La Merced (Mercy).

Venerable and Distinguished Brotherhood of the Holy Sacrament and Brotherhood of Penitents of Our Father Humble Jesus in the Crowning with Thorns and Our Mother and Lady Mary of Mercy.

HISTORY.
It was founded in 1954 by a group of parishioners led by priest Manuel Márquez González. Most of them came from Barcelona and they worked for the factory Cepansa. They chose this Virgin of Merced (Mercy), in memory of the patron of their home town.
On Holy Monday 1958 they went along the official itinerary for the first time. In 1976 the current image of the Virgen de la Merced (Virgin of Mercy) was blessed and in 1978 so was the new sculpture of Señor de la Coronación (Lord of the Crowning), whose first procession took place in 1980.
As years go by, the heritage of the brotherhood grows and they start consolidating their own particular features, which they have today. During this period, the pace of Our Lady is provided with a canopy, the new image of Our Lord is made and blessed, the canopy pace is finished with the appearance it has today, Christmas campaigns are organised for the disadvantaged or a collaboration is established with the Provincial Prison. In 1997 the new pace of mystery is started, whose first phase was in procession for the first time that Holy Week. That year, they requested the General Canonry for the brotherhood to go back to Holy Monday after five years when their procession was held on Holy Friday.

TEMPLE.
Parish of San Antonio de Padua. It is located at the end of Agrupación Córdoba Avenue. The brotherhood starts its procession from a place annexed to the temple, where they have a large space with the Brotherhood’s Headquarters in the middle. The temple has three naves separated by columns, which was a typical construction for temples in our city in the 50s.

THE IMAGES.
Nuestro Padre Jesús Humilde en su Coronación de Espinas (Our Father Humble Jesus in his Crowning with Thorns) – [PHOTO #1; #2]
Image made in 1978 by religious sculptor from Seville Francisco Buiza Fernández. It is accompanied by three more images, an executioner and two Romans, made by sculptor from Jerez Francisco Pinto Barraquero around 1985. The scene represents the moment when a Roman puts the crown of thorns on the Lord’s forehead, with the help of a cane, while an executioner is mocking: Long live the King of the Jews!
The seated figure is holding the cane with his tense hands in a mockery gesture of his royalty. He is anatomically perfect, with muscles, slightly leaning forward, while turning his head left and looking at the sky in a begging attitude. His face shows a great expressive strength, whose untidy hair mixes with the sharp thorns of his crown, which perfectly fits the sculpture. We can highlight its intense polychromywith green shades, which gives it a pathetic and heartbreaking character, typical of the Neobaroque by which the author is characterised.
Nuestro Padre Jesús Humilde en su Coronación de Espinas (Our Father Humble Jesus in his Crowning with Thorns) has been considered one of the best works by Buiza Fernández, and one of the most outstanding ones in the contemporary religious sculpture in Córdoba. It is a challenging composition, with detailed anatomy, only covered by a fine creased shroud, where the author has carefully represented the muscles and veins, which are swollen by the blows received, as well as the bruises and blood caused by the flogging. He is left beaten down and without any strength, that strength needed to finish his mission on the Earth and which he seems to be asking from the Father by looking up at the sky.

Nuestra Madre y Señora Santa María de la Merced (Our Mother and Lady Saint Mary of Mercy) – [PHOTO #1; #2]
The Virgen de la Merced (Virgin of Mercy), like the previous case, was made by sculptor Francisco Buiza Fernández in 1976 when they realised it was impossible to repair the Virgin donated by Rafael Rodríguez de Ortega, which was the one taken in procession between 1955 and 1975.
The Virgen de la Merced (Virgin of Mercy) is a figure to be dressed, whose face shows a great beauty and calmness. Her chin is a bit marked and her eyebrows slightly frowned. She has straight nose and parted lips, which highlight her gesture of contained pain.
Originally, they thought about the possibility of using the old Virgin’s hands for the new sculpture, but new ones were eventually commissioned to Buiza, and the old ones are nowadays kept in the Brotherhood’s Headquarters.

NAZARENE HABIT.
Ivory tunic, cape and scapular, and leather belt.

IMPORTANT INSIGNIAS.
 Guiding Cross and lanterns carved by silversmith from Seville Manuel de los Ríos; they were restored by José María Navarro. In the higher part of the cross, two angels carry the Mercedarian crest and a crown of thorns, on both sides of the Sweet Name of Jesus in its centre.
 Penitential flag (1998), made in bone-colour damask with a red cross on a pole and finished by silversmith Ramón León Peñuelas.
 Metal crown of thorns that remembers the iconographic moment of the image of the Lord.
 Sacramental Guide (1999) with embroidery by workshop of Caro from Seville. Designed by Francisco Pérez Artes and pole by León Peñuelas.
 Regulations Book covered in red velvet and silver edges, with the Mercedarian crest carved and fixed in the centre.
 Conceptionist flag embroidered over light blue damask by Mercedes Castro Pareja. Designed by Antonio Cuadrado and pole and finish in silversmithing by León Peñuelas.
 Banner of the brotherhood (1988) with carved pole by the workshops of Villarreal and red velvet cloth embroidered in the workshops of Paquita Aguayo and Antonio Pozo according to a drawing by Brother Ricardo of Córdoba.
 Horns by Manuel de los Ríos restored by José María Navarro.
 Pennant for the Band of Cornets and Drums of Coronación de Espinas (Crowning with Thorns) (2001), embroidered in gold by Francisco Pérez Artés, according to his own design and that of Manuel Valera. The finish has a silver San Rafaeldesigned and made by Manuel Valera and the pole is made of silver metal by Díaz Roncero.
 Gilded silver Crown of the Virgin (2001) by the workshops of Díaz Roncero according to a design by Manuel Valera.