Church of San Miguel (Murcia)
The San Miguel’s Church From Murcia (Region of Murcia, Spain), it is one of the traditional parishes of the Historic Center of the city. The current property, built between 1691 and 1712, is one of the best samples of the Murcian Baroque, especially its interior by possessing a rich heritage in altarpieces and sculptures.
The Church, of medieval origin, was placed in what was formerly called Old Arrixaca , that is, in the northern area of the suburb of Islamic origin of the city, where formerly Almunias and Recreation Houses with gardens and orchards for the Solaz of the wealthy classes of the old Muslim city were placed. Barrio that after the final conquest of the city in 1266, was granted to the Mudejar population by Alfonso X of Castile.
However, after a few years, and as a consequence of the depopulation of this area of the Morería, Christian settlers began to settle. That is why the first news about the existence of the church of San Miguel is in a document of 1272, where Alfonso X quotes a cleric of San Miguel to celebrate Mass in the Chapel of the Alcázar Mayor.
This church frequently received the name of San Miguel de la Villanueva , in clear allusion to the repopulation system that was established in this area of the Murcian suburb.
The primitive Church was in very poor condition at the beginning of the 17th century, so in 1625 its demolition and construction of a new one was demolished. Unfortunately, the San Calixto flood From 1651 it affected this area of the city, collapsing the works that were already about to end.
After the unfortunate setback, construction began again in 1691. In 1703 he worked in the main chapel; The last thing to build, the masonry teacher Pedro Ruiz. It was in 1712 when the property that we can contemplate was finally consecrated and arranged for the cult.
The Tower of the Church of San Miguel collapsed in 1864 due to the water leaks of the adjoining acequia greater aljuía causing damage to the cruise and presbytery. While the repair works lasted, the cult of the nearby church of the College of San Esteban was transferred. The new tower was finished in 1879.
Since 1949 he hosted with the brotherhood of the Blessed Christ of Mercy, which parades on the afternoon of Good Friday. However, the small dimensions of the door causes the procession to leave the nearby San Esteban.
The main altarpiece [ To edit ]
The most representative element of the Church of San Miguel is the main altarpiece, which was commissioned in 1731 to Jacinto Perales and Francisco Salzillo . The latter sculpted the images of the archangels, the virtues and the tenant angels. It appears the characters of the new altarpiece model with predominance of the architectural, the greatest importance of the central niche and the tabernacle that is advanced on the lateral bodies, in addition to the color notes provided by the imagery against the absolute predominance of the gold.
The main altarpiece of San Miguel is one of the best examples of baroque altarpiece not only of the city but of the entire region of Murcia.
Sculptural Heritage [ To edit ]
Within the important Baroque heritage available to the San Miguel temple, the numerous examples of religious imagery stand out. The image of the church holder, San Miguel , is the work of Nicolás Salzillo (father of the previous one), of 1708, one of the few dated works of the author together with the San Judas Tadeo (prior to 1718) of which the temple also has. It is also created work by said Italian artist – active in Murcia since 1695 – San José and El Niño , made in collaboration with his son Francisco.
San Miguel has one of Francisco Salzillo’s most important youth works, where the kindness and pleasant atmosphere are achieved with which the Salzillesca work has been described so many times, it is about the sacred Family , group of small images of which only heads, hands and feet are carved. The rest is in glued canvas.
In the Immaculate That the church has, Salzillo defines the type created by him, inspired by the Andalusian paintings, with a slightly returned face, hands collected in the chest and fabrics arranged to enhance the monumentality of the figure.
The old one also highlights the ancient Painful steps , from the mid -eighteenth century that responds to the painful model created by him. This image parades since 1963 with the brotherhood of health under the invocation of the Virgin of the first pain On the day of Holy Tuesday. The Virgin presides over the altarpiece of the epistle, the work of Nicolás de Rueda, from the 18th century. The same author is the altarpiece of the Virgen del Rosario, with two pictorial tables attributed to Juan Ruiz Melgarejo, between 1737 and 1738.
From the best disciple of Salzillo, Roque López, San Miguel has the Nazareno del collection (of 1797), which parades with the brotherhood of mercy since 2012.
Being San Miguel headquarters of the Brotherhood of Mercy, you can also contemplate its crucified headline, the work of Jesuit Domingo Beltrán, a magnificent Renaissance work dated in the 16th century, from the nearby school of San Esteban.
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Interior of the Parish of San Miguel.
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Sagrada Family of Salzillo
Bibliography [ To edit ]
- Estrella Sevilla, Emilio (2007). Two centuries in the shadow of a tower . Murcia: Contrast Producciones, S.L. ISBN 978-84-612-0451-9 .
- The Council of Culture, Education and Tourism (1988). Murcia. Artistic Guide . Murcia: I. G. Jiménez Godoy. ISBN 84-7564-068-0 .
external links [ To edit ]
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