The iconographic programme that unfolds on the walls and ceilings of the church is thought to have been undertaken at the suggestion of Murillo's friend, Canon Justino de Neve. Murillo painted a portrait of the canon, which was hung in the hospital and is now in the National Gallery in London. In addition to its richly decorated walls, the church was also adorned with sculptures by Pedro Roldán (St Ferdinand and St Peter), decoratively tiled altar tables of Genoese origin and niches with rare silver and coral pieces. The sacristy features an extraordinary ceiling on which Valdés Leal depicted the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Taken as a whole, the building is a unique visual treasure of Sevillian Baroque.

Focus-Abengoa and Abengoa, the company responsible for the Foundation, restored and renovated the old 17th-century hospital, fully respecting its singular architecture. The architect Fernando Chueca Goitia, in cooperation with his colleague Ramón Queiro Filgueira, designed a restoration project that maintained the spirit of the original construction, respecting its substance, form and architectural language, while fully renovating the old building: structural strengthening of floors, vaults, roofs and walls; the laying of new surfacing and the installation of modern electricity, air conditioning, security and water systems, etc.; all types of carpentry work; new decorative finishes; cleaning and mounting of decorative elements, from the wall, ceiling, vault and dome paintings to the altarpieces, canvases, sculptures and gold and silver work. The purpose of the refurbishment was to return this veritable work of art to the people of Seville as a setting in which to stage important cultural events and to offer the city a specialised library, a collection of engravings, a musical auditorium, the church, enhanced by the construction of an organ, conference and seminar rooms and various exhibition rooms equipped with the latest museum technology.

The former Hospital de los Venerables therefore became the headquarters building of the Focus-Abengoa Foundation, officially inaugurated by Her Majesty Queen Sofía on 5 November 1991.