Museo de las Bellas Artes - the exhibits

Museo de las Bellas Artes, Seville.

This is a selection of the paintings in the permanent collection of this museum which is considered one of the finest of Spain. There will also be four posts on individual artists.

Most of the art in the museum's collection is religious. We found it a bit too much. But there is an explanation for this. 

The conquest of Seville by Ferdinand III the Saint in 1248 gave rise to the gradual transformation of the Muslim city. While Islamic architectural features and artistic techniques continued to exist, the new local culture began to incorporate Christian art. This took the form of mainly religious figurative representations on paintings and sculptures, although it also extended to wall paintings and illuminated manuscripts.

The arrival of artists from the north sowed the seeds for a local school of painting that grew ever stronger as the 15th century progressed, with both Flemish and Italian aesthetics permeating the art of the Iberian Peninsula. The presence in Seville of the Castilian monarchs' court fostered the city's cultural and artistic development. Some of the most important texts of the reign of Alfonso X were composed in Seville. This of course, also explains the large number of churches in the city.

Pedro Nunez de Villavicencio, El Vendedor de Bebidas, 1694

Francisco Polanco,  Santiago el Menor, 1640

Francisco Polanco, Santiago el Mayor, 1640

Mattia Preti, Cristo Resucitado en el Genaculo, 1675

Jan Brueghel, the Younger, El Paraiso Terrenal, 1620

Jan Brueghel the Elder made around 100 paintings of paradise-like landscapes, some with and others without a religious theme. Brueghel the Younger also made a series of paintings on this theme, sometimes borrowing elements from his father.

The museum has two paintings by the Younger on this theme.

Jan Brueghel the Younger, El Paraiso Terrenal, 1620

looking closer

Bartolome Bermejo, San Juan Bautista, 1490

Francisco Pacheco,  San Pedro Nolasco embarca para redimir cautivos, 1605

Francisco Pacheco, Retrato de dama y caballero orantes, 1623

Francisco Pacheco, Retrato de dama y caballero orantes, 1623

Alonso Cano, Las Animas del Purgatorio, 1626

Juan de Valdes Leal, Finis Gloriae Mundi, 1671-72, (oil on canvas)

A weak light offers a glimpse of the interior of a funerary crypt where mortal remains repose in the death chamber. In the foreground, the raw sight of two decomposing corpses - a bishop and a knight reveal the fragility of life and implacable effects of death.

In the Field above, Christ's wounded hand weighs good deeds and vices practised in life. The vices are symbolised in the left saucer of the balance by different animals, while on the right the good deeds are represented by instruments of penitence and fasting, prayer books and a rosary, crowned by the love of Christ: a heart with the anagram JHS. The inscriptions NI MAS (No More) and NI MENOS (No Less) are a solemn warning that virtue and love must prevail over vices in a person's life.

Juan de Valdes Leal, In the Blink of an Eye, 1671-72, (oil on canvas)

This work is a reminder that death comes inevitably to everyone, in the blink of an eye, stripping away the riches and ephemeral pleasures accumulated in this world. The reflection is an invitation to prepare one's soul for eternal life. 

Death is depicted as a skeleton whose piercing gaze interrogates the viewer. Poised to fullfil his mission, the skeleton holds a coffin, shroud and scythe. In a theatrical gesture he extinguishes the flame of life while standing on a globe, an illusion to his victory over earthly life. At this feet, like a vanitas, a collection of valuable objects symbolises the fleeting nature of life and the irrelevance of worldly triumphs - power (whether earthly or spiritual), wealth, wisdom and accolades - in the face of eternity.

Museo de Belles Artes de Sevilla

Museo de Belles Artes de Sevilla

The museum is situated in the Placa del Museo. The building was originally built vin 1594 to house the convent of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy. The provincial museum of Seville was established in 1835. Extensive modelling in the early 17th century followed.

It's gorgeous building - it contains 14 galleries, three cloisters, and a patio or courtyard.

The entrance hall where we bought our tickets is full of religious imagery

which leads to the first cloister

and the gorgeous courtyard

just gorgeous

mosaic images of saints everywhere

 and tiny mosaic tiles in between the brickwork.

We then walked along the second cloister

which provided quite a different view of the courtyard

the third cloister was relatively busy

lovely tilework all around the walls.

We went inside and took the stairs to the first floor

admired the painted ceiling and started looking at the exhibits.

Just before leaving, we could not resist visiting the courtyard again.

Drinking and eating in Poros

There are some lovely bars and tavernas in Poros, and we had some good meals, as well as extensive views of the sea and the boats while doing so. It was great.

We stopped here for a drink on our first day. I had fresh melon juice which was absolutely delicious.

We sat outside in the blessed shade, with views of the sea

but the inside was nice too.

On our last day we checked out of our hotel at 11:00 and walked around town for a bit. But it was too hot for too much walking, so we sat here and had a cooling soft drink while waiting for the time for our ferry to depart.

Our view was the sea and this square where the cafe is situated.

Last time we were in Poros (10 years ago) we had breakfast in this place in the square. So we did the same on our first day, as we really liked sitting here. It was the worst breakfast I have ever had.

Such a shame as we loved sitting here

So, the next day we went next door, Serenita, 

where the breakfast was delicious: green tea and Greek yogurt with fresh fruit, homemade granola and Greek honey for me.  So, this is what we did for the rest of our stay.

Same square, same view, so we were pleased.

Serenita is a restaurant and we did want to come and eat here one evening, but did not manage it.

For lunch we went to the taverna by the beach. We did this twice.

The food was good, and it was very quiet. But, we do go swimming early and go for lunch early. I am sure that by 3:00 it would have been much busier. 

I like what they've done with driftwood.

We also had lunch at Geia Mas. It's right by where the ferries come in and it's always packed. For some unfathomable reason I did not take any photographs, which is a shame, because I liked the place and the food was excellent. They do the best fava with caramelised onions, as well as lots of other delicious dishes. We had lunch there twice.

Back to this square for our pre-dinner drinks, but this time we would sit by the sea, at one of the tables at the front in this picture

close to the boats that are moored here

watching people as they were working on the boats, or just relaxing.

A lot of people would walk by so it was great for people watching.

The people who had hired this boat are very anti-social, they discarded the two mattresses and pillow, right on the narrow walkway - just rubbish thrown out in the middle of a very neat and tidy quay

and as they came back from town, they would leave their shoes by the boat. Everyone else left their shoes on the boat, so as not inconvenience passers by, but these people were so selfish and anti-social. It really made me very angry.

This little boy was fishing for hours. At one point he caught a fish. His father, who was sitting behind us, immediately got up, took the fish off the hook and threw it in the water. The boy was so upset but made an effort to hide his tears. I thought what the father did was cruel. He might have been right about throwing the fish back in the water, but he should have explained all of this to the boy before they came out. Throwing the fish in the water like that was very cruel and unnecessary.

And then the sun would set and slowly, it would start getting darker, and the waiters in Serenita next door would set the tables

and more people would start arriving

And it would be time for us to get up, go for a walk and then choose a taverna for our evening meal.

Apagio was by far the best place. The food is traditional Greek but with a nouvelle cuisine twist.

I had beetroot with skordalia (garlic dip) and pear puree

and a savoury cheesecake made with a base of local rusk bread, the cream of a variety of Greek cheeses and tomato jam on top.  Both were delicious.

It was packed. My sister was in Poros a month before us and they went to Apagio as well, as it was recommended by a friend of hers who lives there most of the year.

Taverna Platanos was indifferent in every sense of the word

but busy.

We went to Oasis one evening. It's a huge place, and it's always heaving. We wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

And yeah, it's a good place. Good food, efficient service.

We also went to Nautis, the Sailor, for old times' sake, as we used to go there a lot during our last visit to the island. Again, good food, good service.

They did this thing, where every half hour, the music would get really loud, playing rebetika, and three members of staff would do a traditional dance for 10 minutes.

On our last evening we managed to get to the ice-cream place that always had queues outside before it closed at 11:00. And, yes, the ice-cream is delicious and I understand why people queue for it.

We sat on a bench, looked at the boats and the Peloponnese across the water, and ate our ice cream.