The Casa de los Pinelo in Seville According to a Text from 1542

Abstract

The Casa de los Pinelo is a Renaissance palace that forms part of a prominent evolutionary sequence of palatial architecture in Seville. In 1523 the Pinelo family sold the building to the Cathedral Chapter that in 1542 had a survey or text written (transcribed for this research) which described it in minute detail. After its confiscation and sale in 1870, it became the Don Marcos guest house (1885–1964). In 1954 it was declared a historical-artistic monument and since then there have been significant consolidation works managed by the architects Jesús Gómez-Millán (1967–1971) and restoration works by Rafael Manzano (1969–1981). Today it houses the Real Academia Sevillana de Buenas Letras (Seville Royal Academy of Literature) and the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de Santa Isabel de Hungría (Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Saint Isabel of Hungary). After locating and analysing various graphical documents produced over the centuries and carrying out comprehensive modern surveys, an unprecedented interpretive route is provided by the 1542 text through the building’s various rooms and floors: its entrance courtyard, main courtyard, sitting rooms, tower and garden. The reliability of the text can therefore be assessed, and we can corroborate the existence in the 16th century of significant architectural elements that have been preserved to this day, along with others that have been altered or have disappeared.