273
he arrived to Seville thanks to Count-Duke of Olivares’ influence,
who was still the governor. The Habsburg dynasty ends with Charles
II’s reign in 1700. In that moment, the Sevillian palace starts a darker
or less magnificent epoch.
Regarding the
Galería del Grutesco
, it is certified that some repara-
tions took place in 1675 when the façades and the metal railings were
painted
10
. After that, at the beginning of the 18th century, during
Philip V’s reign, many works in gardening, lock fitting and carpentry
were done
11
. Among them, it is outstanding that in February 1733 a
big rafter was replaced
12
, because it was the same year that the King
left the
Alcázar
and moved to his court.
In November 1755, an earthquake caused the greatest damages to the
city of Seville, the
Alcázar
and the
Galería del Grutesco
. Baena Sánchez
mentions both reports in which the damage is described, on the basis
of which the leading masters considered the total demolition of the
Galería
and its later reconstruction. Finally, as there were not enough
funds, they decided to do reinforcement works, which started in 1759.
These reinforcement works consisted in replacing the wooden frame-
work —inserting iron rods leaving some space between them so as to
strengthen the walls—, rebuilding the parapets, relocating the floor
and the zellij mosaics, developing new plaster to hide the cracks, as
well as relocating the crags and marine rocks. In addition, two out of
the three viewpoints that closed the upper level of the
Galería
were
erected again, placing reinforcement arches and pillars in the lower
level. The reason why the third viewpoint, which was located over the
Fuente de la Fama
, was not rebuilt is unknown.13
In any case, Van der Borcht’s plan, contemporary to the works done
in the
Grutesco
after the earthquake, shows to us the same arrange-
ment of the ramparts built between the 12th and the 13th centuries
in order to close the
Recinto IV
. Walking and contemplating the
landscape are the main keys of the
Galería del Grutesco
:
“j. Galería Brutesca, que tiene paso cubierto y otro enzima
descubierto y por ella se va por las murallas a la que mira a la
Fávrica y a la Torre del Oro”. [Quotation from a book which
describes the Galería, saying that it had two levels and that it
faced the Fábrica and the Torre del Oro.]
19Th and 20th centuries
the transformations of the
Grutesco
during the 19th century are also
described in Baena Sánchez’s publication: in 1814 and in 1816Manuel
Cintora’s reports are repeated. He was then leading master of the
Alcázar
and he warned about the rottenness condition of the rafters.
In 1839, due to the lack of action, it was necessary to brace it in order
to avoid collapse; in 1840 the strengthening and replacement of the
rafters took place, under command of Melchor Cano; in 1853 and
in 1854, Juan Manuel Caballero warned about some rotten rafters
and significant leaks; in 1860, José de la Coba talked again about the
dilapidated state of the rafters and the ceiling, leading to the replace-
ment of the rotten wood; in 1882 and in 1892, José Gómez reported
the necessity of repairing the floor and the cracks
14
To sum up, although the previous list could be understood as an ac-
cumulation of damages, if we look at it from a different perspective
it could be considered as a normal conservation and maintenance
work, which such an architectural feature needed, especially due to
its wooden structure liable to worsen in case of humidity in walls or
in the roof.
Later, in 1877 there was a suggestion of building stairs from the veg-
etable garden. It is not clear if those stairs are the same as the current
stairs, which lead to the vicinity of the
Cenador de la Alcoba
. However,
it is the first information available related to the possibility of connect-
ing the rooms of the Palace with the vegetable gardens without the
necessity of crossing the intermediate gardens. Therefore, the
Galería
del Grutesco
had two functions: the original function of viewpoint and
the new one of connection between two separated areas.15
At the beginning of the 20th century the
Alcázar
was subject to new
renovation. José Gómez was the architect and the Marquis of Vega-
Inclán was the creator and cause of this change. It is in this century
when the gardens in the east of the
Grutesco
were made , that is why
they are called as him—Jardines de Vega-Inclán—. They are located
in the old
Huerta del Retiro
, delimited by the face of the
Galería
in the
west , which was never designed as façade pointing to the garden by
Vermondo Resta.
Although it is not certified, in this century we can find the arrange-
ment of the framework with metal beams and fills of brick hollow
bricks which we can see along the work. According to some authors,
it is a constructive solution that is used in Seville in 1880 for the first
time
16
and it has a wide dissemination in the regionalist architecture
during the first quarter of the 20th century.
In any case, it is a fact that this solution with metal beams was not
appropriate, as José María Cabeza —the Director of the
Alcázar
since
1990—,one year after his appointment , decided to change the metal
framework from the whole southern end of the
Galería
. When we
carried out our intervention, all the other sides were very deterio-
rated, as we will see on the following pages.
José María Cabeza’s intervention was the last significant interven-
tion that took place in the
Galería del Grutesco
. Apart from the metal
beams, a new terrace with typical Andalusian roof was made, the in-
terior of the mortar walls was renewed using sand from the Río Tinto
and the bays’ protective lock fitting was painted in blue
17
—Figure 9—.
21St century, the Grutesco in the Special Protection Plan
Although it is not completely approved yet, the Special Protection
Plan of the section 6 “
Real Alcázar
” of the Historical Complex of
Seville is one of the most recent and appropriate references to the
current image of the palace. On the one hand, the catalogue cards
are included in the section IV, although the
Galería del Grutesco
en-
semble is referred to in several cards and not in a specific one. Each
of its areas is included in its pertinent garden card: the “Jardín del
Estanque” and the “
Jardín de las Damas
”.
On the other hand, in the section I we can find the actions expected
by the Plan, in which the enhancement of the
Real Alcázar
’s proper-
ties is considered. The Action 4 suggests the “Apertura al tránsito del
adarve de murallas y cubierta del Palacio Gótico, cuyo objetivo prin-
cipal radica en poner en valor la arquitectura defensiva palatina para
conocimiento público”. [Quotation from the Action 4 in which the
opening to traffic across the ramparts and the Gothic Palace’s cover
is suggested, so as to let the public see and understand the defensive
architecture of the palace.] In this way, although the
Grutesco
’s roof is
not included in the Special Protection Plan, the roof’s essence reminds
us of that uncover passage which Vermondo Resta designed for Philip
III and makes us think about how enjoyable the view of the garden
and of the city should be from that unique position. —Figure 4—.
