Sculptures
The walls of the church of Santa María Magdalena are home to a collection of sculptures that constitute a priceless treasure of art and spirituality, as these sacred images, sculpted in polychrome wood between the 16th and 20th centuries, between the Renaissance and Neo-Baroque periods, represent some of the most beloved devotions of this parish. A place of honour must undoubtedly go to the effigy of Our Lady of Protection, the supreme work of the Flemish-born sculptor Roque de Balduque, who carved it around 1555, giving it a majestic appearance and maternal tenderness, condensed in its emblem of the winged heart that serves as a silver sceptre.
The Virgin of the Fevers is also of singular artistic value and is rightly attributed to the Salamanca-born sculptor Juan Bautista Vázquez "the Elder" around 1565, being one of the most outstanding Renaissance Madonnas in Seville. A disciple of the former was the Avila-born Jerónimo Hernández, who left us here two Mannerist pieces of outstanding quality, such as the Infant Jesus, dated around 1580, and the Resurrected Christ, contracted in 1582, belonging to the old brotherhood of the Dulce Nombre de Jesús, merged with the penitential brotherhood of the Quinta Angustia. Also from Castile was the sculptor Gaspar del Águila, the author in 1587 of the Nazarene of the Fatigues, who embraces and carries a precious tortoiseshell and silver cross on his left shoulder. Three Crucifixions from the 16th century should be added to this list: that of Confalon, related to the French sculptor Nicolas de Leon, and dated around 1536; that of the Forgiveness, from the middle of that century, and that of the Poor, from the last third of the 16th century.
The magnificent figure of Saint Paul that now stands in the second section of the main altarpiece is of high artistic quality, and its execution dates back to the early years of the 16th century. The elegant, spiritualised classicism displayed by Juan Martínez Montañés is evident in the sculptural group of Saint Joseph with the Infant Jesus in his hand, which can be dated to around the second or third decade of the 17th century. The relief of the Assumption dates from 1619 and was carved by the Cordovan Juan de Mesa, one of the most qualified representatives of sculptural naturalism, as was Francisco de Ocampo from Jaén, author in 1611-1612 of the impressive Crucifixion of Calvary, which is carried in procession every Good Friday morning. In the Mesina stele is the Saint Rita of Cascia, whose candlestick image comes from the extinct convent of El Pópulo. The sculpture of Saint Anthony of Padua can be dated to the second quarter of the 17th century, remaining anonymous.
The full Baroque style that characterised Pedro Roldán's sculptural production during the second half of the 17th century can be seen in an extensive catalogue of works, truly singular in their artistic significance, beginning with the venerated effigy of Our Lady of the Ancient and Seven Sorrows, and continuing with the processional mystery of the Descent of Our Lord Jesus Christ - with the exception of its titular Sorrowful Virgin , a contemporary image by Vicente Rodríguez-Caso, the archangels Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel of the Brotherhood of El Rosario, which can be seen in the altarpiece of the sacramental chapel, the carvings of the Virgin and Child and Saint Dominic de Guzmán in the lower choir, as well as the pendentives of the dome and the group of Evangelists and Fathers of the Latin Church that stand at the top of the side walls of the presbytery and the arms of the transept. Also of notable interest are the Mexican Immaculate Conception of the manifesto of the main altarpiece - donated in 1669 to the Sacramental Brotherhood by Captain Miguel Beltrán de Benavides -, the sculptures of Saint Monica and Saint Rose of Lima, and the group of Santa Ana, teacher with Saint Joachim, which share the same Baroque affiliation, typical of the final decades of the 17th century.
In the 18th century, the sculptor Felipe Malo de Molina executed the parish's patron saint, Saint Mary Magdalene, in 1707. Benito de Hita y Castillo is credited, with solid stylistic arguments, with the creation, in the mid-18th century, of the monumental Immaculate Conception that presides over the main niche of the neoclassical altar of the sacramental chapel. In 1787, the formidable sculptor Cristóbal Ramos modelled the beautiful Virgin of the Rosary which is worshipped at the foot of the Gospel nave.
The most important of the sculptors who worked in Seville during the first half of the 19th century, Juan de Astorga, was responsible for the images of the delicate Virgin of the Presentation and the Saint John the Evangelist of the brotherhood of the El Calvario. As a final coda to this rich sculptural repertoire that can be admired inside the church of Santa María Magdalena, we note the relief of the Virgin of the Good Counsel carved by the neo-Baroque sculptor Sebastián Santos Rojas in 1950.