Archaeology
At the gates of Seville, the archaeological site of Itálica concentrates the vestiges of the first Roman city of Spain. Founded in 206 B.C., it remains partly hidden under the village of Santiponce. The archaeological excavations revealed splendid mosaics which decorated the patios of the residences. Among those, within the Casa del Planetario, a mosaic represents the gods of the seven days of the week. We see Neptune leading a fabulous procession of centaurs and land animals. The House of Birds takes its name from its mosaics on the theme of celestial animals. The busts, sculptures and other remains of the site have joined the collections of the Archaeological Museum of Seville
. This splendid building, located on the Plaza de América, was built in 1929 for the Ibero-American Exposition.Other Roman mosaics are kept in the Antiquarium
, perched under the Metropol Parasol. More modest, it gathers objects found during the construction of a parking lot, which offer us evidence of the Visigoth and Islamic past of Seville.In Itálica were born two emperors who marked the history of the Roman Empire: Trajan and Hadrian.
Subsequently, the long Muslim presence, between 711 and 1248, left Seville with traces that are mainly visible in architecture. However, the earthenware known as "Mudejar" is a continuation of the decorative art produced by the Muslims of Spain, characterized by the refinement of its motifs.The Romanesque sculpture
It is only in the first quarter of the eleventh century that the first decorative attempts of facades appear. The scenes built around human figures were intended to embellish the buildings but also to educate the people. During the 12th century, funerary monuments played an important role in Romanesque creation. The tombs, inspired by the sarcophagi, are delicately decorated by the craftsmen who sculpt the facades and the capitals.
Romanesque art is often a faithful reflection of the political, social and religious life of its time. A superb collection of Romanesque sculptures can be seen in the Casa de Pilatos
. But the Gothic art that came from Chartres and Saint-Denis made great strides in the 12th and 13th centuries in the construction of cathedrals (Burgos, Toledo...). The construction of the cathedral and Giralda of Seville, which replaces the mosque, began in 1401. In 1432, the elaboration of the choir established Seville as an important center of sculpture. In 1467, Lorenzo Mercadante de Bretaña was involved in the sculptures of the portals. He would later influence a large number of artists. At the turn of the 16th century, Italian influence predominated, and the styles, drawn from Mudejar or Hispano-Moorish art and the late Gothic, gave rise to an eclectic style.The baroque style
The Spanish Baroque emerged at the beginning of the reign of Philip III, in 1599, and ended in 1752, when the Real Academia de San Fernando was founded. Italian influences continued, but the presence of a king of French origin (Philip V) directed the gaze towards French artistic production. Nevertheless, foreign contributions had less influence on sculpture than on painting. Baroque sculpture was focused on wooden statues and was the result of five schools: Valladolid, Granada, Seville, Murcia and Catalonia.
Nicknamed the God of Wood, Juan Martinez Montañez was born in Alcala la Real in 1598 and died in Seville in 1649. His style is characterized by the realism, the balance and the serenity of his compositions. One of his statues can be seen in the Plaza San Salvador, in front of the church. In the cathedral, his Christ of Clemency is worth mentioning, as well as the tabernacle of St. John the Baptist, which can be seen in the convent of Santa María del Socorro, and St. Bruno
, which is in the Seville Museum. He is considered the founder of the Sevillian school of Baroque sculpture.A student of Montañez, Juan de Mesa was born in Cordoba in 1583 and died in Seville in 1627. He developed a taste for the dramatic, even tragic interpretation of his characters. He is considered the author of the Virgin of the Macarena, one of the pasos of Seville during Holy Week, and the Christ of Love of theChurch of El Salvador
.Pedro Roldán is another outstanding sculptor of the 17th century, who also belongs to the Sevillian Baroque school. He was also a painter and architect. After studying in Granada with his master Alonso de Mena, he went to Seville where he executed various works, some of which can still be seen in theHospital de la Santa Caridad
. Daughter of Pedro Roldán, Luisa Roldán (1652-1706) was the first woman to be recognized as a sculptor. She married the Sevillian artist Duque Cornejo, whose work included thechurch of San Luis.Sevillian painting
Sevillian painting was subject to various influences, both Flemish and Italian or French. It experienced a golden age between the 16th and 17th centuries. Among the artists who greatly contributed to the fame of Spanish painting are Velásquez, Murillo and Zurbarán. The great Sevillian masters are concentrated in the Seville Museum of Fine Arts, housed in a splendid monastery. In the square, the entrance is marked by a bronze statue of Murillo.
Velázquez, born in 1599, is the painter of the Golden Age par excellence. Famous for his portraits of the court of King Philip IV, he developed a very personal style, which was resolutely in line with the Baroque movement. His two trips to Italy had a decisive effect on the evolution of his work. His art reached its peak in 1656 with the realization of The Meninas. His artistic influence was considerable from the 17th century onwards
Francisco Zurbarán (1598-1664) played an important role in Seville as he painted more than twenty canvases for the Dominican convent of San Pablo and Real (the current church of the Magdalena). The Apparition of the Virgin to the Monk of Soriano can still be admired there. The figures of St. Gregory, St. Ambrose and St. Jerome are in the Museum of Fine Arts. From 1629, back in Seville after a stay in Extremadura, he became the artist, interpreter and craftsman of the powerful monastic orders in the city: Jesuits, Franciscans... Thanks to the support of his colleague Velázquez, he moved to Madrid and painted the ten canvases representing the labors of Hercules. He also painted portraits such as the one of Saint Dorothy, exhibited in the Museum of Fine Arts. He died in Madrid in 1664 in a difficult financial situation, isolated from the circle of painters of the time.
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (born in Seville in 1618, died in Cadiz in 1682). He received his artistic training in the workshop of Juan del Castillo. His first commission was for eleven paintings for the Franciscan cloister in Seville. In 1655, during a trip to Madrid, he studied the royal collection and it was then that he began to structure his paintings in a more sophisticated manner. Most of his works are religiously themed. In 1660 he founded the Academy of Fine Arts. In Seville, his Vision of Saint Anthony can still be admired in the cathedral, and in the Museum of Fine Arts, The Colossal (known as the Immaculate Conception), whose dynamism renews the codes of the genre. You can also visit the House of Murillo, his last home
Other representatives of the golden age are the Herrera family, father and son. Francisco Herrera the Elder (born in Seville in 1585, died in Madrid in 1657) was a painter and engraver. Flemish engravings from the 16th century influenced his work, as can be seen in his painting of the Apotheosis of Saint Hermegilde (Museum of Fine Arts). Francisco Herrera the Younger was born in Seville in 1622 and died in Madrid in 1685. Trained by his father, he soon left him to stay in Rome until 1655. He then returned home to take up the post of director of the Academy of Seville and became the first artist at the court of Charles II. In the Cathedral of Seville, we can admire TheAdoration of the Blessed Sacrament (1656).
Less popular, Juan Valdés Leal is nevertheless one of the geniuses of 17th century Spanish painting. Born in Seville in 1622 and died in 1690, he is a tormented soul with an often macabre style. The impressive funeral allegories of theHospital de la Caridad in Seville (1672) are proof of this. In Ictu Oculi, to the left of the entrance door as you enter the chapel of theHospital de la Santa Caridad, and Finis gloriae mundi to the right, depicting a crypt where owls, bats and corpses live together. Both paintings, full of symbols, were commissioned by Don Miguel de Mañara, on which he collaborated with Murillo.
Current Seville
The tradition of the great masters is renewed in the twentieth century with Luis Gordillo. Born in Seville in 1934, this painter studied law before turning to the Fine Arts. At the end of the 1950s, he immersed himself in the heart of the Parisian avant-garde. The following decade, he proposed an interpretation of Pop Art based on repetition. In the 1980s, he turned to abstract art and developed a post-modern style steeped in psychology. More recently, he combines the possibilities of photography and digital technology with painting.
Recognized as one of the main figures of Spanish abstract art, he is present in the main museums of contemporary art in the world. In Seville, he can be found in one of the city's most unusual institutions, the Monastery of Cartuja - Contemporary Art Center. On the island of Cartuja, this former monastery houses a collection of contemporary art open to all formats of creation. On display are leading artists (Joan Miró, Eduardo Chillida and Antonio Saura),
and among the Andalusians: Bacarisas, Mateos, or Carmen Laffón. There is little urban art to be seen in Seville. A few frescoes and collages in Calle Castellar, in the alternative neighborhood of Alameda; others are sometimes revealed as you stroll along. The creation prefers to nestle in historical places like the FOCUS foundation, which houses a contemporary art department in the heart of the Hospital de los Venerables building. A very happy mix!
