Por Redaccion 
The Provincial Historical Archive of Seville (AHPS), dependent on the Ministry of Culture and Sports, will exhibit in April as Document of the Month – an activity aimed at showcasing the documentary collections of the Sevillian archival institution – the contract for the creation of the Christ of the Expiration, by the sculptor Marcos de Cabrera, dated in December 1575, the same year the Brotherhood of El Museo was founded.
In celebration of the 450th anniversary of the creation of the brotherhood, which parades every Holy Monday, the archival institution will show citizens the document certifying the commission to the Sevillian sculptor for the execution of a crucified Christ with his cross. This contract, inviting visitors to travel back in time, belongs to the Celestino López Martínez Collection of the Provincial Historical Archive.
As stated in the document, Hernando de Soria and Rodrigo Hurtado, from the art of silversmithing, mayor and deputy of the Brotherhood of the Expiration of Christ, commissioned an image of Christ on his cross, at the moment of expiration, to Marcos de Cabrera, with the painter of imagery Juan Díaz acting as guarantor. The contract stipulates «to make and finish in all perfection a Christ of paste with his cross, incarnated and finished in every detail.»
In the contract, as explained by the archivist at the AHPS, María de los Ángeles Luna, the price of the carving is also disclosed, conditioned by the appraisal of «two men who understand that they deserve it.» From the total cost, six ducats were to be deducted, which the author donated as alms to the brotherhood.
Detail of the contract for the creation of the Christ of the Expiration.
According to Alonso Sánchez Gordillo in his ‘Memory of religious stations’, this commission was due to some official apprentices in silversmithing, who proposed on Palm Sunday, listening to the Passion at the La Merced monastery, to have a crucified Christ at the moment of expiration, when he looks up to heaven.
Despite being near death, the body contorts in an ascending movement forming opposing curves, creating the ‘serpentinatta line’, so characteristic of Mannerism. In this way, the master manages to capture, through the tension in the body and face, the expression of a dying man punished by the enormous effort of taking a last breath and about to expire.
Marcos de Cabrera models for the Brotherhood of the Expiration a work with a truly innovative approach, both conceptually, for the moment of the Passion it represents, and artistically. With his chisel, he manages to capture, in the gesture of his face, human suffering at its highest expression.
The presentation of the document of the month of April was attended by the territorial delegate of Culture and Sports, Carmen Ortiz, the director of the Provincial Historical Archive of Seville, Braulio Vázquez, and the archivist and person in charge of the document of the month, María de los Ángeles Luna.
The document of the month or ‘documés’ is an activity organized every month by the Provincial Historical Archive of Seville. Its purpose is to exhibit documents preserved in this center, chosen for their uniqueness and content, that are relevant to illustrate a historical event being commemorated at that time. It also showcases documents that stand out for their peculiar graphic characteristics, such as maps, engravings, drawings, or photographs. On this occasion, the document coincides with the 450th anniversary of the founding of the Brotherhood of El Museo.