Altarpieces

The altarpiece that presides over the presbytery of the church of Santa María Magdalena, formerly the Dominican Convent of San Pablo el Real, can be considered the most grandiose altarpiece undertaken in Seville during the first third of the 18th century. With more than 160 square metres, it must be considered the second largest altarpiece in the city of La Giralda, after the massive main altarpiece of the Cathedral. Regrettably, there is an almost complete lack of documented sources that inform us about its construction process. If we bear in mind that the work on the temple was practically completedby 1709 and that its consecration took place on 22 October 1724, it is reasonable to suppose that the beginning and first stages of its construction, in terms of its assembly and carving, could be dated between these two dates. The gilding and polychromy were probably undertaken two or three decades later. Pedro Duque Cornejo may have been involved in the design of the altarpiece and the execution of some of its sculptures, and several hands are evident in the figurative programme, which is an exaltation of the Order of Preachers through its most representative saints, although the central area of the attic is reserved for the high relief of the Conversion of Saint Paul. The effigy of Saint Mary Magdalene sculpted by Felipe Malo de Molina in 1707 has occupied the main niche of the altarpiece since the mid-19th century, while the old manifesto in the second section houses a valuable anonymous sculpture of Saint Paul from the early 17th century.

Several Baroque altarpieces, framed by Solomonic columns and built in the early years of the 18th century, furnish the interior of the sacred precinct. The most important is the one that Cristóbal de Guadix contracted in 1707 with the Venerable Third Order of Saint Dominic to preside over their chapel, at the head of the Epistle nave, where the images of the Brotherhood of El Calvario are now located. Perhaps the same assembler was involved in some of the small altarpieces of modest dimensions scattered around the transept, such as those currently occupied by the sculptures of the Nazarene of the Fatigues and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Virgin of Protection - formerly the Crucified Christ of Confalón - also has characteristics similar to those of Guadix but is slenderer and more elegant in its proportions and with a smaller and more accomplished type of carving than is usual in its ornamental repertoire.

The type of stipes altarpiece, so widespread in Sevillian assemblies from the second decade of the 18th century onwards, is represented in the altars of Saint Rita of Cascia and of the Assumption. Finally, and now responding to a clearly neoclassical style of 19th-century chronology, we can mention the current altarpiece of the Virgin of the Rosary and the altarpiece of the sacramental chapel, the latter of which was designed by Miguel Albín in 1817.