Puerta de la Asunción - Seville

The Puerta de la Asunción , on Avenida de la Constitución, is the main entrance to Seville Cathedral .

However, it was not completed until well into the 19th century , on the initiative of Cardinal Cienfuegos Jovellanos. In the first phase, between 1827 and 1831, the facade was built according to a project by the architect Fernando de Rosales. It was executed in a Gothic Revival style so that it would fit in well with the rest of the cathedral and in particular the doors on either side, the Baptismal Door and the Door of San Miguel, which are 15th-century Gothic.

In 1885, Ricardo Bellver, completed the sculptural decoration of the tympanum , for which he created the Assumption of the Virgin , and in the following years he would create the series of statues of apostles and saints in the niches on either side of the door. A total of 40 were ordered, but he was only able to complete 39 as the budget once again ran out.

The theme "Assumption of the Virgin" depicts the Virgin at the center of the composition, framed by a mandorla, in a rising pose, supported by angels who lift her from the open tomb at her feet to the figure of God the Father , that appears at the vertex. On either side, between the clouds, are a series of angels, some of whom play musical instruments.

On the far right, from the viewer's point of view, is one of the most endearing aspects of the composition. The female angel playing a portable organ is a representation of the sculptor's wife , Pilar Ferrant, who died in 1880 at the age of only 23, which coincided in time with the making of the preparatory sketches for the work. The following year, their first-born son, Luis Bellver, also died at a very young age. The sculptor decided to depict him as a small angel in the final composition. And so mother and son, looking at each other, appear as angels next to the Virgin, at the main entrance of the Cathedral of Seville.

In the following years, between 1885 and 1899, the sculptor created the series of saints on either side of the doorway. Because the cathedral chapter had limited resources, these were made in Portland cement instead of stone, which was much cheaper. Regardless of the materials that circumstances dictated, it must be said that the quality of the sculptor is clearly evident in his work for Seville. We should not forget that there was another important conditioning factor: the Gothic environment in which the works had to be framed and in which they should not look out of place. This undoubtedly limited the artist's creative freedom and meant that he had to adapt to very rigid compositional schemes. However, the statues are very detailed and are very well documented as to the symbols or attributes that each saint carries. Despite the dark color of the cement, it is possible to appreciate the sculptural quality, both in the treatment of the clothes and in the careful and restrained expression of the faces.

The original idea for the doorway included many more sculptures , with the idea of also filling the canopies of the archivolts, but ultimately the project was abandoned and the whole remains unfinished to this day. However, with the combination of the Neo-Gothic style and Bellver's sculpture, a fairly dignified solution was achieved and the main entrance is now shown as an element in harmony with the rest of Seville Cathedral.

Willem Vandenameele