CATHOLIC GRANADA 79 



foundation transferred here from Santa Fe 

 immediately after the Reconquest. The convent 

 is now a cavalry barracks, and is not to be inspected 

 by the curious. The church, built by Diego 

 de Siloe, is in the form of a Latin cross stern, 

 plain, dignified. The walls are adorned with 

 frescoes representing scenes from the Passion, 

 portraits of the Fathers of the Church, and angels 

 playing on the harp and singing. They were 

 executed in 1723 by an obscure painter called 

 Juan de Medina. Eight chapels open on the 

 aisles and nave, one containing a fine retablo, 

 with the Entombment as subject. The principal 

 chapel exhibits Siloe's skill at its best. He is said 

 to have realised in its construction " his lofty ideal 

 of effecting a truly Spanish Renaissance ; an 

 ideal which bore little fruit, since some of his 

 followers confined themselves to the strictest 

 classicism, others to the development of the 

 plateresque." Very much in the spirit of the 

 Renaissance is the decoration of the chapel 

 with the statues of the worthies of the classic 

 world, Caesar, Pompey, Hannibal, Homer, and 

 others, side by side with Old Testament characters. 

 Strange, this admiration for a pagan civilisation 

 co-existent with violent religious fanaticism 

 against all contemporary non-Catholics ! 



The whole church was practically dedicated to 

 the memory of Spain's greatest soldier, the Great 



