Subbetica

Chapel of the Tabernacle of Saint Matthew

Chapel of the Tabernacle of Saint Matthew

Destaca por su portada de jaspe y su decoración barroca con símbolos eucarísticos y esculturas, siendo una joya del barroco andaluz.

Inside the Church of San Mateo, the magnificent Chapel of the Tabernacle stands out; built between 1740 and 1772 to designs by the local architect Leonardo Antonio de Castro, it is regarded as one of the jewels of the Cordoban Baroque and one of the most important sculptural works of the Andalusian Baroque. It features a masterful façade of black, red and white jasper, created by the celebrated master Juan del Pino Ascanio, a native of this city. The chapel has an octagonal floor plan and its elevation is marked by four sturdy buttresses, which, like pilasters, support four pendentives. The master builders Jerónimo and Acisclo Ramírez de Quero oversaw the works, whilst the elaborate decorative scheme of the complex—replete with Eucharistic symbols, Doctors of the Church, saints associated with devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, ornamental elements of a vegetal or geometric nature, and mirrors—was entrusted to the local sculptor Pedro de Mena y Gutiérrez, who also carved the magnificent tabernacle that stands at the centre of the chapel.