The Virgin exhibition

[Rosina Lila]

Hi,
The virgin exhibition was, and will remain until November, at the Cathedral of Seville.  It is simply magnificent; i´ve never seen anything like it.
To begin with, Seville is the most¨"Marian" (devoted to Mary) place that I know.  such devotion, in fact, decided the Spanish Civil War when the Republicans, angry at the Church High authorities for supporting Franco, or seeming to do so, began burning churches and their images in and around Seville. The city then turned its support and fighting abilities against the Republicans and actively supported Franco, even although the city has traditionally been, and remains, fairly socialist.  In fact, Seville was the only province that voted against Arnaz nine years ago.
Some of the Seville images of the virgin are famous worldwide, most notably the hauntingly beautiful Macarena.
Significantly, of all the famous images of the Virgin in Seville (there are hundreds, many of them going back to the fifteenth century) the Macarena is the only one that was carved by a woman sculptress, in the middle of the sixteenth century.
Most of the images are carved of wood, which is why so many were burned so easily in 1936.  The Macarena was saved by a group of people who arranged for a religious funeral at her church with the coffin carried in containing a copy of the image.  During the service the images were exchanged and the original was hidden until after the Civil War. In the beautiful museum at the Basilica of the Macarena they even have a solid gold copy of the hearse used to take the image away.  At the museum there is, as well, the last "suit of lights" of the famous bullfighter Manolete, as well as those of many others.
In South america there is a mountain range named after her as well as manu churches and towns..
The exhibition at the Cathedral contains not only images carved throughout the centuries, but also paintings by El Greco, Murillo, Velazquez, etc.  There is a painting that simple cannot leave my mind of Mary sort of middle aged, and with the most expressive sweet sorrow that I have ever seen in a painting.
The catalogue of the exhibition is huge and heavy. I´ve already sent mine to New York.  When I get home I can provide the ISBN number, etc.
Big hug!
Rosina
ps. there are also some modern paintings in the exhibition that take your breath away.  Who ever said that devotion is dead?