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The Floral
Decoration.
Another fact that usually draws the
visitor's attention is the floral
ornamentation we can see it in Christ's
floats and also in the canopies. These
elements, are project of praise and
criticism at the same time, since many
times, the excess of flowers, hides part
of the great goldsmith's legacy that the
floats represent.
Usually, Christ's floats take red
carnations and purple irises, although
in some cases they are pink carnations (The
Borriquita's Fraternity). with regard to
the palios, variety is made sublime
beauty in the combination that experts
make in the palios floats. White and
pink carnations, orange blossom (Virgin
of the Conception of The Silence's
Fraternity), camellias, tulips, orchids,
gladioluses, white irises, etc.
The Sevillian ones work in The Holy
Week?
Indeed, from Good Monday to Good
Wednesday, are working days in Seville,
although it is not enough reason so that
the streets of the city appear with the
typical uproars which form part of this
fraternity reality. We can say that
during this week, the sevillians makes a
supreme effort to accompany Christ and
its Mother, with the body hair bristled
by the impressiveness of every moment.
The Processions Women.
This has been the great discussion of
the fraternities in the last times.
Maybe, from the strike of fraternities
of 1932, there has not been such a
polemic topic in connection with all the
fraternities.
With the new canonical legislation,
female members of the fraternities could
make penance like nazarenos in those
fraternities that allowed it. The first
one in modifying its rules was the
Fraternity of Vera-Cruz, although it was
The Javieres Fraternity the first one in
incorporating them.
Right up today, many fraternities refuse
to include females in their retinues,
although the times agree with women:
does penance have sex?
A float with two Virgins.
It happens that, Santa Marta's
Fraternity, ordered to the sculptor
Sebastian Santos the achievement of a
new Virgin, remaining the one of the
sculptor Ortega Bru as Maria Cleofas.,
so that in the same scene, we can say
that there are two Virgins Maria.
The First Palio's Float.
Over the year 1614, the Soledad's Virgin
(San Lorenzo Church) was the first one
that performed a procession march with
palio's float, but after the different
modifications that her iconography
suffered, it finished with her current
form, alone, at the bottom of the Cross.
The Fraternities Handicraft.
Each float of our Holy Week is an unique
piece of art, forming a group of details
that give them an incalculable value.
From the style of the embossed varales
in a palio's float, until the carving in
wood of the respiraderos in those of
Christ, going by the candelería, the
embroidery, the silver gold work, the
carving, the florist, etc... Everything
itself is an unique sample that makes
every float an art gallery in movement.
City of Maria.
It is curious, but Seville has among its
titles the one that of City of Maria,
due to its great devotion toward the
Mother of God, this title was
incorporated in 1946 to those previously
obtained of Very Noble, Very Loyal, Very
Heroic and Unbeaten.
Another curious fact around this topic,
is that in the palio's float of the
Virgin Macarena, there is a small temple
with the Pillar's Virgin, but it is not
a homage to the Patron Saint of
Saragossa's City, but to one of the
patroness from Seville, date that not
all the sevillians know.
The Fraternities´Procession.
A fraternity is not only composed of
floats. There is an entire procession
that accompanies them and gives each
fraternity an unique flavour. Although
there are no established criteria on how
a procession should form, all
fraternities have a set of common
features that allows for a general
description.
A procession is divided into sections of
nazareno carrying candles, and penitents
carrying crosses, each section headed by
a nazareno bearing a badge (Rules´ Book,
Senatus, Papal Flag, Banners, etc.), and
along him, other members of the
fraternity carrying lanterns.
The first badge is the Leading Cross,
and it is accompanied by nazarenos
carrying lanterns. Some fraternities
have a squadron, a band of bugles and
drums, heading the procession. In the
past, the penitents would always walk
behind the floats, but this tradition
has been lost, except in a few
fraternities.
The Mantilla's Dress.
In the past the woman got dressed of
Mantilla on Good Thursday to go to the
Holy Offices and to visit the Sacrariums.
This habit was getting lost through the
time, but in the decade of the 80ths it
was recovered again and every time there
are more women that wear it. In the
afternoon of Good Friday it is also
possible to see them, although in
smaller measure that on Thursday.
This attire is formed by the mantilla
Properly which be of Blond lace or
"chantilly", The back comb on which the
mantilla is placed; they are made of
tortoiseshell or materials that imitate
it and lastly the small combs, forks and
fastener that take charge of its
subjection and of keeping it right. The
dress that accompanies to the mantilla
is black and it should not be
excessively short. Black stockings and
black shoes are also used.
The appropriate complements use to be of
old silver and as a whole they are
formed by the earrings, necklace and
rosary. The masculine companions should
go with dark suit, tie and black shoes.
The carnations, as much in the woman as
in the man are completely ill-advised.
The love's Pelican.
The "Sacred Christ of Love" (Love's
Fraternity), takes after his Cross a
pelican representing the symbol of love.
It is counted that this bird feeds her
breeding with her own blood and so that,
it is related to love.
The "Cub" of Lion (El Cachorro).
If you has the opportunity to witness
the Sacred Friday's Fraternities, you
will be impressed in front of the
Expiration's Christ face (year 1618). A
legend tells that his face is inspired
by a gipsy nickname "El Cachorro" (The
cub) that was in death agony after
having been knifed.
We have even listened that the author,
Francisco Antonio Ruíz Gijón, took a
mold of the gipsy's body to reproduce it
in the Christ. But it has been
demonstrated that all the Christ´s
images of that time had a similar
expression, and that the name of "cub"
comes from the Golden Century, in which
Christ was called "Judá Lion's cub",
text taken from the Holy Scriptures
although this fact can't be verified by
anybody, either it doesn't leave of
being a rumour.
Allegories in The Holy Week.
Among the allegorical characters that we
can see in our Holy Week, we can find
the Faith and the Veronica, both in the
Monserrat's Fraternity of Good Friday.
The first one is dressed with a tunic
and a veil in the eyes (the Faith is
blind), while the second one represents
the woman that dried Jesus' sweat while
He loaded the cross and whose face was
reproduced in her handkerchief.
Formerly, the Big Funeral's Fraternity
also took allegorical characters
although, at the moment, the only one
which has preserved is its first float,
well known as "The Canina"; it
represents the victory of the cross over
the death.
Another Fraternity that has recovered an
allegorical float is The Trinidad. Its
first mystery, well-known as "El Sagrado
Decreto"( The Sacred Decree), stopped to
make in 1951, not leaving in penance
station until the year 1994 again. It
represents the mystery of the Holy
Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit),
the Triumphant Church, the Holy Parents,
The sleeping Church, the Faith and the
Sanctified Grace (Miguel Saint killing
the sin's dragon). This float, still in
period of realization, it is dogma of
contradictions among the members of the
fraternities, since not all agree with
the allegorical incorporations to the
Holy Week of Seville.
Santa Marta's Rose.
The scene of Marta Saint's Fraternity
represents the transfer of Jesus to the
sepulchre. Exactly, under the right hand
of the Charity Christ, a red rose is
born, supposedly fed of his blood,
allegorically, it shows how Jesus'
spilled blood will sprout the life again.
This rose is donated and placed in the
float by a exception's member of the
Fraternity, the journalist and
interviewer Iñaki Gabilondo.
The Muñidor
Formerly, the Fraternities were preceded
by a muñidor that, to bell blow, it
warned of the arrival of the processions.
Nowadays the Sagrada Mortaja Fraternity
only maintains this tradition of the
XVIII Century.
The Sword and the Key.
The Fraternity "El Silencio" (The
Silence), has a very characteristic
badge that no other fraternity takes. We
refer to the sword that flanks to the
connectionist flag and that symbolizes
the vote formulated to shed heretic's
blood in defence of the dogma of the
Immaculate Conception.
Another peculiarity is that the Hermano
Mayor of the Fraternity, wears hung in
his neck the key of the Temple's
Sacrarium, although at the present time
this act is completely symbolic, since
its temple no longer belongs to San
Antonio Abad order.
Penance and Colour.
In some fraternities, we can see that
there are nazarenos with different
tunics and masks, giving him an exotic
colour. This is due to the
representations of other fraternities
for affinity (Vera-Cruz's fraternity),
for procession (Santo Entierro
Fraternity) or twinning (San Lorenzo
Soledad's Fraternity and "La Bofetá"
fraternities).
So that, it is not strange to see
nazarenos with tunics and hoods of
different colors inside the penance of
some fraternities. Another particular
case is when the clothes of the Christ's
nazarenos are different in some element
(mask, tunic or cloak) with regard to
those of the Virgin.
Reliquaries with own Identity.
In front of the Christ of the Thorns
Coronation, to the Valle Fraternity, we
can see some acolytes carrying the
reliquary of the Sacred Thorn for whose
property is in conflict with the
Fraternity of La Lanzada (Thrust with a
lance) . The Fraternity of Vera-Cruz it
takes another reliquary with a piece of
the Lignum Crucis.
The Big Funeral.
Only in nine occasions we have been able
to contemplate the Big Funeral retinue,
in which, apart from the three floats
that form this fraternity, many others
are incorporated to form Christ's
Passion chronologically. The two last
time that came out was on Good Saturday
of 1992 with a total of eighteen Floats
and 2004 with fiveteen floats.
Photos: Francisco Santiago@ |
