The Garden

Brotherhood and Confraternity of Our Father Jesus in the Prayer at the Garden, the Lord Bound to the Column, and Holy Mary of Candelaria and Saint Eligius, Bishop.

History

Founded at the beginning of the 17th century in the now-vanished parish of San Nicolás de la Ajerquía. After a very active 18th century, it gradually declined and disappeared in 1961. From that date, it underwent several attempts at reorganization, which finally succeeded in 1975. In 1977, it moved to its current location, the Parish of San Francisco and San Eulogio, incorporating the image of the Lord Bound to the Column among its titular figures, together with Holy Mary of Candelaria. In 1992, the Brotherhood assumed Saint Eligius, Bishop, as a co-titular.

Temple

Church of San Francisco and San Eulogio. This church belonged to the now-defunct convent of San Pedro el Real, founded by Ferdinand III and held by the Franciscans until the confiscations of the 19th century.

The Titular Images

Our Father Jesus in the Prayer at the Garden

An anonymous work, believed to date from the 17th century, it was then venerated in the now-vanished Parish of San Nicolás and San Eulogio in the popular Axerquía neighborhood. The scene represents the moment when, after the Last Supper, Jesus goes to the Garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives, accompanied by Peter, James, and John. When He was alone, truly alone, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as you will”. Then, an angel from heaven appeared to Him and gave Him strength, and being in agony, He prayed even more fervently.

The image of Our Father Jesus in the Prayer at the Garden is depicted kneeling, with His head slightly turned toward where the angel is located. His hair is sculpted as if blown by a strong wind, revealing His forehead. The hands are rendered with great delicacy and realism, as are the feet, where even the smallest anatomical detail can be appreciated.

There has been much speculation about the authorship of the work, but the most accepted theory today is that it belongs to the circle of Pedro de Mena, as suggested by Don Alberto Villar.

The scene is completed with the figure of an Angel. The first carving was replaced by another in the late 1940s, made of plaster by Camacho, inspired by the Angel created by Francisco Salzillo in the 18th century for the Brotherhood of the Prayer in the Garden of Holy Week in Murcia. This figure was used in processions until 1982, when the brotherhood commissioned the current sculpture from Miguel Arjona, carved in Flanders pine wood and polychromed following the tradition of 18th-century Andalusian image-makers.

Our Father Imprisoned and Bound to the Column

In the 19th century, when the brotherhood of Jesus in the Garden moved to the Church of San Francisco and San Eulogio, the image of Our Father Imprisoned and Bound to the Column, which was venerated in the Conventual Church of the Franciscan Fathers, was incorporated into the brotherhood. As with the previous image, there has been speculation about its authorship, although its origin from Granada is the only certain detail.

The scene depicts the moment when Jesus is bound to the column to be scourged as punishment. In the past, the image was processed accompanied by two tormentors and a Roman. The sculpture reflects the harshness of the wounds caused by the whippings, although the pain does not overshadow the tenderness of Christ’s face.

Jesus is shown leaning on a column, with His hands crossed and His gaze lifted toward heaven. He is a slender Christ, with defined musculature, showing anatomical details such as veins and bones at the joints and chest.

Our Father Imprisoned and Bound to the Column made its last penitential procession in 1962, and it wasn’t until 2003, after its last restoration by José A. Navarro, that it was definitively incorporated into the brotherhood’s processional lineup.

Holy Mary of Candelaria

At the end of 1974, it was agreed to replace the former image of Holy Mary of the Seven Glorious Sorrows with a new one, and to change the invocation to Holy Mary of Candelaria, a name closely linked to the San Francisco neighborhood and with strong tradition among the locals. The image was commissioned from Don Antonio Rubio that same year.

The sculpture features an oval face, brown eyes, and a small, slightly open mouth, which adds to its dramatic expression. The hands are open, with fingers slightly curved inward.

Nazarene Habit

Dark green tunic, white merino face cover and cape, Franciscan cord, and white buttons.

Notable Insignias

• Guide Cross chased in silver-plated alpaca, crafted by the Sevillian silversmith Manuel de los Ríos (1979).
• Lanterns chased in silver-plated alpaca from the Sevillian workshop Hijos de Juan Fernández.
• Heralding trumpets chased in silver-plated alpaca from the same workshop, with olive green velvet banners designed by Rafael Carmona and Rafael Gavilán, embroidered in the brotherhood’s workshops.
• Senatus from the Hijos de Juan Fernández workshop, with olive green velvet banner by Rafael Carmona and Rafael Gavilán. Anonymous 17th-century silver chalice, processed on a green velvet cushion.
• Brotherhood standard in the shape of a labarum, made of olive green velvet and embroidered in gold by Antonio Rincón.
• “Simpecado” banner donated by the Association of Silversmiths, Jewelers, and Watchmakers of Córdoba, featuring paintings by Luis López Perea and gold embroidery by the workshops of Piedad Muñoz Rodríguez, designed by Fray Ricardo of Córdoba.