Wunder, Amanda. Baroque Seville: Sacred Art in a Century of Crisis. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2017. Pp. xviii + 209 + 95 illustrations. $84.95, cloth

Abstract

The baroque period in Seville was a fertile field for the fine arts. Thanks to the royal decree awarding the city the monopoly of trade with the new world, Seville experienced the increasing importance that commerce and management of all the issues related to the colonies brought, and it became the biggest and most important city in Spain. These conditions motivated noble citizens and the Seville Cathedral chapter to commission artistic works for processions and masses to protect the city by strengthening the faith of its inhabitants. Artists like Juan de Mesa (1583-1627), Juan Martínez Montañes (1568-1649), Bartolomé Estéban Murillo (1617-1682), Juan de Valdés Leal (1622-1690), and Pedro Roldán (1624-1699), among many others, were the beneficiaries and developed their work in the city. The book by Amanda Wunder explores what she calls these medios divinos (divine methods), which at this time were widespread in the city, in the words of the author "as an authoritarian effort to preserve a conservative regime and divert the masses from their real problems". In contrast to medios humanos (human methods) for which the rulers of the city showed no great interest, these sacred artworks received enormous amounts of money to promote unity and civic identity around the creed. ...