Wednesday January 23/Thursday January 24

Studied Wednesday until our exam at 6 p.m. Then had drinks in the old Jewish quarter of the city, called Santa Cruz, at Levies bar.

On Thursday for class we met at the Museo de Bellas Artes (Museum of Fine Arts) in the morning. The museum building used to be a convent of the Merced order – it was built during the 17^th century. Following the policy of desamortización (state seizure of Catholic Church properties to sell them during the 1830s and 1850s), the state found that it had a lot of art on its hands – mostly religious art. Hm, wonder why. The convent was converted into a museum (complete with a redone façade) during the early 19^th century. It has a beautiful claustro (covered patio area, very common in old buildings here) and tons of beautiful art. There is work by artists including El Greco, Murillo, Leal, Francisco Pacheco and (I think) Velazquez. A popular theme is that of the immaculate conception, a theory which Seville has always traditionally defended, even before the Church did. My favorite was a GIANT painting of women at work rolling cigarettes in the Real Fábrica de Tabacos (Royal Tabacco Factory) – which is now the main building of the Universidad de Sevilla.

Later that night Jillian and I walked to Nervión, an area in the eastern part of the city, to see the big mall and ice rink there. We got there right as all the stores were closing…oops.