Archbishop's Palace, Seville
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Archbishop's Palace of Seville (Palacio Arzobispal) is a palace in
Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
. It has served as the residence of bishops and archbishops of the episcopal sees and numerous nobleman and military figures to the present time. It is located in the southern section of Seville, in the Plaza Virgen de los Reyes, angled almost opposite the
Giralda The Giralda ( es, La Giralda ) is the bell tower of Seville Cathedral in Seville, Spain. It was built as the minaret for the Great Mosque of Seville in al-Andalus, Moorish Spain, during the reign of the Almohad dynasty, with a Renaissance-style ...
. It is situated on the northeastern side of
Seville Cathedral The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See ( es, Catedral de Santa María de la Sede), better known as Seville Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along ...
in the neighborhood of Santa Cruz. Of
Spanish Baroque The arts of the Spanish Baroque include: *Spanish Baroque painting *Spanish Baroque architecture ** Spanish Baroque ephemeral architecture *Spanish Baroque literature **''Culteranismo'' **''Conceptismo'' * Spanish Baroque art ** Bodegón **Tenebri ...
architectural style, it has had the status of National Monument since 1969.


History

Records of January 4, 1280, show that in 1251, following the reconquest of Seville by
Ferdinand III of Castile Ferdinand III ( es, Fernando, link=no; 1199/120130 May 1252), called the Saint (''el Santo''), was King of Castile from 1217 and King of León from 1230 as well as King of Galicia from 1231. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of ...
, the king gave walled houses in the Piazza Santa Maria to the Bishop of
Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is in the Inner Plateau (''Meseta central''), near the northern slopes of th ...
, Remondo de Losana in order to create the Archbishop's Palace. Remondo was the first bishop of Seville after the reconquest and the first to live in the new palace. Over the centuries, it was extended until the mid-16th century when a series of major reforms left the structure around two courtyards, covering an area of , occupying nearly an entire block. During the brief years of the
Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...
, the palace was used as headquarters of the Army General Command, and residence of the Marshal
Jean de Dieu Soult Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...
and his officers. During Soult's stay, many paintings and sculptures were brought to the palace including the one of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist and another depicting the resurrection of Lazarus.


Architecture

;Interior An extensive expansion was done in 1704 by Lorenzo Fernandez de Iglesias, an important architect of the time, under the auspices of Archbishop Manuel Arias. The work joined together differing architectural styles, adorned with pilasters that are located on a broad base. The Main Hall (or Salon), painted by Antonio Mohedano, consists of four columns, two on each side of a ledge, adorned with two statues of saints. Mohedano was famous for the representations of natural objects such as birds, flowers and fruits. Hence,
Juan Agustín Ceán Bermúdez Juan Agustín Ceán Bermúdez (17 September 1749 in Gijón3 December 1829 in Madrid) was a Spanish writer on art. Biography Bermúdez was born in Gijón, Asturias. He founded an art academy at Seville, and was given responsibility to order the Ar ...
in his ''Diccionario historico de los mas ilustres profesores de las Bellas Artes de Espana'' ("Dictionary of the most illustrious historical faculty of Fine Arts in Spain"), attributed to him the artistry of the ornamental ceiling elements in the Main Salon and the Prelate Gallery. In addition to the frescoed ceiling, there are 70 paintings exalting the Catholic Church. There is a mural of five Apostles by Juan de Zamora. The broad staircase dates to the second half of the 17th century. It was designed by Fray Miguel de Ramos, a religious of the
Third Order of Saint Francis The Third Order of Saint Francis is a third order in the Franciscan tradition of Christianity, founded by the medieval Catholic Church in Italy, Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi. The preaching of Francis and his disciples caused many ma ...
, and funded by Juan de Palafox. It was constructed of coloured marble and decorated with murals attributed to Juan de Espinal. ;Exterior The building, of a red façade, has white pilasters, small iron awnings, and large balconies. There are two courtyards of the Mannerist style, built between the 17th and 18th centuries. The second has a 16th-century fountain behind this courtyard. The courtyard was at one time home to a lion cub, a present to an archbishop by a duke. There are two entry doors, one to the east and another to the south. The main
portal Portal often refers to: * Portal (architecture), an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, or the extremities (ends) of a tunnel Portal may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * ''Portal'' (series), two video games ...
, topped by vases and bronze flowers, is inscribed with vegetable motifs and displays of escutcheons. Designed by Lorenzo Fernández de Figueroa and Diego Antonio Díaz in the
Spanish Baroque The arts of the Spanish Baroque include: *Spanish Baroque painting *Spanish Baroque architecture ** Spanish Baroque ephemeral architecture *Spanish Baroque literature **''Culteranismo'' **''Conceptismo'' * Spanish Baroque art ** Bodegón **Tenebri ...
style, it was built in the 18th century and is a good example of Seville Baroque. Intercolumniation is present at the main door, following the width of the patio, and includes several arches, supported by small columns of marble. A cornice support two allegorical statues.


Collections

The library is quite large and contains a multitude of selected works, most belonging to the ecclesiastical sciences from the days when this library was formed. The office of the Archbishop, contained with the library, retain documentation about the archdiocese of Seville, the oldest documents dating to the 14th century. The palace also has an important artistic heritage consisting of paintings and sculptures from the Seville Baroque period, spread through the palace, surpassed only in Seville by the Museum of Fine Arts and
Seville Cathedral The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See ( es, Catedral de Santa María de la Sede), better known as Seville Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along ...
, becoming the third gallery of the city. The palace contains works by painters such as Francisco Herrera el Viejo,
Francisco Pacheco Francisco Pacheco del Río (bap. 3 November 1564 – 27 November 1644) was a Spanish painter, best known as the teacher and father-in-law of Diego Velázquez and Alonzo Cano, and for his textbook on painting, entitled ''Art of Painting'', ...
, Zurbarán, Murillo,
Antonio Palomino Acislo Antonio Palomino de Castro y Velasco (165513 April 1726) was a Spanish painter of the Baroque period, and a writer on art, author of ''El Museo pictórico y escala óptica'', which contains a large amount of important biographical mate ...
, and Juan de Espinal. There are also collections from the Italian and Dutch baroque schools.


See also

*
List of Baroque residences This is a list of Baroque architecture, Baroque palaces and Residenz, residences built in the late 17th and 18th centuries. Baroque architecture is a building style of the Baroque, Baroque era, begun in late 16th-century Italy and spread in Europe ...


References


Bibliography

* FALCÓN MÁRQUEZ, Teodoro (1993). ''El Palacio Arzobispal de Sevilla''. Sevilla. Editorial: Caja San Fernando. * FALCÓN MÁRQUEZ, Teodoro (1997). ''El Palacio Arzobispal de Sevilla''. Córdoba. Editorial: Publicaciones Obra Social y Cultural CajaSur. {{Authority control Episcopal palaces of the Catholic Church Palaces in Seville 1251 establishments in Europe 13th-century establishments in Castile Buildings and structures completed in the 18th century