PROVINCE OF MALAGA.

The Cathedral at Málaga has beautiful baroque choir stalls by Pedro de Mena (1658-78), which contrast the building´s classic lines.

Mena´s 42 pieces are the work of different artists and carvers. They can be described as melancholy and intimate and create intense emotion.

Another exceptional work is the dome of the church of Santo Cristo (Iglesia del Santo Cristo) by Alonso Cortés (1639-43). It rises in the centre of a circular ground plan to a great optical effect, simulating architectural features that frame saints, martyrs and chubby angels.

The 18th century Pantheon of the Counts of Buena Vista is interesting for its atmosphere. It is of white stucco on a black back-ground, in Santuario de la Victoria.

Two paintings are exceptionally interesting: Alonso Cano´s brightly coloured Our Lady of the Rosary over the altar in the chapel of El Rosario in the Cathedral, and Allegory of Charity by Niño de Guevara (1690-98), a dense baroque composition.

The Municipal Museum at Antequera holds the piece chosen to close this list of suggestions. It is the bronze Ephebe, the figure of a naked youth, girded by ivy leaves and bunches of grapes. It came from a Roman villa in the fertile plains of Antequera and is a Roman version of the original 5th century BC Greek interpretation, with parallels in Volubilis (Morocco) and Pompeii.