The bronze Giraldillo crowning the tower

The Giraldillo is the popular name for the feminine sculpture that crowns the Giralda. It received the names Fe, triunfo de la iglesia, Coloso de la fe victoriosa, or Alegoría de la fortaleza de la Fe. Created in 1568 by Bartolomé Morel, the statue sits atop a large bronze ball paid for in 1566. The work was likely influenced by the designer Luis de Vargas, who knew Italian models, and possibly the architect Hernán Ruiz el Joven. Together with Vázquez el Viejo, these figures helped introduce Roman Mannerism to the region.

The sculpture's design shows similarities to several works. Its helmet resembles the Minerva that adorns the base of Benvenuto Cellini's Perseo, and the head shares similarities with a Juno in the Quattro Fontane in Rome. It also bears a resemblance to a relief of Minerva in a plate from the Hildesheim treasury, which dates between 50 BC and 50 AD. Joris Hoefnagel depicted the sculpture in a 1573 panoramic view, though he took some liberties with its form as he had not seen the finished statue.

While the statue serves as a weather vane, its ability to turn with the wind is what originally gave it the name Giraldillo, which eventually came to refer to the entire tower. In 1568, Antón Pérez performed gilding and painting on the statue. The sculpture has since inspired buildings across several continents, though only the Giralda in Kansas City possesses a nearly exact replica. Another reproduction, called Giraldilla, was created in 1632 by Jerónimo González to crown the tower of the castle of the Real Fuerza in Havana.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons