Already immersed in the side chapels we must make an imaginative effort to recreate the Primitive Church, if we look up we see how the great dome would rise to the opposite end of the temple, This dome larger in dimensions than the Diocesan Cathedral itself sank to early twentieth century. Being out in the open for almost 100 years with the deterioration that this caused. It is at the beginning of the century when the Brotherhood covers it and begins to recover this space from the 17th century with its mural paintings and its sculptural frame carved in situ in sandstone.
The first of the chapels that we present to you is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, it is a set of geometric paintings of an ornamental nature, mostly with plant elements typical of the Andalusian Baroque and plasterwork carved in situ, being unique and different in each chapel, dating from the XVI-XVII century, the paintings have been recovered thanks to the fact that they were hidden under a whitewash and that thanks to our brother Jesús González Clares, a graduate in conservation and restoration of cultural assets from the University of Seville, they have been recovered, With great mastery he has known not only to recover but also to reintegrate the existing pictorial gaps.
In its composition we can see how the fallen leaves encompass a semicircular arch that contains a curtain inside, revealing the sky that will give way from heavenly to earthly life, bringing us closer to the Immaculate Virgin. In its upper part, it supports two musical angels on each side representing the praises of the Virgin, one with a harp that symbolizes harmony and tranquility and the other with a guitar that represents joy.
All this centered on a break of glory typical of the baroque that emulates the Holy Spirit. Presiding over such a baroque altarpiece we find the Image of the Immaculate Virgin that, although the Virgin is contemporary, is inspired by the great masters of Granada’s baroque of the 17th and 18th centuries, the effigy of the Immaculate Conception is presented with splendid carvings in its folds in the form of clothes white and blue color on a cloud of angels supported by a large base of baroque pebbles gilded in fine gold and with rich stews, the author of the work Mr. Alberto Chica Camaraque has known with great skill to represent a virgin girl with joined hands and a look low, candid and sweet expression, it is good stepping on the crescent moon the apocalypse 12 “A wonderful sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and with a crown of twelve stars on her head. The Image of the Immaculate Conception is the owner of the brotherhood thanks to the fact that it recovers on November 21, 2021 by decree under the pontificate of the Bishop of Guadix Don Francisco Jesús Orozco mengibary for reasons of the Parish Priest of Santiago Don Pedro Aranda Garrido, the Venerable Archicofradía de la Purísima Concepción belonging to our parish of Señor Santiago and dating from its foundation in the 16th century, although it was refounded on December 1, 1739, which lost its activity during the Spanish civil war, highlighting the joys and indulgence granted on January 16, 1740 by Pope Clement XI, Bull that we can see in the attached documents along with the charter of the audio-guide.
The second of the niches that we find inside this side chapel corresponds to San Longinos, the image of Don Juan Manuel MiñarroLopez, which is part of the Mystery of the Presentation to the People (Ecce homo). The Centurion Gaius Cassius Longinus, already in a compassionate gesture with the Reo, warns us of his subsequent conversion when he pierced the side of Jesus on the Cross with a spear from his body, a torrent of water and blood bathed his face and miraculously healed his eyes and he converted. “This man was really the son of God” Saint Mark 15, to be later martyred by beheading, which makes him stand on altars as in Saint Peter’s own Basilica in the Vatican with a large marble sculpture of Gian himself Lorenzobernini, his legend lasted several centuries later in part due to the natural facts that are given to the holy spear or spear of destiny as examples, the first crusade in the conquest of Jerusalem or the fuhreradolfhitler desire to possess it. Image that invites us to conversion, leaving sin is repentance and turning to Christ in faith (Ephesians 2:8). Next we will discover the altar and main altarpiece where the Sacred Image of the Virgin of Tears is located.