Andalusia 2020

Friday6November

Never have we done so many museums on a trip! But with the pandemic, places are deserted and visits are done in VIP mode! Imagine booking an entire museum just for you, covid allows it, let's enjoy it! The Fine Arts Museum opens its doors to us and the guards will be more numerous than the visitors, numbering 2!  

And moreover, taking photos is totally allowed! I will be able to enjoy taking over the exhibited works by cropping them according to my desires of the moment...   The photos therefore do not always represent the paintings in their entirety nor in their real aspect, because the camera replaces the restorer's work by reviving the colors. I hope their late authors won't mind!  

On the left, the archangel Saint Michael by the painter El Hispalense. On the right, Saint Pedro González Telmo.

On the left, Saint Andrew and Saint John the Baptist on one of the 4 panels that make up the altarpiece of the San Benito de Calatrava church. On the right, Saint Christopher on one of the other paintings of the altarpiece.

Detail of the Baptism of Christ (1570) by Pieter Pourbus.

Other detail of the Baptism of Christ (1570) by Pieter Pourbus.

The Last Supper. Anonymous.

The Last Judgment of the altarpiece of the convent of Saint Augustine (1570) by Martin de Vos.

Virgin and Child (1560) by Marcellus Coffermans. And Virgin and Child (1550) by Ambrosius Benson.

The Holy Family (1623) by Juan de Uceda.

Saint Francis Borgia (1624) by Alonso Cano. And Don Cristóbal Suárez de Ribera (1620) by Diego Velázquez.

The large wooded patio in the middle of the museum.

The building converted into a museum in 1835 is the former convent of la Merced Calzada de la Asunción dating back to the 13th century.

The Last Supper (1588) by Alonso Vázquez.

The Transit of Saint Hermenegild (1603) by Juan de Uceda. And The Coming of the Holy Spirit (~1615) by Juan de las Roelas.

Saint Francis of Assisi embracing the crucified Christ (1668/1669), and Saint Anthony of Padua and the infant Jesus. Both works are by the Sevillian painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-1682).

The vault of the old church with paintings dating from 1724.

Another vault in a completely different style, much more baroque.

Christ confessing Saint Dominic (1710) by Alonso Miguel de Tovar. Saint Dominic comforted by the Virgin and the Holy Martyrs (1710) by Juan Simon Gutierrez.

Details of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Saint Francis of Assisi contemplating the Eucharist (1674) by Juan de Valdés Leal.

Santiago Apóstol (1634) by José de Ribera. Portrait of a lady (1630) by Cornelis de Vos.

Battle scene (~1640) by Sébastien Vrancx.

Saint James the Great by Francisco Polanco.

Saint Jerome, Saint Gregory, Saint Ambrose by Francisco de Zurbarán.

The Virgin of the Caves (~1655) by Francisco de Zurbarán.

The painting in its frame and under the amazing wooden vault.

Visit of Saint Bruno to Urban II (~1655) and Saint Hugh in the refectory (~1655) by Francisco de Zurbarán

Two details of the painting The meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek (~1720) by Andrés Pérez.

Detail of the Carro del Pregón de la Máscara (1748) by Domingo Martinez. Large painting of 2.92 meters by 1.35 meters of which this part must be only fifty centimeters.

Detail of the Carro de la Común Alegría (1747) and the Carro del fuego (1747) by Domingo Martinez.

Details of the Carro del Parnaso (~1748) by Domingo Martinez.

Portrait of Mr. Anzoategui (1842) by Federico de Madrazo.

Portrait of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1862) by Valeriano Domínguez Bécquer. And The child with the violin (1900) by José García y Ramos.

The death of the maestro (1884) by José Villegas Cordero.

Portrait of Doña María Roy lying on the sofa (1890) by Gonzalo Martínez Bilbao. And Sevillana in her patio (1918) by Diego López.

The Santera by Manuel González Santos.

Witch's Tale (1900) by Nicolás Alperiz.

The Fisherwoman (1885) by Rafael Senet. Portrait of Conchita (~1910) by José Rico Cejudo.

Details of the painting The Cigar Makers (1915) by Gonzalo Bilbao.

Detail of the Family Scene (1952) by Rafael Martínez Díaz.

Dutch Interior (1912) by Antonio Ortiz Echagüe. And Portrait of the painter Pablo Uranga (1937) by Ignacio Zuloaga.

Detail of the ¡Hasta verte, Cristo mío ! (1895) by José García Ramos. And Portrait of José Domínguez Bécquer by Antonio María Esquivel.

Here is a visit well conducted! The exit passes by the famous Sevillian painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo whose works we could enjoy some of.

Born from the imagination of the architecture of Jürgen Hermann Mayer, this large "parasol" was inaugurated on March 27, 2011 after 6 years of work.

The wooden structure takes place above the Encarnación square. We can imagine the controversy when the monument began to take shape. The mushroom is quite huge and hides all the charm of the large Andalusian squares... But surely in the middle of summer the large parasol satisfies most of the pedestrians who pass by here.  

The building also allows to have a beautiful view of the city. A whole course allows exploring the hat of the big mushroom.

In the distance, the Sevilla tower and the Alamillo bridge.

The vestiges of the 1992 world exhibition! The replica of the Ariane 4 rocket and the pavilion of the future.

The visits follow one another! Here we are arrived at the palace of las Dueñas.

"The Palacio de las Dueñas belongs to the House of Alba and was built between the 15th and 16th centuries. Composed of several buildings separated by patios and gardens, its architecture combines Gothic-Mudejar and Renaissance styles. The palace was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in 1931 and its furniture in 2010" © Wikipedia

Orange trees are celebrated here too.

Lantana flowers.

On the left, a Cape leadwort (Plumbago auriculata). On the right, lantana flowers.

By wanting to puff out his chest too much, this handsome Apollo lost his head....  

The gardens were laid out at the beginning of the 20th century.

Flanders tapestries from the 15th century.

The old small chapel and its painting "Saint Catherine of Siena between the saints" by Neri di Bicci.

Attempt to climb the 58 meters of the torre de los Perdigones (shot tower) but covid happened and the doors will remain closed... Too bad because we could have tested the camara oscura as in Cadiz.  

We arrive at the impressive Plaza de España which extends over 200 meters.

You can greet Aníbal González here, the first architect of the square. Begun in 1914, the work will end in 1928.

Vicente Traver's fountain.

All along the palace, tiled benches represent the 48 provinces of Spain.

The province of Cadiz represented by the promulgation of the Spanish Constitution of 1812.

The first floor provides access to the balconies overlooking the square.

We leave Plaza de España to join the Guadalquivir and its old Torre del Oro dating from the 13th century.

The 180 meters of the recent Sevilla tower inaugurated in 2016. Before it, there were no skyscrapers in the city!

The Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza

Francisco Lopez Romero better known as "Curro Romero". In 2012, the famous bullfighter was entitled to inaugurate his own statue.  

Darkness comes to cover Seville. This will be our last evening here. Tomorrow we hit the road again to return to the coast and join the Doñana natural park.