The convent of San Pablo was founded right after the conquest of Córdoba by Fernando III. The convent was then named after San Pablo, since the city was taken that holy day. The church was built between the last third of the XIIIth century and the first third of the XIVth. During the XVth century the church underwent some work and after, during the XVIIIth, it was reformed following a baroque fashion. During the XIXth century, due to Mendizabal’s ecclesiastical confiscations, the order of the Dominicans lost the church. In the course of the century the Monastery and the cloisters were demolished given their dilapidated state. In 1897 the Bishop of Córdoba entrusted the church to the Order of the Claretians, and under the patronage of father Pueyo they begun its restoration. The construction had the wise advise of architect Castiñeira and sculptor Mateo Inurria. Its bell carillon, bought by the very same father Pueyo in the Paris Universal Exposition of 1900, is one the few of its kind in Spain.
Among all the mighty architecture of the temple, there is an element of great value –even more if we take into account that Cordoba has very little of this art–. I’m referring to the stained glass in its windows that, along with those in the major temple, are the most interesting and valuable in the city. They are not Gothic nor Renaissance, they were installed at the beginning of the XXth century, although the order was placed around 1898.
The House Maumejean was in charge of it. They were a family of glass workers that came from France in 1860 and that, at the end of the century, given the vast number of orders, due to the general monument restoration program implemented by the Government, opened their main workshop in Spain. Throughout the century, their excellent stained glass work flooded Spain. There is hardly a cathedral or a State owned building lacking a stained glass made by the Maumejean brothers. The firm had more than two hundred workers and most of the stained glass artists that would later revitalize this art in our country learned the trade there.
What is truly interesting about the stained glass of San Pablo’s church is that the moment in which they were ordered was also the moment the two sons of Jules Pierre Maumejean open their workshop in Madrid. The stained glass was purely Gothic and had nothing to do with the later Renaissance fashion, it is very likely that the pattern used was made by the father. San Pablo’s stained glass, for instance, still employed lead to draw, join and separate shapes. The grisaille technique is brilliantly mastered in carnations and clothing –of higher quality than their later work as lead took on a secondary role–. The House Maumejean closed its doors in Spain around 1950. As of today its cardboards and drawings are preserved in the Royal Factory of Glass and Crystal of La Granja.
I think these stained glass works are the best and most interesting ones made in Spain by the Maumejean brothers. They are not particularly big in size so they usually go a bit unnoticed, I suggest you look for them because they are worthwhile.
Although I managed to gather a lot of them, I am certain that there are some missing. Taking good pictures of these stained glass works is not easy.