Altars and chapels of Ferdinand church of Saint Marina, Cordoba (Spain)

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        From the evangelis nave, deeply transformed in the XVIII Century, to which was restored its original shape, we can stand out a little altar dedicated to Saint Joseph and it has a little niche with Saint Joseph as well as an altar dedided to him. There is also a painting, Saint Agnes painting, by Cristóbal Vela Cobo, and an Adoration of the Three Wise Men painting by Peter Paul Rubens. But of special interest is the Tabernacle Chapel through which you can enter by a roman arch. It is a squared plan covered by a vault with groins, decorated by images of the four evangelists. In the middle there is an altarpiece with the tabernacle, in which there is a painting of the Holy Dinner. There are two paintings by Alonso Enríquez de Navarra representing Saint Agnes and Saint John on one side and Saint John Baptist and Saint Barbara on the other.
        The apse of the gospel is occupied by the Benavides Chapel, ordered to be built by the Captain Alonso de Benavides, who was born in this section of Saint Marina. The altarpiece was made in golden wood by Sebastián Vidal, who gave it a remarkable character Classicist. Divided into three sections, on either side are two paintings by Antonio del Castillo, representing Saint Francis and Saint John. In the central niche there is the Image of Christ, which belongs to the Risen Lord Brotherhood, by Juan Manuel Miñarro. On the right there is the Virgin of the Joy, by Juan Martínez Cerrillo. On the other side there is an angel that accompanies the Christ during the Holy Week parade.
        In the Main Altar you can find the Virgin of the Rosary, anonymous work made in the first part of the XVII Century, which represents the young Virgin, holding the Child Jesus with her left arm and a rosary with the right arm. On both sides you can find the paintings of Saint Gabriel and Saint Raphael by Cristóbal Vela Cobo. It is thought that both works, almost identical, at first they represented the Saint Michael Archangel, which were "retouched" after.
        In the apse of the epistle, that maintains almost all its medieval aspect, there is a little altar decorated with solomon columns in which niche there is an image of Saint Marina, done by Blanca de Alvear in 1968. One sculpture, despite being of present time, it integrates seamlessly into the environment due to its archaic and hieratic character in general. Another painting is that of Immaculate of the beginning of the XVIII Century, in a bad state of conservation.
        Next to the epistle side there are two altarpieces, next to the entrance door. The first one is the Saint John Baptist Altar, done with polychromated wood and it is a anonymous work of the XVII Century. In the middle there is a wonderful painting of Saint John Baptist, flanked by other paintings of Saint Joseph, Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Francis and Saint Blaise made by José Salo Junquet, copying the original ones, scattered throughout various collections. Top of the altarpiece, an Immaculate attributed to Antonio del Castillo in 1645.
        The second altar is known as the Our Lady of Light Altar, which gets its name from the central image of the work of Alonso Gómez de Sandoval in the middle of the eighteenth century. On it, a painting on copper of Saint Sebastian, which represents the time of his martyrdom.
        Finally we describe the Orozco Chapel, from which we still do not know who was its founder. It has a squared plan. The entrance is very interesting with a pointed arch framed with alfiz and decorated with gypsum mouldings and a Calatrava Cross, order to which, presumably, belonged its sponsor. We can be seen above the use of mocarabe.
        The interior of the chapel is a rectangular space covered by a vault. The vault is ended with a painted flower. There are many elements that were processed in the restoration not many years ago. There is an Inmaculate painted by Antonio del Castillo in the XVII Century, one of the most outstanding painters who worked in Córdoba of the seventeenth century, and fortunately, this church houses several of his works.

Text: J.A.S.C.

Traslated by Sara Moretti