Three times a
year he is shown to the soldiers of Spain, who march past with sounding
bugles and lowered banners.

The chapel was planned and built by Martin Ganza during the reign of
Charles V. Shortly after the defeat of the Moors, an earlier royal one
was built upon the same site and added to the old mosque. When the great
new Cathedral was planned, the Chapter begged permission to remove
temporarily the bodies of the royal personages interred in the
chapel,--the holy King Ferdinand, his mother and son. This petition was
granted by Queen Joanna on condition that they would rebuild it on a
more fitting scale at as early a date as possible. The Chapter
preferred, however, to expend all its means and energies on the great
vaulting of the Cathedral rather than on the new royal sepulchre, and
this was not rebuilt until Charles V finally lost patience over the
negligent and disrespectful manner in which the remains of his forbears
were treated and wrote to the Chapter, in 1543, commanding them "to
start the work without any delay whatsoever, and to bring it to
completion as rapidly as possible, and to execute the work as
excellently as befitted its royal guests." That the workmen made no
delay in obeying the royal commands is shown by the fact that the walls
were well up as early as 1566 and finished shortly afterwards.

None of the Spanish cathedrals have a better type of Plateresque
architecture and decoration than the sacristy, built during the first
half of the seventeenth century. The plan is that of a Greek cross, 70
by 40 feet, and about 120 feet high. Its dome, spanning the great
central vault, is a distinct feature in any comprehensive exterior view
of the Cathedral. The Sacristy is filled with curious and priceless
relics, treasures, and vestments belonging to the church. As Santa Justa
and Santa Rufina are in a manner the patron saints of Seville, their
picture by Goya hanging here is of interest. Both of them hold vessels
of the character of soup dishes; and their faces, taken from Seville
models, are of decidedly earthly types.

To the west of the facade as you enter, lies the large sagrario, or
parish church. It is a building entirely by itself, 112 feet long, with
a single nave spanned by a dangerously bold barrel vault.

Here and there among the chapels you come suddenly on famous subjects by
great masters, names renowned in Spanish history or striking works of
art. Learning and statesmanship are honor