15.5. - THE THREE OLDEST IMAGES IN SEVILLE: TREASURES OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY

The city of Seville is known for its rich religious history and devotion to the Virgin Mary. While the most famous and venerated images are the Immaculates by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo and processional sculptures like the Esperanza Macarena and Esperanza de Triana, Seville also harbors lesser-known but impressively ancient treasures.

Nuestra Señora de la Antigua:
Nestled in the Seville Cathedral is an ancient mural painting: Nuestra Señora de la Antigua. According to tradition, this work dates back to the Visigothic period, making it the oldest representation of the Virgin Mary in Spain. During Muslim rule, Christianity in Seville persisted, and this community maintained their faith in six parishes, including the one housing the Virgin of the Antigua. When the Great Mosque was constructed on that site, Christians walled up the mural Virgin to protect it. After the Reconquista, the painting was discovered and moved to its current location in the Chapel of the Virgin of the Antigua. During the Middle Ages, this image inspired deep devotion, and Spanish sailors and soldiers would bid farewell to her before embarking on journeys to the Americas.

Nuestra Señora del Coral:
The Virgin of the Coral is another ancient Visigothic image that received devotion in the parish of San Bartolomé during the Muslim era and is now housed in the church of San Ildefonso. According to tradition, this image was painted by a monk named Eustaquio in the 7th century. This tradition might hold true, as in the same temple, there is a plaque dated to the year 612. The Virgin of the Coral, with her indescribable beauty, is visited daily by the people of Seville.

La Virgen de la Hiniesta:
In the 7th century, Bishop San Leandro of Seville, brother of San Isidoro, received several images of the Virgin as gifts from Pope Gregory the Great in Rome. One of these images, known as the Virgen de la Hiniesta, was venerated in the Cathedral of San Vicente. However, in the year 711, when the Arabs invaded the region, many religious images were removed from Seville to preserve them. The Virgen de la Hiniesta was taken to Valencia and then hidden in a cave near Cullera. Centuries later, a knight named Mosén Tous de Monsalve discovered the cave and the image, which had a scroll that read, "I am from Seville, from a temple located next to the Puerta de Córdoba." The image was returned to Seville and deposited in the parish of San Julián in 1380. Unfortunately, the original image was lost in a fire in 1931, but a copy made by the sculptor Antonio Castillo Lastrucci is venerated in its place. The Virgen de la Hiniesta is known as "The Gothic Virgin" to distinguish her from the Baroque Dolorosa also sculpted by the same author. The name "Hiniesta" comes from the Valencian word "giniesta," meaning broom, as the image was found near a broom that concealed the cave.

These three images represent treasures of Seville's religious history and bear witness to its continuous devotion over the centuries. The devotion and veneration of these images reveal the deep faith that has permeated this city for millennia.