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Late Gothic Mural Paintings in the Monastery of San Isidoro Del Campo, Seville

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Late Gothic Mural Paintings in the Monastery of San Isidoro Del Campo, Seville Late Gothic Mural Paintings 531 Chapter 16 Late Gothic Mural Paintings in the Monastery of San Isidoro del Campo, Seville Pedro José Respaldiza I Introduction I.1 Sevillian Mural Painting in the 15th Century During the first half of the 15th century, Sevillian mural painting received clear influences from International Style, superimposed over a stylistic basis inspired by Italian Trecento. These Christian designs and Gothic iconographies were also enriched with motifs drawn from Islamic mural painting, a typical phe- nomenon of Mudejar art. In the second half of the century, a clear drive towards Gothic naturalism, which was ultimately to culminate in the last third of the century with the incorporation of new formal and stylistic forms, can be detected. New repertoires emerged, and the schematic motifs of Muslim tradi- tion were substituted with imitations of Mudejar motifs, which show a marked interest in naturalistic detail. Figurative compositions showed a process paral- lel to that experienced by the Gothicist branch of the Florentine school, with which there were strong connections from the beginning of the century: a stronger interest in the narrative and the landscape, originally inspired by the Siena school, can be detected, with the representation of open scenes and advances into the Italian Quattrocento and Northern European styles, brought with the arrival of engraved plates or imported works. This process can also be identified in Sevillian miniatures, and by the second half of the 15th century we can talk about a stylistically differentiated Sevillian school. The mural paint- ings in the monastery of San Isidoro del Campo, which provide the focus of this paper, are a paradigmatic example of this process. I.2 The Monastery of San Isidoro del Campo The monastery of San Isidoro del Campo is located close to Santiponce, which stands over Roman Italica. Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, “el Bueno”, and his wife María Alonso Coronel built the Monastery on terrain purchased from Queen María de Molina after Fernando IV granted them the privilege to found the house in 1298. It was given to Cistercian monks from San Pedro de Gumiel de Izán (Burgos) in 1301, and was initially an austere fortified Monastery. The © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2018 | doi 10.1163/9789004363847_018 532 Respaldiza church hosted the family pantheon of the Guzmán. Enrique de Guzmán, se cond count of Niebla, promoted the substitution of the Cistercians with the Hieronymites of Lope de Olmedo, reformer of the order who died in San Alexo of the Aventino, in Rome, which was annexed to his order along with others in Italy. The Hieronymites took possession of San Isidoro del Campo in 1431, soon after this undertook extensive reforms which deeply affected the external appearance of the building. The white and austere Cistercian Monastery was transformed into a rich, polychrome Hieronymite house.1 The mural paintings at the monastery of San Isidoro del Campo are an ample collection with a wide chronological span, despite the numerous vicis- situdes suffered by the monument and the significant losses incurred. Our analysis will focus on those dating to the 15th century, although those carried out in the 16th and 17th centuries are also of great interest. The medieval areas of the Monastery are built around the Claustro de los Muertos, including the guest house, refectory and chapter hall. It is in this area that the most signifi- cant of the 15th century mural decorations have been preserved. II Patio de la Hospedería The guest house court is immediately below the church, and the location and motifs used clearly indicate its significance. The “quarto” referred to by Barrante in his mention of Enrique de Guzmán, second Count of Niebla— “hizo un quarto en la casa donde aun hoy se peresce en aquella obra su devisa que 1 Pedro de Medina, Crónica de los duques de Medina Sidonia (Sanlúcar de Barrameda, 1540), II, p. 123; Pedro Barrante, Ilustraciones de la Casa de Niebla (Madrid: Imprenta Nacional, 1857), p. 222; Fr. Fernando de Zevallos, La Italica (Seville: Imp. y Lit. de José Mª Ariza, 1886), pp. 143- 149, 174-193, 238, 239; Antonio Ponz, Viaje de España, 18 vols. (Madrid: Ibarra, 1778), VIII, pp. 47, 737, 738; Justino Matute, Bosquejo de Itálica (Seville: Imprenta de D. Mariano Caro, 1827); Aurelio Gali, Historia de Italica municipio y colonia romana. San Isidoro del Campo sepulcro de Guzmán el Bueno. Santiponce, Sevilla (Seville: Enrique Bergali, 1892), pp. 193-216; José Gestoso, Sevilla Monumental y Artística, 3 vols. (Seville: [s. n.] 1889-1892), III, pp. 544-599; Pedro José Respaldiza, ‘La fundación de Fray Lope de Olmedo en San Isidoro del Campo. Su problemática y realizaciones: las pinturas murales’, in Actas I Congreso de Historia de Andalucía, II (Córdoba: Publicaciones de la Caja de Ahorros de Córdoba, 1979), pp. 249-260; Pedro José Respaldiza, ‘El monasteriode San Isidoro del Campo’, in San Isidoro del Campo (1301-202). Fortaleza de la Espiritualidad y Santuario del Poder, ed. by P.J. Respaldiza Lama (Sevilla: Junta de Andalucía, 2002), pp. 13-39; Pedro José Respaldiza, ‘La conformación del monasterio de San Isidoro del Campo’, in Actas Simposio San Isidoro del Campo 1301-2002, ed. by Pedro José Respaldiza, (Seville: Junta de Andalucía, 2004), pp. 169-188; Pedro José Respaldiza; Juan Luis Ravé, Monasterio de San Isidoro del Campo. Guía (Seville: Junta de Andalucía, 2002)..
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