.9.  THE CHAPEL

The ceremony of veiling during Philip II and Anna of Austria's nuptial Mass was celebrated here. It has a Mudéjar caissoned ceiling. The main altarpiece from the Castilian school (16th century) consists of seventeen panels with biblical scenes from the New Testament and a seated sculpture of St. Barbara.

The other altarpiece, a Gothic one, also from the Castilian school (15^th century), consists of seven panels showing St James "Matamoros" (lit.: Moorkiller), St. Sebastian, St. Agatha, St. Vincent and St Bridget. Below, there are two choir seats on the backs of which are carved the busts of Isabel and Fernando respectively.

On the opposite wall you can see the painting "The Epiphany" by Bartolomé Carducho (1600).

A 16^th century wrought iron gate leads to the antechapel, the walls of which are decorated with tile-panelling from Talavera. We go out of the antechapel and into the CLOCK COURTYARD, so named because there is a sundial on one of the walls; another door leads to the MONARCHS' BALCONY, also called the WELL COURTYARD.