentioned church by the Recared o Industria and the Calle Tinte. The church was built on the site of a Jewish synagogue, after the expulsion of the Jews by the Catholic Kings of Spain. The _retablo_ and the sculpture of our Lady of Joy is antique and interesting.

_Santa Maria de las Nieves, or la Blanca_, is close to San Bartolome.

Until the year 1391 this church was a synagogue. It has three small naves, marble columns, and plateresque ornamentation. The two doors are Gothic. There is a painting attributed to Murillo, and one of our Lady of the Augustias, with the dead Christ in her arms, by Luis de Vargas, the famous fresco painter.

_San Salvador_ is in the centre of the city, behind the Audencia, and may be reached from Sierpes by the Calle de Gallegos. This church is not of much importance from its age; but it contains effigies by Montanez, the most celebrated being the figure of San Cristobal.

_San Isidoro_ is built upon the ground where a fine mosque once stood.

It is stated that St. Isidore was born upon this spot or close to the church. Juan de las Roelas painted the Translation of San Isidoro for the princ.i.p.al altar. There are also pictures by Murillo, Valdes, and Tortolero, and a statue of Santa Catalina by Roldan the Elder.

_San Julian_ should be visited for an inspection of the large painting of San Cristobal, the work of Juan Sanchez de Castro. The painting of St. Christopher has been retouched. It was executed in 1484, and the work is of great interest as an example of the art of the earliest Sevillian painter.

I have now mentioned thirteen churches. There are more to visit.

_San Bernardo_ is in the suburb of that name. It is built on the spot where a hermitage stood until 1593. The church has three wide naves. It should be visited for an inspection of the pictures. In the left nave is a painting of the Last Judgment, the work of Herrera the Elder.

The _Cena de Jesus_ is by Francisco de Varela. It was executed in 1622, and is regarded as one of the finest works of that painter. The statues of St. Michael, the Faith, St. Augustine and St. Thomas are the work of Luisa Roldan. The organ of this church is one of the best in Seville.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Puerta de Santa Maria]

_The Convent Church of La Trinidad._ The a.s.sociations of the church are of considerable interest. In the time of the Roman rule in Seville, the palace, ecclesiastical court, and dungeons of a governor were built upon this ground. The church is dedicated to the saints of Seville, Justa and Rufina, the guardians of the Giralda. When the Romans conquered the Spaniards, they sought to convert the subject-people to the Pagan religion. Among the potters of Trajan's town, now known as the suburb of Triana, were two girls, both of great beauty, named Justa and Rufina.

The maidens were renowned for their Christian piety. They refused to wors.h.i.+p the Roman G.o.ds, and in their zeal they became iconoclasts. Their image-breaking brought them beneath the tribunal; they were sentenced to extreme punishment. The wretched victims were scourged, and forced to walk barefooted on the bleak mountains of the Sierra Morena. But this persecution failed to shatter their fervent devotion to Christianity.

They continued to protest against the religion of the Romans. Justa was imprisoned and slowly starved to death, while Rufina was cast to the lions in the arena.

The portraits of the youthful saints have been painted by several of the Sevillian artists. Murillo's SS. Justa and Rufina is in the picture gallery at Seville. The treatment is conventional. The saints are holding a model of the Giralda in their hands, and the martyrs' palms.

At their feet are broken crockery, showing the nature of their calling.

To the left are the ruins of a building. The figures of the maidens are large, and halos surround their heads.

In the same gallery are two pictures of the Sevillian saints by an unknown artist. One is a portrait of Santa Justa. The saint is holding a white vase and the martyr's palm in her hands. Santa Rufina, in the other painting, is bearing a plate and a palm branch. The Santa Justa is the more notable of these works. The conception is beautiful and the colouring subdued.

H. Sturmio's painting of Justa and Rufina is in the Cathedral, and so is that of the celebrated Luis de Vargas. From the artistic standpoint, the picture of the two saints by Francisco Goya is the finest of all. It is to be seen in the _Sacristia de los Calices_ in the Cathedral.

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 pa.s.sage, 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 a.s.sures 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.