7. Chapel of the Virgin of the Head (Virgen de la Cabeza)
Video guide
7. Chapel of the Virgin of the Head (Virgen de la Cabeza)
The Chapel of the Virgin of the Head is one of the first chapels sponsored by the most important families in the city after the construction of the current Collegiate Church was completed. Originally dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist, it changed its dedication in the 19th century, although the coat of arms of the family that ordered it to be built, the Morlanes, is still on the façade.
The façade, dating from the first third of the 17th century, follows the same architectural model as the chapel of the White Virgin, with two pilasters, entablature and curved pediment split with volutes. The stucco decoration on the exterior combines masks, children and plant motifs, while the interior, which is shallow, is decorated with lacework on the vault.
The altarpiece, in gilded and polychrome wood, has an octagonal plan and was made around the last third of the 18th century. The polychrome imitates jasper, and the gilding is used on the cornices, profiles and relief decoration, very much in the rococo style. Two columns with carved shafts with grooves in the lower third and surrounded by floral garlands in the upper ones divide the central body into three sections. In each of these aisles there is a niche decorated with rocaille motifs, housing the images of the Virgin of the Head in the central one, which is also decorated with mirrors, Saint Blaise of Sebaste on the left and Saint Francis of Paola on the right.
The presence of the Tau cross in the cartouche above the image of the Virgin suggests its provenance from the extinct convent of Saint Anthony, indicating that this altarpiece arrived at the Collegiate Church after 1835.
