La exposición ‘Arte y misericordia. La Santa Caridad de Sevilla’ abre en Bellas Artes

The exhibition ‘Art and Mercy. The Holy Charity of Seville’ will open its doors on July 1 at the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville. The show will offer a unique opportunity to closely contemplate masterpieces by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Juan de Valdés Leal, and Pedro Roldán that are usually located at great heights or are part of altarpieces in the church of Lord San Jorge of the Brotherhood of the Holy Charity.

The exhibition is the result of collaboration between the Ministry of Culture and Sports and the charitable corporation, whose facilities – the church and the hospital – are currently undergoing rehabilitation works, which is why a selection of outstanding pieces from their magnificent art collection are being exhibited in the Sevillian art gallery.

The Minister of Culture and Sports, Patricia del Pozo, has highlighted that visitors will be able to see in this exhibition «a selection of the most outstanding works of the church of Lord San Jorge and the Hospital of Charity«, in what will be a «unique opportunity to deeply appreciate one of the peaks of Baroque, allowing direct access to works by Murillo, Valdés Leal, Pedro Roldán, and Duque Cornejo.»

The exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts will occupy the entire temporary exhibition hall, divided into three different areas: the first dedicated to Valdés Leal, the second to Murillo, and the third focused on the different sculptures made for the church of this institution, which has its origins in the 15th century and is dedicated to caring for the most disadvantaged.

Among the works presented in ‘Art and Mercy. The Holy Charity of Seville’, the two paintings by Valdés Leal that most citizens associate with the institution that Miguel de Mañara, who was its elder brother in the 17th century, gave impetus to stand out: ‘Finis Gloriae Mundi’ and ‘In Ictu Oculi’, better known as the ‘Last Things’. To these is added a portrait of Mañara painted by this Sevillian artist.

The ‘Last Things’ are part of the iconographic design conceived by the former elder brother of the Charity for the church, for which he also required the services of Murillo. This artist’s works that can be seen at the Fine Arts show include seven pieces: ‘The Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes’, ‘Moses Striking the Rock at Horeb’, ‘Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Healing the Lepers’, ‘Saint John of God Transporting a Sick Man’, ‘The Incarnation’, ‘Child Jesus’, and ‘Child Saint John the Baptist’.

In addition to these paintings, sculptures will be exhibited in the Sevillian museum such as the Virgin of Charity, an anonymous polychrome carving by Valdés Leal, the two lamp-bearing angels by Pedro Duque Cornejo, the ‘Ecce Homo’ by the brothers Francisco and Miguel García, and three works by Pedro Roldán, the Christ of Charity, Saint George, and Saint Roch.

Mañara’s Iconographic Program

This hospital in the Arenal area, headquarters of the Brotherhood of the Holy Charity of Our Lord Jesus Christ of Seville, dates back to the 15th century and was created with the purpose of assisting the sick and needy, as well as providing Christian burial to the executed and drowned in the Guadalquivir River. The construction of the church of San Jorge was carried out in several stages, with a first one between 1645 and 1662, during which the foundations were laid and the first walls were raised.

However, it was not until 1667, thanks to the perseverance of Miguel de Mañara, that the body of the church was completed. A year later, the head of the temple would be built, along with the sacristy, culminating in the final stages in 1721. The facade of the current church is the result of several modifications to the original one, and was definitively shaped in the 18th century, with the characteristic tile panels by ceramist José García and the clay sculptures attributed to Pedro Duque Cornejo.

The exhibition aims to explore the iconographic program that Miguel de Mañara conceived for the temple of the Holy Charity Hospital, where the integration of architecture, sculpture, and painting offers a significant example of the Baroque’s approach to total artwork, with a paradigmatic use of public dramatization of religiosity that was imposed in the Church after the Council of Trent.