The Grave Goods of Beatriz of Suabia: Elements for an Iconographical Proposal About the Queen’s Simulachrum in the Royal Chapel of the Cathedral of Seville

Abstract

This article will analyze the importance of the personality of the Queen Beatrice of Swabia in the project of the Royal Chapel inside Seville’s Cathedral. For this reason, we will focus in the study of Queen’s grave goods, primarily her pillow, embroidered with secular scenes well connected with many productions of Frederick II and his circle, as the fresco painting of the Palazzo Finco in Bassano del Grappa, assuming a nuptial function. We will also provide historical accounts related to the fecho del imperio that help us to date the simulacro or statue of Beatrice inside the artistic production of Alfonso X. Finally we will make an iconographic proposal for the statue or Beatrice of Swabia in the Royal Chapel inside Seville’s Cathedral.