Restoration and rehabilitation of the Venerables Sacerdotes hospital

Sevilla, Sevilla, Andalucía.

Dating of the building: 17th century.

Applicant: Focus Foundation.

Reason for the award :

For the rehabilitation of the Venerables Sacerdotes Hospital in Seville.

The Venerables Sacerdotes Hospital, restored by the FOCUS foundation, has one of the best periods of Spanish Baroque religious painting on site.

The Venerables Sacerdotes Hospital was built between 1676 and 1697. Its layout responds to the classic Andalusian convent, in which the rooms are distributed around a landscaped patio, on one side of which the church is attached. This magnificent complex of more than 4,000 square meters was also the place of retirement for the Sevillian clerics after a lifetime dedicated to the church. For this reason, the decoration was done by the best of the Sevillian painters and sculptors of the 17th century. The result was a splendid building with paintings by Murillo and Valdés Leal and sculptures by Martínez Montañés.

Despite its architectural and decorative wealth, the hospital had suffered from neglect and deterioration since the 1970s. In 1990 the FOCUS Foundation (Seville Culture Fund) took charge of its total rehabilitation, adapting it to cultural and museum uses. Fernando Chueca Goitia, prestigious art historian and expert in Baroque architecture, was put in charge of the project.

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