Pedro de Salazar y Gutiérrez de Toledo, Cardinal of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem and Bishop of Córdoba between 1686 and 1706, was an admirer and devotee of Saint Teresa of Jesus , and created the chapel of the mosque-cathedral in honor of the saint from Avila . which would also contain his mortal remains, as well as the most valuable works of the cathedral treasury. The cardinal did not see completion of the works on the chapel of Santa Teresa, as he died in 1706, while the chapel was completed between 1711 and 1712, when he completed its endowment and embellishment.
History
When he had been established in his diocese for a year, Cardinal Salazar conceived the idea of ??endowing the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba with a sacristy and decided to build it next to the old mihrab, to which he added a chapel, sacristy and pantheon for himself and their families. The layout and direction of the works were entrusted to the architect Francisco Hurtado Izquierdo , serving as assistant Teodosio Sánchez de Rueda . The construction works of the chapel finished in the year 1703, as can be read in the keystone of an arch located in the chapel, in which the inscription «Year of 1703» appears.
Description
Access to the chapel is through a portal built with black and red marble. The cover is formed by a semicircular arch, and is framed by two Doric columns that sit on high bases. The shield of Cardinal Salazar is located on the broken cornice of the doorway of the chapel.
The plan of the chapel is octagonal in shape and is covered by a gallon dome , divided into elements by means of abundant plasterwork. The drum of the dome is pierced by eight windows. In elevation it presents large pilasters, intensely ornamented with plasterwork, which support eight semicircular arches .
In addition to the large main portal, there are two small doors made of marble; the one located on the left communicates with a rectangular room, which is in turn divided into two spaces by means of a Mannerist doorway made at the beginning of the 17th century, in which the Treasury of the Mosque-Cathedral is permanently exhibited . The door on the right side allows access to the crypt.
The main front of the chapel is occupied by the altar of Santa Teresa, with a neoclassical stucco altarpiece; the tabernacle has a gilt bronze relief representing the Pietà, the work of the Italian artist Virgilio Castelli, and was brought from Rome by Cardinal Salazar; In the main niche is the image of Santa Teresa, attributed to José de Mora , made around the year 1705. It is a work from which a great spiritual sweetness emanates. The saint is in an attitude of writing, and she seems to hear the divine voice through the whispers of a dove, which represents the Holy Spirit, perched on her right shoulder. Above the image of Saint Teresa, on the cornice, there is a tondo with a relief that represents God the Father.
The rest of the chapel shows a varied decoration; three of the arches are occupied by chests of drawers from the 18th century, in whose upper cabinets pieces of silverware are kept. Above each of the drawers there is a canvas, whose author was the Bursabolitano Antonio Palomino , which shows different historical episodes that occurred in the city of Córdoba, which he made in 1712. In the three canvases are represented "The surrender of the city from Córdoba to San Fernando”, “The Martyrdom of San Acisclo and Santa Victoria” and “The Appearance of San Rafael to the Venerable Father Roelas”. They are canvases in which there is a great expansion of colors and a recreated mobility, which demonstrate the creative dimension of the artist.
Above the doors that lead to the Treasury and the crypt there are two canvases representing the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption, both from the Granada school, and made in the last third of the 17th century. The frames of the canvases were carved and gilded by Teodosio Sánchez de Rueda.
The other images of the magnificent enclosure, which are supported on shelves, and which represent the saints for whom Salazar professed the most devotion, are also attributed to the workshop of José de Mora . The eight saints are Saint Ramon Nonato , Saint Augustine , Saint Francis of Assisi , Saint Bernard , Saint Peter Nolasco , Saint Dominic de Guzmán , Saint Anthony of Padua , and lastly, Saint Francis de Sales .
Tomb of Cardinal Salazar.
Next to the entrance door, on the right side, you can admire the tomb of Cardinal Salazar. The sepulcher was built with black marble and with the figures and decorations in white marble. The praying statue of the cardinal stands under a canopy supported by cherubs . The sepulcher was made between 1709 and 1710 through the triple collaboration of Teodosio Sánchez de Rueda, Juan Prieto and Domingo Lemico, but adjusting the achievements of the three artists to the design of the architect Francisco Hurtado Izquierdo, creator of the chapel of Santa Teresa, where the locate the tomb of the prelate. The sepulcher presents on its front his cardinal's coat of arms and the following epitaph of the cardinal:
"We bought the HSE DD Brother Peter de Salazar of the Order of Saint Mary of Merced General, Bishop of Salmantine and Cordoba. From Innocent XI. By the appointment of Charles II, King of Spain, to the title of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, Priest. Created by SRE Cardinal. He was famous for all his virtues and learned ornaments, champion of ecclesiastical discipline, parent of the poor, whom he raised and endowed with the notable Xenodochius to relieve them even when he was dead. He died on August 14, 1706, and lived to be 76 months 4 days 3 years old.
Crypt
The crypt of the chapel of Santa Teresa is the work of Teodosio Sánchez de Rueda. You descend to it through a three-section staircase. The crypt, elliptical in shape and raised with pilasters decorated with the images of the doctors of the Church , is covered by a vault decorated with plasterwork . In its walls are embedded arcosolios in which the altars were placed. Of the seven altars that adorn the chapel, two of them, which serve as reliquaries, were made by Teodosio Sánchez de Rueda in 1705. The rest were made by the Italian Juan Pompeyo in 1713 and on them there are canvases that show Saint Eulogius , the apparition of the Virgin to San Fernando, thetransverberation of Santa Teresa, the martyrdom of San Zoilo and the Immaculate Conception . Currently, it serves as the chapter house.
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