College of Our Lady of Antigua

The College of Nosa Señora da Antiga is located in the town of Monforte de Lemos (Lugo, Spain), in the Ribeira Sacra. Built in the Herreriano, the school is often known as El Escorial of Galicia, being of the few manifestations of this style in this community.

It is forever linked to the figure of its founder, Cardinal Rodrigo de Castro, perhaps the last great ecclesiastical prince of the Renaissance in Spain, Archbishop of Seville, great benefactor of Monforte, and patron of the arts.

The college was a Seminary until 1773 and later a University, displaying up to seven chairs in a time when it was not yet established in the province. Originally run by the Jesuits, their order was expelled from Spain, through the Pragmatic Sanction of 1767 led to the elimination of any existing symbol to remember their existence in the country.

The church has an altar of wood, carved by Francisco de Moure, which could not be completed in his life and was completed by his son. On one side of the altar, it is possible to observe a praying statue of Cardinal Rodrigo de Castro, created by John of Bologna, and highly regarded for its perfection and uniqueness. The statue, located on the remains of Cardinal, is confronted with a picture of Our Lady of Antigua. Behind the painting was another tomb, and various studies revealed that it was the mother of the Cardinal.

The school has two cloisters, and appears to be incomplete in its west wing. It also has an important art gallery, which highlights several Greco. Foremost among these is a masterly Francis of Assisi, which seems to wonder about life and death while holding a skull. According to critics and experts, it is a work of such high quality that matches or even exceeds that of the known works of the artist, constituting one of the crowning achievements of El Greco.

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