FRANCISCO DE HERRERA EL MOZO (Seville, 1627 -... Lot n° 577

Etching. Reference bibliography: - Portús, J., "Fernando de la Torre Farfán, Festivities of the S. Metropolitan and Patriarchal Church of Seville, To the New Worship of the Lord King San Fernando the Third of Castilla y León", in Oliver, A. and Serrera, JM, Iconography of Seville 1650-1790, vol. II, Seville, Focus, Madrid, Ediciones el Viso, 1989, p. 40. - Navarrete Prieto, B., Herrera el Mozo and the total baroque, exhibition catalogue, Museo del Prado, Madrid, 2003, pp. 263-265, no. Cat. 61. This design, devised by Francisco de Herrera "El Mozo" and engraved by Matías de Arteaga, was conceived as a frontispiece for the work written by Fernando de la Torre y Farfán: Fiestas de la Santa Iglesia Metropolitana, y Patriarcal of Sevilla. To the New Worship of the Lord King San Fernando the Third of Castilla and León. This literary work published in 1671, it commemorated the ascent to the altars of Fernando III of Castile; an event that lived the city of Seville immersed in an atmosphere of joy and great celebrations. To this end, in the city of the Guadalquivir, a series of efforts came together that resulted in this marvelous edition, which some authors consider to be the best of all the Sevillian printing presses of the 1600s. Although Fernando de la Torre's narrative is of great value and is carried out in exquisite detail, the most striking feature of the edition is the quality of its 21 etchings, including nine fold-out illustrations, among which this one of "El Mozo" is considered like one of the best. Herrera conceived this beautiful work as an emblem intended to extol the holiness of Ferdinand III of Castile and to legitimize the role of Seville in his cause. In its central register, under the monarch, are the representations of Hercules and Julius Caesar for being the mythical founders of Hispalis. On the basement there is a plaque with a lion's skin with a view of Seville, as a port and gate to the Indies, accompanied by the personification of the Betis river. Measurements: 27.8 x 18.8 cm.