Gezicht op de Giralda en de Kathedraal van Sevilla 1862 - 1876

Jean Andrieu created this stereograph of the Giralda and Cathedral of Seville at an unknown date. Produced in the 19th century, this photograph speaks to the rise of secular institutions and their appropriation of religious spaces. Stereographs such as this one became popular in the mid-19th century. While photography had previously been used for scientific documentation or portraiture, it was beginning to be valued for its aesthetic qualities. This is a photograph of a sacred space, a cathedral, but it is also something of a tourist souvenir. We see here the Cathedral of Seville, which was constructed in the early 16th century on the site of a former mosque. The minaret of the mosque, the Giralda, was preserved and converted into a bell tower. The image is fascinating because it shows how cultural memory persists in architecture, even as institutions evolve. To understand this image, you might consider the history of religious architecture, the development of photography, and the rise of tourism as a social phenomenon.