Real Colegio-Seminario de Corpus Christi

(“Colegio del Patriarca”)

Practical 6 Word – New Technologies

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Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 2
The Chapel (1590-1597)............................................................................................................................... 4
Trinity (or All Saints) Chapel..................................................................................................................... 6
“De la Antigua Virgin” Chapel .................................................................................................................. 6
Blessed Souls (or Communion) Chapel .................................................................................................... 7
Saint Vincent Ferrer Chapel ..................................................................................................................... 7
The Cloisters ................................................................................................................................................ 8
Monument Chapel ....................................................................................................................................... 9
Museo del Patriarca (Pinacoteca) .............................................................................................................. 10
Opening hours ........................................................................................................................................... 11
Museum ................................................................................................................................................. 11
Masses ................................................................................................................................................... 11
Gregorian Chant..................................................................................................................................... 11
Table of Pictures ........................................................................................................................................ 12

Credits:

Text translated with permission, from the Spanish original at djaa.

(http://www.jdiezarnal.com/valenciacorpuscristi.html)
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Introduction
It was declared Historical Artistic National Monument in 1962.

Saint Juan de Ribera had arrived to the city of Valencia in 1569 as Archbishop of the Diocese and Patriarch
of Antioch. In 1583 he wrote, in his own handwriting, the founding letter of the Colegio-Seminario for the
education of priests according to the spirit and the provisions in the Counter-Reformation derived from
the Council of Trent. Also, the Colegio-Seminario would be a place dedicated to constant adoration of the
Eucharist. The exact founding date is considered to be March 14th 1583.

Figure 1: The Real Colegio-Seminario de Corpus Christi is located in the center of Valencia (photo: courtesy of djaa)

The first stone for the new institution was placed by the very same Saint Juan de Ribera on October 30th
1586. Notable authorities attending this ceremony were Don Francisco de Moncada, conde Aytona y
Osuna (Viceroy at the time), together with the Cathedral chapter. The construction works were carried
out by Guillén del Rey, who had previously been at the construction of the Porta-Coeli Carthusian
monastery in Serra (Valencia).

Built on a record time, between 1586 and 1610, the building shows a great uniformity in its architecture.
Its austere façade is topped by a small arches gallery. A large window with a grille pours light into the
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upper choir in the church. The two-sections square tower breaks the uniformity at the corner in this
façade.

On Sunday February 8th 1604, the Kings of Spain (Philip III and his wife, Margaret of Austria) were in
Valencia1. Taking this opportunity, Saint Juan de Ribera inaugurated the Colegio-Seminario with the shine
of the Royal Majesty. The Kings, with their court, joined the festivities and participated in the great
procession from the Cathedral to the new church. The magnificent church (“Capilla del Real Colegio de
Corpus Christi”) was blessed by the Patriarch himself.

Saint Juan de Ribera took part personally in the construction works, choosing the artists, looking after the
works, correcting plans and drafts, giving ideas to be performed by artists and operators. All of this turned
this Colegio-Seminario into a personal work by the Patriarch.

1
The Patriach had blessed their wedding vows two years before at the Cathedral of Valencia.
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The Chapel (1590-1597)

It follows a new arrangement in its floor plan and elevation. It’s noteworthy that this chapel or church
doesn’t have a direct entrance from the street, because at that time this chapel was private to the Colegio-
Seminario, and thus it was not open to the public.

The entrance is performed through a large lobby with two doors: the left one gives access to the chapel,
while the right one drives to a second lobby which is also connected to the street through a door next to
the main one. This second lobby can be used for accessing the cloisters and the Monument Chapel, as
we’ll see later.

A large stuffed caiman is on the left wall in the lobby, a reptile brought from the Americas. It’s a caiman
from the Caribbean, and it was a gift from the Peru viceroy to Saint Juan de Ribera. The Archbishop raised
it in the gardens at his residence in the Alboraya street, and it lived there until it died on June 7th 1606.
Saint Juan de Ribera then placed it on the lobby in the Colegio-Seminario, in order to remind visitors of
the silence that must be kept in the building.

Figure 2: The Chapel (photo: seminariocorpuschristi.org)

All interior walls in the church are covered by very interesting traditional fresco mural paintings, by the
Genovese Bartolomé Matarana (1550-1625), painted between 1597 and 1605.

Bartolomé Matarana came to Spain in 1573 accompanied by Fernando Carrillo de Mendoza, Count of
Priego. After working for the Count, in Cuenca, he went to Segorbe, and finally arrived to Valencia in 1597
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for working in the paintings for the chapel in the Colegio-Seminario. After finishing in 1605, he came back
to Cuenca, and there we lose his track in the peninsula.

In the fresco paintings at the top part in the high altar, we can see the representation of a pelican feeding
its offspring with its own blood (allegory of the Eucharist), as well as the adoration of the Eucharist by all
saints. At the sides we can see Saint Peter at the left, and Saint Paul at the right, as pillars of the Roman
Catholic Church.

The lateral walls in the chancel depict the martyrdom of Saint Mauro at the left wall, and the martyrdom
of Saint Andrew at the right wall. They were both declared titular saints of the chapel by Saint Juan de
Ribera.

Figure 3: The high altar with The Last Supper painting in the center. The pelican allegory is in the wall (photo: courtesy of djaa)

The chancel, placed a bit above the rest of the chapel, is flanked by a bronze railing, created by Miguel
Vielsa. The impressive painting of the Last Supper by Francisco Ribalta, done in 1606, dominates the center
of the high altar.

This painting is one of the most remarkable works in the chapel. The Holy Grail is depicted as we can see
it today in the Cathedral of Valencia. At the time it was not exposed to the public, so it’s certain that the
painter had it before his eyes when doing the painting.
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Figure 4: All walls in the Chapel have fresco paintings (photo: courtesy of djaa)

Trinity (or All Saints) Chapel

The lateral chapel at the epistle side (right) holds the sepulcher of Saint Juan de Ribera, made in golden
and silver-plated wood by José Cotanda at the end of the XIX century.

The center of the altar holds a 1796 painting by Juan Bautista Suñer (1750-1815), depicting the last
communion of Saint Juan de Ribera. Over it, there are more fresco paintings by Matarana.

“De la Antigua Virgin” Chapel

Just in front of the Trinity Chapel, we find the “Capilla de la Virgen de la Antigua” (“De la Antigua Virgin”
Chapel). Its altar was made in 1601 by Pedro de Gracia y Francisco Pérez. The center holds a Renaissance
painting of “Nuestra Señora de la Antigua” (“Our Lady of the Antigua”), by the Portuguese Vasco Pereyra
(1540-1618). This painting, done around 1600, is a faithful copy of the one located in Seville.
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Blessed Souls (or Communion) Chapel

It’s placed at the epistle side, and it holds the Holy Sacrament. The center of the altar has a painting by
Federico Zuccaro (1542-1609) with Saint Mary and Christ interceding for the souls in the purgatory.
Painted in Rome, around 1600.

Saint Vincent Ferrer Chapel

In front of the Communion Chapel, we find the Saint Vincent Ferrer Chapel. The 1605 painting in the
center of the altar is by Francisco Ribalta, depicting the apparition of Christ to Saint Vincent, in the
presence of Saint Domingo de Guzmán and Saint Francis of Assisi. The scene portrays the miraculous
healing of Saint Vincent, that happened in the French city of Avignon in 1398.
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The Cloisters
Built by Guillén del Rey in 1599, it’s one of the most beautiful from the Spanish Renaissance. The Doric
and Ionic columns are made in Carrara marble. The center of the patio has a sitting statue of Saint Juan
de Ribera, made and signed by Mariano Benlliure in Rome in 1896. This statue substituted the marble
fountain made in 1603 by the stonemasons Bartolomé Abril and Juan Bautista Semería. The fountain had
a Roman figure in the center, which was found during the excavations at the beginning at the construction
works, and was placed in the center of the cloisters by order of Saint Juan de Ribera himself. Nowadays it
can be seen in the Colegio rooms.

Figure 5: The cloisters (photo: seminariocorpuschristi.org)

The cloisters, with a rectangular floor plan, has 26 semicircular arches in the galleries in each one of the
levels, lower and upper; eight arches in each one of the longer sides, and five in the shorter ones. The
Patriarch got the white marble columns to the architect (he was so exact and detailed in the maths, as in
everything else, that the total cost for the construction of the Real Colegio de Corpus Christi is known: six
thousand Valencian pounds, payable in three installments).
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Monument Chapel
Accessed from the second lobby, and known as Monument Chapel, gets its name from its use for placing
the Holy Thursday Monument within the Holy Week. It’s also known as “Capilla de la Purísima”, because
it has an Immaculate Conception in the altar, made in wood in 1640 by Gregorio Fernández.

Figure 6: The Monument Chapel (photo: seminariocorpuschristi.org)

The lateral walls hold four Flemish tapestries from Tournai, Belgium, circa 1500-1530, inherited from his
father by the Archbishop. They are attributed to the Flemish workshop of Pieter Van Aelst, and were
restored by the Real Fábrica de Tapices in 2016.
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Museo del Patriarca (Pinacoteca)

Created in 1959 from the paintings accumulated by the Colegio throughout the years, it’s located in part
of what once were the students rooms. The remodeling works were carried out by architect Carlos Soria.

Figure 7: The Museum (Pinacoteca) (photo: seminariocorpuschristi.org)

Although most of the exhibited works in the museum are paintings, we should not forget other pieces
belonging to the worship or to the furniture, pieces that usually are not exhibited nor comprise the
museum. We can highlight the great silver altar for the adoration of the Eucharist, which is usually used
in the Corpus Christi festivity only.
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Opening hours

Museum
Monday-Sunday: 11:00-13:30

Masses
Monday-Friday

8:00, 9:00, 11:00, 13:30, 19:30

Saturdays

9:00, 11:00, 13:30, 19:30, 20:30

Sundays

9:00, 12:00, 13:00, 19:30

Gregorian Chant
Tuesday-Sunday: 9:30

Thursday: 18:30
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Table of Pictures
Figure 1: The Real Colegio-Seminario de Corpus Christi is located in the center of Valencia (photo:
courtesy of djaa) .......................................................................................................................................... 2
Figure 2: The Chapel (photo: seminariocorpuschristi.org) .......................................................................... 4
Figure 3: The high altar with The Last Supper painting in the center. The pelican allegory is in the wall
(photo: courtesy of djaa) ............................................................................................................................. 5
Figure 4: All walls in the Chapel have fresco paintings (photo: courtesy of djaa) ....................................... 6
Figure 5: The cloisters (photo: seminariocorpuschristi.org) ........................................................................ 8
Figure 6: The Monument Chapel (photo: seminariocorpuschristi.org) ....................................................... 9
Figure 7: The Museum (Pinacoteca) (photo: seminariocorpuschristi.org) ................................................ 10