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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/31966-0.txt b/31966-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d5e2439 --- /dev/null +++ b/31966-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9148 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Cathedrals of Spain, by John A. (John Allyne) +Gade + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Cathedrals of Spain + + +Author: John A. (John Allyne) Gade + + + +Release Date: April 12, 2010 [eBook #31966] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN*** + + +E-text prepared by Chuck Greif and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images +generously made available by Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the numerous original illustrations. + See 31966-h.htm or 31966-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31966/31966-h/31966-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31966/31966-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://www.archive.org/details/cathedralsofspai00gadeiala + + + + +CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +NEW CATHEDRAL] + +[Illustration: SALAMANCA] + + +CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN + +by + +JOHN ALLYNE GADE + +Fully Illustrated + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + +Boston and New York +Houghton Mifflin Company +The Riverside Press Cambridge +1911 + +Copyright, 1911, by John A. Gade +All Rights Reserved + +Published February 1911 + + + +TO +THE LAST CHÂTELAINE +OF FROGNER HOVEDGAARD + +IN REVERENCE, GRATITUDE +AND AFFECTION + + + + +PREFACE + + +In the last dozen years many English books on Spain have appeared. They +have dealt with their subject from the point of view of the artist or +the historian, the archæologist, the politician, or the mere sight-seer. +The student of architecture, or the traveler, desiring a more intimate +or serious knowledge of the great cathedrals, has had nothing to consult +since Street published his remarkable book some forty years ago. There +have been artistic impressions, as well as guide-book recitations, by +the score. Some have been excellent, though few have surpassed the older +ones of Dumas, père, and Gautier, or Baedeker's later guide-book. A year +ago appeared the second and last volume of Señor Lamperez y Romea's +"Historia de la Arquitectura Cristiana Española en la Edad Media," a +work so comprehensive and scholarly that it practically stands alone. + +It has seemed to me that certain buildings, and especially cathedrals, +cannot be properly studied quite apart from what surrounds them, or from +their past history. To look comprehendingly up at cathedral vaults and +spires, one must also look beyond them at the city and the people and +times that created them. In some such setting, the study of Avila, +Salamanca the elder and the younger, Burgos, Toledo, Leon, Segovia,Seville, and +Granada is here attempted, in the hope it will not prove +too technical for the ordinary traveler, nor too superficial for the +student of architecture. The cathedrals selected cover nearly all +periods of Gothic art, as interpreted in Spain, as well as the earlier +Romanesque and succeeding Renaissance, with which the Gothic was +mingled. All the great churches were the work of different epochs and +consequently contain several styles of architecture. The series here +described is very incomplete, but the book would have grown too bulky +had it included Santiago da Compostella with its heavenly portal, and +Barcelona or Gerona, Lerida or Tudela. + +Whether we read a page of Cervantes, or gaze on one of Velasquez's +faces, or wander through one of the grand cathedrals of Spain, we +realize that this great world-empire has never ceased to exist in +matters of art, but still in the twentieth century must rouse our wonder +and admiration. In barren deserts, on parched and lonely plains, amid +hovels crumbling to decay, still stand the monuments of Spain's +greatness. But if nowhere else in the world can one find such glorious +works of art surrounded by such squalor, let us draw from the past the +promise of a revival in Spain of all that constitutes the true greatness +of a nation. In the fourth century, Bishop Hosius of Cordova was, from +every point of view, the first living churchman--Cordova itself became, +under the Ammeyad Caliphs in the tenth century, the most civilized, the +most learned, and the loveliest capital in Europe. Three hundred years +later, Alfonso X of Castile was not only a distinguished linguist and +poet, but the greatest astronomer and lawgiver of his age. When the +Spanish people have once more made education as general as it was under +the accomplished Arabs, and adopted the division of power insisted on +in a letter from Bishop Hosius to the Emperor Constantius, "Leave +ecclesiastical affairs alone.... We are not allowed to rule the earth," +they will take the rank their character and genius deserve among the +nations. Their cathedrals will then stand in an environment befitting +their grandeur, a society which will help them to transmit to coming +generations the noblest, imperishable hopes of humanity. + +JOHN ALLYNE GADE. + +NEW YORK CITY. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. SALAMANCA 1 + + II. BURGOS 31 + + III. AVILA 65 + + IV. LEON 89 + + V. TOLEDO 119 + + VI. SEGOVIA 165 + + VII. SEVILLE 189 + + VIII. GRANADA 237 + + BOOKS CONSULTED 267 + + INDEX 269 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +NEW CATHEDRAL OF SALAMANCA (page 24) _Frontispiece_ + +CATHEDRALS OF SALAMANCA: The towers of the old and new buildings 3 + +CATHEDRALS OF SALAMANCA: Plans 6 + +THRESHING OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF SALAMANCA 10 + +CATHEDRAL OF SALAMANCA: The Tower of the Cock 16 + +SALAMANCA: From the Vega 28 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: West front 33 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: Plan 36 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: View of the nave 40 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: Lantern over the crossing 46 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: The Golden Staircase 50 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: The Chapel of the Constable 54 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: The spires above the house-tops 58 + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA 67 + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA: Plan 68 + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA: Exterior of the apse turret 72 + +AVILA: From outside the walls 80 + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA: Main entrance 86 + +CATHEDRAL OF LEON: From the southwest 91 + +CATHEDRAL OF LEON: Plan 94 + +CATHEDRAL OF LEON: Looking up the nave 98 + +CATHEDRAL OF LEON: Rear of apse 104 + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO 121 + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO: Plan 124 + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO: The choir stalls 140 + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO: Chapel of Santiago, tombs of Alvaro +de Luna and his spouse 158 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA 167 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA: Plan 170 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA: From the Plaza 176 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE: The Giralda, from the Orange Tree Court 191 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE: Plan 194 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE: Gateway of Perdon in the Orange Tree Court 210 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE AND THE GIRALDA 228 + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA: West front 239 + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA: Plan 242 + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA: The exterior cornices of the Royal Chapel 248 + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA: The reja enclosing the +Royal Chapel and tombs of the Catholic Kings 256 + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA: The tombs of the Catholic Kings, +of Philip and of Queen Juana 262 + + + + +I + +SALAMANCA + +[Illustration: Photo by Author + +CATHEDRALS OF SALAMANCA + +The towers of the old and new buildings] + + + + +CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN + + + + +I + +SALAMANCA + + In quella parte ove surge ad aprire + Zeffiro dolce le novelle fronde, + Di che si vede Europa rivestire. + + _Paradiso_, c. XII, l. 46. + + +I + +Nowhere else in Spain, and certainly in few places outside her borders, +can one take in the whole architectural development of successive styles +and ages so comprehensively as in Salamanca. Byzantine and Romanesque, +Gothic from its first fire to the last flicker and coldness of the +ashes, and the triumphant domination of the reborn classicism,--all are +massed together here. + +Contrasts are eloquent to belittle or magnify. Here two cathedrals stand +side by side, the older from the days of the Kingdom, a mere chapel in +size compared to the larger and later expression of Imperial Spain. A +David beside a Goliath, simple power by the side of ponderous +self-assurance. Rude in its simplicity, seemingly unconscious of its +great inheritance and the genius it embodies, the old church stands a +monument of early virile effort, in strength and poetry akin to the +wind-swept rocks round which still whisper mysterious Oriental legends. +The huge bulk that overshadows it betrays exhausted vigor and a decadent +form. Here is simplicity by complexity, majestic sobriety close to +wanton magnificence, poise by restlessness; each speaks the language of +the age that conceived and brought it forth. Proximity has compelled the +odiousness of comparison, for you can never see the later Cathedral +apart from the old. You are haunted by the salience of their divergency, +the importance of their contrasts, until their meaning becomes so far +clear to you that the solid blocks of the ancient temple seem to +symbolize the Church Militant and Triumphant. That indomitable spirit +did not meet you under the mighty arches of the newer church, but go +into the hushed perfection of those abandoned walls and walk along the +dismantled nave and you will repeat the old epithet coupled with the +city, "Fortis Salamanca!" + +This once famous town lay in a curious setting as seen from the +cock-tower in the month of August. Here and there were rusty, +copper-colored fields, where the plow had just furrowed the surface. +There were vineyards in which the sandy, white mounds were tufted by the +deep emerald of the grape-vines, but the prevailing color was the yellow +straw of harvested fields. These were a busy scene,--laborers were +driving their oxen harnessed to primitive carts and treading out the +grain as in olden times. They made their rounds between the high yellow +cones built up of grain-stalks and filled the hot air with golden dust. + +This is Salamanca of to-day, seemingly robbed of all but her rich +vowels. The whole city, like her two cathedrals, bears traces of the +dynasties that have swept over her. Their footprints are everywhere. +Hannibal's legions passed through Roman Salmantica on their victorious +march to Rome, and the city soon afterwards became a military station in +the province of Lusitania. Plutarch praises the valor of her women. Age +after age generals have built her bridges and the towers and walls that +surround the valley and the three hills, on one of which stands her +supreme mediæval creation. + +From the eighth century Salamanca became an apple of discord between +Moslem bands and the forces of early Castilian kings, Crescent and Cross +constantly supplanting each other on her turrets. Not until the latter +half of the eleventh century, in the days of King Alfonso VI, were the +Moors driven south of Leon, and Salamanca could at last claim to be body +and soul Christian. The safety of the city was finally assured by +Alfonso's conquest of Toledo. + +The university, destined to become so famous, was founded by Alfonso IX +about 1230. Among the Arab rulers in Spain, there were not a few as +eager as their co-believers in eastern Islam to learn all that the +civilized world could teach in art and science. The Caliphate of Cordova +had from the tenth century drawn to its schools and academies +proficients in astronomy, mathematics, and jurisprudence, as well as in +the more graceful arts of music, rhetoric, and poetry. The monks of +Cluny, belonging to the Order of Saint Benedict, then the most +influential in Europe, now became domiciled in Salamanca under the +protection of King Alfonso. They contributed the arts of France, +preëminently architecture, and the training of their order as +instructors and veracious compilers of historical annals to the learning +and skill already established by the followers of Mahomet in several +cities of the Spanish Peninsula. Thus the science and arts of the Orient +joined forces with those of the Occident within the strong walls of +Salamanca and founded there an illustrious seat of learning. Only three +universities, Oxford,[1] Paris, and Bologna, could boast a greater age, +but Salamanca soon attained such eminence as to rank with these by papal +decree among the "four lamps of the world." In the sixteenth century, +she numbered over seven thousand scholars. Among those destined to +become famous in the world's history were Saint Dominic, Ignatius +Loyola, Fray Luis of Leon, and Calderon. + +To-day solitude and intellectual stagnation reign in the halls and +courts of this once renowned university. In a few half-empty +lecture-rooms the rustic now receives an elementary education, as he +listens to the cathedral chimes across the sunlit courtyard. + +Within the crumbling crenelations of the ancient battlements twenty-four +once large parishes are more or less abandoned or laid waste with their +convents, monasteries, and palaces. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLANS OF NEW AND OLD CATHEDRALS OF SALAMANCA + + A. Old Cathedral. + B. New Cathedral. + C, C. Crossing. + D. Cloisters. + E. Choir. + F. Apse. + G, G. Apsidal Chapels. + H. Altar.] + +The history of Salamanca's ecclesiastical architecture is connected with +the campaigns which were carried on in Castile and Leon at the end of +the eleventh and the beginning of the twelfth centuries. These had +established the dominion of King Alfonso VI, and the great influence +of the distinguished immigrant prelates of the French orders. King +Alfonso left Castile to his daughter Urraca, who, with her husband, +Count Raymond of Burgundy, settled in Salamanca. The old city, which had +suffered so long and terribly from the successive fortunes of war and +its quickly shifting masters, was once more to feel the blessings of law +and order. To replace its sad depopulation, Count Raymond allotted the +various portions of the city to newcomers of the most different +nationalities,--Castilians, Gallegos, Mozarabes, Basques, and Gascons. +Among them were naturally pilgrims and monks, who played an important +part in every colonizing enterprise of the day, introducing new ideas, +arts, and craftsmen's skill. After his conquest of Toledo, Alfonso VIplaced on +the various episcopal thrones of his new dominion Benedictine +monks of Cluny,--men of unusual ability and energy. The great Bernard, +who had been crowned Archbishop of Toledo, had brought with him many +brethren from the mother house, whose patrimony was architecture. Among +them was a young Frenchman from Périgueux in Aquitaine, Jeronimo +Visquio, whose ability as organizer and builder, up to the time of his +death in 1120, left great results wherever he labored, and most +especially in Salamanca. He was the personification of the Church +Militant of his time,--fighting side by side with the most romantic hero +of Spanish history and legend, confessing him on his death-bed, and +finally consigning him to his tomb. Jeronimo was transferred from the +See of Valencia to that of Zamora, to which Salamanca was subject, and +shortly afterwards Salamanca was elevated to episcopal dignity by Pope +Calixtus II, Count Raymond's brother. Even in the days of the Goths, we +find mention of prelates of Salamanca who voiced their ideas in the +Councils of Toledo, and later followed, for such scanty protection as it +offered, the Court of the early Castilian kings. In calling Jeronimo to +Salamanca, Raymond had, however, a very different purpose in mind from +that of attaching to his court an already celebrated churchman. He +understood the vital importance of building up within his city a +powerful episcopal seat with a great church. Grants and other assistance +were at once given the churchman and were in fact continued through +successive reigns until, with indulgences, benefices, and privileges, it +grew to be a feudal power. As late as the fifteenth century, the workmen +of the Cathedral were exempted from tributes and duties by the Spanish +kings.[2] During the first years of Jeronimo's activity and the earliest +work on the building, we find curious descriptions of how the Moorish +prisoners were put to work on the walls, even to the number of "five +hundred Moslem carpenters and masons." + +The Cathedral stands upon one of the hills of the old city. The exact +date of its inception, as well as the name of the original architect, is +doubtful, but it is certain that it was begun not long after the year +1100. At Jeronimo's death it could not have been far advanced, but the +crossing and the Capilla Mayor could be consecrated and employed for +services in the middle of the century, and the first cloisters were +built soon after. The nave and side aisles followed, their arches being +closed in the middle of the thirteenth century. The lantern was probably +placed over the crossing as late as the year 1200. Following an order +inverse to that pursued by later Gothic architects, the Romanesque +builders finished their work with the eastern end. + +Its building extended over long periods marked by a gain in confidence +and skill and a development of architectural style, so that in its +stones we may read a most interesting story of different epochs, and to +serious students of church-building, the old Cathedral of Salamanca is +possibly the most interesting edifice in Spain. It is magnificent in its +early, virile manhood. The tracing of the many and varied influences is +as fascinating as it is bewildering. Every student and authority on the +subject has a new conception or some definite final conclusion in regard +to its many surprising elements. No student of Spanish architecture has +studied its origin with greater insight or knowledge than Señor Don +Lamperez y Romea in his recent luminous work on Spanish ecclesiastical +architecture. + +To say that the old Cathedral was wholly a French importation would be +unjust; to speak of it as sprung entirely from native precedents and +inspiration would show equal ignorance. No, there were many and subtle +influences affecting its original conception and formation; first of all +and naturally, those derived from Burgundy, now only partially visible, +as for instance the vaulting of the nave. These precedents have been +altered or concealed in the evolution of the building. Byzantine +influences follow,--most obvious in the magnificent dome crowning the +crossing. The School of Aquitaine of course made itself felt through +Bishop Jeronimo as well as several of his successors. Great portions are +Gothic, slightly visible in some of the later exterior work, but +throughout in the last interior portions of the great arches and vaults. + +After carefully considering all these influences and going to their +roots, we may conclude that the old Cathedral of Salamanca is both in +plan and structure a Romanesque church of the Burgundian School built on +Spanish soil by French monks from Cluny, who in their new surroundings +were strongly affected by Byzantine and Oriental influences and possibly +by the original Spanish or Moorish development of the dome. At a later +date, under Aquitaine bishops, certain forms of vaulting characteristic +of their region were adopted as well as devices to bring about the +transition between the circular dome and the square base. + +Strange to say it is a Romanesque church erected at the time when what +are regarded as the finest Gothic cathedrals were being built in France. +The Spaniard clung more tenaciously to the older style, which in many +ways adapted itself better to his climate and requirements, while it +easily flowed into native streams of inspiration to form with them a +mighty whole. The church is neither French nor Spanish nor Arab nor +Italian in its various composition, but distinctly Romanesque in +spirit. + +[Illustration: Photo by Author + +THRESHING OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF SALAMANCA] + +The plan is in general that of the old basilica: a nave with side aisles +of five bays, a crossing prolonged one bay to the south beyond the side +aisle, while to the east the nave and side aisles all terminate in a +semicircular apsidal chapel. A portion of the southern wall of the huge +new Cathedral replaces the northern one of the old church by encroaching +on its side aisle. A flight of eighteen broad stone steps occupies the +northern bay of the old Cathedral's crossing and leads from its +considerably lower pavement up to the level of the new one. To the south +lie the great cloisters. It was a plan which for its time was +undoubtedly as magnificent in scale as it seemed diminutive and +insignificant in the sixteenth century when the new Cathedral was built. + +The massiveness on which the old Romanesque builders depended to obtain +their elevations and support the great weight is most impressive. The +outer walls have in some places a thickness of ten feet and the piers +are much larger in section than those of the new Cathedral which carry +vaults soaring far above the roof of the earlier structure. The choir +had formerly blocked the clear run of the nave; to the good fortune of +the old church and the injury of the new, this was removed to the latter +when it was sufficiently advanced to receive it. Unfortunately, the plan +of the west front was very radically disturbed by the building of the +new Cathedral, the two old towers flanking the entrance being removed +and a narrow passage, which leads into the nave through the immense +later masses of masonry, taking the place of the old entrance. The nave +is 33 feet wide, 190 feet long and 60 feet high; the side aisles are 20 +feet broad, 180 feet long and 40 feet high, thus surprisingly high in +proportion to the nave. + +The main piers which subdivide nave and side aisles are most +interesting, as their greater portion belongs to the original structure. +They are faced by semicircular shafts which carry simple, unmolded, +transverse ribs in the central aisle. A small additional columnar +section is seen in the angles of the piers, supporting in an awkward +position, with the assistance of the interposed corbel, molded, diagonal +vaulting ribs. Columns, reaching to about two thirds of the height of +the tall shafts of the nave, carry the arches separating nave from side +aisles. The undecorated base-molds of the total composite piers are all +supported upon a heavy, widely projecting, common drum, a curious +remnant of the earlier single Byzantine pillar of but one body and base. + +The capitals are among the great glories of the edifice. They are +remarkable from every point of view, and among the finest Byzantine +extant, comparable to the best of Saint Mark's or of Sancta Sofia. The +acanthus leaves are carved with all the jewel-like sparkle and crispness +and the play of light and shade of the best period; the life and spring +of a living stem are in them. Their oriental parentage is apparent at a +glance. Much of the carving is alive with all the fancy and imagination +of the day,--beasts and monsters, real and mythical animals, masks and +contorted human figures and devils interlace on the bells and peer out +from the foliage. The execution is quite unrestrained. It has a +divergency which must have had its unconscious origin in the different +antique caps serving again in the early Byzantine edifices. The ancient +carvers must have realized the full importance of sculptural relief in +their poorly lighted edifices. Again, the corbels which carry the +diagonal ribs are formed by crude contorted beings and animals, in some +instances bearing figures leaning against the lower surfaces of the +diagonal ribs and intended still further to conceal its faulty spring. +At the intersections of the diagonal ribs are bosses with figures at the +salient points. + +With an astonishment verging on incredulity, we look up at the vaulting +supported by these piers. In place of the great Burgundian barrel vaults +above the nave and semicircular arches between nave and side aisles, +there are pointed Gothic transverse arches and quadripartite vaulting of +low spring and simplest sections, but nevertheless ogival. It is evident +both by the appearance of shafts, as well as by other indications, that +it could not have been the original construction, but rather one reached +at a later day when the new art was supplanting the old, a substitution +for the original Romanesque vaulting; the upper windows and the most +glorious lantern are all constructed in the Romanesque style to which +the Spanish builders clung so long and tenaciously in preference to the +subtle and nervous French Gothic which suited neither their temperament +nor conditions. The church must originally have been carried out in +their more native art, which they better understood. + +The western termination of the church is formed by three semicircular +apses crowned by semicircular vaults. In the central one, closed from +the transept by a simple iron reja, stands the high altar backed by a +great Gothic retablo of fifty-five panels and crowned in the vaulting by +a most remarkable painting. In the walls of the niches is a series of +tombs of persons with varying claims to our interest and esteem. Its +original exclusiveness in the reception of royal princes of pure lineage +gave way in the thirteenth century to admit princesses and bastards. +Here lies the Dean of Santiago and Archdeacon of Salamanca, a natural +son of the King of Leon. His mother, owing to her short-comings, got no +farther than the cloister vaults. Some one has extracted from the +archives of the old Cathedral the origin of the ancient mural decoration +above the high altar. On the 15th of December, 1445, the Chapter engaged +the services of Nicholas Florentino, painter, who for a consideration of +75,000 maravedis "of current white Castilian money, which is worth two +old white ones and three new," promised to complete the painting "from +top to bottom." On a rich blue background the Supreme Judge stands in +the centre; to the right, is a regiment of the dead clad in white +raiment, graciously welcomed by angels with trumpets; on the left, the +damned are being hustled into hell by devils. As a well-preserved +example of very ancient Spanish painting, it certainly is of intrinsic +value and interest and recalls the naïve representations of early +Italian artists. + +It is unusually well lighted for a Romanesque church, which is naturally +owing to the dome and not to the various windows or roses. There is no +triforium, but the side walls, transepts, and apses are pierced by +openings of true Romanesque type. The thick masonry has been most +timidly pierced for narrow, round-headed slits of light, with splayed +jambs and colonettes engaged to their sides carrying the typically +ornamented archmolds enframing the whole. The stone mullions of the two +remaining roses are equally timid and typical, but have not suffered +like the windows from the encroachment of the new edifice. + +The pavement undulates like that of Saint Mark's. High above the +crossing of nave and transepts rises the tower flooding the church with +light and internally as well as externally expressing one of the +grandest architectural conceptions of the Spanish Peninsula. + +Superlatives can alone describe the Torre del Gallo,--truly a product +and glory of Spanish soil. Many writers have argued its similarity to +the domes of Aquitaine churches, to Saint Front of Périgueux and others, +but it is distinctly different from and far superior to those with which +it has been compared in the magnificently interposed members of the +drum, which shed light into the church through their openings and raise +the cupola high enough to make of it a finely proportioned, crowning +member. The cupola alone, certainly not the general disposition, may be +regarded as a copy of earlier examples. + +The internal and external cores have been admirably managed, the outer +one being much higher to be in correct proportion to the surrounding +masonry which it crowns. The interior transition from the square to the +round base, twenty-eight feet in diameter, is rather clumsily managed. +The successive masonry courses of the angles step out in Byzantine +fashion in front of each other. The four piers of the crossing, upon +which the pendentives descend, are no larger than the main piers of the +nave. Above the pendentives which stand out, in their undecorated +masonry, the circle is girdled by a carved cyma, above which rises a +double arcade of sixteen arches, each arch flanked by strong and simple +columns with Byzantine caps of barely indicated foliage. Powerful, +intermediate columnar shafts separate the superimposed arcades and carry +on their caps the sixteen ribs that shoot upwards and meet in the great +floral boss at the apex of the inner dome. The lower arcades are +semicircular, the upper, trefoiled, while the intermediate shafts are +broken by two band-courses. All the moldings, and especially the +energetic, muscular ribs, are splendidly simple and vigorous in their +undecorated profiles. The lower arcade is blind, the upper admits light +through timidly slender apertures, with the exception of every fourth +arch, which coincides with an exterior turret. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF SALAMANCA + +The Tower of the Cock] + +Externally the lantern is even more remarkable than internally. As seen +from within, it is faced alternately by four tympanums and four turrets. +These are broken by long, narrow, round-headed openings, vivified by +ball moldings ornamenting the heavy rounding of their splays. The +tympanums, as well as the windows between them, and the turrets are +flanked by a series of Romanesque columns. Their grouping, the deep +reveals and resulting shadows, the play of light and shade brought out +in the foliage of their various caps, which is but indicated in the +simple manner of the style, and the adjacent moldings, all give a most +archaic impression. The roofing of the turrets, as well as that of the +outer dome, suggests a stone coat-of-mail. The flags are laid in +scallops or stepped rows, like the scales of a fish, giving a far +tighter joint than the stone channels covering the roofing of Avila +Cathedral. The outline of the dome is that of a cone with a slightly +modulated curve, perhaps unconsciously affected by a Moorish +delineation. The angles are marked by bold crockets. Above, crowning the +apex, perches the cock, gayly facing whatever part of the heavens the +wind blows from. There is an everlasting triumph in it all, reminding +one not a little of that won at a later date in Santa Maria del Fiore. +Salamanca holds the religious triumph of a militant age; Florence, the +sacred glory of an artistic one. The lofty aspiration, boldly hewn in +the Spanish fortress, is no less admirable than the constructive genius +rounded in Brunelleschi's dome. + +The remainder of the interior is now singularly undecorated and severe. +The entrance has been so much transformed by later additions that, in +place of the original portal and vestibule, there remains only a +vestibule considerably narrower than the nave, compressed on one side by +the huge towers of the new Cathedral, and on the other by later +alterations. The two older towers which contained, one the chimes and +the other the dwelling of the Alcaide, have quite disappeared. The +vestibule has excellent allegorical sculptures and Gothic statuary. + +The northern aisle still has a few mural paintings, but the larger part +of those which once illuminated the bare walls were washed off by a +bigoted prelate in the fifteenth century and the present gray of the +stone, as seen in the dim light, looks cold compared to the rich gold of +the exterior masonry bathed in sunshine. The excellence of the vaulting +is such that to-day hardly a fissure or crack is visible. The old +pavement consists of great rectangles marked by red sandstone borders +and bluestone centre slabs, the size of a grave, with central dowels for +lifting and closing. In the southern transept-arm leading to the +cloisters, some of the original windows are still preserved with their +fine columns, archivolts, and carved moldings. The ribs of the vaults +are decorated by zigzag ornamentation, and here a few magnificent old +tombs remain intact in their ancient niches. + +There is, properly speaking, no exterior elevation of the whole +structure. The western front is hidden by the modernization, the north +and south, by the new Cathedral, the cloisters, and squalid, encumbering +walls and chapels. From the "Patio Chico" alone, the old structure can +be seen unobstructed. The curves of the apses bulge out like +full-bellied sails, their great masonry surfaces broken by the small +windows, which are cut with enormous splays and encased and arched by +typical Romanesque features, the windows protected by heavy Moorish +grilles. Engaged shafts run up the sides of the central apse to below a +quatrefoil gallery, originally a shelter for the archers stationed to +defend the building. Two fortress-towers formed the eastern angles north +and south; the one to the north was removed in building the new +Cathedral. A scaled turret, broken by later Gothic pediments, crosses +the one remaining. Above all soars the dome, the inspiration of our +greatest American Romanesque temple, Trinity Church in Boston. + +At the end of the twelfth century the houses of a sacrilegious Salamanca +gentleman were confiscated and given to the Cathedral Chapter, who +forthwith began the cloisters upon their site. They lie to the south and +thus came to be planned and built into the original fabric and with +Romanesque arches and wooden roof. They were practically entirely +rebuilt in the fifteenth century and again restored in the eighteenth. +Curious, elaborate, vaulted chapels--in one of which the Mozarabic rite, +the ancient Gothic ritual prolonged under Moslem rule, is still +occasionally celebrated--adjoin it to the east and south. Recently, old +Byzantine niches and tombs, some of great interest, have been uncovered +in the outer walls. + + +II + +"Most Reverend Father in Christ, Lord Cardinal, our much beloved and +very dear Friend; We the King and the Queen of Castile, of Leon, and of +Aragon, Sicily, etc., send this to salute you, as one whom we love and +esteem highly, and to show we desire God may give life, health, and +honor, even to the extent of your own desire. We inform you that the +City of Salamanca is one of the most notable, populous, and principal +cities of our kingdoms, in which there is a society of scholars, and +where all sciences may be studied, and to which people from all states +continually come. The Cathedral Church of the said city is very small, +dark, and low, to such an extent that the divine services cannot be +celebrated in such a manner as they should be, especially during +feast-days when a large concourse of people streams to the Cathedral, +and by the Grace of God, the said city increases and enlarges day by +day. And considering the extreme narrowness of the said Church, the +Administrator and Dean and Chapter have agreed to rebuild it, making it +as large as is necessary and convenient, according to the population of +the said city. This furthermore as the form and the fabric of the said +Church cannot be rebuilt without disfigurement. And in order to build +better and promptly, as the said Church has a very small income, it is +necessary that our most Holy Father concede some indulgences in the form +that the Bishops of Vadajos and Astorga, our agents and emissaries to +your Court, will tell your Reverend Fatherhood, and we request you to +beseech His Holiness to concede the said indulgences. Therefore we +affectionately beg you to undertake the matter in the manner which we +affectionately supplicate, because our Lord will be served, and the +Divine Service increased, and we will receive it from you in peculiar +gratitude. Regarding this, we wrote details to the said bishops. We beg +you to give them credit and favor. Most Reverend Father in Christ, Lord +Cardinal, our very dear and beloved friend, may God our Lord at all +times especially guard and favor your Reverend Fatherhood. + +"I, THE KING, I, THE QUEEN. + +SEVILLE, the 17th day of February, in the ninety-first year." + +That was the way the Catholic Kings wrote to the Cardinal of Angers to +make plain to him that the plain, dark, small, old Cathedral was no +longer in keeping with their glory or the times, and to begin the +movement for a larger edifice. The stern simplicity of the ancient +Church was indeed out of harmony with the brilliance and craving for +lavish display and magnificent proportions which characterize the age of +Ferdinand and Isabella. + +Pope Innocent VIII answered the appeal in the year 1491, granting +permission for the transference of the services to a larger edifice more +fitting the congregation of Salamanca, now at the zenith of its +prosperity and academic renown. In 1508 Ferdinand passed through +Salamanca, and was again sufficiently fired by religious zeal to issue +the following order: "The King to the Master Mayor of the works of the +Church of Seville. Since it has now to be decided how the Church of +Salamanca may be made, in order that its design may be made as it ought, +I consent that you be present there. I charge and command you instantly +to leave all other things, and come to the said City of Salamanca, that, +jointly with the other persons who are there, you may see the site where +the said Church has to be built, and may make a drawing for it, and in +all things may give your judgment how it may be most suited to theDivine Worship +and to the ornature of the said Church; which, having +come to pass, then your salary shall be paid, which I shall receive +return for in this service. Done in Valladolid, the 23d day of November, +1509." + +The famous Master of Toledo, Anton Egas, received a similar summons +(served in his absence on his two maids), but neither architect seems to +have been over-zealous in carrying out the royal commands, for next year +Queen Juana, Ferdinand's daughter, growing impatient, writes again: "Ifind it +now good, as I command you, that immediately that this my letter +shall be made known to you, without making any excuse or delay, you go +to the said City of Salamanca." + +This produced the desired result, for the two delinquent architects +hurried to the city, studied the conditions, and, after considerable +squabbling with each other and the Chapter, many drawings, and a lengthy +report, agreed to disagree. This was too much for the Bishop, and +without further ado he summoned on the 3d of September, 1512, a famous +conclave of all the celebrated architects in Spain to pass on the report +of Egas of Toledo and Rodriguez of Seville and settle the matter. Here +sat besides Egas, Juan Badajos, Juan Gil de Hontañon, Alfonso +Covarrubias, Juan de Orazco, Juan de Alava, Juan Tornero, Rodrigo de +Sarabia and Juan Campero. The matter was thrashed out both as to site +and form and a final report sent in, stating the result of their +deliberations, "and as they were much learned and skilful men, and +experienced in their art, their opinion ought certainly to be acted on." +However, to leave no further doubt, every one of them swore "by God and +Saint Mary, under whose protection the Church is, and upon the sign of +the Cross, upon which they all and each of them put their hands bodily, +that they had spoken the entire truth, which each of them did, saying, +'So I swear, and Amen.'" This settled the business. Three days +afterwards, Juan Gil de Hontañon, the later builder of Segovia and +rebuilder of the dome of Seville, was named Maestro Mayor and Juan +Campero, his apprentice. + +On a stone of the main façade there still stands an inscription +recording the solemn laying of the corner-stone on the 12th of May, +1513. It was dedicated to the Mother and the Saviour. The wisest of the +resolutions passed by this wisest of architectural bodies was the +recommendation to leave the old edifice undisturbed. + +Work was immediately started on the western entrance front and continued +with untiring energy by Juan Gil until his death in 1531. His two sons +assisted him, and they were all constantly guided and aided by a body of +the most eminent Spanish architects who yearly visited the edifice. On +the death of Maestro Alvaro, six years later, Juan's son, Rodrigo Gil, +was selected as Maestro Mayor. He naturally tried to carry out all his +father had planned, building with equal rapidity and no less excellence. +By 1560 the work had been carried as far towards the east as the +crossing. Amid immense popular rejoicing, and with ecclesiastical pomp, +the Holy Sacrament was moved from the old Basilica to the new. "Pio III +papa, Philippe II rege, Francisco Manrico de Lara episcopo, ex vetere ad +hoc templum facta translatio xxv mart. anno a Christo nato MDLX." This +of course gave a new impetus to the work, and arch after arch, chapel on +chapel, rapidly grew through the next decades. The bigoted Philip +naturally looked on with favoring eye.[3] Twice the work languished, but +was resumed through the waning period of the Gothic style. The new +classicism was triumphantly replacing the dying art, and the builders of +Salamanca were sorely perplexed whether or not to make a radical +departure to the newer style. Most fortunately, the conclave called +together at this critical moment remained loyal to the original +conception, and the Renaissance only took possession in ornamentation +and the dome. Not until 1733 was the final "translation" celebrated. +Later, earthquakes and lightning shook down both dome and tower, so that +practically it was not till the nineteenth century that the last mortar +was dry. The building spanned a long and glorious epoch in the city's +history, from a time when her imperial master ruled the world until a +foreign upstart trampled her under foot. + +The plan of the new Cathedral, like that of Seville, is an enormous +rectangle of ten bays, resembling a huge mosque, 378 feet long by 181 +feet wide. It consists of nave and double side aisles without projecting +transept; square chapels fill the outer aisles as well as the bays of +the eastern termination. After much discussion it was decided that the +nave (130 feet high) should be about one third higher than the first +side aisles; the chapels are 54 feet in height. + +The choir blocks the third and fourth bays of the nave, while the +Capilla Mayor occupies the eighth. Over the sixth soars the lantern. The +platform of the Patio Chico separates the sacristy and the old Cathedral +that practically abuts the entire southern front. At the southwestern +angle, the intersection of the two cathedrals is hidden by the gigantic +tower. The northern front is admirably free, the whole structure being +visible on its high granite platform. The western front is entered +through the great triple doorway, the central being that of the +Nacimiento; the northern, through the Puerta de las Ramos, the southern, +through the Puerta del Patio Chico. + +Glancing at the plan as a whole, one cannot but deplore that a +conception of such daring proportions with no limitation of time nor +money, having centuries and the wealth of the Indies to draw on, was not +conceived with that most perfect of all Gothic developments, the +semicircular apsidal termination. The Spanish, as well as the customary +English eastern end, can never, from any standpoint of ingenuity or +beauty, be comparable to the amazing conceptions of Rheims or Amiens or +Paris. + +The interior effect is expressed in one word,--"grandiloquence." It is a +true child of the age which conceived it, and the spirit which informed +its erection. If the fabric of the old Cathedral is essentially +Romanesque, with later Gothic ornamentation and constructional features, +the new is entirely Gothic, with Renaissance additions. The spirit and +form are Gothic,--Spanish Gothic,--and one of its last sighs. The fire +was extinct. By display and sculptural fire-works, by bold flaunting of +mechanical mastery, a last trial and glorious failure were made in an +attempt to emulate the marvelous structural logic and simplicity which +had marked the Gothic edifices of an earlier age. + +The blending of the two styles does not jar, but has been effected with +a harmony scarcely to be expected. If one were not hampered with an +architectural education, one could admire it all, instead of criticizing +and wondering why a Renaissance lantern is raised upon a Gothic crown, +and why a fine Renaissance balustrade above Gothic band-courses +separates the nave arches from its clerestory, while those of the side +aisles are separated by a Gothic one. The interior fabric itself is +fine: it is more in detail, in the stringiness and multiplicity of +moldings, in the fineness, subdivision, and elaboration of carvings and +ornament that one feels the advancing degeneration. From being frank and +simple, it has become insincere and profuse. + +The Gothic window openings, which had been steadily developing larger +and bolder up to their culmination in the glorious conservatory of Leon, +had again grown smaller and more fitted to the climate. In Salamanca +they are small and high up. Nave and side aisles both carry +clerestories; that of the nave consisting of seventy-two windows in +alternate bays of three windows and two windows with circle above, that +of the side aisle, of one large window subdivided within its own field. +The chapel walls are also pierced by smaller openings. Some have good +though not excellent coloring. + +The form of the Renaissance lantern is not infelicitous, either from the +inside or outside. It was first built by Sacchetti. The double base is +octagonal, with corners strengthened by columns and pilasters and +executed with much artistic skill. Were it not for the vulgar interior +coloring and ornamentation of cherubs, scrolls, and scallop shells, +contorted, disproportionate, and unmeaning, its high, brilliantly +lighting semicircle might be pleasing. Horrible decoration fills the +panels of the octagonal base. The dome itself is almost as gaudily +colored. + +The interior is built of a clear gray stone on which sparing employment +of color in certain places is most effective. Thus in the bosses of the +vaulting ribs throughout, in the capitals of the piers of nave and +transept, in the very elaborate fan-vaulting of the Capilla Mayor, and +in the soffits of nave-clerestory, the blue and gold contrasts finely +with the cold gray surfaces. Renaissance medallions decorate the +spandrels of the nave, but those of the side aisles bear the +coats-of-arms of the Cathedral and the City of Salamanca. A differently +designed fan-vaulting spreads over every chapel. Great rejas enclose +choir and Capilla Mayor from the transept. The rear of the choir is +badly mutilated by a Baroque screen, while the sides and back of the +high altar still consist of the rough blocks which have been waiting for +centuries to be carved. The choir-stalls are very late eighteenth +century, a mass of over-elaborate detail, as fine as Grinling Gibbon's +carving, and if possible even more remarkable in the detail. + +The west and north façades are, for a Spanish cathedral, singularly free +and unencumbered. The west faces the old walls of the university. The +entire composition is overshadowed by the tremendous tower that looms up +for miles around in the country. It is indeed "Salamanca qui érige ses +clochers rutilants sur la nudité inexorable du désert." Though it has +nothing to do with the rest of the composition, it is a happy mixture of +the two styles; the massive base is as high as the roofing of the nave, +blessedly bare and severe beside the restlessness of the adjoining +screen. A clock and a few panels are all that break it. Classical +balconies run round it above and below the first bell-story, the sides +of which are decorated with a Corinthian order and broken by round +arched openings. A similar order decorates the drum of the cupola, while +Gothic crocketed pyramids break the transition at angles. At the peak of +the lantern, three hundred and sixty feet in the air, soars the +triumphant emblem of the Church of Christ. That man of architectural +infamy, Churriguera, erected it, showing in this instance an +extraordinary restraint. + +The façade belongs to the first period of the Cathedral, and portions of +it are Juan Gil de Hontañon's work, though the later points to Poniente. +It is interesting to compare it with the last Gothic work in France, +with, for instance, Saint-Ouen at Rouen. The end of the style in the two +countries is totally different--one expiring in a mass of glass and +tracery, the other, in a meaningless jumble of ornamentation, of cusped +and broken and elliptical arches and carving incredible in its delicacy. +One can scarcely believe it to be stone. The Spanish, though not wild in +its extravagance, yet lacks all sense of restraint. The front is +composed of a screenwork of three huge arches, within which three +portals leading to the aisles form the main composition, the whole +crowned by a series of crocketed pinnacles. A plain fortress-like pier, +resembling the remnant of an old bastion, terminates it to the north. +Great buttresses separate the portals. Around them are deep reveals and +archivolt; somewhat recalling French examples in their forms; above them +is an inexhaustible effort in stone. There are myriads of brackets and +canopies, some few having statues. There are enough coats-of-arms to +supply whole nations with heraldic emblems, and recessed moldings of +remarkable and exquisite workmanship and crispness of foliage. Some of +the bas-reliefs, as those of the Nativity and Adoration, are very fine. +The Virgin in the pillar separating the doors of the central entrance +gathers the folds of her robe about her with a queenly grace and +dignity. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +SALAMANCA + +From the Vega] + +The whole doorway on its great scale is a remarkable work of the +transition from Gothic to Renaissance. While the treatment of the +figures has a naturalism already entirely Renaissance, the main bulk of +the ornamental detail is still in its feeling quite Gothic. + +From the steps of the Palazzo del Goberno Civil, the northern front +stretches out before you above the bushy tops of the acacia trees in the +Plaza del Colegio Viejo. The demarcations are strong in the horizontal +courses of the balconies which crown the walls of the nave and +side-aisle chapels,--the two lower quite Gothic. The thrust of the naves +is met by great buttresses flying out over the roofs of the side aisles, +and there, as well as above the buttresses of the chapel walls, +pinnacles rise like the masts in a great shipyard. The whole organism of +the late Spanish Gothic church lies open before you. The long stretch of +the three tiers of walls is broken by the face of the transept, the door +of which is blocked, while the surrounding buttresses and walls are +covered with canopies and brackets, all vacant of statues. In place of +the condemned door, there is one leading into the second bay, the Puerta +de los Ramos or de las Palmas, in feeling very similar to the main doors +of the west. Its semicircular arches support a relief representing +Christ entering Jerusalem. A circular light flanked by Peter and Paul +comes above, and the whole is encased in a series of broken arches +filled with the most intricate carving. + +The grand and the grandiloquent Cathedral seem to gaze out over the town +and the vast plain of the old kingdom of Leon and to listen. It is a +golden town, of a dignity one gladly links with the name of Castile. It +is a city--or what is left of it after the firebrands of Thiebaut, of +Ney, and of Marmont--of the sixteenth century, of convents and churches +and huge ecclesiastical establishments. They rise like amber mountains +above the squalid buildings crumbling between them, and stand in grilled +and latticed silence. Las Dueñas lies mute on one side and on the other +San Esteban, where the great discoverer pleaded his cause to deaf ears. +In the evening glow their brown walls gain a depth and warmth of color +like the flush in the dark cheeks of Spanish girls. + + + + +II + +BURGOS + +[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS + +West front] + + Whereat he wondred much, and gan enquere + What stately building durst so high extend + Her lofty towres unto the starry sphere. + + _The Faerie Queene_, book I, c. x, lvi. + + +I + +The best view of the spires of Burgos is from the ruined walls of the +Castillo high above the city. From these crumbling ramparts, pierced and +gouged by a thousand years of assault and finally rent asunder by the +powder of the Napoleonic armies, you look directly down upon the +mistress of the city and the sad and ardent plain. A stubbly growth, +more like cocoa matting than grass, covers the unroofed floor beneath +your feet. From this Castle, Ferdinand Gonzales ruled Castile, and here +the Cid led Doña Zimena, and Edward I of England Eleanor of Castile, to +the altar. The only colors brightening the melancholy hillside are here +and there the brilliant blood-stain of the poppy, the gold of the +dandelion, and the episcopal purple of the thistle. Below and beyond, +stretches a sea of shaded ochre, broken in the foreground by the +corrugations of the many roofs turned by time to the brownish tint of +the encircling hillocks and made to blend in one harmony with its +monochrome bosom. Fillets of silver pierce the horizon, glittering as +they wind nearer between over-hanging birches and poplars. The deep, +guttural, roar of the great Cathedral's many voices rises in majestic +and undisputed authority from the valley below, now and again joined by +the weaker trebles of San Esteban and San Nicolas. Regiments of soldiers +march with regular clattering step through holy precincts and up and +down the crooked lanes and squares; barracks and parade-grounds occupy +consecrated soil,--still Santa Maria la Mayor raises her voice to +command obedience and proclaim her undivided dominion over the plains of +drowsy, old Castile. + +From this height, one does not notice the transformation of the Gothic +into seventeenth-century edifices, nor the changes wrought by later +centuries. In the glare of the dazzling sun, the tremulous atmosphere, +and the lazy, curling smoke of the many chimneys, Burgos still seems +Burgos of the Middle Ages, the royal city, mistress of the castles and +sweeping plains, and the Cathedral is her stronghold. + +She is very old,--tradition says, founded by Count Diego Rodriguez of +Alava with the assistance of an Alfonso who ruled in Christian Oviedo +towards the end of the ninth century. For many years his descendants, as +well as the lords of the many castles strewn along the lonely hills +north of the Sierra de Guadarrama, owed allegiance to Leon and the +kingdom of the Asturias. Burgos finally threw off the yoke, and chose +judges for rulers, until one of them, Ferdinand Gonzalez, assumed for +himself and his successors the proud title of "Conde of Castile." Under +his great-grandson, Ferdinand I, Castile and Leon were united in 1037, +thus laying the foundations of the later monarchy. Burgos became a +capital city. Against the dark background of mediæval history and +interwoven with many romantic legends, there stands out that greatest of +Spanish heroes, the Cid Campeador. This Rodrigo Diaz was born near +Burgos. The lady Zimena whom he married was daughter of a Count Diego +Rodriguez of Oviedo, probably a descendant of the founder of the city. +In the presence of the knights and nobles of Burgos, the Cid forced +Alfonso VI to swear that he had no part in the murder of King Sancho, +and in the royal city he was then elected King of Castile by the Commons +(1071). Alfonso never forgave the Cid this humiliation, and later exiled +him. To the Burgalese of to-day, he seems as living and real as he was +to mediæval Castilians. Spanish histories and children will tell you of +two things that make Burgos immortal--her Cathedral, and her motherhood +to Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar.[4] + +The importance of the city as a Christian centre becomes evident at the +end of the eleventh century (1074), when it receives its own bishop, and +shortly afterwards, fully equipped, convokes a church council to protest +against the supplanting by the Latin of the earlier Mozarabic rite, so +dear to the hearts of the people. The same Alfonso transferred his +capital to the newly conquered Toledo and, contemporaneous with the +great prosperity of Burgos during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, +there was endless jealousy as to precedence, first between Burgos and +Toledo and afterwards between these and Valladolid. Burgos reaches the +zenith of her power in the reign of Saint Ferdinand and the first half +of the thirteenth century, though as late as 1349, Alfonso XI, in the +assembled Cortes, still recognizes Burgos's claim as "first city" by +calling on her to give her voice first,--"prima voce et fide," saying +_he_ would then speak for Toledo. Not long after, Valladolid overshadows +them both. + +The greatness of Burgos is that of the old Castilian kingdom; with its +extinction came hers. Her flowering and expansion were contemporaneous +with the most splendid period of Gothic art. Her day was a glorious one, +before bigotry had laid its withering hand upon the arts, and while the +rich imagination and skilled hands of Moorish and Jewish citizens still +ennobled and embellished their capital city. + + +II + +The present Cathedral is singularly picturesque and by far the most +interesting of the three great Gothic Cathedrals of Spain,--Leon, +Toledo, and Burgos. The interest is mainly due to her vigorous organism, +an outcome of more essentially Spanish predilections (as well as a +natural interpretation of the French importations) than we find in +either of the sister churches. Later additions and ornamentation have +naturally concealed and disfigured, but the old body is still there, +admirable, fitting, and sane. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF BURGOS CATHEDRAL + + A. Chapel of Santa Thecla. + B. Chapel of Santa Anna. + C. Chapel of the Holy Birth. + D. Chapel of the Annunciation. + E. Chapel of Saint Gregory. + F. Chapel of the Constable. + G. Chapel of the Parish of St. James. + H. Chapel of Saint John. + I. Chapel of Saint Catherine. + K. Chapel of Jean Cuchiller. + L. Chapter House. + M. Sacristy. + N. Minor Sacristy. + O. Chapel of Saint Henry. + P. Altar. + Q. Choir. + R. Chapel of the Presentation of the Virgin. + S. Choir. + T. Golden Staircase. + U. Door of the Pellegeria. + X. Door of the Sarmental. + Y. Door of the Perdon. + Z. Door of the Apostles.] + +Burgos Cathedral is built upon a hillside, her walls hewn out of and +climbing the sides of the mountain, making it necessary either from +north or south to approach her through long flights of stairs. What she +loses in freedom and access, she certainly gains in picturesqueness. She +is flesh of the flesh and blood of the blood of the city, scaling its +heights like a great mother and drawing after her the surrounding houses +which nestle to her sides. She would not gain in majesty by standing +free in an open square, nor by receiving the sunlight on all sides. And +so, though many later additions hide much of the early fabric, they +combine with it to form a picturesque whole, a wonderful jewelled +casket, a sparkling diadem set high on the royal brow of the city, such +as possibly no other city of its size in Christendom can boast. + +It was King Alfonso VI who at the end of the eleventh century gave his +palace-ground for the erection of a Cathedral for the new Episcopal See. +We know nothing of its design, nor whether it occupied exactly the same +site as the later building. The early one must, however, have been a +Romanesque Church;--what might not a later Romanesque Cathedral have +been!--for the style had arrived at a point of vitally interesting +promise and national development, when it was forced to recoil before +the foreign invaders, the Benedictines and Cistercians. + +Two great names are linked to the founding of the present Cathedral of +Burgos, Saint Ferdinand and Bishop Maurice. The latter was bishop from +1213 to 1238, and probably an Englishman who came to Burgos in the train +of the English Queen, Eleanor Plantagenet.[5] He was sent to Speyer as +ambassador from the Spanish Court to bring back the Princess Beatrice +as bride for Saint Ferdinand. Maurice's mission took him through those +parts of Germany and France where the enthusiasm for cathedral-building +was at its height, and he had time to admire and study a forest of +exquisite spires, newly reared, particularly while the young lady given +him in charge was sumptuously entertained by King Philip Augustus. +Naturally he returned to his native city burning with ardor to begin a +similar work there, and probably brought with him master-builders and +skilful artists of long training in Gothic church-building. + +Queen Berengaria and King Ferdinand met the Suabian Princess at the +frontier of Castile. The first ceremony was the conference of the Order +of Knighthood, in the presence of all the "ricos hombres" (ruling men), +the cavaliers of the kingdom with their wives and the burgesses. The +sword was taken from the altar and girded on by the right noble lady +Berengaria. We read that the other arms had been blessed by Bishop +Maurice and were donned by the King with his own hands, no one else +being high enough for the office. Three days later Ferdinand was married +to "dulcissimam Domicellam" in the old Cathedral by the Bishop of Burgos +without protest from the Primate of Castile, Archbishop Rodrigo of +Toledo. This took place in 1219, and two years after King and Bishop +laid the corner-stone of the new edifice. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS + +View of the nave] + +The work must have been spurred on by all the religious ardor which +fired the first half of the thirteenth century, for only nine years +later services were held in the eastern end of the building. The good +Bishop was laid to rest in the old choir, where he still lies +undisturbed, though to-day it is the Capilla Mayor. By the middle of the +century, the great bulk of the old structure must have been well +advanced. The lower portions of the towers and the eastern termination +are fourteenth-century work; the spires themselves, fifteenth. A +multitude of changes and additions, new chapels and buildings, +gradually, as years went on, transformed the primitive plan from its +first harmony and beauty to a confused mass of aisles, vaults, and +chapels. When we compare the present fabric with the early plan, we see +with what masterly skill and simplicity the original one was conceived. + +All that is left or can be seen of this first structure is splendid. +Though built in the second period of the great northern style, it has +none of the lightness of the French churches which were going up +simultaneously, nor even that of Spanish Leon or Toledo. It has heavy +supporting walls and is of the family of the early French with a +magnificently powerful and efficient system of piers and buttresses. It +is not free from a certain Romanesque feeling in its general lines, its +windows, and in many of its details. Though a splendid type of Gothic +construction, this first church is a convincing proof that the nervous, +subtle, fully developed system was foreign to Spanish taste. The +complicated solutions, the intricate planning, were not in accordance +with their temper nor predilections. Rheims may be said to express the +radical temper of its French builders, Burgos, the conservative Spanish. +In Spain, construction and artistic principles did not go hand in hand +in the glorious manner they were wont to in France. Burgos seems much +more emotional than sensitive. Riotous excess and empty display take the +place of restrained and appropriate decoration. The organic dependence +which should exist between sculpture and architecture, so invariably +present in the early French church, is lacking in Burgos. A careful +analysis is interesting. It reveals the fusion of foreign elements, the +severe monastic of the Cistercians and the later sumptuous secular +style, the florid intricacy of the German, the glory of the Romanesque, +the dryness of its revival and the bombast of the Plateresque, all more +or less transformed by what Spaniards could and would do. In its +construction and buttresses, it recalls Sens and Saint-Denis; in its +nave, Chartres; in its vaulting, the Angevine School. The symmetry of +the early plan is fascinating, and Señor Lamperez y Romea's sincere and +beautiful reconstruction must be a faithful reproduction. It makes the +side aisles quite free, the broad transepts to consist of two bays, +while the crossing is carried by piers heavy enough to support an +ordinary vault but not a majestic lantern. Five perfectly formed radial +chapels surround the polygonal ambulatory and are continued towards the +crossing by three rectangular chapels on each side. The vaulting of nave +and transepts is throughout sexpartite; that of the side aisles, +quadripartite. Most of this has, as will be seen, been profoundly +modified. + +The old structure is the kernel of the present church. It consists of a +central nave of six bays up to a strongly marked crossing and three +beyond, terminating in a pentagonal apse. The side aisles are decidedly +lower and continue across the transept round the apse. These again are +flanked on the west by the chapel churches of Santa Tecla, Santa Anna, +and the Presentacion, as well as by a number of other smaller, vaulted +compartments. Only two of the radial chapels outside the polygonal +ambulatory remain, the others having been altered or supplanted by the +great Chapels of the Constable, of Santiago, Santa Catarina, Corpus +Christi, and the Cloisters. The western front is entered by a triple +doorway corresponding to nave and side aisles; the southern transept, by +an incline 40 feet wide, broken by 28 steps. On reaching the door of the +northern transept, one finds the ground risen outside the church some 26 +feet above the level of the inner pavement, and instead of descending by +the interior staircase, one wanders far to the northeast, there to +descend to a portal in the north of the eastern transept. The whole +church is about 300 feet long, and in general 83 feet wide, the +transepts, 194 feet. + +The piers under the crossing, as well as those of the first bay inside +the western entrance, are much larger than the others, in order to +support the additional weight of crossing and towers, and the piers, +abutting aisle and transept walls, are also unusually strong. The +interior pillars are of massive cylindrical plan, of well-developed +French Gothic type, solid, but kept from any appearance of heaviness by +their form and by eight engaged columns. The ornamented bases are high +and of characteristic Gothic moldings. The finely carved capitals carry +square abaci in the side aisles and circular ones in the nave. Both +abaci and bases have been placed at right angles to the arches they +support. The three engaged pier columns facing the nave carry the +transverse and diagonal groining ribs, while the wall ribs are met by +shafts on each side of the clerestory windows. + +The four main supports at the angles of the crossing are rather towers +than piers. In the original structure, they were probably counterparts +of those supporting the inner angles of the tower between nave and side +aisles, with a fully developed system of shafts for the support of the +various groining ribs. With the collapse of the old crossing and the +consequent erection of an even bulkier and far more weighty +superstructure, tremendous circular supports upon octagonal bases were +substituted. They are thoroughly Plateresque in feeling, 50 feet in +circumference and delicately fluted and ribbed as they descend, with +Renaissance ornaments on the pedestals and similar statues under Gothic +canopies, evidently inserted in their faces as a compromise to the +surrounding earlier style. + +Glancing up at the superstructure and vaulting, there is a great +consciousness of light and joy,--a feeling that it would have been +well-nigh perfect, if the choir and its rejas could only have remained +in their old proper place east of the crossing, instead of sadlycongesting a +nave magnificent in length and size. The brightness is due, +partly to the stone itself, almost white when first quarried from +Ontoria, and partly to the uncolored glass in the greater portion of the +clerestory. Here and there the masonry has the mellow tones of +meerschaum, shaded with pinkish and lava-gray tints, but the effect is +rather that of ancient marble than of limestone. The interior, compared +to Toledo, is a bride beside a nun. Granting the loss of original +simplicity and a rather distressing mixture of two styles, the +combination has been handled with a skill and genius peculiarly Spanish +and therefore picturesque. The austerity of the French prototype has +been replaced by joyousness and regal splendor. If we examine carefully +the older portions of the interior structure and carving as well as the +traces of parts that have disappeared, we feel how very French it is, +and undoubtedly erected without assistance from Moorish hands. The +vaulting is like some of the French, very rounded, especially in the +side aisles. It is all plain excepting under the dome and the vaults +immediately abutting, where additional ribs were evidently added at a +later time. The vaulting ribs of the main arches start unusually low +down, almost on a level with the top of the triforium windows, giving +the church relatively a much lower effect than Leon or the French Rheims +or Amiens. + +Both triforium and clerestory are very fine, especially in the nave, +where, although they have undergone alterations, these are less radical +than in the Capilla Mayor. The triforium, which is early +thirteenth-century work, is strikingly singular. Its narrow gallery is +covered by a continuous barrel vault parallel to the nave. Six slender +columns divide its seven arches, while above them are trefoil and +quatrefoil penetrations contained within a segmental arch, broken by +carved heads. The fine old shafts, separating the trefoiled or +quatrefoiled arcade, are hidden by crocketed pinnacles and a traceried +balcony. The triforium east of the crossing has only four arches, with +much later traceried work above. The charming old simplicity is of +course lost wherever gaudy carving has been added, but the oldest +portions belong decidedly to the early Gothic work of northern France. +Above rises the clerestory in its early vigor, with comparatively small +windows, consisting of two arches and a rose. + +Probably the crossing had originally a vault somewhat more elaborate +than the others, or, possibly, even a small lantern. To emphasize the +crossing, both internally and externally, was always a peculiar delight +to Spanish builders. This characteristic was admirably adapted to +Romanesque churches and in the Gothic was still felt to be essential, +but Burgos shared the fate of Seville and the new Cathedral of +Salamanca. The old writer, Cean Bermudez, relates that "the same +disaster befell the crossing of Burgos that had happened to Seville,--it +collapsed entirely in the middle of the night on the 3d of March, 1539. +At that time the Bishop was the Cardinal D. Fray Juan Alvarez de Toledo, +famous for the many edifices which he erected and among them S. Esteban +of Salamanca. Owing to the zeal of the Prelate and the Chapter and the +piety of the generous Burgalese, the rebuilding began the same year. +They called upon Maestro Felipe, who was assisted in the planning and +construction by Juan de Vallejo and Juan de Castanela, architects of the +Cathedral. Felipe died at Toledo, after completing the bas-reliefs of +the choir stalls. The Chapter honored his memory in a worthy manner, for +they placed in the same choir under the altar of the Descent from the +Cross this epitaph: 'Philippus Burgundio statuarius, qui ut manu +sanctorum effigies, ita mores animo exprimebat: subsellis chori +struendis itentus, opere pene absoluto, immoritur.'"[6] + +In place of the old dome rose one of the most marvelous and richest +structures in Spain, a crowning glory to the heavenly shrine. It is at +once a mountain of patience and a burst of Spanish pomp and pride. It is +the labor of giants, daringly executed and lavishly decorated. "The work +of angels," said Philip II. Nothing less could have called forth such an +exclamation from those acrimonious lips and jaded eyes. The men who +designed and erected it were the best known in Spain. There was Philip, +the Burgundian sculptor with exquisite and indefatigable chisel, who had +come to Spain in the train of the Emperor. Vallejo, one of the famous +council that sat at Salamanca, had with Castanela erected the triumphal +arch which appeased Charles's wrath kindled against the citizens of +Burgos, and is even to-day, after the Cathedral, the city's most +familiar landmark. In the year 1567, twenty-eight years after the +falling of the first lantern, the new one towered completed in its +place. It was a magnificent attempt at a blending, or rather a +reconciliation, of the Renaissance and the Gothic. There is the +character of one and the form of the other. Gothic trefoil arches and +traceries are carried by classical columns. Renaissance balustrades and +panels intermingle with crockets and bosses, and Florentine panels and +statues with Gothic canopies. They are so interwoven that the careful +student of architecture feels himself in a nightmare of styles and +different centuries. It was of course an undertaking doomed to failure. + +The outline is octagonal. Above the pendentives, forming the transition +of the octagon, comes a double frieze of armorial bearings (those of +Burgos and Charles V) and inscriptions, and a double clerestory, +separated and supported by classical balustraded passages; the window +splays and heads are a complete mass of carving and decorations. The +vaulting itself contains within its bold ribs and segments an infinite +variety of stars, as if one should see the panes of heaven covered with +frosty patterns of a clear winter morning. + +Théophile Gautier's description of it is interesting as an expression of +the effect it produced on a man of artistic emotions rather than trained +architectural feeling: "En levant la tête," he says, "on aperçoit une +espèce de dôme formé par l'intérieur de la tour,--c'est un groupe de +sculpture, d'arabesques, de statues, de colonettes, de nervures, de +lancettes, de pendentifs, a vous donner le vertige. On regarderait deux +ans qu'on n'aurait pas tout vu. C'est touffu comme un chou, fenestré +comme une truelle à poisson; c'est gigantesque comme une pyramide et +délicat comme une boucle d'oreille de femme, et l'on ne peut comprendre +qu'un semblable filigrane puisse se soutenir en l'air depuis des +siècles." + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS + +Lantern over crossing] + +The work immediately around and underneath this gigantic effort is +really the earliest part of the church, for, as was usual, the portion +indispensable for services was begun first. The transepts, the abutting +vaults, the southern and possibly the northern entrance fronts, +undoubtedly all belong to the work carried so rapidly forward by Bishop +Maurice's contagious enthusiasm. The work of the transepts is very +similar to that in the nave, but, in the former, one obtains really a +much finer view of the receding bays north and south than in the nave +with its choir obstruction. The huge rose of the south transept, placed +directly under the arch of the vaulting, is a splendid specimen of a +Gothic wheel. Its tracery is composed of a series of colonettes +radiating from centre to circumference, every two of which form, as it +were, a separate window tracery of central mullion, two arches and upper +rose. The other windows of the transepts are, barring their later +alterations, typically thirteenth-century Gothic, high and narrow with +colonettes in their jambs. While the glazing of the great southern rose +is a perfect burst of glory, that of the northern transept arm is later +and very mediocre. + +There is a little chapel opening to the east out of the northern +transept arm which is full of interest from the fact that it belongs to +the original, early thirteenth-century structure. Probably there was a +corresponding one in the southern arm, with groining equally remarkable. +The northern transept arm is filled by the great Renaissance "golden +staircase" leading to the Puerta de la Coroneria, now always closed. It +must have been a magnificent spectacle to see the purple and scarlet +robes of priest and prelate sweep down the divided arms of the stair +uniting in the broad flight at the bottom. Such an occasion was the +marriage in 1268 of the Infante Ferdinand, son of Alfonso the Wise, to +Blanche of France, a niece of Saint Louis. The learned monarch ever had +a lavish hand, and he spared no expense to dazzle his distinguished +guests, among whom were the King of Aragon and Philip, heir to the +French throne. Ferdinand was first armed chevalier by his father, and +the marriage was then celebrated in the Cathedral of Burgos with greater +pomp and magnificence than had ever before been seen in Spain. + +The gilt metal railing is as exquisite in workmanship as in design, +carried out by Diego de Siloé, who was the architect of the Cathedral in +the beginning of the sixteenth century. There is also a lovely door in +the eastern wall of the southern transept, now leading to the great +cloisters. The portal itself is early work of the fourteenth century, +with the Baptism of Christ in the tympanum, the Annunciation and David +and Isaiah in the panels, all of early energy and vitality, as full of +feeling as simplicity. And the extraordinary detail of the wooden doors +themselves, executed a century and a half later by order of the +quizzical-looking old Bishop of Acuna, now peacefully sleeping in the +chapel of Santa Anna, is as beautiful an example of wood-carving as we +have left us from this period. If Ghiberti's door was the front gate of +paradise, this was certainly worthy to be a back gate, and well worth +entering, should the front be found closed. + +The choir occupies at present as much as one half the length of nave +from crossing to western front, or the length of three bays. With its +massive Corinthian colonnade, masonry enclosure and rejas rising to the +height of the triforium, it is a veritable church within a church. The +stalls, mostly Philip of Burgundy's work from about the year 1500, +surround the old tomb of the Cathedral's noble founder. As usual, the +carvings are elaborate scenes from Bible history and saintly +lore,--over the upper stalls, principally from the old Testament, and +above the lower, from the New. + +A very remarkable family of German architects have left their indelible +stamp upon Burgos Cathedral. In 1435 a prominent Hebrew of the tribe of +Levi died as Bishop of the See, and was succeeded by his son, Alfonso de +Cartagena. Alfonso not only followed in his father's footsteps, but +became one of the most renowned churchmen in Spain during the early +years of Ferdinand of Aragon. And he looks it too, as he lies to-day +near the entrance to his old palace, in fine Flemish lace, mitre covered +with pearls, and sparkling, jewelled crozier. As Chancellor of Spain, +Alfonso was sent to the Council of Basle, and thereafter, like his +predecessor Maurice, he returned to Burgos, bringing with him visions of +church-building such as he had never dreamed of before and the architect +Juan de Colonia. + +The Plateresque style was rapidly developing towards the effulgence so +in harmony with Spanish taste. Interwoven and fused with the work Juan +was familiar with from his native country, he and his sons, Simon and +Diego, encouraged and royally assisted by Alfonso and his successor, D. +Luis of Acuna, set about to erect some of the most striking and +wonderful portions of Burgos Cathedral,--the towers of the façade, the +first lantern and the Chapel of the Constable. + +The Chapel of Don Pedro Fernandez de Velasco, Count of Haro and +Constable of Castile, was not erected with pious intent, but to the +immortal fame of the Constable and his wife. In the centre of the +chapel-church on a low base lie the Count and Countess. The white +Carrara of the figures is strangely vivid against the dark marble on +which they rest, and all is colored by the sunlight striking down +through the stained glass. It is very regal. The Constable is clad in +full Florentine armor, his hands clasping his sword and his mantle about +his shoulders. The carving of the flesh and the veining, and especially +the strong knuckles of the hands, are astonishing. The fat cushions of +the forefinger and thumb seem to swell and the muscles to contract in +their grip on the cross of the hilt. The robe of his spouse, Doña Mencia +de Mendoza, is richly studded with pearls, her hand clasps a rosary, +while, on the folds of her skirt, her little dog lies peacefully curled +up. + +The plan of the chapel is an irregular hexagon. It should have been +octagonal, but the western sides have not been carried through and end +in a broad-armed vestibule, which by rights should be the radial chapel +upon the extreme eastern axis of the whole church. Above the vaulting +early German pendentives are inserted in the three faulty and five true +angles in order to bring the plan into the octagonal vaulting form. The +builder seems almost to have made himself difficulties that he might +solve them by a tour-de-force. A huge star-fish closes the vault. The +recumbent statues face an altar. The remaining sides are subdivided by +typically Plateresque band-courses and immense coats-of-arms of the Haro +and Mendoza families. The upper surfacing is broken by a clerestory with +exquisite, old stained glass. It is melancholy to see tombs of such +splendid execution crushed by meaningless, empty display, out of all +scale, vulgar, gesticulating, and theatrical, especially so when one +notices with what extraordinary mechanical skill much of the detail has +been carved. It thrusts itself on your notice even up to the vaulting +ribs, which the architect, not satisfied to have meet, actually crossed +before they descend upon the capitals below. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS + +The Golden Staircase] + +The reja closing the chapel off from the apse is among the finest of the +Renaissance, the masterpiece of Cristobal Andino, wrought in the year +1523. Curiously enough, the supporters of the shield above might have +been modeled by Burne-Jones instead of the mediæval smith. + +The interior could not always have been as light and cheerful as at +present, for probably all the windows were more or less filled with +stained glass from the workshops of the many "vidrieros" for which +Burgos was so renowned that even other cathedral cities awarded her the +contracts for their glazing. The foreign masters of Burgos were +accustomed to see their arches and sculpture mellowed and illumined by +rainbow lights from above, and surely here too it was of primary +importance. + +After the horrible powder explosion of 1813, when the French soldiers +blew up the old fortress, making the whole city tremble and totter, the +agonized servants of the church found the marble pavements strewn with +the glorious sixteenth-century crystals that had been shattered above. +They were religiously collected and, where possible, reinserted in new +fields. + +Chapels stud the ground around the old edifice. The Cloisters, a couple +of chapels north of the chevet and small portions here and there, rose +with the transepts and the original thirteenth-century structure, but +all the others were erected by the piety or pride of later ages or have +been transformed by succeeding generations. Their vaulting illustrates +every period of French and German Gothic as well as Plateresque art, +while their names are taken from a favorite saint or biblical episode or +the illustrious founders. The fifteenth century was especially sedulous, +building chapels as a rich covering for the splendid Renaissance tombs +of its spiritual and temporal lords. They are carved with the admirable +skill and genius emanating once more from Italy. The Castilian Constable +and his spouse, Bishop Alfonso de Cartagena (in the Capilla de la +Visitacion), Bishop Antonia de Velasco, the eminent historian-archbishop +(in the Sacristia Nueva), are splendid marbles of the classic revival. +They must all have been portraits: for instance Bishop Gonzalvo de +Lerma, who sleeps peacefully in the Chapel of the Presentacion; his fat, +pursed lips and baggy eyelids are firmly closed, and his soft, double +chin reposes in two neat folds upon the jeweled surplice. So, too, +Fernando de Villegas, who lies in the north transept and whose scholarly +face still seems to shine with the inner light which prompted him to +give his people the great Florentine's Divine Comedy. + +The poetry and romance that cling to these illustrious dead are equally +present as you pass through the lovely Gothic portal into the cloisters +which fill the southeastern angle of the church and stand by the figures +of the great Burgalese that lie back of the old Gothic railings in many +niches of the arcades. To judge from the inscriptions they would, if +they could speak, be able to tell us of every phase in their city's +religious and political struggles, from the age of Henry II down to the +decay of Burgos. Saints, bishops, princes, warriors, and architects lie +beneath the beautiful, double-storied arcade. Here lies Pedro Sanchez, +the architect, Don Gonzalo of Burgos, and Diego de Santander, and here +stand the effigies of Saint Ferdinand and Beatrice of Suabia. The very +first church had a cloister to the west of the transept, now altered +into chapels. For some reason, early in the fourteenth century, the +present cloister was built east of the south transept and with as lovely +Gothic arches as are to be found in Spain. We read of great church and +state processions, marching under its vaults in 1324, so then it must +have been practically completed. Later on the second story was added, +much richer and more ornate than the lower. The oldest masonry, with its +delicate tracery of four arches and three trefoiled roses to each +arcade, seems to have been virtually eaten away by time. New leaves and +moldings are being set to-day to replace the old. The pure white, native +stone, so easy to carve into spirited crockets and vigorous strings +similar to the old, stands out beside the sooty, time-worn blocks, as +the fresh sweetness of a child's cheek laid against the weather-beaten +furrows of the grand-parent. A careful scrutiny of all the details shows +in what a virile age this work was executed. The groining ribs are of +fine outline, the key blocks are starred, the foliage is spirited both +in capitals and in the cusps of the many arches, the details are +carefully molded and distributed, and the early statues in the internal +angles and in places against the groining ribs are of rich treatment, +strong feeling, and in attitude equal to some of the best French Gothic +of the same period. The door that leads out of the cloisters into the +old sacristy with the Descent from the Cross in its tympanum is truly a +beautiful piece of this Gothic work. + +While these cloisters lie to the east, the broad terraces leading to the +glorious, southern transept entrance are flanked to the west by the +Archbishop's Palace, whose bare sides, gaudy Renaissance doorway and +monstrous episcopal arms, repeated at various stages, hide the entire +southwestern angle of the church. + +Between the cloisters and the Archbishop's Palace at the end of the +broad terraces, rises the masonry facing the southern transept arm. It +belongs, together with that of the northern, to the oldest portions of +the early fabric erected while Maurice was bishop and a certain +"Enrique" architect, and shows admirable thirteenth-century work. The +Sarmentos family, great in the annals of this century, owned the ground +immediately surrounding this transept arm. As a reward for theirconcession of it +to the church, the southern portal was baptized the +"Puerta del Sarmental," and they were honored with burial ground within +the church's holy precincts. It cannot be much changed, but stands +to-day in its original loveliness. + +[Illustration: Photo by A. Vadillo + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS + +The Chapel of the Constable] + +A statue of the benign-looking founder of the church stands between the +two doors, which on the outer sides are flanked by Moses, Aaron, Saint +Peter and Saint Paul, and the two saints so beloved by Spaniards, Saint +James and Saint Philip. The archivolts surrounding the tympanum are +filled by a heavenly host of angels, all busied with celestial +occupations, playing instruments, swinging censers, carrying candelabra, +or flapping their wings. Both statues and moldings are of character and +outline similar to French work of this best period, nevertheless of a +certain distinctly Spanish feeling. The literary company of the tympanum +is full of movement and simple charm. In the lowest plane are the twelve +Apostles, all, with the exception of two who are conversing, occupied +with expounding the Gospels; in the centre is Christ, reading to four +Evangelists who surround him as lion, bull, eagle and angel; finally, +highest up, two monks writing with feverish haste in wide-open folios, +while an angel lightens their labor with the perfume from a swinging +censer. + +It is sculpture, rich in effect, faithful in detail and of strong +expression, admirably placed in relation to the masonry it ornaments. It +has none of the whimsical irrelevancy to surroundings characterizing so +much of the work to follow, nor its hasty execution. It is not +meaningless carving added indefinitely and senselessly repeated, but +every bit of it embellishes the position it occupies. Above the portal +the stonework is broken and crowned by an exquisite, early rose window +and the later, disproportionately high parapet of angels and +free-standing quatrefoiled arches and ramps. + +The northern doorway, almost as rich in names as in sculpture, is as +fine as the southern, so far below it on the hillside. It is called the +Doorway of the Apostles from the twelve still splendidly preserved +statues, six of which flank it on each side. It is also named the Door +of the Coroneria, but to the Burgalese it is known simply as the Puerta +Alta, or the "high door." The door proper with its frame is a later +makeshift for the original, thirteenth-century one. On a base-course in +the form of an arcade with almost all its columns likewise gone, stand +in monumental size the Twelve Apostles. The drapery is handled +differently on each figure, but with equal excellence; the faces, so +full of expression and character, stand out against great halos and +represent the apostles of all ages. Similar in treatment to the southern +door, the archivolts here are filled with a series of fine statues. +There are angels in the two inner arches and in the outer, and the naked +figures of the just are rising from their sepulchres in the most +astonishing attitudes. The tympanum is also practically a counterpart of +the southern one, only here in its centre the predominating figure of +the Saviour is set between the Virgin and Saint John. + +As the Puerta Alta is so high above the church pavement, and ingress +would in daily use have proved difficult, the great door of the +Pellejeria was cut in the northeastern arm of the transept at the end of +the furriers' street, and down a series of moss-grown, cobblestone +planes the Burgalese could gain entrance to their church from this side. +The great framework of architecture which encases it is so astonishingly +different from the work above and around it that one can scarcely +believe it possible that they belong to one and the same building. It is +a tremendous piece of Plateresque carving, as exquisite as it is out of +place, erected through the munificence of the Archbishop Don Juan +Rodriguez de Fonseca in 1514 by the architect Francisco de Colonia. It +might have stood in Florence, and most of it might have been set against +a Tuscan church at the height of the Renaissance. There is everywhere an +overabundance of luxurious detail and rich carving. Between the +entablatures and columns stand favorite saints. The Virgin and Child are +adored by a very well-fed, fat-jowled bishop and musical angels. In one +of the panels the sword is about to descend on the neck of the kneeling +Saint John. In another, some unfortunate person has been squeezed into a +hot cauldron too small for his naked body, while bellows are applied to +the fagots underneath it and hot tar is poured on his head. While the +whole work is thoroughly Renaissance, there is here and there a curious +Gothic feeling to it, from which the carvers, surrounded and inspired by +so much of the earlier art, seem to have been unable to free themselves. +This appears in the figure ornamentation in the archivolts around the +circular-headed opening, the angel heads that cut it as it were into +cusps and the treatment and feeling of some of the figures in the larger +panels. + +The exterior of Santa Maria is very remarkable. It is a wonderful +history of late Gothic and early Renaissance carving. The only clearing +whence any freedom of view and perspective may be had is to the west, in +front of the late fifteenth-century spires, but wherever one stands, +whether in the narrow alleys to the southeast, or above, or below in the +sloping city, the three great masses that rise above the cathedral roof, +of spires, cimborio, and the Constable's Lantern, dominate majestically +all around them. If one stands at the northeast, above the terraces +that descend to the Pellejeria door, each of the three successive series +of spires that rise one above the other far to the westward might be the +steeple of its own mighty church. The two nearest are composed of an +infinite number of finely crocketed turrets, tied together by a sober, +Renaissance bulk; that furthest off shoots its twin spires in Gothic +nervousness airily and unchecked into the sky, showing the blue of the +heavens through its flimsy fabric. Between them, tying the huge bulk +together, stretch the buttresses, the sinews and muscles of the +organism, far less marked and apparent, however, than is ordinarily the +case. At various stages above and around, crowning and banding towers, +chapels, apse, naves, and transepts, run the many balconies. They are +Renaissance in form, but also Gothic in detail and feeling. Like the +masts of a great harbor, an innumerable forest of carved and stonytrunks rise +from every angle, buttress, turret, and pier. In among them, +facing their carved trunks and crowning their tops, peeping out from the +myriads of stony branches, stands a heavenly legion of saints and +martyrs. Crowned and celestial kings and angels people this petrified +forest of such picturesque and exuberant beauty. + +[Illustration: Photo by A. Vadillo + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS + +The spires above the house-tops] + +The general mass that rises above the roofs, now flat and covered with +reddish ochre tiles, is, whatever may be the defects of its detail, +almost unique in its lavish richness. The spires rest upon the +house-tops of Burgos like the jeweled points of a monarch's crown. The +detail is so profuse that it well-nigh defies analysis. It seems as if +the four corners of the earth must for generations have been ransacked +to find a sufficient number of carvers for the sculpture. The closer one +examines it, the more astonishing is the infinite labor. Rich, crocketed +cornices support the numerous, crowning balconies. Figure on figure +stands against the many sides of the four great turrets that brace the +angles of the cimborio, against the eight turrets that meet its octagon, +on the corners of spires, under the parapets crowning the transepts, +under the canopied angles of the Constable's Lantern, on balconies, over +railings, and on balustrades. Crockets cover the walls like feathers on +the breast of a bird. It surely is the temple of the Lord of Hosts, the +number of whose angels is legion. It is confused, bewildering, over-done +and spectacular, lacking in character and sobriety, sculptural +fire-works if you will, a curious mixture of the passing and the coming +styles, but nevertheless it is wonderful, and the age that produced it, +one of energy and vitality. Curiously enough, the transepts have no +flying, but mere heavy, simple buttresses to meet their thrusts. The +ornamentation of the lower wall surfaces is in contrast to the +superstructure, barren or meaningless. On the plain masonry of the lower +walls of the Constable's Chapel stretch gigantic coats-of-arms. Knights +support their heads as well as the arms of the nobles interred within. +Life-sized roaring lions stand valiantly beside their wheels like +immortally faithful mariners. Above, an exquisitely carved, German +Gothic balustrade acts as a base for the double clerestory. The angle +pinnacles are surrounded by the Fathers of the Church and crowned by +angels holding aloft the symbol of the Cross. The gargoyles look like +peacefully slumbering cows with unchewed cuds protruding from their +stony jaws. Tufts of grass and flowers have sprung from the seeds borne +there by the winds of centuries. + +Outside the Chapel of Sant Iago are more huge heraldic devices: knights +in full armor and lions lifting by razor-strops, as if in some test of +strength, great wheels encircling crosses. Above them, gargoyles leer +demoniacally over the heads of devout cherubim. In the little street of +Diego Porcello, named for the great noble who still protects his city +from the gate of Santa Maria, nothing can be seen of the great church +but bare walls separated from the adjacent houses by a dozen feet of +dirty cobblestones. Ribs of the original chapels that once flanked the +eastern end, behind the present chapels of Sant Iago and Santa Catarina, +have been broken off flat against the exterior walls, and the cusps of +the lower arches have been closed. + +Thus the fabric has been added to, altered, mutilated or embellished by +foreign masters as well as Spanish hands. Who they all were, when and +why they wrought, is not easy to discover. Enrique, Juan Perez, Pedro +Sanchez, Juan Sanchez de Molina, Martin Fernandez, Juan and Francisco de +Colonia and Juan de Vallejo, all did their part in the attempt to make +Santa Maria of Burgos the loveliest church of Spain. + +The mighty western façade rises in a confined square where acacia trees +lift their fresh, luxuriant heads above the dust. The symmetry of the +towers, the general proportions of the mass, the subdivisions and +relationship of the stories, the conception as a whole, clearly show +that it belongs to an age of triumph and genius, in spite of the +disfigurements of later vandals, as well as essentially foreign masters. +It is of queenly presence, a queen in her wedding robes with jewels all +over her raiment, the costliest of Spanish lace veiling her form and +descending from her head, covered with its costly diadem. + +North and south the towers are very similar and practically of equal +height, giving a happily balanced and uniform general appearance. The +lowest stage, containing the three doorways leading respectively into +north aisle, nave, and south aisle, has been horribly denuded and +disfigured by the barbarous eighteenth century, which boasted so much +and created so little. It removed the glorious, early portico, leaving +only bare blocks of masonry shorn of sculpture. No greater wrong could +have been done the church. In the tympanum above the southern door, the +vandals mercifully left a Coronation of the Virgin, and in the northern +one, the Conception, while in the piers, between these and the central +opening, four solitary statues of the two kings, Alfonso VI and Saint +Ferdinand, and the two bishops, Maurice and Asterio, are all that remain +of the early glories. The central door is called the Doorway of Pardon. + +One can understand the bigotry of Henry VIII and the Roundheads, which +in both cases wrought frightful havoc in art, but it is truly +incomprehensible that mere artistic conceit in the eighteenth century +could compass such destruction. The second tier of the screen facing the +nave, below a large pointed arch, is broken by a magnificent rose. Above +this are two finely traceried and subdivided arches with eight statues +set in between the lowest shafts. The central body is crowned by an +open-work balustrade forming the uppermost link between the towers. The +Virgin with Child reigns in the centre between the carved inscription, +"Pulchra es et decora." Three rows of pure, ogival arches, delicate, and +attenuated, break the square sides of the towers above the entrance +portals; blind arches, spires and statues ornament the angles. +Throughout, the splays and jambs are filled with glittering balls of +stone. Inscriptions similar in design to that finishing the screen which +hides the roof lines crown the platform of the towers below the base of +the spires. + +The towers remained without steeples for over two hundred years until +the good Bishop Alfonso de Cartagena, returning to his city in 1442 from +the Council of Basle, brought with him the German, Juan de Colonia. +Bishop Alfonso was not to see their completion, for he died fourteen +years later, but his successor, Don Luis de Acuna, immediately ordered +the work continued and saw the figures of Saint Peter and Saint Paul +placed on the uppermost spires, three hundred feet above the heads of +the worshipping multitude. + +The spires themselves, essentially German in character, are far from +beautiful, perforated on all sides by Gothic tracery of multitudinous +designs, too weak to stand without the assistance of iron tie rods, the +angles filled with an infinite number of coarse, bold crockets breaking +the outlines as they converge into the blue. + +When prosperity came again to Burgos, as to many other Spanish cities, +it was owing to the wise enactments of Isabella the Catholic. The +concordat of 1851 enumerated nine archbishoprics in Spain, among which +Burgos stands second on the list. + +Such is Burgos, serenely beautiful, rich and exultant, the apotheosis of +the Spanish Renaissance as well as studded with exquisitely beautiful +Gothic work. She is mighty and magnificent, speaking perhaps rather to +the senses than the heart, but in a language which can never be +forgotten. Although various epochs created her, radically different in +their means and methods, still there is a certain intangible unity in +her gorgeous expression and a unique picturesqueness in her dazzling +presence. + + + + +III + +AVILA + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA] + + I lift mine eyes, and all the windows blaze + With forms of saints and holy men who died, + Here martyred and hereafter glorified; + And the great Rose upon its leaves displays + Christ's Triumph, and the angelic roundelays + With splendor upon splendor multiplied. + + _Longfellow._ + + +The Cathedral of San Salvador is the strongest link in the chain that +encircles the city of Avila,--"cuidad de Castilla la vieja." Avila lies +on a ridge in the corner of a great, undulating plain, clothed with +fields of grain, bleached light yellow at harvest, occasional groups of +ilex and straggling pine and dusty olives scrambling up and down the +slopes. Beyond is the hazy grayish-green of stubble and dwarfed +woodland, with blue peaks closing the horizon. To the south rises the +Sierra Gredos, and eastwards, in the direction of Segovia, the Sierra de +Guadarrama. The narrow, murky Adaja that loiters through the upland +plain is quite insufficient to water the thirsty land. Thistles and +scrub oak dot the rocky fields. Here and there migratory flocks of sheep +nibble their way across the unsavory stubble, while the dogs longingly +turn their heads after whistling quails and the passing hunter. + +The crenelated, ochre walls and bastions that, like a string of amber +beads, have girdled the little city since its early days, remain +practically unbroken, despite the furious sieges she has sustained and +the battles in which her lords were engaged for ten centuries. As many +as eighty-six towers crown, and no less than ten gateways pierce, the +walls which follow the rise or fall of the ground on which the city has +been compactly and narrowly constructed for safest defense. It must look +to-day almost exactly as it did to the approaching armies of the Middle +Ages, except that the men-at-arms are gone. The defenses are so high +that what is inside is practically hidden from view and all that can be +seen of the city so rich in saints and stones[7] are the loftiest spires +of her churches. + +To the Romans, Avela, to the Moors, Abila, the ancient city, powerfully +garrisoned, lay in the territory of the Vaccæi and belonged to the +province of Hispania Citerior. During three later centuries, from time +to time she became Abila, and one of the strongest outposts of Mussulman +defense against the raids of Christian bands from the north. Under both +Goths and Saracens, Avila belonged to the province of Merida. At a very +early date she boasted an episcopal seat, mentioned in church councils +convoked during the seventh century, but, during temporary ascendencies +of the Crescent, she vanishes from ecclesiastical history. For a while +Alfonso I held the city against the Moors, but not until the reign of +Alfonso VI did she permanently become "Avila del rey," and the +quarterings of her arms, "a king appearing at the window of a tower," +were left unchallenged on her walls. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF AVILA CATHEDRAL + + A. Capilla Mayor. B. Crossing. + C. Cloisters. + D. Towers. + E. Main Entrance. + F. Northern Portal.] + +By the eleventh century the cities of Old Castile were ruined and +depopulated by the ravages of war. Even the walls of Avila were +well-nigh demolished, when Count Raymond laid them out anew and with the +blessing of Bishop Pedro Sanchez they rose again in the few years +between 1090 and the turning of the century. The material lay ready to +hand in the huge granite boulders sown broadcast on the bleak hills +around Avila, and from these the walls were rebuilt, fourteen feet thick +with towers forty feet high. The old Spanish writer Cean Bermudez +describes this epoch of Avila's history. + +"When," he says, "Don Alfonso VI won Toledo, he had in continuous wars +depopulated Segovia, Avila and Salamanca of their Moorish inhabitants. +He gave his son-in-law, the Count Don Raymond of the house of Burgundy, +married to the Princess Doña Urraca, the charge to repeople them. Avila +had been so utterly destroyed that the soil was covered with stones and +the materials of its ruined houses. To rebuild and repopulate it, the +Count brought illustrious knights, soldiers, architects, officials and +gentlemen from Leon, the Asturias, Vizcaya and France, and from other +places. They began to construct the walls in 1090, 800 men working from +the very beginning, and among them were many masters who came from Leon +and Vizcaya. All obeyed Casandro Romano and Florin de Pituenga, Masters +of Geometry, as they are called in the history of this population, which +is attributed to the Bishop of Oviedo, D. Pilayo, who lived at that time +and who treats of these things." + +During these perilous years, Count Raymond wisely lodged his masons in +different quarters of the city, grouping them according to the locality +they came from, whether from Cantabria, the Asturias, or the territory +of Burgos. + +A nobility, as quarrelsome as it was powerful, must have answered Count +Raymond's call for new citizens, for during centuries to come, the +streets, like those of mediæval Siena and Florence, constantly ran with +the blood of opposing factions. Warring families dared walk only certain +streets after nightfall, and battles were carried on between the +different castles and in the streets as between cities and on +battlefields. In the quarrels between royal brothers and cousins, Avila +played a very prominent part. The nurse and protectress of their tender +years, and the guardian of their childhood through successive reigns of +Castilian kings, she became a very vital factor in the fortunes of +kings, prelates, and nobles. In feuds like those of Don Pedro and his +brother Enrique II, she was a turbulent centre. Great figures in Spanish +history ruled from her episcopal throne, especially during the +thirteenth century. There was Pedro, a militant bishop and one of the +most valiant on the glorious battlefield of Las Navas; Benilo, lover of +and beloved by Saint Ferdinand; and Aymar, the loyal champion of Alfonso +the Wise through dark as well as sunny hours. + +The Jews and the Moriscoes here, as wherever else their industrious +fingers and ingenious minds were at work, did much more than their share +towards the prosperity and development of the city. The Jews especially +became firmly established in their useful vocations, filling the king's +coffers so abundantly that the third of their tribute, which he granted +to the Bishop, was not appreciably felt, except in times of armament +and war. With the fanatical expulsion of first one, and then the other, +race, the city's prosperity departed. Their place was filled by the +bloodhounds of the Inquisition, who held their very first, terrible +tribunal in the Convent of Saint Thomas, blighting the city and +surrounding country with a new and terrible curse. The great rebellion +under the Emperor Charles burst from the smouldering wrath of Avila's +indignant citizens, and in 1520 she became, for a short time, the seat +of the "Junta Santa" of the Comuneros. + +It is still easy to discern what a tremendous amount of building must +have gone on within the narrow city limits during the early part of its +second erection. The streets are still full of bits of Romanesque +architecture, palaces, arcades, houses, balconies, towers and windows +and one of the finest groups of Romanesque churches in Spain. Of lesser +sinew and greater age than San Salvador, they are now breathing their +last. San Vicente is almost doomed, while San Pedro and San Segundo are +fast falling. + +But San Salvador remains still unshaken in her strength,--a fortress +within a cathedral, a splendid mailed arm with its closed fist of iron +reaching through the outer bastions and threatening the plains. It is a +bold cry of Christian defiance to enemies without. If ever there was an +embodiment in architecture of the church militant, it is in the +Cathedral of Avila. Approaching it by San Pedro, you look in vain for +the church, for the great spire that loomed up from the distant hills +and was pointed out as the holy edifice. In its place and for the +eastern apse, you see only a huge gray bastion, strong and secure, +crowned at all points by battlements and galleries for sentinels and +fighting men,--inaccessible, grim, and warlike. A fitting abode for the +men who rather rode a horse than read a sermon and preferred the +breastplate to the cassock, a splendid epitome of that period of Spanish +history when the Church fought instead of prying into men's souls. It +well represents the unification of the religious and military officesdevolving +on the Church of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in +Castile,--a bellicose house rather than one of prayer. + +All the old documents and histories of the Church state that the great +Cathedral was started as soon as the city walls were well under way in +1091 and was completed after sixteen years of hard work. Alvar Garcia +from Estrella in Navarre is recorded as the principal original +architect, Don Pedro as the Bishop, and Count Raymond as spurring on the +1900 men at work, while the pilgrims and faithful were soliciting alms +and subscriptions through Italy, France, and the Christian portions of +the Spanish Peninsula. + +Of the earliest church very little remains, possibly only the outer +walls of the great bastion that encloses the eastern termination of the +present edifice. This is much larger than the other towers of defense, +and, judging from the excellent character of its masonry, which is +totally different from the coarse rubble of the remaining city walls and +towers, it must have been built into them at a later date, as well as +with much greater care and skill. Many hypotheses have been suggested, +as to why the apse of the original church was thus built as a portion of +the walls of defense. All seem doubtful. It was possibly that the +altar might come directly above the resting-place of some venerated +saint, or perhaps to economize time and construction by placing the apse +in a most vulnerable point of attack where lofty and impregnable masonry +was requisite. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA + +Exterior of the apse turret] + +The church grew towards the west and the main entrance,--the transepts +themselves, and all work west of them, with the advent of the new style. +We thus obtain in Avila, owing to the very early commencement of its +apse, a curious and vitally interesting conglomeration of the Romanesque +and Gothic. Practically, however, all important portions of the +structure were completed in the more vigorous periods of the Gothicstyle with +the resulting felicitous effect. + +The building of the apse or the chevet westward must, to judge from its +style, have advanced very slowly during the first hundred years, for its +general character is rather that of the end of the twelfth and beginning +of the thirteenth centuries (the reign of Alfonso VIII) than of the pure +Romanesque work which was still executed in Castile at the beginning of +the twelfth century. A great portion of the early Gothic work is, apart +from its artistic merit, historically interesting, as showing the first +tentative, and often groping, steps of the masters who wished to employ +the new forms of the north, but followed slowly and with a hesitation +that betrayed their inexperience. Arches were spanned and windows +broken, later to be braced and blocked up in time to avert a +catastrophe. The transepts belong to the earliest part of the fourteenth +century. We have their definite dates from records,--the northern arm +rose where previously had stood a little chapel and was given by the +Chapter to Dean Blasco Blasquez as an honorable burial place for himself +and his family, while Bishop Blasquez Davila, the tutor of Alfonso IX +and principal notary of Castile, raised the southern arm immediately +afterwards. He occupied the See for almost fifty years, and must have +seen the nave and side aisles and the older portions, including the +northwestern tower, all pretty well constructed. This tower with its +unfinished sister and portions of the west front are curiously enough +late Romanesque work, and must thus have been started before the nave +and side aisles had reached them in their western progress. The original +cloisters belonged to the fourteenth century, as also the northern +portal. Chapels, furnishings, pulpits, trascoro, choir stalls, glazing, +all belong to later times, as well as the sixteenth-century mutilations +of the front and the various exterior Renaissance excrescences. + +It is interesting to infer that the main part of the fabric must +virtually have been completed in 1432, when Pope Eugenio IV published a +bull in favor of the work. Here he only speaks of the funds requisite +for its "preservation and repair." We may judge from such wording the +condition of the structure as a whole. + +The most extraordinary portion of the building is unquestionably its +"fighting turret" and eastern end. This apse is almost unique in Spanish +architectural history and deeply absorbing as an extensive piece of +Romanesque work, not quite free from Moorish traces and already +employing in its vaulting Gothic expedients. It may be called "barbaric +Gothic" or "decadent Romanesque," but, whatever it is termed, it will be +vitally interesting and fascinating to the student of architectural +history. + +Externally the mighty stone tower indicates none of its interior +disposition of chapels or vaulting. The black, weather-stained granite +of its bare walls is alternately broken by slightly projecting pilasters +and slender, columnar shafts. They are crowned by a corbel table and a +high, embattled parapet, that yielded protection to the soldiers +occupying the platform immediately behind, which communicated with the +passage around the city walls. This is again backed by a second wall +similarly crowned. The narrowest slits of windows from the centres of +the radiating, apsidal chapels break the lower surfaces, while double +flying buttresses meet, at the level of the triforium and above the +clerestory windows, the thrusts of the upper walls. + +The plan is most curious, and on account of its irregularity as well as +certain inconsistencies, it is difficult to guess how far it was +originally conceived in its present form, or what alterations were made +in the earlier centuries. Some changes must have been made in its +vaulting. The chevet or Capilla Mayor, which at first very properly +contained the choir, is surrounded by a double ambulatory, outside of +which the thick walls are pierced by nine apsidal chapels. It is +probable that these were originally constructed by the engineers to +lighten the enormous bulk of the outer masonry. They are not quite +semicircles in plan, and are vaulted in various simple ways. Where ribs +occur, they meet in the key of the arch separating chapel from +ambulatory. The piers round the apse itself are alternately +monocylindrical and composite; the intermediate ones, subdividing +unequally the "girola," are lofty, slender columns, while those of the +exterior are polygonal in plan, with shafts against their faces. Some of +the caps are of the best Romanesque types, and composed of animals, +birds, and leaves, while others, possibly substituted for the original +ones, have a plain bell with the ornamentation crudely applied in color. + +The Capilla Mayor has both triforium and clerestory of exquisite early +work. Dog-tooth moldings ornament the archivolts. Mohammedan influence +had asserted itself in the triforium, which is divided by slender shafts +into two windows terminating in horseshoe arches, while the clerestory +consists of broad, round, arched openings. + +The construction and balance of the apse thrusts were doubtless +originally of a somewhat different nature from what we find at present, +as may easily be observed from the materials, the function and positions +of the double flying buttresses. They may have been added as late as +three centuries after the original fabric. Lamperez y Romea's +observations in regard to this are most interesting:-- + +"We must observe in the two present orders of windows, that the lower +was never built for lights and its construction with double columns +forming a hollow space proves it a triforium. That it was actually so is +further abundantly proved by several circumstances: first, by a parapet +or wall which still exists below the actual roof and which follows the +exterior polygonal line of the girola, as well as by some +semi-Romanesque traceries which end in the wall of the Capilla Mayor, +and finally, by a continuous row of supports existing in the thickness +of the same wall below a gutter, separating the two orders of windows. +These features, as well as the general arrangement of the openings, +demonstrate that there was a triforium of Romanesque character, +occupying the whole width of the girola, which furthermore was covered +by a barrel vault. Above this came the great platform or projecting +balcony, corresponding to the second defensive circuit. Military +necessity explains this triforium; without it, there would be no need of +a system of continuous counterthrusts to that of the vaults of the +crossing. If we concede the existence of this triforium, various obscure +points become clear." + +The Capilla Mayor has four bays prior to reaching the pentagonal +termination. The vaulting of the most easterly bay connects with that of +the pentagon, thus leaving three remaining bays to vault; two form a +sexpartite vault, and the third, nearest the transept, a quadripartite. +All the intersections are met by bosses formed by gilded and spreading +coats-of-arms. The ribs do not all carry properly down, two out of the +six being merely met by the keystones of the arches between Capilla +Mayor and ambulatory. The masonry of the vaulting is of a reddish stone, +while that of the transepts and nave is yellow, laid in broad, white +joints. + +In various portions of the double ambulatory passage as well as some of +the chapels, the fine, deep green and gold and blue Romanesque coloring +may still be seen, giving a rich impression of the old barbaric splendor +and gem-like richness so befitting the clothing of the style. Other +portions, now bare, must surely all have been colored. The delicate, +slender shafts, subdividing unequally the ambulatory, have really no +carrying office, but were probably introduced to lessen the difficulty +of vaulting the irregular compartments of such unequal sides. Gothic art +was still in its infancy, and the splendid grasp of the vaulting +difficulties and masterly solution of its problems exemplified in so +many later ambulatories, had not as yet been reached. Here we have about +the first fumbling attempt. The maestro is still fighting in the dark +with unequal thrusts, sides and arches of different widths, and a desire +to meet them all with something higher and lighter than the old +continuous barrel vault. A step forward in the earnest effort toward +higher development, such as we find here, deserves admiration. The +profiles of the ribs are simple, undecorated and vigorous, as were all +the earliest ones; in the chapels, or rather the exedras in the outer +walls, the ribs do not meet in a common boss or keystone, its advantages +not as yet being known to the builders. A good portion of the old +roof-covering of the Cathedral, not only over the eastern end, but +pretty generally throughout, has either been altered, or else the +present covering conceals the original. + +Thus it is easy to detect from the outside, if one stands at the +northwestern angle of the church and looks down the northern face, that +the upper masonry has been carried up by some three feet of brickwork, +evidently of later addition, on top of which comes the present covering +of terra-cotta tiles. The old roof-covering here of stone tiles, as also +above the apse, rested directly on the inside vaults, naturally +damaging them by its weight, and not giving full protection against the +weather. The French slopes had in some instances been slavishly copied, +but the steep roofs requisite in northern cathedrals were soon after +abandoned, being unnecessary in the Spanish climate. Over the apse of +Avila, there may still be found early thirteenth-century roofing, +consisting of large stone flags laid in rows with intermediary grooves +and channels, very much according to ancient established Roman and +Byzantine traditions. Independent superstructure above the vault proper, +to carry the outside covering, had not been introduced when this roofing +was laid. + +In its early days many a noted prelate and honored churchman was laid to +rest within the holy precinct of the choir in front of the high altar or +in the rough old sepulchres of the surrounding chapels. With the moving +of the choir, and probably also a change in the church ceremonies, came +a rearrangement of the apse and the Capilla Mayor's relation to the new +rites. + +The retablo back of the high altar, consisting of Plateresque ornament, +belongs for the most part to the Renaissance. The Evangelists and church +fathers are by Pedro Berruguete (not as great as his son, the sculptor +Alfonso), Juan de Borgoña and Santos Cruz. In the centre, facing theambulatory +behind, is a fine Renaissance tomb of the renowned Bishop +Alfonso Tostada de Madrigal. He is kneeling in full episcopal robes, +deeply absorbed either in writing or possibly reading the Scriptures. +The workmanship on mitre and robe is as fine as the similar remarkable +work in Burgos, while the enclosing rail is a splendid example of the +blending of Gothic and Renaissance. + +The glass in the apse windows is exceptionally rich and magnificently +brilliant in its coloring. It was executed by Alberto Holando, one of +the great Dutch glaziers of Burgos, who was given the entire contract in +1520 by Bishop Francisco Ruiz, a nephew of the great Cardinal Cisneros. + +Such, in short, are the characteristics of the chevet of the Cathedral +of Avila, constructed in an age when its builders must have worked in a +spirit of hardy vigor with the trowel in one hand and the sword in the +other. As we see it to-day, it imparts a feeling of mystery, and its +oriental splendor is enhanced by the dim, religious light. + +In entering the crossing, we step into the fullness of the Gothic +triumph. The vaults have been thrown into the sky to the height of 130 +feet. It is early Gothic work, with its many errors and consequent +retracing of steps made in ignorance. The great arches that span the +crossing north and south had taken too bold a leap and subsequently +required the support of cross arches. The western windows and the great +roses at the end of the transepts, with early heavy traceries, proved +too daring and stone had to be substituted for glass in their apertures; +the long row of nave windows have likewise been filled with masonry. +Despite these and many similar penalties for rashness, the work is as +dignified as it is admirable. Of course the proportions are all small in +comparison with such later great Gothic churches as Leon and Burgos, the +nave and transepts here being merely 28 to 30 feet wide, the aisles only +24 feet wide. Avila is but an awkward young peasant girl if compared +with the queenly presence of her younger sisters. Nevertheless Avila is +in true Spanish peasant costume, while Leon and Burgos are tricked out +in borrowed finery. The nave is short and narrow, but that gives an +impression of greater height, and the obscurity left by the forced +substitution of stone for glass in the window spaces adds to the +solemnity. The nave consists of five bays, the aisle on each side of it +rising to about half its height. The golden groining is quadripartite, +the ribs meeting in great colored bosses and pendents, added at periods +of less simple taste. In the crossing alone, intermediary ribs have been +added in the vaulting. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +AVILA + +From outside the walls] + +The walls of the transept underneath the great blind wheels to the north +and south are broken by splendid windows, each with elaborate tracery +(as also the eastern and western walls), heavy and strong, but finely +designed. The glazing is glorious, light, warm, and intense. The walls +of the nave, set back above the lowest arcade some eighteen inches, have +triforium and clerestory, and above this again, they are filled quite up +to the vaulting with elaborate tracery, possibly once foolhardily +conceived to carry glass. Each bay has six arches in both triforium and +clerestory, all of simple and early apertures. The glazing of the +clerestory is white, excepting in one of the bays. In this single +instance, a simple, geometric pattern of buff and blue stripes is of +wonderfully harmonious and lovely color effect. + +The shafts that separate nave from side aisles are still quite +Romanesque in feeling,--of polygonal core faced by four columns and +eight ribs. The capitals are very simple with no carving, but merely a +gilded representation of leafage, while the base molds carry around all +breaks of the pier. It may be coarse and crude in feeling and execution, +certainly very far from the exquisite finish of Leon, nevertheless the +infancy of an architectural style, like a child's, has the peculiar +interest of what it holds in promise. Like Leon, the side aisles have +double roofing, allowing the light to penetrate to the nave arcade and +forming a double gallery running round the church. + +Many of the bishops who were buried in the choir in its old location +were, on its removal to the bay immediately west of the crossing, also +moved and placed in the various chapels. The sepulchre of Bishop Sancho +Davila is very fine. Like his predecessors, he was a fighting man. His +epitaph reads as follows:-- + +"Here lies the noble cavalier Sancho Davila, Captain of the King Don +Fernando and the Queen Doña Isabel, our sovereigns, and their alcaide of +the castles of Carmona, son of Sancho Sanches, Lord of San Roman and of +Villanueva, who died fighting like a good cavalier against the Moors in +the capture of Alhama, which was taken by his valor on the 28th of +February in the year 1490." + +The pulpits on each side of the crossing, attached to the great piers, +are, curiously enough, of iron, exquisitely wrought and gilded. The one +on the side of the epistle is Gothic and the other Renaissance, the body +of each of them bearing the arms of the Cathedral, the Agnus Dei, and +the ever-present lions and castles. The rejas, closing off choir and +Capilla Mayor in the customary manner, are heavy and ungainly. On the +other hand, the trascoro, that often sadly blocks up the sweep of the +nave, is unusually low and comparatively inconspicuous. It contains +reliefs of the life of Christ, from the first half of the sixteenth +century, by Juan Res and Luis Giraldo. The choir itself is so compact +that it only occupies one bay. The chapter evidently was a modest one. +The stalls are of elaborate Renaissance workmanship. The verger now in +charge, with the voice of a hoarse crow, reads you the name of the +carver as the Dutchman "Cornelis 1536." + +Strange to say, there are no doors leading, as they logically should, +into the centre of the arms of the transept. Through some perversity, +altars have taken their place, while the northern and southern entrances +have been pushed westward, opening into the first bays of the side +aisles. The southern door leads to a vestibule, the sacristy with fine +Gothic vaulting disfigured by later painting, a fine fifteenth-centurychapel and +the cloisters. None of this can be seen from the front, as it +is hidden by adjoining houses and a bare, pilastered wall crowned by a +carved Renaissance balustrade. The galleries of the present cloisters +are later Gothic work with Plateresque decorations and arches walled up. + +Avila Cathedral is, as it were, a part and parcel of the history of +Castile during the reigns of her early kings, the turbulent times when +self-preservation was the only thought, any union of provinces far in +the future, and a Spanish kingdom undreamed of. She was a great church +in a small kingdom, in the empire she became insignificant. Much of her +history is unknown, but in the days of her power, she was certainly +associated with all great events in old Castile. Her influence grew +with her emoluments and the ever-increasing body of ecclesiastical +functionaries. In times of war, she became a fortress, and her bishop +was no longer master of his house. The Captain-General took command of +the bastions, as of those of the Alcazar, and soldiers took the place of +priests in the galleries. She was the key to the city, and on her flat +roofs the opposing armies closed in the final struggle for victory. + +The Cathedral has, in fact, only an eastern and a northern elevation, +the exterior to the west and south being hidden by the huge tower and +the confused mass of chapels and choir which extend to the walls and +houses. + +The western entrance front is noble and dignified in its austere +severity; probably as old as the clerestory of the nave, it is a grim +sentinel from the first part of the fourteenth century. With the +exception of the entrance, it speaks the Romanesque language, although +its windows and some of its decoration are pointed. It is magnificent +and impressive, very Spanish, and almost unique in the Peninsula. Four +mighty buttresses subdivide the composition; between these is the +entrance, and to the north and south are the towers which terminate the +aisles. + +The southern tower has never been finished. The northern is full of +inspiration. It is broken at two stages by double windows, the upper +ones of the belfry being crowned by pediments and surmounted by rich, +sunk tracery. The piers terminate in hexagonal pinnacles, while the +tower, as well as the rest of the front, is finished with a battlement. +The later blocking up of this, as well as the superimposed roofing, is +very evident and disturbing. All the angles of buttresses, of windows, +arches, splays, and pyramids,--those also crowning the bulky piers that +meet the flying buttresses,--are characteristically and uniquely +decorated with an ornamentation of balls. It softens the hard lines, +splashing the surface with infinite series of small, sharp shadows and +making it sparkle with life and light. The angles recall the blunt, blue +teeth of a saw. + +The main entrance, as well as the first two bays of the naves underneath +the towers, must originally have been of different construction from the +present one. Inside the church, these bays are blocked off from nave and +side aisles by walls, on top of which they communicate with each other +as also with the eastern apse by galleries, probably all necessary for +the defense of troops in the early days. Possibly a narthex terminated +the nave back of the original entrance portal underneath the present +vaulted compartment. + +The main entrance door is indeed a strange apparition. In its whiteness +between the sombre tints of the martial towers, it rises like a spectre +in the winding-sheets of a later age. It is distressingly out of place +and time in its dark framework. + +"But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, +but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor, and some to dishonor." + +The semicircular door is crowned by a profusely subdivided, Gothic +archivolt and guarded by two scaly giants or wild men that look, with +their raised clubs, as if they would beat the life out of any one who +should try to enter the holy cavern. Saints Peter and Paul float on +clouds in the spandrels. Above rises a sixteenth-century composition of +masks and canopied niches. The Saviour naturally occupies the centre, +flanked by the various saints that in times of peril protected the +church of Avila: Saints Vincente, Sabina and Cristela, Saint Segundo and +Santa Teresa. In the attic in front of a tremendous traceried cusp, with +openings blocked by masonry, the ornamentation runs completely riot. +Saint Michael, standing on top of a dejected and doubled-up dragon, +looks down on figures that are crosses between respectable caryatides +and disreputable mermaids. It is certainly as immaterial as unknown, +when and by whom was perpetrated this degenerate sculpture now +shamelessly disfiguring a noble casing. The strong, early towers seem in +their turn doubly powerful and eloquent in their simplicity and one +wishes the old Romanesque portal were restored and the great traceries +above it glazed to flood the nave with western sunlight. + +The northeastern angle is blocked by poor Renaissance masonry, the +exterior of the chapels here being faced by a Corinthian order and +broken by circular lights. + +The northern portal is as fine as that of the main entrance is paltry. +The head of the door, as well as the great arch which spans the recess +into which the entire composition is set, is, curiously enough, +three-centred, similar to some of the elliptical ones at Burgos and +Leon. A lion, securely chained to the church wall for the protection of +worshipers, guards each side of the entrance. Under the five arches +stand the twelve Apostles, time-worn, weather-beaten and mutilated, but +splendid bits of late thirteenth-century carving. For they must be as +early as that. The archivolts are simply crowded with small figures of +angels, of saints, and of the unmistakably lost. In the tympanum the +Saviour occupies the centre, and around Him is the same early, naïve +representation of figures from the Apocalypse, angels, and the crowned +Virgin. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA + +Main entrance] + +Two years before Luther, a true exponent of Teutonic genius, had nailed +his theses to the door of a cathedral in central Germany, there was born +in the heart of Spain as dauntless and genuine a representative of hercountry's +genius. Each passed through great storm and stress of the +spirit, and finally entered into that closer communion with God, from +which the soul emerges miraculously strengthened. Do not these bleak +hills, this stern but lovely Cathedral, rising _per aspera ad astra_, +typify the strong soul of Santa Teresa? A great psychologist of our day +finds the woman in her admirable literary style. Prof. James further +accepts Saint Teresa's own defense of her visions: "By their fruits ye +shall know them." These were practical, brave, cheerful, aspiring, like +this Castilian sanctuary, intolerant of dissenters, sheltering and +caring for many, and leading them upward to the City which is unseen, +eternal in the heavens. + + + + +IV + +LEON + +[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF LEON + +From the southwest] + + Look where the flood of western glory falls + Through the great sunflower disk of blazing panes + In ruby, saffron, azure, emerald stains. + + _Holmes._ + + +In the year 1008 the ancient church of Leon witnessed a ceremony +memorable for more reasons than one. It was conducted throughout +according to Gothic customs, King, Queen, nobility and ecclesiastics all +being present, and it was the first council held in Spain since the Arab +conquest whose acts have come down to us. The object was twofold: to +hold a joyous festival in celebration of the rebuilding of the city +walls, which had been broken down some years before by a Moslem army, +and to draw up a charter for a free people, governing themselves, for +Spain has the proud distinction of granting municipal charters one or +two hundred years before the other countries of Europe. For three +centuries of Gothic rule, the kings of Leon, Castile and other provinces +had successfully resisted every attempt at encroachment from the Holy +See and, in session with the clergy, elected their own bishops, until in +1085 Alfonso VI of Castile takes the fatal step of sending Bernard +d'Azeu to receive the pallium and investiture as Bishop of Toledo from +the hands of Gregory VII. From this time forth, kings are crowned, +queens repudiated, and even the hallowed Gothic or Mozarabic ritual is +set aside for that of Rome by order of popes. + +In 1135 Santa Maria of Leon is the scene of a gorgeous pageant. An +Alfonso, becoming master of half Spain and quarter of France, thinks he +might be called Emperor as well as some others, and within the Cathedral +walls he receives the new title in the presence of countless +ecclesiastics and "all his vassals, great and small." The monarch's robe +was of marvelous work, and a crown of pure gold set with precious stones +was placed on his head, while the King of Navarre held his right hand +and the Bishop of Leon his left. Feastings and donations followed, but, +what was of vastly more importance, the new Emperor confirmed the +charters granted to various cities by his grandfather. + +Again a great ceremony fills the old church. Ferdinand, later known as +the Saint, is baptized there in 1199. A year or two later, Innocent III +declares void the marriage of his father and mother, who were cousins, +and an interdict shrouds the land in darkness. Several years pass during +which the Pope turns a deaf ear to the entreaties of a devoted husband, +the King of Leon, to their children's claim, the intercession of Spanish +prelates, and the prayers of two nations who had good cause to rejoice +in the union of Leon and Castile. Then a victim of the yoke, which Spain +had voluntarily put on while Frederic of Germany and even Saint Louis ofFrance +were defending their rights against the aggressions of the Holy +See, the good Queen Berenzuela, sadly took her way back to her father's +home, to the King of Castile. + +His prerogative once established, Innocent III looked well after his +obedient subjects. When Spain was threatened by the most formidable of +all Moorish invasions, he published to all Christendom a bull of crusade +against the Saracens, and sent across the Pyrenees the forces which had +been gathering in France for war in Palestine. Rodrigo, Archbishop of +Toledo, preached the holy war and led his troops, in which he was joined +by the bishops of Bordeaux, Nantes, and Narbonne at the head of their +militia. Germany and Italy sent their quota of knights and soldiers of +fortune, and this concourse of Christian warriors, speaking innumerable +tongues, poured through mountain defiles and ever southward till they +met in lofty Toledo and camped on the banks of the Tagus. Marches, +skirmishes, and long-drawn-out sieges prelude the great day. The hot +Spanish summer sets in, the foreigners, growing languid in the arid +stretches of La Mancha, and disappointed at the slender booty meted out +to them, desert the native army, march northwards and again cross the +Pyrenees to return to their homes. It was thus left to the Spaniards, +led by three kings and their warlike prelates, to defeat a Moslem army +of half a million and gain the glorious victory of Las Navas de Tolosa +on the sixteenth of August, 1212. + +With Rome's firm grasp on the Spanish Peninsula came temples no less +beautiful than those the great Mother Church was planting in every +portion of her dominion north of the Pyrenees,--Leon, Burgos, Toledo and +Valencia rose in proud challenge to Amiens, Rheims, Beauvais and +Chartres. + +Leon may be called French,--yes, unquestionably so, but that is no +detraction or denial of her native "gentileza." She may be the very +embodiment of French planning, her general dimensions like those of +Bourges; her portals certainly recall those of Chartres, and the +planning of her apsidal chapels, her bases, arches, and groining ribs, +remind one of Amiens and Rheims; but nevertheless this exotic flower +blooms as gloriously in a Spanish desert as those that sprang up amid +the vineyards or in the Garden of France. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF LEON CATHEDRAL + + A. Capilla Mayor. + B. Choir. + C. Crossing. + D. Tombs. + E. Trascoro. + F. Towers. + G. Cloisters.] + +Leon is almost as old as the history of Spain. In the first century +after Christ, the seventh Roman legion, on the order of Augustus, +pitched their tents where the city now stands, built their customary +rectangular enclosure with its strong walls and towers, happily seconded +by the nature of the surrounding country. From here the wild hordes of +the Asturias could be kept in check. The city was narrowly built in the +fork of two rivers, on ground allowing neither easy approach nor +expansion, so that the growth has, even up to the twentieth century, +been within the ancient walls, and the streets and squares are in +consequence narrow and cramped. On many of the blocks of those old walls +may still be seen carved in the clear Roman lettering, "Legio septima +gemina, pia, felix." The name of Leon is merely a corruption first used +by the Goths of the Roman "Legio." Roman dominion survived the empire +for many years, being first swept away when the Gothic hordes in the +middle of the sixth century descended from the north under the +conqueror, Loevgild. Its Christian bishopric was possibly the first in +Spain, founded in the darkness of the third century, since which time +the little city can boast an unbroken succession of Leonese bishops, +although a number, during the turbulent decades of foreign rule, may not +actually have been "in residence." The Moslem followed the Goth, and +ruled while the nascent Christian kingdom of the Asturias was slowly +gaining strength for independence and the foundation of an episcopal +seat. In the middle of the eighth century, the Christians wrested it +from the Moors. On the site of the old Roman baths, built in three long +chambers, King Ordoño II erected his palace (he was reconstructing for +defense and glory the walls and edifices of the city) and in 916 +presented it with considerable ground and several adjacent houses to +Bishop Frumonio, that he might commence the building of the Cathedral on +the advantageous palace site in the heart of the city. Terrible Moorish +invasions occurred soon after, involving considerable damage to the +growing Byzantine basilica. In 996 the Moors swept the city with fire +and sword, and again, three years later, it fell entirely into the hands +of the great conqueror Almanzor, who remained in possession only just +the same time, for we may read in the old monkish manuscripts that in +1002 from the Christian pulpits of Castile and Leon the proclamation was +made: "Almanzor is dead, and buried in Hell." + +Leon could boast of being the first mediæval city of Europe to obtain +self-government and a charter of her own, and she became the scene of +important councils during the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth +centuries. In the eleventh century, under the great Ferdinand I, who +united Castile and Leon, work on the basilica was pushed rapidly +forward. French influence was predominant in the early building +operations, for Alfonso VI of Castile, who assumed the title of Emperor +of Spain, had two French wives, each of whom brought with her a batch of +zealous and skillful church-building prelates. + +The church was finally consecrated in 1149. About twenty-five years ago, +the Spanish architect, D. Demetrio de los Rios, in charge of the work of +restoration on the present Cathedral, discovered the walls and +foundations of the ancient basilica and was able to determine accurately +its relation to the later Gothic church. The exact date when this was +begun is uncertain,--many writers give 1199. Beyond a doubt the +foundations were laid out during the reign of Alfonso IX, early in the +thirteenth century, when Manrique de Lara was Bishop of the See of Leon +and French Gothic construction was at the height of its glory. It is +thus a thirteenth-century church, belonging principally to the latter +part, built with the feverish energy, popular enthusiasm, and +unparalleled genius for building which characterizes that period and +stamps it as uniquely glorious to later constructive ages. Though +smaller than most of the immense churches which afterwards rose under +Spanish skies, Leon remained in many respects unsurpassed and unmatched. + + "Sevilla en grandeza, Toledo en riqueza, + Compostella en fortaleza, está en sutileza + Santa Maria de Regla." + +In the middle of the thirteenth century, after the consecration of the +new church, a famous council of all the bishops of the realm was held in +the little town of Madrid, and there the faithful were exhorted, and +the lukewarm admonished with threats, to contribute by every means to +the successful erection of Leon's Cathedral. Indulgences, well worth +consideration, were granted to contributors, at the head of whom for a +liberal sum stood the king, Alfonso X. + +But Leon, capital of the ancient kingdom, was doomed before long to feel +the bitterness of abandonment. The Castilian kings followed the retreat +southward of the Moorish armies, and the history of the capital of Leon, +which, during the thirteenth century, had been the history of the little +kingdom, soon became confined within the limits of her cathedral walls. +Burgos, a mighty rival, soon overshadowed her. The time came when the +Bishop of Leon was merely a suffragan of the Archbishop of Burgos, and +her kings had moved their court south to Seville. The city of Leon was +lost in the union of the two kingdoms. + +The fortunes of the Cathedral have been varied and her reverses great. +Her architects risked a great deal and the disasters entailed were +proportionate. Though belonging preëminently in style to the glorious +thirteenth century, her building continued almost uninterruptedly +throughout the fourteenth. We have in succession Maestro Enrique, Pedro +Cebrian, Simon, Guillen de Rodan, Alonzo Valencia, Pedro de Medina, and +Juan de Badajoz, working on her walls and towers with a magnificent +recklessness which was shortly to meet its punishment. Although Bishop +Gonzalez in 1303 declared the work, "thanks be to God, completed," it +was but started. The south façade was completed in the sixteenth +century, but as early as 1630 the light fabric began to tremble, then +the vaulting of the crossing collapsed and was replaced by a more +magnificent dome. Many years of mutilations and disasters succeeded. The +south front was entirely taken down and rebuilt, the vaulting of aisles +fell, great portions of the main western façade, and ornamentation here +and there was disfigured or destroyed by the later alterations in +overconfident and decadent times, until, in the middle of the eighteenth +century, very considerable portions of the original rash and exquisite +fabric were practically ruined. There came, however, an awakening to the +outrages which had been committed, and from the middle of the nineteenth +century to the present day, the work of putting back the stones in their +original forms and places has steadily advanced to the honor of Leon andglory of +Spain, until Santa Maria de Regla at last stands once more in +the full pristine lightness of her original beauty. + +The plan of Leon is exceedingly fine, surpassed alone among Spanish +churches by that of Toledo. Three doorways lead through the magnificent +western portal into the nave and side aisles of the Church. These +consist of five bays up to the point where the huge arms of the transept +spread by the width of an additional bay. In proportion to the foot of +the cross, these arms are broader than in any other Spanish cathedral. +They are four bays in length, the one under the central lantern being +twice the width of the others, thus making the total width of the +transepts equal to the distance from the western entrance to their +intersection. The choir occupies the fifth and sixth bays of the nave. +To the south, the transept is entered by a triple portal very similar in +scale and richness to the western. The eastern termination of the +church is formed by a choir of three and an ambulatory of five bays +running back of the altar and trascoro, and five pentagonal apsidal +chapels. The sacristy juts out in the extreme southwestern angle. The +northern arm of the huge transepts is separated from the extensive +cloisters by a row of chapels or vestibules which to the east also lead +to the great Chapel of Santiago. All along its eastern lines the church +with its dependencies projects beyond the city walls, one of its massive +towers standing as a mighty bulwark of defense in the extreme +northeastern angle. + +[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF LEON + +Looking up the nave] + +It is a plan that must delight not only the architect, but any casual +observer, in its almost perfect symmetry and in the relationship of its +various parts to each other. It belonged to the primitive period of +French Gothic, though carried out in later days when its vigor was +waning. It has not been cramped nor distorted by initial limitation of +space or conditions, nor injured by later deviations from the original +conception. It is worthy of the great masters who planned once for all +the loveliest and most expressive house for the worship of God. Erected +on the plains of Leon, it was conceived in the inspired provinces of +Champagne and the Isle de France. + +It has a total length of some 308 feet and a width of nave and aisles of +83. The height to the centre of nave groining is 100 feet. The western +front has two towers, which, curiously enough, as in Wells Cathedral, +flank the side aisles, thus necessitating in elevation a union with the +upper portions of the façade by means of flying buttresses. + +There is a fine view of the exterior of the church from across the +square facing the southwestern angle. A row of acacia plumes and a +meaningless, eighteenth-century iron fence conceal the marble paving +round the base, but this foreground sinks to insignificance against the +soaring masses of stone towers and turrets, buttresses and pediments, +stretching north and east. Both façades have been considerably restored, +the later Renaissance and Baroque atrocities having been swept away in a +more refined and sensitive age, when the portions of masonry which fell, +owing to the flimsiness of the fabric, were rebuilt. The result has, +however, been that great portions, as for instance in the western front +and the entire central body above the portals, jar, with the chalky +whiteness of their surfaces by the side of the time-worn masonry. They +lack the exquisite harmony of tints, where wind and sun and water have +swept and splashed the masonry for centuries. + +The two towers that flank the western front in so disjointed a manner +are of different heights and ages. Both have a heavy, lumbering quality +entirely out of keeping with the aerial lightness of the remainder of +the church. It is not quite coarseness, but rather a stiff-necked, +pompous gravity. Their moldings lack vigor and sparkle. The play of +fancy and sensitive decorative treatment are wanting. The northern tower +is the older and has an upper portion penetrated by a double row of +round and early pointed windows. An unbroken octagonal spire crowns it, +the angles of the intersection being filled by turrets, as uninteresting +as Prussian sentry-boxes. The southern tower, though lighter and more +ornamented, has, like its sister, extremely bald lower surfaces, the +four angles in both cases being merely broken by projecting buttresses. +The lowest story was completed in the fourteenth century. It was added +to in successive centuries by Maestro Jusquin and Alfonso Ramos, but its +great open-work spire, of decided German form, probably much influenced +by Colonia's spires at Burgos, was first raised in the fifteenth +century. + +It is a complete monotonous lacework of stone, not nearly as spirited as +similar, earlier, French work. The spire is separated from the bald base +by a two-storied belfry, with two superimposed openings on each surface. +Gothic inscriptions decorate the masonry and the huge black letters +spell out "Deus Homo--Ave Maria, Gratia plena." + +At the base, between these huge, grave sentinels, stands the magnificent +old portico with the modern facing of the main body of the church above +it. This screen of later days, built after the removal of a hideously +out-of-keeping Renaissance front, is contained within two buttresses +which meet the great flying ones. In fact, looking down the stone gorge +between these buttresses and the towers, one sees a mass of pushing and +propping flying buttresses springing in double rows above the roof of +the side aisles towards the clerestories of the nave. The screen itself +contains, immediately above the portico, an arcade of four subdivided +arches, corresponding to the triforium, and above it a gorgeous rose +window. It is the best type of late thirteenth or early +fourteenth-century wheel of radial system, very similar in design to the +western wheel of Notre Dame de Paris and the great western one of +Burgos. Springing suddenly into being in all its developed perfection, +it can only be regarded as a direct importation from the Isle de France. +The ribs of the outer circle are twice as many as those of the inner, +thus dividing the glass surfaces into approximately equal breadth of +fields. This and the rose of the southern transept are similar, and both +are copies of the original one still extant in the north transept. A +fine cornice and open-work gallery surmount the composition, flanked by +crocketed turrets and crowned in the centre by a pediment injurious in +effect and of Italian Renaissance inspiration. The gable field is broken +by a smaller wheel, and in an ogival niche are statues of the +Annunciation. + +The portico is the most truly splendid part of the Cathedral. Erected at +the end of the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth century, much +of its Gothic sculpture is unsurpassed in Spain. A perfect museum of art +and a history in magnificent carving. The composition as a whole recalls +again unquestionably Chartres. It consists of three recessed arches +hooding with deep splays the three doorways which lead into nave and +side aisles. Between the major arches are two smaller, extremely pointed +ones, the most northerly of which encases an ancient columnar shaft +decorated with the arms of Leon and bearing the inscription, "locus +appellationis." Beneath it court was long held and justice administered +by the rulers of Leon during the Middle Ages. + +The arches of the porches are supported by piers, completely broken and +surrounded by columnar shafts and niches carrying statues on their +corbels. These piers stand out free from the jambs of the doors and +wall surfaces behind, and thus form an open gallery between the two. +Around and over all is an astounding and lavish profusion of +sculpture,--no less than forty statues. The jambs and splays, the +shafts, the archivolts, the moldings and tympanums are covered with +carving, varied and singularly interesting in the diversity of its +period and character. Part of it is late Byzantine with the traditions +of the twelfth century, while much is from the very best vigorous Gothic +chisels, and yet some, later Gothic. Certain borders, leafage, and vine +branches are Byzantine, and so also are some of the statues, "retaining +the shapeless proportions and the immobility and parched frown of the +Byzantine School, so perfectly dead in its expression, offering, +however, by its garb and by its contours not a little to the study of +this art, and so constituting a precious museum." Again, other statues +have the mild and venerable aspect of the second period of Gothic work. +The oldest are round the most northerly of the three doorways. Every +walk of life is represented. There is a gallery of costumes; and most +varying emotions are depicted in the countenances of the kings and +queens, monks and virgins, prelates, saints, angels, and bishops. +Separating the two leaves of the main doorway, stands Our White Lady. +But if the statues are interesting, the sculpture of the archivolts and +the personages and scenes carved on the fields of the tympanums far +surpass them. + +Mrs. Wharton says somewhere, "All northern art is anecdotic,--it is an +ancient ethnological fact that the Goth has always told his story that +way." Nothing could be more "anecdotic" than this sculpture. The +northern tympanum gives scenes from the Life of Christ, the Visitation, +the Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi, and the Flight into Egypt. In +the southern, are events from the life of the Virgin Mary; but the +central one, and the archivolts surrounding it, contain the most +spirited bits. The scene is the Last Judgment, with Christ as the +central figure. Servants of the Church of various degrees are standing +on one side with expressions of beatitude nowise clouded by the fate of +the miserable reprobates on the other. In the archivolts angels ascend +with instruments and spreading wings, embracing monks or gathering +orphans into their bosoms, while the lost with horrid grimaces are +descending to their inevitable doom. Not even the great Florentine could +depict more realistically the feelings of such as had sinned grievously +in this world. + +The long southern side of the church has for its governing feature the +wide transept termination, which in its triple portal, triforium arcade, +and rose is practically a repetition of the west. The central body is +all restored. The original, magnificent old statues and carving have, +however, been set back in the new casings around and above the main +entrance. An old Leonese bishop, San Triolan, occupies in the central +door the same position as "Our White Lady" to the west, while the +Saviour between the Four Evangelists is enthroned in the tympanum. + +[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF LEON + +Rear of apse] + +One obtains a most interesting study in construction by standing behind +the great polygonal apse, whence one may see the double rows of flying +buttresses pushing with the whole might of the solid piers behind them +against the narrow strips of masonry at the angles of the choir. From +every buttress rise elegantly carved and crocketed finials. Marshalled +against the cobalt of the skies, they body forth an array of shining +lances borne by a heavenly host. The balconies, forming the cresting to +the excessively high clerestory, are entirely Renaissance in feeling, +and lack in their horizontal lines the upward spring of the church +below. Almost all of this eastern end, breaking through the city walls, +is, with the possible exception of the roof, part of the fine old +structure, in contrast to the adjoining Plateresque sacristy. + +It is generally from the outside of French cathedrals that one receives +the most vivid impressions. Though the mind may be overcome by a feeling +of superhuman effort on entering the portals of Notre Dame de Paris, yet +the emotion produced by the first sight of the queenly, celestial +edifice from the opposite side of the broad square is the more powerful +and eloquent. Not so in Spain,--and this in spite of the location of the +choirs. It is not until you enter a Spanish church that its power and +beauty are felt. + +The audacious construction of Leon, which one wonders at from the square +outside, becomes well-nigh incredible when seen from the nave. How is it +possible that glass can support such a weight of stone? If Burgos was +bold, this is insane. It looks as unstable as a house of cards, ready +for a collapse at the first gentle breeze. Can fields of glass sustain +three hundred feet of thrusts and such weights of stone? It is a +culmination of the daring of Spanish Gothic. In France there was this +difference,--while the fields of glass continued to grow larger and +larger, the walls to diminish, and the piers to become slenderer, the +aid of a more perfectly developed system of counterthrusts to the +vaulting was called in. In Spain we reach the maximum of elimination in +the masonry of the side walls at the end of the thirteenth century, and +in the Cathedral of Leon, whereas later Gothic work, as in portions of +Burgos and Toledo, shows a sense of the futile exaggeration towards +which they were drifting, as well as the impracticability of so much +glass from a climatic point of view. + +Internally, Leon is the lightest and most cheerful church in Spain. The +great doorways of the western and southern fronts, as well as that to +the north leading into the cloisters, are thrown wide open, as if to add +to the joyousness of the temple. Every portion of it is flooded with +sweet sunlight and freshness. It is the church of cleanliness, of light +and fresh air, and above all, of glorious color. The glaziers might have +said with Isaiah, "And I will make thy windows of agates and thy gates +of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones." The entire walls +are a continuous series of divine rainbows. + +The side walls of the aisles for a height of some fourteen feet to the +bottom of their vaulting ribs, the triforium, commencing but a foot +above the arches which separate nave from side aisles, and immediately +above the triforium, forty feet of clerestory,--all is glass, emerald, +turquoise, and peacock, amber, straw, scarlet, and crimson, encased in a +most delicate, strangely reckless, and bold-traceried framework of +stained ivory. Indeed, the jeweled portals of Heaven are wide open when +the sun throws all the colors from above across the otherwise colorless +fields of the pavement. "The color of love's blood within them glows." +There is glazing of many centuries and all styles. In some of the +triforium windows are bits of glass, which, after the destruction or +falling of the old windows, were carefully collected, put together, and +used again in the reglazing. Some of it is of the earliest in Spain, +probably set by French, Flemish, or German artisans who had immigrated +to practise their art and set up their factories on Spanish soil +adjacent to the stone-carvers' and masons' sheds under the rising walls +of the great churches. Like all skilled artisans of their age, the +secret of their trade, the proper fusing of the silica with the +alkalies, was carefully guarded and handed down from father to son or +master to apprentice. They were chemists, glaziers, artists, colorists, +and glass manufacturers, all in one. The heritage was passed on in those +days, when the great key of science which opens all portals had not yet +become common property. Some of the oldest glass is merely a crude +mosaic inlay of small bits and must date back to early thirteenth +century. Coloring glass by partial fusion was then first practised and +soon followed by the introduction of figures and themes in the glass, +and the acquisition of a lovely, homogeneous opalescence in place of the +purely geometrical patterns. Scriptural scenes or figures painted, as +the Spanish say, "en caballete," became more and more general. The best +of the Leon windows are from the fifteenth century, when the glaziers' +shops in the city worked under the direction of Juan de Arge, Maestro +Baldwin, and Rodrigo de Ferraras, and its master colorists were at work +glazing the windows of the Capilla Mayor, the Capilla de Santiago, and a +portion of those of the north transept. "Ces vitreaux hauts en couleur, +qui faisaient hésiter l'Å“il émerveillé de nos pères entre la rose du +grand portail et les ogives de l'abside." The glazing has gone on +through centuries; even to-day the glaziers at Leon are busy in their +shops, making the sheets of sunset glow for their own and other Spanish +cathedrals. + +In some of the side aisles, they have, alas, during recent decades +placed some horrible "grisaille" and geometrically patterned +windows,--in frightful contrast to the delightful thirteenth-century +legends of Saint Clement and Saint Ildefonso, or that most absorbing +record of civic life depicted in the northern aisle. In studying the +windows of Leon, Lamperez y Romea's observations on Spanish glazing are +of interest: "In the fourteenth century the rules of glazing in Spain +were changed. Legends had fallen into disuse and the masters had learned +that, in the windows of the high nave, small medallions could not be +properly appreciated. They were then replaced by large figures, isolated +or in groups, but always one by one in the spaces determined by the +tracery. The coloring remained strong and vivid. The study of nature, +which had so greatly developed in painting and in sculpture, altered the +drawing little by little, the figures became more modeled and lifelike, +and were carried out with more detail. At the same time the coloring +changed by the use of neutral tints, violet, brown, light blues, rose, +etc. Many of the old windows are of this style. And so are the majority +of the windows of Avila, Leon, and Toledo, as it lasted in Spain +throughout the fifteenth century, and others which preserve the +composition of great figures and strong coloring, although there may be +noticed in the drawings greater naturalism and modeling." + +These rules differed slightly from those followed in France, where, with +the exception of certain churches in the east, the windows of the +thirteenth century were richer in decoration, more luscious in coloring +and more harmonious in their tones than those of the fourteenth. There +is little in this later century that can compare with the +thirteenth-century series of Chartres figures. + +The Leonese windows are perhaps loveliest late in the afternoon, when +the saints and churchmen seem to be entering the church through their +black-traceried portals, and, clad in heavenly raiment, about to descend +to the pavement,-- + + As softly green, + As softly seen, + Through purest crystal gleaming, + +there to people the aisles and keep vigil at the altars of God to the +coming of another day. + +There are, fortunately, scarcely any other colors or decorations,--or +altars off side aisles,--that might divert the attention from the +richness of glass. The various vaulting has the jointing of its +stonework strongly marked, but, with the exception of the slightly +gilded bosses, no color is applied. The glory of the glass is thus +enhanced. Owing to the great portions of masonry which have been +rebuilt, this varies in its tints, but the old was, and has remained, of +such an exquisitely delicate creamy color that the new interposed +stonework merely looks like a lighter, fresher shade of the old. The +restoration has been executed with rare skill and artistic feeling. + +In studying the inner organism and structure of the edifice, one soon +sees how recklessly the original fabric was constructed and in how many +places it had to be rebuilt, strengthened and propped,--indeed, +immediately after its completion. Here, as was the general custom in the +greater early Gothic cathedrals, the building began with the choir and +Capilla Mayor, to be followed by the transepts, the portions of the +edifice essential to the service. The choir was probably temporarily +roofed over and the nave and side aisles followed. The exterior façades, +portals, and upper stories of the towers were carried out last of all by +the aid of indulgences, contributions, alms and concessions. + +In old manuscripts and documents which record the very first work on the +cathedrals we find the one in charge called "Maestro,"--or _magister +operis_, _magister ecclesiae_, _magister fabricae_, but not till +the sixteenth century does the appellation "arquitecto" appear. +His pay seems to have varied, both in amount and in form of +emolument,--sometimes it was good hard cash, often a very poor or +dubious remuneration, handed out consequently with a more lavish hand; +sometimes grants, and again royal favor. Generally the architect entered +into a stipulated agreement with the Cathedral Chapter, both as to his +time and services, before he began his work. We find Master Jusquin +(1450-69) receiving from the Chapter of Leon not only a daily salary but +also annual donations of bushels of wheat, pairs of gloves, lodgings, +poultry, other supplies, and the use of certain workmen. + +Leon's unquestionable French parentage is, if possible, even more +obvious in the interior than in the exterior. The piers between nave and +side aisles are cylindrical in plan, having in their lowest section on +their front surface three columns grouped together that continue +straight up through triforium and clerestory and carry the transverse +and diagonal ribs of the nave. They have further one column on each side +of the axis east and west and, strange to say, only one toward the side +aisles, which thus lack continuous supports for their diagonal ribs. The +outer walls of the side aisles are formed by a blind arcade of five +arches, surmounted by a projecting balcony or corridor and a clerestory +subdivided by its tracery into four arches and three cusped circles. The +nave triforium consists of a double arcade with a gallery running +between (one of the very rare examples in Spain). Each bay has in the +triforium four open and two closed arches, surmounted by two +quatrefoils. The clerestory rises above, divided by marvelously slender +shafts into six compartments and three cusped circles in the apex of the +arch. Here shine, in dazzling raiment and with ecstatic expressions, the +saints and martyrs ordered in the fifteenth century from Burgos for the +sum of 20,000 maravedis. + +Throughout all the glazed wall surfaces we find evidence of the anxiety +that overtook their reckless projectors. All but the upper cusps of the +windows of the side aisles have been filled in by masonry, painted with +saints and evangelists in place of the translucent ones originally +placed here. The lower portions of the triforium lights have been +blocked up and also the two outer arches of the clerestory. The light, +clustered piers and slender, double flying buttresses could not +accomplish the gigantic task of supporting the great height above. Nor +could the ingenious strengthening of the stone walls (consisting of +ashlar inside and out, facing intermediate rubble) by iron clamps supply +the requisite firmness. + +It seems doubly unfortunate that the choir stalls should occupy the +position they do here, when there is such liberal space in the three +bays east of the crossing in front of the altar. The stone of their +exterior backing is cold and gray beside the ochre warmth of the +surrounding piers. The classic Plateresque statues and bas-reliefs, as +well as the exquisitely carved, Florentine decoration, seems strangely +out of place under the Gothic loveliness above. The trascoro itself is +warmer in color, but of the extravagant later period. Its pilasters, +spandrels, and band-courses are filled with elaborate and fine +Florentine ornamentation, while the niches themselves, with high reliefs +representing the Annunciation, the Nativity, and the Adoration of the +Magi, are not quite free from a certain Gothic feeling. Above, great +statues of Church Fathers weigh heavily on the delicate work and smaller +scale below. + +The carving of the double tier of walnut choir stalls is at once +restrained and rich. Beautiful Gothic tracery surmounts in both tiers +the figures that fill the panels above the seats. Below are characters +from the Old Testament,--Daniel, Jeremiah, Abel, David busily playing +his harp, Joshua "Dux Isri," Moses with splendid big horns and tablets, +Tobias with his little fish slit up the belly. Above stand firmly +full-length figures of the Apostles and saints. With the exception of +some of the work near the entrance, which is practically Renaissance in +feeling, all this carving is late Gothic from the last part of the +fifteenth century and executed by the masters Fadrique, John of Malines, +and Rodrigo Aleman. Two of the stalls, more elevated and pronounced than +the rest, are for the hereditary canons of the Cathedral, the King of +Leon and the Marquis of Astorga. Excellent as they are, these stalls are +not nearly so rich in design nor beautiful in execution as the Italian +Renaissance choir stalls, in the Convent of San Marcos directly outside +the city walls, carved some decades later by the Magister Guillielmo +Dosel. + +The crossing is splendidly broad, the transepts appearing, as one +glances north and south, as much the main arms of the cross as do the +nave and choir. The southern arm is quite new, having been completely +rebuilt by D. Juan Madrazo and D. Demetrio Amador de los Rios. The +glazing of its window and the arabesques cannot be compared to those of +the original fabric in the northern arm. The four piers of the crossing, +though slender and graceful, carry full, logical complements of shafts +for the support of the various vaulting ribs, intersecting at their +apexes. + +The retablo above the high altar is in its simplicity as refreshing as +the light and sunniness of the church. In place of the customary gaudy +carving, it merely consists of a series of painted fifteenth-century +tablets set in Gothic frames. Simple rejas close the western bays and a +florid Gothic trasaltar, the eastern termination. Directly back of the +altar lies a noble and dignified figure, the founder of the church, King +Ordoño II. At his feet is a little dog, looking for all the world like +a sucking pig in a butcher's window. And above him is an ancient and +most curious Byzantine relief of the Crucifixion. The lions and castles +of his kingdom surround the old king. The greater portion of the carving +must belong to the oldest in the church. + +In looking at the vaulting and considering the difficulty of planning +the "girola" or ambulatory, one realizes that such construction could +only be the outcome of many years of study, experiment and inspiration. +Perfection means long previous schooling and experience. The apsidal +chapels that radiate from it have glass differing in excellence. Here +and there frescoes of the thirteenth century line these earliest walls. +It is surprising in how many different places old sepulchres are to be +found, all more or less similar in their general design and belonging to +the period of transition from the Byzantine to the Gothic, yet each +denoting the building period of the place where it stands. Some of the +subjects of the carving are most curious: a hog playing the bagpipes, +the devil in the garb of a father confessor, tempting a penitent; or +again, a woman suckling an ass. Saint Froila lies on one side of the +altar. Not only his sanctity but even his authenticity were disputed by +various disbelievers in the city, prior to his being brought to this +final resting-place. The matter was decided by placing the body in +question on an ass's back, whereupon the sagacious animal took his holy +burden to the spot where it deserved burial. + +In the Capilla de Nuestra Señora del Dado, or "of the die," stands a +Virgin with the face of the Christ child ever bleeding, it is said, +since the time when an unlucky gambler in a fit of despair threw his +dice against the Babe. + +Directly opposite Ordoño's tomb lies the Countess Sancha, who, in a +burst of religious enthusiasm, decided to leave her considerable worldly +goods to the Church instead of to her nephew. This was more than he +could stand, and he murdered her. Below her figure he is represented, +receiving his just reward in being torn to pieces by wild horses. + +To the north, a florid Gothic portal leads on a higher level to the +Chapel of Santiago. This has been, and is still being, restored. Its +three vaults are differently arched, the ribs not being carried down +against the side walls to the floor, but met by broad corbels supported +by curious figures. The stonework is cold and gray in comparison to the +church proper. + +Separating the northern entrance from the cloisters is a row of chapels, +leading one into the other and crowded with tombs and sculpture. There +are few more complete cloisters in Spain. Large and elaborate, they are +a curious mixture of the old Gothic and the Renaissance restorations of +the sixteenth century. Ancient Gothic tombs, their archivolts crowded +with angels, pierce the interior walls, while the vaults themselves are +most elaborately groined, the arches and vaulting being later filled +with Renaissance bosses and rosettes. In the sunny courtyard are piled +up the Renaissance turrets and sculptures that once usurped on the +façades the places of the older Gothic ornamentation. The northern +portal itself is practically hidden by the chapels and cloisters. It is +fine Gothic work. A Virgin and Child form a mullion in its centre, while +very worldly-looking women parade in its archivolts. Everywhere are the +arms of the United Kingdoms. A great portion of the ancient tapestry +blue and Veronese red coloring is still preserved, throwing out the old +Gothic figures in their true tints. + +This aerial tabernacle, so rich and yet so simple, lies in the heart of +a city so fabulously old that the Cathedral itself belongs rather to its +later days. The old houses and streets have a dryness and close smell +like that in the ancient sepulchres of parched countries. Monuments and +walls and turrets of Rome crumble around the houses and vaults of +Byzantium. The naïve frescoes and carvings of the eighth and ninth +centuries seem to look down with childlike wonder and amazement on the +pedestrians now crowding the patterned pavements, or pressing against +the shady sides of the time-worn arches. + +The worshipers who tread the narrow lanes leading to and from the altar +have changed, but little else. The square, mediæval castles with their +angular towers still command the approach of the main thoroughfares. The +crabbed old watchman with lantern and stick under his cape treads his +doddering gait across the courtyards through the night hours, crying +after the peal of the bell above, "Las doce han dado y sereno," "Las +trece han dado y aleviendo," "Las quince han dado y nublano," just as in +the middle ages, so that the good peasant may know time and weather and +merely turn in his bed, if neither crops nor creatures need care. + +Santa Maria de Regla too stands to-day as she stood in the middle ages, +a monument to the care and affection of her children. She has the same +spirituality, harmony of proportions, slenderness, and purity of lines, +and she looks down and blesses us to-day with the same serenity and +queenly grace which she wore in the fourteenth century. She is the +finest Gothic cathedral in Spain. + + + + +V + + +TOLEDO + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO] + +I withdrew at once with the Morisco into the cloisters of the +Cathedral.--_Don Quixote._ + + +I + +The peace of death is over Toledo, unbroken by any invasion of modern +thought or new architecture since her last deep sighs mingled with the +distant echoes of the middle ages. But she still wears the mantle of her +imperial glory. She sleeps in the fierce, beating sunlight of the +twentieth century like the enchanted princess of fairy tales, +undisturbed by, and unconscious of, the world around her. + +The atmosphere is transparent; the sky spreads from lapis-lazuli to a +cobalt field back of the snow-capped, turquoise Sierra de Gredo +mountains, while a clear streak of lemon color throws out the sharp +silhouette of the battlements and towers. + +There is sadness and desolation in the decay, a pathetically forlorn and +tragical widowhood, strangely affecting to the senses. + + A blackened ruin, lonely and forsaken, + Already wrapt in winding-sheets of sand; + So lies Toledo till the dead awaken,-- + A royal spoil of Time's resistless hand. + +Toledo! The name rings with history, romance and legend. Enthralling +images of the past rise before one and vanish like the ghosts of +Macbeth. Capital of Goth, of Moslem, and of Christian; mightiest of +hierarchical seats,[8] city of monarch and priest, she has worn a double +diadem. Gautier says, "Jamais reine antique, pas même Cléopatre, qui +buvait des perles, jamais courtisane Vénitienne du temps de Titien n'eut +un écrin plus étincelant, un trousseau plus riche que Notre Dame de +Tolède." But the flame of life which once burned warm and bright is now +extinct and all her glory has vanished. Neglected churches, convents, +palaces, and ruins lie huddled together, a stern and solemn vision of +the past, waiting with the silence of the tomb, broken only by the +continual tolling of her hoarse bells. + +The city has a superb situation. Once seen, it is forever impressed upon +the memory. The hills on which it stands rise abruptly from the +surrounding campagna, which bakes brown and barren and crisp under the +scorching rays of the sun, and stretches away to the distant mountains, +vast and uninterrupted in its solitude and dreariness. It is "pobre de +solemnidad,"--solemnly poor, as runs the touching phrase in Spanish. +There is no joy and freshness of vegetation, no glistening of wet +leaves, no scent of flowers. You read thirst in the plains, hunger in +the soil-denuded hills. All is naked and bare, without a softening line +or gentler shadow, lying fallow in spring, unwatered in drought, and +ungarnered at harvest time. + +The Tagus rushes round the city in the shape of a horseshoe, confining +and protecting it as the Wear does the towers of Durham. It boils and +eddies 'twixt its narrow, rocky confines, hurrying from the gloomy +shadows to the sunshine below, through which it slowly sweeps, murky and +coffee-colored, to the horizon, no life between its flat banks, no +commerce to mark it as a highway. + +You pass over the high-arched Alcantara Bridge, which the Campeador and +his kinsman, Alvar Fanez, crossed with twelve hundred horsemen at their +back, to demand justice from their sovereign. A broad terrace crawls +like a serpent up the steep incline to the city gates. A forest of +soaring steeples rises above you, topped by the square bulk of the +Alcazar. + +The city smells sleepy. The narrow streets, or rather alleys, of the +town wind tortuously around the stucco façades, with no apparent +starting-point or destination, as confused as a skein of worsted after a +kitten has played with it. Thus were they laid out by the wise Arabs, to +afford shade at all hours of the day. At every corner, one runs into +some detail of historical or artistic interest,--history and +architecture here wander hand in hand. + +Huge, wooden doors, closely studded with scallop nails as big as a man's +fist, proud escutcheons of noble races lost to all save Spain's history; +charming glimpses of interior courtyards and gardens glittering fresh in +their emerald coloring, and sweet with the scent of orange blossoms; +Gothic crenelations, Renaissance ironwork and railing, and Moorish +capitals and ornamentation, all pell-mell, the styles of six centuries +often appearing in the same building. More than a hundred churches and +chapels and forty monasteries crumble side by side within the small +radius of the city. Half of its area was once covered by religious +buildings or mortmain property. + + +II + +The church, be it a grand cathedral or the humble steeple of some little +hamlet, is always the connecting link between past and present. It has +been the highest artistic expression of the people, and it remains an +eloquent witness to continuity and tradition. It is what makes later +ages most forcibly "remember," for it seeks to embody and satisfy the +greatest need of the human heart. + +The history of a great cathedral church of Spain is so closely connected +with the civil life of its city that one cannot be thoroughly studied +without some familiarity with the other. Spanish cathedrals differ in +this respect from their great English and French sisters. In England, +cathedrals were built and owned by the clergy, they belonged to the +priests, they were surrounded and hedged in from the outside world by +their extensive lawns and cloisters, refectories, chapter houses, +bishops' palaces, and numerous monastic buildings. They were shut off +from the rest of the world by high walls. In France, the cathedrals were +the centre of civic life; their organs were the heart-throbs of the +people; their bells were notes of warning. The very houses of the +artisans climbed up to their sides and nestled for protection between +the buttresses of the great Mother Church. Notre Dame d'Amiens, for +instance, was the church of a commune, what Walter Pater calls a +"people's church." They belonged to the people more than to the clergy. +They were a civil rather than an ecclesiastical growth, essentially the +layman's glory. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF TOLEDO CATHEDRAL + + A. Chapel of Saint Blase. + B. Chapel of the Parish of Saint Peter. + C. Octagon. + D. Chapel of the Virgin of the Sanctuary. + E. Large Sacristy. + F. Court of the Hall of Accounts. + G. Chapel of the New Kings. + H. Chapel of the Master of Santiago, D. Alvaro de Luna. + I. Chapel of Saint Ildefonso. + K. Chapter House. + L. Chapel of the Old Kings or of the Holy Cross. + M. Capilla Mayor. + N. Chapel of the Tower or of the Dean. + O. Mozarabic Chapel. + P. Choir. + Q. Portal of the Lions. + R. Portal of the Olive, or Gate of La Llana. + S. Portal of the Choir. + T. Portal of the Little Bread. + V. Portal of the Visitation. + W. Portal of the Tower or Gate of Hell. + X. Portal of the Scriveners or of Judgment.] + +In Spain, the church belonged to both. Municipal and ecclesiastical +history were one and the same, going hand in hand in bloody strife or +peaceful union,--the city was the body, the cathedral its animating +soul. The cathedrals were meant, not for prayer alone, but to live +in,--they were for festivals, meetings, thanksgivings, for surging, +excited crowds. The church was an _imperium in imperio_. It was the +rallying place in all great undertakings or excitements. Here the Cortes +often met, the great church conclaves assembled, the mystical Autos or +sacred plays were performed, in them soldiers gathered, prepared for +battle, edicts were published, sovereigns were first proclaimed, and +allegiance was sworn; kings were christened, anointed, and buried. The +troubled murmurings of the lower classes were here first voiced. They +were the art galleries; here were displayed their finest paintings, +statues and tapestries; they were even museums of natural history, and +exhibited the finest examples of their wood-carving and glass-work, and +the iron and silversmith's arts. It is thus easy to see that the +political history of Toledo becomes vital in connection with its +Cathedral church. + +The history of Toledo dates back to Roman days,--we find Pliny referring +to the city as the metropolis of Carpentania. She was among the first +cities of Spain to embrace Christianity. All the barbarians, with the +exception of the Franks, were Arians, but the last Gothic ruler in Spain +to withstand the Roman faith was Leovgild, who reigned in the last half +of the sixth century. He was also their first able administrator, the +first who consistently strove to bring order out of the chaos of warring +tribes and conflicting authorities. Contemporaries describe his palace +at Toledo, his throne and apparel, and his council chamber, as of truly +royal magnificence. It was reserved to his son Reccared to change the +history of Spain by publicly announcing his conversion to the Roman +faith before a council of Roman and Arian bishops held in Toledo in 587, +at the same time inviting them to exchange their views fearlessly and, +as many as would, to follow him. The Goths were never difficult to +convert, and many of the bishops and of the lords who were present +embraced the Catholic faith, to which a majority of the people already +belonged. Gregory the Great, hearing of the success of Reccared's gentle +and liberal proselytism, wrote to him: "What shall I do at the Last +Judgment when I arrive with empty hands, and your Excellency followed by +a flock of faithful souls, converted by persuasion?" He summoned a third +council at Toledo in 589, and in concert with nearly seventy bishops, +regulated the rites and discipline of the Church, at the same time +excluding the Jews from all employments. In royal Toledo Reccared was +anointed with holy oil, and he substituted the Latin for the Gothic +tongue in divine service, where Isidore was the first to use it. In +daily life Latin soon replaced Gothic. King Wamba built the great walls +round the city, and King Roderick held his glorious tournament inside +them. + +Greater than any fame of Gothic monarch was that of the Church Councils +which met here to determine the course of early dogma and shape the +destinies of the larger part of Christendom. + +The most salient figure during the rule of the Gothic kings was Saint +Ildefonso, who quite overshadows his royal contemporaries. In 711 the +Moors conquered the city, which then became a dependency of the Caliphs +of Damascus and Bagdad until a Moorish prince shook off the foreign +yoke. Independent Arab princes ruled, with Toledo as capital of their +empire, until Alfonso VI, King of Castile and Leon, in 1085, finally +conquered it for himself and his successors. + +During the reigns of the early Castilian kings, we find names connected +with the city's history which became famous all over Spain. The Cid was +the city's first Alcaide. Alfonso el Batallador and Pedro el Cruel stand +out in sombre relief, and Toledo was the cradle of the dramatic +Comunidades' rising, and the scene of the noble death of their patriotic +leader Padella. The streets ran with blood, and the walls spoke of +glorious resistance before the Flemish emperor had crushed the liberties +of the people. + +We have a description of the brilliant pageant of Ferdinand and +Isabella's entry after defeating the king of Portugal. "The Prince of +Aragon was in full armour on his war horse and Isabella riding a +beautiful mule, splendidly caparisoned, the bridle being held by two +noble pages. Followed by their gorgeous retinue they rode slowly towards +the Cathedral, while the highest dignitaries of the Church, the +archbishop, himself a mitred king, the canons, and the clergy, in their +pontifical garments, preceded by the Cross, came forth from the Puerta +del Perdon to receive them. On each side of the arch above the doorway +were two angels, and in the centre a young maiden richly clothed, with a +golden crown on her head, to represent the image of 'La Bendita Madre de +Dios, nuestra Señora.' When Ferdinand and Isabella and all the company +had gathered around, the angels began to sing. The following day the +trophies of war were presented to the Cathedral." + +During the period immediately following the reign of the Catholic Kings, +Toledo reached her highest prosperity. She numbered as many as 200,000 +inhabitants;--to-day she has only 20,000. Glorious processions swept +through her streets, the proud knights of the military orders of +Alcantara, Calatrava, and Santiago, black-robed Dominican inquisitors, +executioners, royal chaplains and major-domos, the Councils of the +Indies, Castilian grandees, Roman princes and cardinals, brawling +Flemish and Burgundian nobles, German landsknechts, and great Catholic +ambassadors. + +Toledo received her death-blow when Philip II, unable to brook the +haughty claims of the Toledan archbishops, and feeling his power second +to theirs, finally, in 1560, moved the capital of his realm to Madrid. +Toledo's annals grew dark. So merciless was the Tribunal of the +Inquisition that under its vigilant eye 3327 processes were disposed of +in little more than a year. So Toledo fell from her former greatness. + +The site of the Cathedral in the very heart of the city is by no means +dominant. The church lies so low that even the spire is inconspicuous in +the landscape. On three sides adjacent buildings completely bar all +view or approach. The only free perspective is on the fourth side, from +the steps of the Ayuntamiento across the square. + +The inscription above the door of the city hall, with its trenchant +advice to the magistrates, is well worth notice:-- + + Nobles discretos varones, + Qui gobernais a Toledo + En aquatos escalones + Codicia, temor y miedo. + Por los comunes provechos + Deschad los particulares + Puez vos hezo Dios pilares + De tan requisimos lechos + Estat vermes y derechos.[9] + +In the streets, the _alcazerias_ which wind around the sides of the +Cathedral, the rich silk guild traded. Here were shipped the goods that +freighted vessels sailing for the American colonies. + +During the Visigothic reign in Toledo, the Cathedral site was occupied +by a Christian temple. It was transformed by the Moors after their +occupancy of the city into their principal mosque; there they were still +permitted to carry on their worship, according to the terms of the +treaty made on their surrender of the city to King Alfonso IV in 1085. A +year afterwards King Alfonso went off on a campaign, leaving the +capital in charge of his French queen, Constance, and the Archbishop +Bernard, recently sent to Toledo at the King's request by the Abbot of +Cluny. No sooner was King Alfonso outside the city walls than the +regents turned the Moors out of the church. The Archbishop arrived with +a throng of Christian citizens, battered down the main entrance, threw +the Moslem objects of worship into the gutters, and set in their place +the Cross and the Virgin Mary. When the news of this outrage reached the +ears of the King, he returned in wrath to Toledo, swearing he would burn +both wife and prelate who had dared to break the oath he had so solemnly +sworn. The Moslems, sagely fearing later vengeance would be wreaked upon +them should they permit matters to take their course, besought the +returning sovereign to restrain his wrath while they released him from +his oath,--"Whereat he had great joy, and, riding on into the city, the +matter ended peacefully." + +The appearance of this fanatic Cluny monk is of the greatest importance +as heralding a new influence in the development and history of Spanish +ecclesiastical architecture. His coming marks the introduction of a +foreign style of building and a revolution in the previous national +methods, known as "obra de los Godos," or work of the Goths. Further, +with the gradual arrival of French ecclesiastics from Cluny and Citeaux, +came also a greater interference from Rome in the management of the +Spanish Church, and a radical limitation of the former power of the +Peninsula's arrogant prelates. Owing to the new influence, the Italian +mass-book was soon presented in place of the ancient Gothic ritual and +breviary. The foreign churchmen likewise aided in uniting sovereign, +clergy, and nobility in common cause against the Saracen infidels now so +firmly ensconced in the Peninsula. Spanish art had previously felt only +national influences; now, through the door opened by the monks, it +received potent foreign elements. + +Spain had been far too much occupied with internal strife and political +dissension to have had breathing spell or opportunity for the +development of the fine arts and the building of churches. The passion +for building which the French monks brought with them awoke entirely +dormant qualities in the Spaniard, which in the early Romanesque, but +especially in the Gothic edifices, produced beautiful, but essentially +exotic fruits. First in the days of the Renaissance the architecture +showed features which might be termed original and national. With the +Cluniacs came not only French artisans but Flemish, German, and Italian, +all taking a hand in, and lending their influences to the great works of +the new art. + +Nothing remains of the old Moorish-Christian house of worship. It was +torn down by order of Saint Ferdinand (he had laid the foundation stone +of Burgos as early as 1221), who laid the corner stone of the present +edifice with great ceremony, assisted by the Archbishop, in the month of +August, 1227 (seven years prior to the commencement of Salisbury and +Amiens). The building was practically completed in 1493, during the +reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the most illustrious epoch of Spanish +history. Additions and alterations injurious to the harmony and symmetry +of the building were made till the end of the seventeenth century, and +again continued during the eighteenth. It thus represents the +architectural inspiration and decadence of nearly six hundred years. +In style it belongs to the group of three great churches, Burgos, Toledo +and Leon, which were based upon the constructional principles and +decorative features termed Gothic. In some respects these churches +embodied to a highly developed extent the organic principles of the +style, in others, they fell far short of a clear comprehension of them. +None of them had the beauty or the purity of the greatest of their +French sisters. Burgos may be said to be most consistently Gothic in all +its details, but neither Toledo nor Leon was free from the influence of +Moorish art, which was indeed developing and flowering under Moslem rule +in the south of the Peninsula, at the time when Gothic churches were +lifting their spires into the blue of northern skies under the guidance +and inspiration of the French masters. In many respects the Gothic could +not express itself similarly in Spain and France,--climatic conditions +differed, and, consequently, the architecture which was to suit their +needs. In France, Gothic building tended towards a steadily increasing +elimination of all wall surfaces. The weight and thrusts, previously +carried by walls, were met by a more and more skillfully developed +framework of piers and flying buttresses. Such a development was not +practical for Spain nor was it understood. The widely developed fields +for glass would have admitted the heat of the sun too freely, whereas +the broad surfaces of wall-masonry gave coolness and shade. Nor were the +sharply sloping roofs for the easy shedding of snow necessary in Spain. +In French and English Gothic churches, the light, pointed spire is the +ornamental feature of the composition, whereas in the Spanish, with a +few exceptions, the towers become heavy and square. + +None of the three Cathedrals in question impresses us as the outcome of +Spanish architectural growth, but seems rather a direct importation. +They have the main features of a style with which their architects were +familiar and in which they had long since taken the initial steps. They +are working with a practically developed system, whose infancy and early +growth had been followed elsewhere. + +While in the twelfth, and the early portion of the thirteenth century, +Frenchmen were gradually evolving the new system of ecclesiastical +architecture, the Spaniards, destined to surpass them, were to all +purposes still producing nothing but Romanesque buildings, borrowing +certain ornamental or constructional features of the new style, but in +so slight and illogical a degree, that their style remained based upon +its old principles. They employed the pointed arch between arcades and +vaulting, and unlike the French, threw a dome or cimborio over the +intersection of nave and transepts. In some instances we find a regular +French quadripartite vault at the crossing, but such changes are not +sufficient to term the cathedrals of the period (Tudela, Tarragona, +Zamora, and Lerida) Gothic. They remain historically, rather than +artistically, interesting. With the second quarter of the thirteenth +century, comes the change. + +In style Toledo corresponds most closely to the early Gothic of the +north of France. Its plan reminds one forcibly of Bourges, though it is +far more ambitious in size. Owing to the long period of its building, it +bears late Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque features, while traces of +Moorish influence are not wanting. + +The Cathedral of Toledo was built in an imaginative, creative and +passionate age,--an age when the ordinary mason was a master builder as +well as sculptor, stimulated by local affection, pride and piety. The +results of his work were tremendous,--his finished product was a +storehouse of art. Artists of all nations had a hand in the work. +Bermudez mentions 149 names of those who embellished the Cathedral +during six centuries. Here worked Borgoña, Berruguete, Cespedes, and +Villalpando, Copin, Vergara Egas, and Covarrubias. It is rather +difficult to analyze their genius. They were not naturally artists, as +were the French and Italians; they did not create as easily, but were +rather stimulated by a more naïve craving for vast dimensions. With this +we find interwoven in places the sparkling, jewel-like intricacy and +play of light and shade so natural to the Moorish artisan, and the +sombre, overpowering solemnity of the warlike Spanish cavalier. + +It is necessary for a people at all times to find expression for its +æsthetic life. Architecture, like literature, reflects the sentiments +and tendencies of a nation's mind. As truly as Don Quixote, Don Juan, or +the Cid express them, so do the stories told by Toledo, Leon, or Burgos. +They reproduce the passions, the dreams, the imagination, and the +absurdities of the age which created them. + +Toledo's first architect, who superintended the work for more than half +a century, was named Perez (d. 1285). He was followed by Rodrigo, +Alfonso, Alvar Gomez, Annequin de Egas, Martin Sanchez, Juan Guas, and +Enrique de Egas. Hand in hand with the architects, worked the high +priests. + +The Archbishop of Toledo is the Primate of Spain. Mighty prelates have +sat on that throne, and the chapter was once one of the most celebrated +in the world. The Primate of Toledo has the Pope as well as the King of +Spain for honorary canons, and his church takes precedence of all others +in the land. The offices attached to his person are numerous. As late as +the time of Napoleon's conquest of the city, fourteen dignitaries, +twenty-seven canons, and fifty prebends, besides a host of chaplains and +subaltern priests, followed in the train of the Metropolitan. At the +close of the fifteenth century, his revenues exceeded 80,000 ducats +(about $720,000), while the gross amount of those of the subordinate +beneficiaries of his church rose to 180,000. This amount, or 12,000,000 +reals, had not decreased at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In +the middle ages he was followed by more horse and foot than either the +Grand Master of Santiago or the Constable of Castile. When he threw his +influence into the balance, the pretender to the throne was often +victorious. He held jurisdiction over fifteen large and populous towns +besides numbers of inferior places. + +Many who occupied the episcopal throne of Toledo ruled Spain, not only +by virtue of the prestige their high office gave them, but through +extraordinary genius and remarkable attainments. They were great alike +in war and in peace. Many of them combined broadness of view and real +learning with purity of morals. They founded universities and libraries, +framed useful laws, stimulated noble impulses, corrected abuses, and +promoted reforms. Popes called them to Rome to ask their advice in +affairs of the Church. Bright in the history of Spain shine the names of +such prelates as Rodriguez, Tenorio, Fonseca, Ximenez, Mendoza, Tavera, +and Lorenzana. + +From the tenth to the sixteenth centuries Castile was far less bigoted +than other European nations, for, of all the daughters of the Mother +Church, Spain was the most independent. Her kings and her primate were +naturally her champions, ever ready and defiant. King James I even went +so far as to cut out the tongue of a too meddlesome bishop. From early +Gothic days to the time when Ferdinand began to dream of Spain as a +power beyond the Iberian Peninsula, no kingdom in Europe was less +disposed to brook the interference of the Pope. Ferdinand and Isabella +thwarted him in insisting upon their right to appoint their own +candidates for the high offices of the Spanish church, and the Pope was +obliged to give way. + +The figure we constantly encounter in the thrilling tilts between Rome +and Spanish prelates is the Archbishop of Toledo. Like Richelieu and +Wolsey, Ximenez and Mendoza towered above their time, and their great +spirits still seem present within their church. Ximenez, better known in +English as Cardinal Cisneros, rose to his high office much against his +will from the obscurity of a humble monk. The peremptory orders of the +Pope were necessary to make him leave his cell and become successively +Archbishop of Toledo, Grand Chancellor of Castile, Inquisitor General, +Cardinal, Confessor to Queen Isabella, Minister of Ferdinand the +Catholic, and Regent of the Kingdom of Charles V. He was "an austere +priest, a profound politician, a powerful intellect, a will of iron, and +an inflexible and unconquerable soul; one of the greatest figures in +modern history; one of the loftiest types of the Spanish character. +Notwithstanding the greatness thrust upon him, he preserved the austere +practices of the simple monk. Under a robe of silk and purple, he wore +the hard shirt and frock of St. Francis. In his apartments, embellished +with costly hangings, he slept on the floor, with only a log of wood for +his pillow. Ferdinand owed to him that he preserved Castile, and Charles +V, that he became King of Spain. He did not boast when, pointing to the +Cordon of St. Francis, he explained, 'It is with this I bridle the pride +of the aristocracy of Castile.'"[10] + +History may accuse him of the unpardonable expulsion of the Moriscos, +and the retention of the Inquisition as well as its introduction into +the New World,--but what he did was done from the strength of his +convictions and according to what, in the light of his age, seemed the +best for his country and his Church. He was perhaps even greater as a +Spaniard than as a churchman. His conceptions were all grand, and he was +as versatile as he was great. Victor in the greatest of all Spanish +toils, he executed the polyglot version of the Scriptures, the most +stupendous literary achievement of his age. Fitting his greatness is the +simplicity of his epitaph:-- + + Condideram musis Franciscus grande lyceum, + Condor in exiguo nunc ego sarcophago. + Praetextam junxi sacco, galeamque galero, + Frater, Dux, Praesul, Cardineusque pater. + Quin virtute mea junctum est diadema cucullo, + Cum mihi regnanti paruit Hesperia. + +The figure of Cardinal Mendoza stands out clear and strong in the final +struggle with Granada. It was he who first planted the Cross where the +Crescent had waved for six centuries, and he was the first to counsel +Isabella to assist the great discoverer. His keen intellect made him +lend a ready ear and friendly hand to the rapid development of the +science of his time and the fast-spreading taste for literature. + +And so the line of Toledo's illustrious bishops continues,--leaders of +the church militant, like the Montagues and Capulets, they fought from +the mere habit of fighting, but they seldom stained their swords in an +unworthy cause. + + +III + +There is a great discrepancy between the interior and the exterior of +the Cathedral. The former is as grand as the latter is insignificant and +unworthy. The scale is tremendous. Only Milan and Seville cover a +greater area, if the Cathedral is considered in connection with its +cloisters. Cologne comes next to it in size. It runs from west to east, +with nave and double side aisles, ending in a semicircular apse with a +double ambulatory. As is characteristic of Spanish churches, it is +astonishingly wide for its length,--being 204 feet wide and 404 feet +long. The nave is 98 feet high and 44 feet wide, while the outer aisles +are respectively 26 and 32 feet across. + +The exterior, with the exception of the ornamental portions of the +portals and a few carvings, is all built of a Berroqueña granite. The +interior is of a kind of mouse-colored limestone taken from the quarries +of Oliquelas near Toledo. Like many limestones, it is soft when first +quarried, but hardens with time and exposure. + +The impression of the exterior is strangely disappointing. Imposing and +massive, but irregular, squat, and encumbered by surrounding edifices +clinging to its masonry. An indifferent husk, encasing a noble interior. +Only one tower is completed, and no two portions of the decoration are +symmetrical. The exterior has no governing scheme, no "idée maîtresse," +no individual style, and is the outgrowth of no definite period. +Successive generations of peace or war have enriched or destroyed its +masonry. You stop with an exclamation of admiration in front of certain +details of the exterior; before others, you only feel astonishment. The +want of order and unity in the execution of its various portions and +elevations is distressing. + +Order and harmony may be preserved, even where an edifice is carried on +by successive ages, each of which imparts to its work the stamp of its +own developing skill and imagination. Very few of the great cathedrals +were begun and completed in one style. Most of the great French churches +show traces of the earlier Norman or Romanesque; most of the English +Gothic, traces of the Norman or of the different periods of English +Gothic architecture; but one dominating scheme has been followed by the +consecutive architects. The lack of such a governing and restraining +principle is felt in the exterior of Toledo. Further than this, although +successive wars and religious fanaticism have with their destructive +fury injured so many of the beautiful statues and exquisite carvings and +much of the stained glass of the French and English religious +establishments, still the architecture itself has in the main been left +undisturbed. In Toledo, there is hardly a portion of the early structure +and decoration of the lower, visible part of the Cathedral which has not +been altered or torn down by the various architects of the last three +centuries. + +As an obvious result, the portions of the exterior which are interesting +are individual features, and not a unified scheme; and they are +interesting historically, rather than in relation to or in dependence +upon one another. + +The west front, which is the principal façade, the various doorways and +completed tower form the most interesting portions of the exterior. + +The west front is flanked by two projecting towers, dissimilar in +design. To the south is the uncompleted one, containing the Mozarabic +chapel,[11] roofed by an octagonal cupola and surmounted by a lantern, +strangely betraying in exterior form its Byzantine ancestry. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO + +The choir stalls] + +To the north rises the spire which commands the city and the Cathedral +of Toledo. It was begun in 1380 and completed in sixty years,--no long +time when we take into account its size and detail and the carefulness +of its construction. Rodrigo Alfonso and Alvar Gomez were the +architects, and the Cardinals Pedro Tenorio and Tavera directed the +work. Although it lacks the soaring grace of the towers of Burgos, it +possesses quiet strength and a majestic dignity, and the transitions +between its various stories have been executed with a skill scarcely +less than that shown in the older tower of Chartres. It is in fact full +of a character of its own. Divided into three parts, it rises to a +height of some three hundred feet and terminates in a huge cross. The +principal building material is the hard but easily carved Berroqueña +granite, with certain portions finished in marble and slate. The lower +part, which is square, has its faces pierced by interlacing Gothic +arches, windows of different shapes, ornamental coats-of-arms and marble +medallions. It is crowned by a railing and, at the corners where the +transition to the hexagon occurs, by stone pyramids. The central part is +hexagonal in plan and ornamented by arches and crocketed finials. Above +it rises the slate spire terminating under the cross in a conical +pyramid, added after a fire in the year 1662. The spire is curiously and +uniquely encircled by three collars of pointed iron spikes, intended to +symbolize the crowns of thorns. + +The great bells of the Cathedral peal from this tower, among them the +huge San Eugenio, better known, though, by the name "Campana gorda," or +the Big-bellied Bell, weighing 1543 arobes (about 17 tons) and put up +the same day it was cast in the year 1753. Its fame is shown by the old +lines, which enumerate the wonders of Spain as the-- + + Campana la de Toledo, + Iglesia la de Leon, + Reloj el de Benavente, + Rollos los de Villalon.[12] + +Fifteen shoemakers could sit under it and draw out their cobbler's +thread without touching each other. A legend relates that "the sound of +it reached, when first it was rung, even to heaven. Saint Peter fancied +that the tones came from his own church in Rome, but on ascertaining +that this was not the case, and that Toledo possessed the largest of all +bells, he got angry and flung down one of his keys upon it, thus causing +a crack in the bell which is still to be seen." + +Not only does the hoarse croak of Gorda's voice remind the tardy +worshiper of the approaching hour of prayer, but it tells each and all +of the "barrio" where the fire is raging. Though the prudent Toledan may +not know the art of signing his name or reading his Pater Noster, full +well he knows, whenever Gorda speaks, whether the danger is at his own +door or at his neighbor's. + +The lower portion of the façade between the towers is composed of a fine +triple portal dating from 1418 to 1450, which, despite later changes, is +still an excellent piece of Gothic work. It contains over seventy +statues. Above, the façade is composed of an ornamental screen +inexpressive of the structure and the internal arrangement of the +edifice. A railing separated the "lonja," or enclosure immediately in +front of the entrances, from the street outside. The central entrance +is the Gate of Pardon; to the north is the Gate of the Tower, also +called the Gate of Hell; to the south is the Gate of the Scriveners or +of Judgment. The middle door is the largest and most important. For +centuries the steps leading to it have been climbed and descended by the +pregnant women of Toledo, to insure an easy parturition. + +The doors themselves are covered with most interesting bronze work, +showing how far the Spaniards had in later centuries developed the art +of their skillful Saracenic predecessors. The arch of the Gate of Pardon +is exquisitely formed and its moldings and recesses are profusely +decorated with finely chiseled figures and ornaments. Each of the three +doors is surmounted by a relief, that over the Pardon representing the +Virgin presenting the chasuble to Saint Ildefonso, who is kneeling at +her feet. + +The Scriveners' Gate derives its name from having been the door of entry +for the scriveners when they came to the Cathedral to take their oath, +but, though they had a gate for their own particular use, they did not +seem to enjoy an especially good reputation. According to an old verse, +their pen and paper would drop from their hands to dance an independent +fandango long before their souls ever entered the Kingdom of Heaven. + +Above the door is an inscription commemorative of the great exploits of +the Catholic Sovereigns and Cardinal Mendoza and of the expulsion of the +Jews from the Kingdoms of Castile, Aragon and Sicily. + +The principal feature above the doors is a classical gable which extends +the whole width of the façade, its field filled with colossal pieces of +sculpture representing the Last Supper. Our Lord and the Apostles are +seated, each in his own niche. It recalls the carving over the northeast +entrance of Notre Dame du Puy. Nothing could be more ineffective and out +of place than to crown this portion of the Gothic building with a Greek +gable end. Finally, above the gable, with a curious pair of arches built +out in front of it, comes a circular rose almost thirty feet in +diameter, of early fourteenth-century work, this again being surmounted +by late eighteenth-century Baroque additions. + +There are two doorways on the south side. The Gate of the Lions, which +forms the southern termination to the transept, is of course named from +the lions standing over the enclosing rail directly in front of it, each +supporting its shield. Here you have a bit of the finest work of the +exterior, a most exquisite specimen of the Gothic work of the fifteenth +century. Its detail and finish are remarkable, and few pieces of Spanish +sculpture of its time surpass it in elegance and grace. The larger +figures are most interesting, varying greatly in execution and +character. Those of the inner arches are stiff and still struggling for +freedom from tradition, but of admirably carved drapery,--while the +bishops in the niches to the right and left have faces radiating +kindness and patriarchal benignity, faces we meet and bless in our own +walks of life to-day. The bronze Renaissance doors are as fine as their +setting,--splendid examples of the metal stamping of the sixteenth +century, and the wooden carving on their inner surfaces is equally fine. +The bronze knocker might easily have come from the workshop of the great +Florentine goldsmith. + +The Gate of La Llana, west of the Gate of the Lions, is as ludicrous in +its eighteenth-century dress as the gable of the west façade. + +On the north side of the church we find three gates; in the centre, +forming the northern entrance to the transept, the Puerta del Reloi[c], +and east and west of it, the Puerta de Santa Catalina, and the Puerta de +la Presentacion. + + +IV +You leave the outside with a feeling of distress at having viewed a +patchwork of architectural composition, feebly decorating and badly +expressing a noble and mighty frame. You enter into a light of celestial +softness and purity. It seems an old and faded light. As soon as you +regain vision in the cool, refreshing twilight, you experience the +long-deferred exultation. You are amid those that pray,--the poor and +sorrowing, those that would be strengthened. Here voices sink to a +reverent whisper, for curiosity is hushed into awe. "I could never +fathom how a man dares to lift up his voice to preach in a +cathedral,--what has he to say that will not be an anti-climax?" says +Robert Louis Stevenson, and you are struck by the force of his remark +when you compare the droning voice coming from one corner of the +building with the glorious expression of man's faith rising above and +around you. The quiet majesty and silent eloquence of the one +accentuates the feebleness of the other. + +For the interior is as simple and restrained and the planning as logical +and lucid as the exterior is blameworthy and unreasonable. Here is +rhythm and harmony. The constructive problems have been ingeniously +mastered, and the carved and decorated portions subordinated to the +gigantic scheme of the great monument. The sculptures are limited to +their respective fields. Structural and artistic principles go hand in +hand. Eloquently the carvings speak the language of the time,--they +become a pictorial Bible, open for the poor man to read, who has no +knowledge of crabbed, monastic letters. They are the language of true +religion, the religion that may change but can never die. + +The plan is unquestionably the _grand_ feature of the Cathedral; the +beauty and scale of it challenge comparison with those of all other +churches in Christendom. The vaulting and its development, the +concentration of the thrust upon the piers and far-leaping flying +buttresses are unquestionably on such a scale and of such character as +to place it among the mightiest, if not the most pure and well-developed +Gothic edifices. It is like a giant that knows not the strength of his +limbs nor the possibilities in his mighty frame. + +You do not feel the great height of the nave, owing to the immensity of +all dimensions and the great circumference of the supporting piers. The +nave and the double side aisles on each side are all of seven bays. The +transept does not project beyond the outer aisles. The plan proper has +thus, at a rough glance, the appearance of a basilica and seems to lack +the side arms of the Gothic cross. The choir consists of one bay, and +the chevet formed by an apse to the choir of five bays. Both aisles +continue around the chevet. Outside these again, and between the +buttresses of the main outer walls, lie the different chapels, the +great cloister and the different compartments and dependencies belonging +to church and chapel,--a tremendous development, accumulation, +growth,--a city in itself. The cloisters, as well as almost all the +chapels, were added after the virtual completion of the Cathedral +proper. + +The chevet is the keynote of the plan, and the solution of the problem, +how to vault the different compartments lying between the three +concentric circular terminations beyond the choir. Their vaulting shows +constructive skill and ingenuity of the highest order. The architects +solved the problem with a simplicity and grandeur which places their +genius on a level with that of the greatest of French builders. There +are no previous examples of Spanish churches where similar problems have +been dealt with tentatively. We are thus forced to acknowledge that the +schooling for, and consequent mastery of, the problem, must have been +gained on French soil. The central apse is surrounded by four piers, the +two aisles are separated by eight, and the outer wall is marked by +sixteen points of support. The bays in both aisles are vaulted +alternately by triangular and virtually rectangular compartments. The +vista from west to east is perfectly preserved, and the distance from +centre to centre of every second pair of outer piers is as nearly as +possible the same as that of the inner row. The outer wall of the +aisles, except where the two great chapels of Santiago and San Ildefonso +are introduced, was pierced alternately by small, square chapels +opposite the triangular, vaulting compartments and circular chapels +opposite the others. + +In the cathedrals of Notre Dame de Paris, Saint Remi of Rheims, and in +Le Mans, we find intermediate triangular vaulting compartments +introduced, but they are either employed with inferior skill or in a +different form. In none of these cathedrals do they call for such +unstinted admiration as those of the architect of Toledo. They just fall +short of the happiest solution. In Saint Remi, for instance, we have +intermediate trapezoids instead of rectangles, the inner chord being +longer than the exterior. + +The seventy-two well-molded, simple, quadripartite vaults of the whole +edifice (rising in the choir to about one hundred, and, in the inner and +outer aisles, to sixty and thirty-five feet) are supported by +eighty-eight piers. The capitals of the engaged shafts, composed of +plain foliage, point the same way as the run of the ribs above them. +Simple, strong moldings compose the square bases. The great piers of the +transept are trefoiled in section. The outer walls of the main body of +the church are pierced by arches leading into uninteresting, rectangular +chapels, some of them decorated with elaborate vaulting. In the outer +wall of the intermediate aisle is a triforium, formed by an arcade of +cusped arches, and above this, quite close to the point of the vault, a +rose window in each bay. The clerestory, filling the space above thegreat arches +on each side of the nave, is subdivided into a double row +of lancet-pointed windows, surmounted by a rosette coming directly under +the spring of the vault. + +The treatment of the crossing of transept and nave is in Toledo, as in +all Spanish churches, emphatic and peculiar. The old central lantern of +the cruciform church was retained and developed in their Gothic as well +as in their Renaissance edifices, and was permitted illogically to break +the Gothic roof line. The lantern of Ely is the nearest reminder we have +of it in English or French Gothic. In Spain the "cimborio" became an +important feature and made the croisée beneath it the lightest portion +of the edifice. It shed light to the east and west of it, into the high +altar and the choir. + +The position of the choir is striking and distressing. Its rectangular +body completely fills the sixth and seventh bays of the nave, +interrupting its continuity and spoiling the sweep and grandeur of the +edifice at its most important point. It sticks like a bone in the +throat. Any complete view of the interior becomes impossible, and its +impressive majesty is belittled. One constantly finds the choir of +Spanish cathedrals in this position, which deprives them of the fine +perspective found in northern edifices. In Westminster Abbey, strangely +enough, the choir is similarly placed, and there, as here, it is as if +the hands were tied and the breath stifled, where action should be +freest. + +This peculiar position of the choir was owing to the admission of the +laity to the transept in front of the altar. In earlier days the choir +was adjacent to and facing the altar, the singers and readers being +there enclosed by a low and unimportant rail. The short, eastern apses +of the Spanish cathedrals and the undeveloped and insufficient room for +the clergy immediately surrounding the altar almost necessitated this +divorce of the choir. In France and England the happier and more logical +alternative was resorted to, of providing sufficient space east of the +intersection of the transept for all the clergy. + +The rectangular choir of Toledo is closed at the east by a magnificent +iron screen; at the west, by a wall called the "Trascoro," acting as a +background to the archbishop's seat. A doorway once pierced its centre +but was blocked up for the placing of the throne. + +If the position of the choir is unfortunate, its details are among the +most remarkable and glorious of their time and country. The only +entrance is through the great iron parclose or reja at the east. This, +as well as the corresponding grille work directly opposite, closing off +the bay in front of the high altar, are wonderful specimens of the +iron-worker's craft, splendid masterpieces of an art which has never +been excelled since the days of its mediæval guilds. The master Domingo +de Cespedes erected the grille in the year 1548. The framework seems to +be connected by means of tenons and mortices, while the scrolls are +welded together. The larger moldings are formed of sheet iron, bent to +the shape required and flush-riveted to their light frames. Neither the +general design nor the details (both Renaissance in feeling) are +especially meritorious, but the thorough mastery of the material is most +astonishing. The stubborn iron has been wrought and formed with as much +ease and boldness as if it had been soft limestone or plaster. It is +characteristic of the age that the craftsman has not limited himself to +one material. Certain portions of the smaller ornaments are of silver +and copper. Originally their shining surfaces, as well as the gilding of +the great portion of the principal iron bars, must have touched the +whole with life and color. It was all covered with black paint in the +time of the Napoleonic wars to escape the greedy hands of La Houssaye's +victorious mob, and the gates still retain the sable coat that protected +them. + +Even a more glorious example of Spanish craftsmanship is found in the +choir stalls which surround us to the north and south and west as soon +as we enter. Here we are face to face with the finest flowering of +Spanish mediæval art. Théophile Gautier, generalizing upon the whole +composition, says: "L'art gothique, sur les confins de la Renaissance, +n'a rien produit de plus parfait ni de mieux dessiné." The whole +treatment of the work is essentially Spanish. + +The stalls, the "silleria," are arranged in two tiers, the upper reached +by little flights of five steps and covered by a richly carved, marble +canopy, supported by slender Corinthian columns of red jasper and +alabaster. All the stalls are of walnut, fifty in the lower row, seventy +in the upper, exclusive of the archbishop's seat. The right side of the +altar, that is, the right side of the celebrant looking from the altar, +is called the side of the Gospel,--the left, the side of the Epistle. +The great carvings, differing in the upper and lower stalls in period +and execution, are the work of three artists. The carvings of the lower +row were executed by Rodriguez in 1495, those of the upper, on the +Gospel side, by Alonso Berruguete, and those on the side of the Epistle, +by Philip Vigarny (also called Borgoña), both of the latter about fifty +years later (in 1543). + +The reading desk of the upper stalls forms the back of the lower and +affords the field for their sculptural decoration. The subjects are the +Conquest of Granada and the Campaigns of Ferdinand and Isabella. We are +shown in the childish and picturesque manner in which the age tells its +story, the various incidents of the war, all its situations and groups, +its curious costumes, arms, shields, and bucklers, and even the names of +the fortresses inscribed on their masonry. We can recognize the Catholic +monarchs and the great prelate entering the fallen city amid the +grief-stricken infidels. + +The spirit of the work is distinctly that of the period which has gone +before, without any intimations of that to come. It has the character of +the German Gothic, recalling Lucas of Holland and his school. If it has +a grace and beauty of its own, there is also a childish grotesqueness +without any of the self-assured mastery, so soon to spread its Italian +light. The imagination and composition are there, but not the +execution,--the mind, but not the hand. + +The carvings of the upper stalls were executed by their masters in +generous rivalry and in a spirit that shows a decided classic influence. + +Many curious accounts of the time describe the excitement which +prevailed during their execution and the various favor they found in the +eyes of different critics. Looking at them, one's thoughts revert to +that glorious dawn in which Cellini and Ghiberti and Donatello labored. +The inscription says of the two artists, "Signatum marmorea tum ligna +caelavere hinc Philippus Burgundio, ex adverso Berruguetus Hispanus: +certaverunt tum artificum ingenia; certabunt semper spectatorum +judicia." + +Berruguete's work (on the Gospel side) shows distinct traces of Michael +Angelo's influence and his study in Italian ateliers with Andrea del +Sarto and Baccio Bandinelli.[13] The nervous vigor of the Italian giant +and the purity of style which looked back at Greece and Rome, are +apparent. + +The subjects of Vigarny's work, as also of Berruguete's, are taken from +the Old Testament. They have a more subtle charm, more grace and +freedom. Some of them show strength and an unerring hand, others, +delicacy and exquisite subtleness. Where the Maestro Mayor of Charles V +is powerful and energetic, Vigarny is imaginative and rich. + +Comparing the upper and lower rows of panels, we must see what +remarkable steps had been taken in so short a time by the sculptors. A +lightness of execution, a victorious self-reliance, seems to follow +close on the steps of tentative, even if conscientious, effort. The +carving, the bold relief of the chiseling, have a vividness and +intensity of expression, surpassing some of the best work of Italy and +France. + +The niches in the marble canopy above the upper row of stalls are filled +with figures standing almost in full relief, and representing the +genealogy of Christ. + +The outer walls of the choir are also completely covered with sculpture. +It is thoroughly Gothic in character, crude, and fumbling for +expression, consisting of arcades with niches above containing +alto-relievo illustrations of Old Testament scenes and characters. You +recognize the Garden of Eden, Abraham with agonized face, Isaac, Jacob, +passages from Exodus, and other familiar scenes. Many of the panels +depict further the small, everyday occurrences and incidents so loved by +mediæval artists, and so full of earnest, religious feeling. Crowning it +all, amid the pinnacles, are a whole flock of angels, quite prepared for +Ascension Day. It is all very similar to the early fourteenth-century +work in French cathedrals. + +The bay in front of the high altar, forming with it the Capilla Mayor, +and the choir are closed from the transept by a huge reja as fine as the +one facing it, and the work of the Spaniard Francesco Villalpando +(1548).[14] + +The Capilla Mayor originally consisted of the one bay to the east of the +transept, the adjacent terminating portion of the nave being the chapel +containing the tombs of the kings. The great Cardinal Ximenez received +Isabella's permission to remove the dividing wall in case he could +accomplish the task without disturbing any of the monarchs' coffins. The +walls all round, both internally and externally, are completely covered +with sculpture. Many of the figures are faithful portraits; many of the +groups tell an interesting story. On the Gospel side there are two +carvings, one over the other, the upper representing Don Alfonso VIII, +and the lower, the shepherd who guided the monarch and his army to the +renowned plains of Las Navas de Tolosa, where the battle was fought +which proved so glorious to Christian arms. One likewise sees the statue +of the Moor, Alfaqui Abu Walid, who threw himself in the path of King +Alfonso and prevailed upon him to forgive Queen Constance and Bishop +Bernard for the expulsion of the Moors from their mosque, contrary to +the king's solemn oath. + +All around us lie the early rulers of the House of Castile, Alfonso VII, +Sancho the Deserted, and Sancho the Brave, the Prince Don Pedro de +Aguilar, son of Alfonso XI, and the great Cardinal Mendoza. Below in the +vault lie, by the sides of their consorts, Henry II, John I, and Henry +III. + +At the end of the chapel, acting as a background to the altar, you find +a composition constantly met in and characteristic of Spanish +cathedrals. The huge "retablo" is nothing but a meaningless, gaudy and +sensational series of carved and decorated niches. It is carved in +larchwood and merely reveals a love of the cheap and tawdry display of +the decadent florid period of Gothic. +Back of the retablo and the high altar, you are startled by the most +horrible and vulgar composition of the church. Nothing but the mind of +an idiot could have conceived the "transparente."[15] It has neither +order nor reason. The whole mass runs riot. Angels and saints float up +and down its surface amid doughy clouds. The angel Raphael +counterbalances the weight of his kicking feet by a large goldfish which +he is frantically clutching. It is a piece of uncontrolled, imbecile +decoration, perpetrated to the everlasting shame of Narciso Tomé in the +first half of the eighteenth century. + +Nothing except the choir and Capilla Mayor disturb the simplicity of +the aisles and the great body of the church. All other monuments or +compositions are found in the numerous rooms and chapels leading from +the outer aisles or situated between the lower arches of the outside +walls. There are many of them, some important, others trivial. The +Mozarabic chapel, in the southwest corner of the cathedral, is the oneplace in +the world where you may still every morning hear the quaint old +Visigothic or Mozarabic ritual recited. The chapel was constructed under +Cardinal Ximenez in 1512 for the double purpose of commemorating the +tolerance of the Moors, who during their dominion left to the Christians +certain churches in which to continue their own worship, and also to +perpetuate the use of the old Gothic ritual. It is most curious, almost +barbaric: "The canons behind, in a sombre flat monotone, chant responses +to the officiating priest at the altar. The sound combines the +enervating effect of the hum of wings, whirr of looms, wooden thud of +pedals, the boom and rush of immense wings circling round and round." It +is strange to hear this echo a thousand years old of a magnanimous act +in so intolerant an age. + +In the eleventh century King Alfonso, at the insistence of Bernard and +Constance, and the papal legate Richard, decided to abolish the use of +the old Gothic ritual and to introduce the Gregorian rite. The Toledans +threatened revolt rather than abandon their old form of worship. The +King knew no other method of decision than to leave the question to two +champions. In single combat the Knight of the Gothic Missal, Don Juan +Ruiz de Mantanzas, killed his adversary while he himself remained +unhurt. At a second trial, where two bulls were entrusted with the +perplexing difficulty, the Gothic bull came off victor. Councils were +held and the Pope still persevered in his determination to abolish the +old Spanish service book. Outside the walls of the city, in front of the +King and churchmen and amid the entire populace of Toledo, a great fire +was built, and the two mass-books were thrown into it. When the flames +had died down, only the Gothic mass-book was found unscathed. Only after +many years, when traditions had gradually altered and even much of the +text had become meaningless to the clergy, did the Roman service book +become universally introduced into Toledan houses of worship. + +Two other chapels are of especial interest: those of Saint Ildefonso and +Santiago. Saint Ildefonso, who became metropolitan in 658, is second +only in honor to Saint James of Compostella; he was unquestionably the +most favored of Toledo's long line of bishops. + +Three natives of Narbonne had dared to question the perpetual virginity +of Our Lady. Saint Ildefonso gallantly took up her defense and proved it +beyond doubt or questioning in his treatise "De Virginitate Perpetua +Sanctae Mariae adversus tres Infideles." It was a crushing vindication +and a discourse of much reason and scriptural light. Shortly afterwards +the Bishop, together with the King and court, went to the Church of +Saint Leocadia to give public thanks. As soon as the multitude had had +sufficient time to kneel at the saint's tomb, a group of angels appeared +amid a cloud and surrounded by sweet scents. Next the sepulchre opened +of its own accord. Calix relates, "Thirty men could not have moved the +stone which slid slowly from the mouth of the tomb. Immediately Saint +Leocadia arose, after lying there three hundred years, and holding out +her arm, she shook hands with Saint Ildefonso, speaking in this voice, +'Oh, Ildefonso, through thee doth the honor of My Lady flourish.' All +the spectators were silent, being struck with the novelty and the +greatness of the miracle. Only Saint Ildefonso, with Heaven's aid, +replied to her. Now the virgin Saint looked as if she wished to return +into the tomb and she turned around for that purpose, when the King +begged of Saint Ildefonso that he would not let her go until she left +some relic of her behind, for a memorial of the miracle and for the +consolation of the city. And as Saint Ildefonso wished to cut a part of +the white veil which covered the head of St. Leocadia, the King lent him +a knife for that purpose, and this must have been a poniard or a dagger, +though others say it was a sword. With this the saint cut a large piece +of the blessed veil, and while he was giving it to the King, at the same +time returning the knife, the saint shut herself up entirely and covered +herself in the tomb with the huge stone." + +But even this was not a sufficient expression of gratitude to satisfy +Saint Mary, for next week she herself came down to enjoy matins with +Saint Ildefonso in the Cathedral. She sat in his throne and listened to +his discourse with both pleasure and edification. A celestial host +dispensed music in the choir, music of heaven, hymns, David's psalms and +chants, such as never had been heard before, either in Seville or in +Toledo. To cap it all, the Virgin made her favorite a splendid present +of a chasuble worked by the angels with which she invested him with her +own hands before she said good-bye. You may still kiss your fingers +after having touched the sacred slab upon which the Virgin stood and +above which run the words of the Psalmist: "Adorabimus in loco ubi +steterunt pedes ejus." The chapel is, similarly to the screens around +the choir, of fourteenth-century work. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO + +Chapel of Santiago, tombs of D. Alvaro de Luna and his spouse] + +The Chapel of Santiago was erected by Count Alvaro de Luna, for more +than thirty years the real sovereign of Castile. It is most elaborately +decorated throughout with rich Gothic work, interwoven with sparkling +filigree of Saracenic character. The tombs of the Lunas are of interest +because of the great Count. His own is not the original one. The first +mausoleum which he erected to himself was so constructed that the +recumbent effigy or automaton could, when mass was said, slowly rise, +clad in full armor, and remain kneeling until the service was ended, +when it would slowly resume its former posture. This was destroyed at +the instigation of Alvaro's old enemy, Henry of Aragon, who remained +unreconciled even after the death of his old minister. At each corner of +Alvaro's tomb kneels a knight of Santiago, at his feet a page holds his +helmet, his own hands are crossed devoutly over the sword on his breast, +and the mantle of his order is folded about his shoulders. His face +wears an expression of sadness. + +Alvaro began his career as a page in the service of Queen Catharine +(Plantagenet). He ended it as Master of Santiago, Constable of Castile, +and Prime Minister of John II, whom he completely ruled for thirty-five +years. He lived in royal state, became all-powerful and arrogant. His +diplomacy effected the marriage of Henry II and Isabella of Portugal, +but he later incurred the enmity of Isabella, was accused of high +treason, found guilty, and executed in the square of Valladolid. Pius II +said of him, "He was a very lofty mind, as great in war as he was in +peace, and his soul breathed none but noble thoughts." + +And thus we may continue all around the Cathedral, past the successive +chapels, vestries, sanctuaries and treasuries,--the architecture and +sculpture of each connected with great events and telling its own story +of dark tragedy or lighter romance. + +In one, the Spanish banners used to be consecrated before leading the +hosts against the Moors; in another, Spain now keeps her priceless +treasures under the locks of seven keys hanging from the girdles of an +equal number of canons. There are silver and gold and pearl and precious +jewels sufficient to set on foot every stagnant Spanish industry. The +8500 pearls of the Virgin's cape might alone feed a province for no +short time. They are buried in the dark. Outside in the light, the +children of Spain are starving and without means of obtaining food. At +one's elbow the whine of the beggar is continually heard, till one +recalls Washington Irving's words: "The more proudly a mansion has been +tenanted in the days of its prosperity, the humbler are its inhabitants +in the days of her decline, and the palace of the king commonly ends in +being the resting-place of the beggar." + +Here and there, in the interior as in the exterior, we find, mixed with +or decorating the Gothic, Moorish and Renaissance details and the later +extravagances which followed the decline of the Gothic. Even where the +carvers are expressing themselves in Gothic or Renaissance details, we +frequently observe an extreme richness, a love of chiaroscuro, of +sparkling jewel-like light and shade, and intricately woven +ornamentation which betrays the influence of the Arab. We see the +Morisco, a kind of fusion of French and Moorish, in many places. The +triforium of the choir is decidedly Moorish in its design, although it +is Gothic in all its details and has carvings of heads and of the +ordinary dog-tooth enrichment instead of merely conventionalized leaf +and figure ornament. It consists of a trefoil arcade. In the spandrels +between its arches are circles with heads and, above these, triangular +openings pierced through the wall. The moldings of all the openings +interpenetrate, and the whole arcade has the air of intricate ingenuity +so usual in Moorish work. Again, in the triforium of the inner aisle we +find Moorish influence,--the cusping of the arcade is not enclosed +within an arch but takes a distinct horseshoe outline, the lowest cusp +near the cap spreading inward at the base. We see Moorish tiles, we find +Moorish cupolas as in the Mozarabic chapel, and Moorish doorways, as the +exquisite one leading into the Sala Capitular,--here and there and +everywhere, we suddenly come upon details betraying the Arab intimacy. + +The children of the Renaissance also embellished in their new manner, +not only in the magnificent carvings of the choir but in a variety of +places, for instance, the doors themselves contained within the Moorish +molds leading to the Sala just mentioned, the entire chapel of St. Juan, +the Capilla de Reyes Nuevos, portions of the Puerta del Berruguete, and +the bronze doors of the Gate of the Lions. + +Again, on the capitals and bases of many of the piers, with the +exception of those of the central nave, Byzantine influence may be seen. + +So each age, according to its best ken, dealt with the Cathedral. In +among the varying styles of architectural decoration, the sister arts +embellish the stone surfaces or are hung upon them. There are paintings +by Titian, Giovanni Bellini, and Rubens, by El Greco, Goya, and Ribera; +Italian and Flemish tapestries, and frescoes too. Probably the greater +portion of the main walls were covered with them, for here and there +traces are still to be seen and a tree of Jesse remains in the tympanum +of the south transept, and near it an enormous painting of Saint +Christopher. + +While the "Tresorio" may have been the treasure-house of the clergy, the +church itself was that of the people. Here was their art museum, here +were their galleries. The decorations became the primers from which they +learnt their lessons. Here they would meet in the afternoon hour as the +light fell aslant sapphire and ruby, through the clerestory openings. It +would light up their treasures with strange, unearthly glory and form +aureoles and haloes of rainbow splendor over the heads of their beloved +saints. Cool amethyst and emerald and warmer amber and gold touched the +darkest corners, and a gold and purple glory illuminated the high altar. + +Some of the earlier glass is as fine as any to be found in Europe. The +depth and intensity of the colors are remarkable. Probably none of it +was Spanish, but all was imported from France, Belgium, or Germany. The +glass in the rose of the north transept and in the eastern windows of +the transept clerestory can hold its own beside that of the cathedrals +of Paris and Amiens. The subject scheme of the rose in the north +transept is truly noble. The earliest glass is that in the nave (a +little later than 1400), and this is Flemish. The windows of the aisles +are at least a century later. Their composition is simple and broad, the +coloring rich and deep, and the interior dusk of the church enhances the +value of the sunlight filtering through the glass. + +Better than to descend into the immense crypt below the Cathedral, with +its eighty-eight massive piers corresponding to those above, is it to +stray into the broken sunlight of the green and fragrant cloister +arcade. + +Bishop Tenorio procured the site for the church from the Jews, who here, +right under the walls of the Christian church, held their market. A +fresco adjoining the gate explains by what means. It represents on a +ladder a fiendish-looking Jew who has cut the heart out of a beautiful, +crucified child and is holding the dripping dagger in his hand. This +fresco stirred up the fury of the Christian populace to the point ofburning the +Jewish market, houses and shops, which then were annexed by +the Bishop. The fine, two-story Gothic arcade of the cloisters encloses +a sun-splashed garden filled with fragrant flowers. Around the walls of +the lower arcade are a series of very mediocre frescoes. The +architecture itself is not nearly as interesting as that of the +cloisters of Salamanca. It ought particularly to be so in this portion +of the church, for here is the very climate and place for the courtyard +life of the Spaniard. + + +V + +So lies the Cathedral, crumbling in the sunlight of the twentieth +century. Beautiful, but strange and irreconcilable to all that is around +her, she alone, the Mother Church, stands unshaken, lonely and +melancholy, but grand and solemn in the midst of the paltry and tawdry +happenings of to-day. She has served giants, and now sees but a race of +dwarfs; princes have prostrated themselves at her altars, where now only +beggars kneel. Her walls whisper loneliness, desertion, widowed +resignation. + + NOTE.--In connection with the remarks on page 160, a Catholic + friend has pointed out how rarely, when Peter has been robbed, + ostensibly to pay Paul, Paul (otherwise the Poor) has derived any + benefit from it. It is willingly conceded that Henry VIII bestowed + much of the wealth derived from the dissolution of the religious + houses on his own favorites, and recent disclosures in France show + as scandalous a diversion of some of the funds similarly obtained. + + + + +VI + +SEGOVIA + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA] + + Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault, + The pealing anthem swells the note of praise. + + _Gray._ + + +Once upon a time, long, long ago, in the days of the Iberians, there was +a city and its name was Segovia. It is now so old that all of it, with +the exception of the great heap of masonry which crowns its summit, has +practically crumbled into a mountain of ruins. The pile still stands, +dominating the plain and facing the setting sun, triumphant over time +and decay,--the Cathedral of Saint Mary and Saint Froila. Though Mary +was the holier of the two patrons, owing to whose protection the church +stands to-day so well preserved, still Froila was in certain respects no +less remarkable. The Segovians of his day saw him split open a rock with +his jackknife and prove to the Moslems then ruling his city, beyond all +doubt, the validity of his Christian faith. + +But long before saints and cathedrals, the Romans, recognizing the +tenacious and commanding position as a military stronghold of the rock +of Segovia, which rises precipitously from the two valleys watered by +the Erasma and Clamores, pitched their camp upon its crest, renaming it +Segobriga. The city was fortified, and under Trajan the truly +magnificent aqueduct was built, either by the Romans or the devil, to +supply the city with the waters of the Fonfria mountains. A beautiful +Segovian had at this early time grown weary of carrying her jugs up the +steep hills from the waters below and promised the devil she would marry +him, if he only would in a night's time once and for all bring into the +city the fresh waters of the eastern mountains. She was worth the labor, +and the suitor accepted the contract. Fortunately the Church found the +arcade incomplete, the devil having forgotten a single stone, and the +maid was honorably released from her part of a bargain, the execution of +which had profited her city so greatly. Segovia still carries on her +shield this "Puente del diabolo," with the head of a Roman peering above +it. + +The strong position of the city made it an envied possession to whatever +conqueror held the surrounding country. It lay on the borderland, +constantly disputed with varying fortune by Christian and Moslem. Under +the dominion of the early Castilian kings, and even under the triumphant +Moors, the youthful church prospered and grew, for in the government of +their Christian subjects, the Mohammedans here, as elsewhere, showed +themselves temperate and full of common sense. The invaders had, indeed, +everywhere been welcomed by the numerous Jews settled in Spanish cities, +who under the new rulers exchanged persecution for civil and religious +liberty. Prompt surrender and the payment of a small annual tax were the +only conditions made, to confirm the conquered, of whatever race or +religion, in the possession of all their worldly goods, perfect freedom +of worship and continued government by their own laws under their own +judges. + +In the eleventh century, Segovia was included in the great Amirate of +Toledo, but the Castilian kings grew stronger, till in 1085 they were +able to recapture Toledo. The singularly picturesque contours of the +city are due to the various races which fortified her. Iberians were +probably the first to strengthen their hill from outside attack,--the +Romans followed, building upon the foundations of the old walls, and +Christian and Moslem completed the work, until the little city was +compactly girdled by strong masonry, broken by some three to four score +fighting towers and but few gates of entrance. Alfonso the Wise was one +of the great Segovian rulers and builders. He strengthened her bastions, +added a good deal to the walls of her illustrious fortress, and in 1108 +gave the city her first charter. A few years later Segovia was elevated +to a bishopric. + +Long before the earliest cathedral church, the Alcazar was the most +conspicuous feature in the landscape, and it still holds the second +place. Erected on the steep rocks at the extreme eastern end of the +almond-shaped hill, it stands like a chieftain at the head of his +warriors, always ready for battle, and first to meet any onslaught. +Several Alfonsos, as well as Sanchos, labored upon it during the +perilous twelfth century. Here the kings took up their abode in the +happy days when Segovia was capital of the kingdom, and even in later +times it sheltered such illustrious travelers as the unfortunate Prince +Charles of England, and Gil Blas, when out of suits with fortune. + +The first Cathedral was erected on the broad platform east of the +Alcazar, directly under the shadow of its protecting walls. The +ever-reappearing Count Raymond of Burgundy was commissioned by his +father-in-law, the King, to repopulate Segovia after the Moorish +devastations, and he rebuilt its walls, as he was doing for the +recaptured cities of Salamanca and Avila. The battlements were repaired, +and northerners from many provinces occupied the houses that had been +deserted. + +To judge from the ruins as well as from well-preserved edifices, +Romanesque days must have been full of great architectural activity. One +is constantly reminded of Toledo in climbing up and down the narrow +streets, where one must often turn aside or find progress barred by +Romanesque and Gothic courtyards or smelly culs-de-sac. Everywhere are +Romanesque portals and arches, palaces and the apses and circular +chapels of the age, bulging beyond the sidewalks into the cobblestones +of the street. They seem indeed venerable. Some of the old palaces +present a curious all-over design executed in Moorish manner and with +Moorish feeling. It is carved into the sidewalk, showing in relief a +geometrical, circular pattern, each circle filled with a quantity of +small Gothic lancets, surely difficult both to design and to execute. +Some of the old parish churches stand with their deep splays, +round-headed arches and windows and broad, recessed portals almost as +perfectly preserved as a thousand years ago. The Romanesque style died +late and hard. Even in the thirteenth century, the city could boast +thirty such parish churches. To-day they seem fairly prayer-worn. Beyond +their towers stretch the plains in every direction, seamed by stone +walls and dotted with gray rocks. Olive and poplar groves cluster round +the small hillocks, rising here and there like camels' backs. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF SEGOVIA CATHEDRAL + + A. Capilla Mayor. + B. Choir. + C. Crossing. + D. Sacristy. + E. Cloisters. + F. Tower.] + +As long as the welfare and development of the city depended on strong +natural fortifications, Segovia remained intact. To the twelfth and +thirteenth centuries belongs her glory. Her power passed with the middle +ages and their chivalry, and in the sixteenth century she was a dead +city. + +Villages, convents and churches lie scattered over the plain, the houses +crowded together for protection against the blazing, scorching, pitiless +sun. Standing by itself is the ancient and severe church, where many a +knight-templar kept his last vigil before turning his back on the plains +of Castile, and apart sleeps the monastery where Torquemada was once +prior. They all crumble golden brown against the horizon. + +Many a bloody fray or revolution upset the city during the middle ages. +The minority of Alfonso XI witnessed one of the worst. The revolt which +broke out in so many of the Spanish cities against the Emperor Charles +V, proved most fatal to the Cathedral of Segovia. + +The first Romanesque Cathedral had been built in honor of St. Mary, +under the walls of the Alcazar, during the first half of the twelfth +century. It was consecrated in 1228 by the papal legate, Juan, Bishop of +Sabina. Some two hundred and fifty years later, a new and magnificent +Gothic cloister was added to it by Bishop Juan Arias Davila, and +likewise a new episcopal palace more fitting times of greater luxury and +magnificence. This palace, despite the coming translation of the +Cathedral itself, remained the abode of the bishops for the three +following centuries. In the new cloisters a banquet of reconciliation +was celebrated in 1474 by Henry IV and the Catholic Kings. It was held +on the very spot whence Isabella had started in state on a journey +proving so eventful in the history not only of Castile but of the entire +Peninsula and countries beyond. Three years after the furious struggle +which took place around the entrance of the Alcazar, Charles V issued +the following proclamation:-- + +"The King: To the Aldermen, Justices, Councillors, Knights, Men-at-arms, +Officials, and good Burghers of the city of Segovia. The reverend Father +in Christ, Bishop of the church of this city, has told me how he and the +Chapter of his church believe that it would be well to move the +Cathedral church to the plaza of the city on the site of Santa Clara, +and that the parish of San Miguel of the plaza should be incorporated in +the Cathedral church; and this, because when the said Cathedral church +is placed in a situation where the divine services may be more +advantageously held, our Saviour will be better served and the people +will receive much benefit and the city become much ennobled; it appears +to me good that this plan should be carried out, desiring the good and +ennoblement and welfare of the said city because of the loyalty and +services I have always found in it, therefore I command and request that +you unite with the said Bishop or his representative and the Chapter of +said church and all talk freely together about this and see what will be +best for the good of the said city, and at the same time consider the +assistance that the said city could itself render, and after discussion, +forward me the results of your combined judgment, in order that I +better may see and decide what will be for the best service of Our Lord, +Ourselves, and the welfare of the city. Dated in Madrid, the 2d day of +October, in the year 1510.--I, the King." + +While the discussion of the feasibility and expense of commencing an +entirely new cathedral upon a new site nearer the heart of the city was +at its height, the revolt of the Comunidades broke out, in 1520, and +swept away in its burning and pillaging course the Romanesque edifice. +This stood at the entrance to the fortress, where the fight naturally +raged hottest. Only a very few of the most sacred images, relics and +bones were carried to safety within the walls of the Alcazar before the +old pile had been practically destroyed. Segovia was without a Cathedral +church. + +In the centre of the city, on the very crest of the hill, lay the only +clearing within the walls. Here at one end of the plaza was the site of +the convent mentioned by Emperor Charles, which had long sheltered the +nuns of Santa Clara. They had abandoned it for other quarters, and the +adjacent convent of San Miguel had become unpopular and was dwindling +into insignificance. Both could thus in this most free and commanding +location give way to a new and larger cathedral, distant from what would +always prove the rallying point of civic strife. Following the mighty +wave of revolt which had swept the city, came a great receding wave of +religious enthusiasm to atone in holy fervor for the impious act +recently committed. Citizen and noble alike proposed to build an edifice +which would be much more to the glory of Saint Mary than the shrine +which they had so recently pulled down. Lords gave whole villages; +women, their jewels; and the citizens, the sweat of their brows. We find +in the archives of the Cathedral the following entry by the Canon Juan +Ridriguez[b]: + +"On June 8th, 1522, ... by the consent and resolution of the Lord Bishop +D. Diego de Rovera and of the Dean and Chapter of the said church, it +was agreed to commence the new work of the said church to the glory of +God and in honor of the Virgin Mary and the glorious San Frutos and all +saints, taking for master of the said work Juan Gil de Hontañon, and for +his clerk of the works Garcia de Cubillas. Thursday, the 8th of June, +1552, the Bishop ordered a general procession with the Dean and Chapter, +clergy and all the religious orders." + +The corner stone was laid and the masonry started at the western end +under the most renowned architect of the age. Juan Gil had already +worked on the old Segovian Cathedral, but had achieved his great fame on +the new Cathedral of Salamanca, started ten years previously, whose +walls were rising with astounding rapidity. His clerk was almost equally +skilled, always working in perfect harmony with his master and carrying +out his designs without jealousy during the "maestro's" many illnesses +and journeys to and from Salamanca. Garcia lived to work on the church +until 1562, and the old archives still hold many drawings from his +skillful hand. + +The two late Gothic Cathedrals are so similar in many points that they +are immediately recognizable as the conception of the same brain. +Segovia is, however, infinitely superior, not only in the magnificent +development of the eastern end with its semicircular apse, ambulatory, +and radiating apsidal chapels, as compared with the square termination +of Salamanca, but, throughout, in the restrained quality of its detail +and the refinement of its ornamentation. How far the abrupt and +uninteresting apsidal termination of Salamanca was Juan Gil's fault, it +is difficult to say, for we find records of its having been imposed upon +him by the Chapter as well as of his having drawn a circular apse. +Fortunately, the Segovian churchmen had the common sense to leave their +architect alone in most artistic matters and allow him to make the head +of the church either "octagonal, hexagonal, or of square form." Where +Salamanca has been coarsened by the new style, Segovia seems inspired by +its fidelity to the old. + +The similarity of the two churches is visible throughout. The general +interior arrangements are much alike. The stone of the two interiors is +of nearly the same color, and the formation and details of the great +piers are strikingly similar. There is the same thin, reed-like descent +of shafts from upper ribs, the same, almost inconspicuous, small leaves +for caps, and, in both, the bases terminate at different heights above +the huge common drum, which is some three feet high. Externally, there +are analogous buttresses, crestings, pinnacles and parapets, and a +concealment of roof structure, but there is none of the vanity of +Salamanca in the sister church of Segovia. The last great Gothic church +of Spain, though deficient in many ways, was not lacking in unity nor +sincerity. The flame went out in a magnificent blaze. + +Such faithfulness and love as possessed Juan Gil for his old Gothic +masters seems well-nigh incredible. He designed, and during his +activity there of nine years, raised the greater portions of Segovia in +an age when Gothic building was practically extinct, when Brunelleschi +was building Santa Maria del Fiore, and the classic revival was in full +march. Segovia and Spaniards were as tardy in forswearing their Gothic +allegiance as they had been their Romanesque. Not until the beginning of +the sixteenth century does the reborn classicism victoriously cross the +Pyrenees, and then only in minor domestic buildings. The last +manifestations of Gothic church-building in Spain were neither weak nor +decadent, but virile, impressive and logical. Segovia Cathedral may be +said to be the last great monument in Spain, not only of Gothic, but of +ecclesiastical art. Thereafter came the deluge of decadence or +petrification. What must not the power of the Church, as well as the +religious enthusiasm of the populace, have been during this +extraordinary sixteenth century! It is almost incredible that this tiny +city, in a weak little kingdom, and so few miles from Salamanca, had the +spirit for an undertaking of the size of this Cathedral church, so soon +after Salamanca had entered on her architectural enterprise. Either of +the two seems beyond the united power of the kingdom. + +Even more remarkable than the starting of Segovia in the Gothic style at +so late a date, was the fact that the architects succeeding Juan Gil, +who were naturally tempted to embody their own ideas and to employ the +new style then in vogue, should nevertheless have faithfully adhered to +the original conception and completed in Gothic style all constructive +and ornamental details everywhere except in the final closing of the +dome and a few minor exterior features. Naturally the Gothic of the +sixteenth century was not that of the thirteenth,--not that of Leon or +Toledo, nor even of Burgos,--it had been modified and lost in spirit, +but still its origin was undeniable. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA. + +From the Plaza.] + +In 1525 Segovia was fairly started. House after house that impeded the +progress of the work was destroyed, until up to a hundred of them had +been razed. Santa Clara was kept for the services until the very last +moment, when a sufficient portion of the new building was ready for +their proper celebration. + +It was unusual to start with the western end, the apse and its +surrounding arches being the portion necessary for services. In Segovia, +however, as well as in the new Salamancan Cathedral, the great western +front was the earliest to rise. Gil did not live to finish it, but it is +evident that, as long as he directed, the work drew the attention of the +entire artistic fraternity of the Peninsula. We find constant mention in +old documents of the visits and the praise of illustrious architects, +among them Alfonso de Covarrubias, Juan de Alava, Enrique de Egas, and +Felipe de Borgoña. Gil's clerk-of-the-works, Cubillas, succeeded him as +"maestro," and under him the western front with its tower, the +cloisters, and the nave and aisles as far as the crossing, were +virtually completed by 1558. Aside from the manual labor, "it had taken +more than forty-eight collections of maravedis" to bring it to this +point. The magnificent old cloisters erected by Bishop Davila beside the +old Cathedral in 1470, had been spared the fury of the mob, and in 1524 +they were moved stone by stone to the southern flank of the new +Cathedral. This would have been a remarkable feat of masonry in our +age, and, for the sixteenth century, it was astonishing. Not a stone was +chipped nor a piece of carving broken. Juan de Compero took the whole +fabric apart and put it together again, as a child does a box of wooden +blocks. + +The 15th of August, 1558, when the first services were held in the +Cathedral, was the greatest day in Segovia's history. Quadrado, probably +quoting from old accounts, tells us, "The divine services were then held +in the new Temple. People came to the festival from all over Spain, and +music, from all Castile. At twilight on August 14th, 1558, the tower was +illuminated with fire-works, the great aqueduct, with two thousand +colored lights, and the reflection of the city's lights alarmed the +country-side for forty leagues round. The following day, the Assumption +of Our Lady, there was an astonishing procession, in which all the +parishes took part and the community offered prizes for the best +display. The procession went out by the gate of Saint Juan, and, after +going all around the city, returned to the plaza, where the sacrament +was being borne out of Santa Clara. There was a bull-fight, +pole-climbing, a poetical competition and comedies. The generosity of +the donations corresponded to the pomp of the occasion. Ten days +afterwards the bones were taken from the old church and reinterred in +the new one, among which were those of the Infante Don Pedro, Maria del +Salto, and different prelates." + +The bones of the two former were laid to rest under the arches of the +cloister. Don Pedro was a little son of King Henry II who had been +playing on one of the iron balconies in front of the Alcazar windows, +and, while his nurse's back was turned, pitched headlong over the +precipice into eternity and the poplar trees three hundred feet below. +The nurse, who knew full well it would be a question of only a few hours +before she followed her princely charge, anticipated her fate and jumped +after him. Maria del Salto ("of the leap") was a beautiful Jewess who, +having been taken in sin, was forced to jump from another of Segovia's +steep promontories. Bethinking herself of the Virgin Mary as a last +resource, she invoked her assistance while in mid-air, and the blessed +saint immediately responded, causing the Jewess to alight gently and +unharmed. It was naturally a great pious satisfaction to the Segovians +to carry to the new edifice such cherished bones. + +With services in the church, the building was well under way. Juan Gil's +son, Rodrigo Gil, had worked on Salamanca as well as very ably assisted +Cubillas. Upon the latter's death, in 1560, Rodrigo became maestro +mayor. Three years later, when the corner stone of the apse was laid, +the Chapter seems to have seriously discussed the advisability of +finally deviating from the original Gothic plans and building a +Renaissance head. It was, however, left to Rodrigo, who loyally adhered +to his father's original designs, and when he died in 1577, there was +fortunately but little left to do. Indeed, most of what followed in +construction, repair or decoration was rather to the detriment than +embellishment of the church. It was consecrated in 1580. Chapels were +added to the trasaltar by Rodrigo's successor, Martin Ruiz de Chartudi; +the lantern above the crossing was raised by Juan de Mogaguren in 1615; +five years later, the northern porch was erected and Renaissance +features invaded the edifice. Like most Spanish churches, it has been +constantly worked upon and never completed. + +The plan is admirable,--at once dignified and harmonious, and the +semicircular Romanesque termination is striking. The total length is +some 340 feet, its entire width, some 156; the nave is 43 and the side +aisles are 32 feet wide. It is thus logical, symmetrical, and fully +developed in all its members. Beyond the side aisles stretches a row of +chapels separated from each other by transverse walls. As the transepts, +which are of the same width as the nave, do not project beyond the +chapels of its outer aisles, the Latin cross disappears in plan. The +nave, aisles and chapels consist of five bays up to the crossing crowned +by the great dome. Beyond this comes the vault of the Capilla Mayor and +the semicircular apse surrounded by a seven-bayed ambulatory, or +"girola," and an equal number of radiating pentagonal chapels. The +chevet is clear in arrangement and noble in expression. Entrances lead +logically into the nave and side aisles of the western front and into +the centres of the northern and southern transepts, while cloisters +which abut to the south are entered through the fifth chapel. When +Segovia was built, Spaniards were thoroughly reconciled to the idea of +placing the choir west of the crossing and the Capilla Mayor east, and +consequently the latter was designed no larger than was requisite for +its offices, and a space was frankly screened off between it and the +choir for the use of the officiating clergy. The third and fourth bays +of the nave contained the choir. + +As one enters the church, there is a consciousness of joy and order. The +stone surfaces are just sufficiently warmed and mellowed by the +glorious light from above. The piers are very massive and semicircular +in plan; the foliage at their heads underneath the vaulting is so +delicate and unpronounced that it scarcely counts as capitals. The walls +of the chapels in the outer aisles, as well as round the ambulatory, are +penetrated by narrow, round-headed windows, as timid and attenuated as +those of an early Romanesque edifice; the walls of the inner aisle, by +triple, lancet windows; and the clerestory of the nave, by triple, +round-headed ones. Under them, in the apse, is a second row of +round-headed blind windows. None of them have any tracery whatever. The +glass is of great brilliancy of coloring and exceptional beauty, but the +designs are as poor as the glazing is glorious. In the smaller windows, +the subjects represent events in the Old Testament; in the larger, +scenes from the New. Around the apse much of the old, stained glass has +been shamefully replaced by white, so as to admit more light into this +portion of the building. + +There is no triforium, but a finely carved late Gothic balcony runs +around the nave and transepts below the clerestory. In the transepts, +this is surmounted by a second one underneath the small roses which +penetrate their upper wall surfaces. Both nave and side aisles are +lofty, the vaulting rising in the former to a height of about 100 feet +and, in the latter, to 80 feet, while the cupola soars 330 feet above. +The vaulting itself is most elaborate and developed. While the early +Gothic edifices have only the requisite functional transverse, diagonal +and wall ribs, we now find every vault covered with intermediate ones of +most intricate designs. Especially over the Capilla Mayor in its +ambulatory chapels and around the lantern, this ornamentation becomes +profuse,--everywhere ribs are met by bosses and roses. The general +effect of the endless cutting up of the vaults into numberless +compartments by the complicated system of lierne ribs is one of +restlessness. One misses the logical simplicity of the thirteenth and +fourteenth centuries and is reminded of the decadent surfacing of late +German work and the ogee, lierne ribs of some of the late English, in +which the true ridges can no longer be distinguished from the false. + +Looking up into the dome over the crossing, we see that the pendentives +do not rise directly above the four arches, but spring some fifteen feet +higher up above a Gothic balustrade which is surmounted by elliptical +arches pierced by circular windows. The dome, disembarrassed of the ribs +which still cling to some of its predecessors, is finely shaped,--a +thorough Renaissance piece of work. Light streams down through the +bull's eye under the lantern. + +There is considerable difference in the design as well as workmanship ofthe many +rejas. Tremendous iron rails, surely not as fine as those of +Seville, Granada, or Toledo, but still very remarkable, close the three +sides of the Capilla Mayor and the front of the choir. The emblematical +lilies of the Cathedral rise in rows one beside the other, as one sees +them in a florist's Easter windows. Rejas close off similarly all the +outer chapels from the side aisles. + +Among the very few portions of the old Cathedral which remained intact +after the fury of the Comunidades, were the choir stalls and an +exquisite door. The former were placed in the new choir and the latter +became an entrance to the transplanted cloisters. It was indeed +fortunate that these stalls were spared, for they are among the most +exquisite in Spain and excelled by few in either France or Germany. + +Wood-carving had long been a favorite art in Spain, one in which the +Spaniards learned to excel under the skillful tutelage of the great +masters from Germany and Flanders. The foreign carvers settled +principally in Burgos, where there grew up around them apprentices eager +to fill the churches with statues, retablos, choir stalls, and organ +screens executed in wood. The art of carving became highly honored. An +early ordinance of Seville referring to wood-carving, masonry and +building, esteems it "a noble art and self-contained, that increaseth +the nobleness of the King and of his kingdom, that pacifieth the people +and spreadeth love among mankind conducing to much good." In the +numerous panels of cathedral choir stalls, there was a wonderful +opportunity for relief work and the play of the fertile imagination and +childlike expressiveness of the middle ages. Curious freaks of fancy, +their extraordinary conceptions of Biblical scenes, the events and +personages of their own day, could all be portrayed and even carved with +wonderful skill. Leonard Williams, in his "Art and Crafts of Older +Spain," tells us that "the silleria consists of two tiers, the _sellia_ +or upper seats with high backs and a canopy, intended for the canons, +and the lower seats or _sub-sellia_ of simpler pattern with lower backs, +intended for the _beneficados_. At the head of all is placed the throne, +larger than the other stalls, and covered in many cases by a canopy +surmounted by a tall spire." + +Few of the many Gothic stalls are finer than those of Segovia. The +contrast with the work above them, as well as with that which backs onto +them, is doubly distressing. The tremendous organs above are a mass of +gilding and restless Baroque ornamentation, while their rear is covered +by multicolored strips of stone which would have looked vulgar and gaudy +around a Punch and Judy show and here enframe the four Evangelists. The +chapels and high altar are uninteresting, decorated in later days in +offensive taste. Apart from these furnishings, which play but a small +part, it is rare and satisfying to survey an interior in which there has +been so much decorative restraint, in which the constructive and +architectural lines dominate the merely ornamental ones, and where +harmony, severity and excellent proportions go hand in hand. Were it not +for the cupola and a few minor details, there would be added to these +merits, unity of style. + +The cloisters are rich and flamboyant, but nevertheless more restrained +than those of Salamanca. They are elaborately subdivided, carved and +festooned, and, in the bosses of the arches, they carry the arms of +their original builder, Bishop Arias Davila. Just inside their entrance +lie three of the old architects, Rodrigo Gil de Hontañon, Campo Aguero, +and Viadero. The old well in the centre is covered with a grapevine, and +nothing could be lovelier than the deep emerald leaves dotted with +purple fruit growing over the white and yellow stonework. + +Few Spanish cathedrals can be seen to such advantage as Segovia, its +situation is so unusual and fortunate. In mediæval towns closely packed +within their city walls, there could be but little room or breathing +space either for palace or hovel, and the buildings adjacent to a +cathedral generally nestled close to its sides. The plaza of Segovia is +unusually large compared to the area of the little city. The clearing +away of Santa Clara and San Miguel and all the smaller surrounding +edifices condemned for the Cathedral site, left much room also in front +of the western entrance for a fine broad platform as well as an +unobstructed view from the opposite side of the square. Most of the +flights of granite steps leading to it from the streets below are now +closed by iron gates and overgrown with grass and weeds. The days of the +great processions are past, when the various trades, led by their bands +of musicians, filed up to deliver their offerings towards the +construction, and the staircases are no longer thronged by devout +Segovian citizens anxious to see the daily progress of the work. The +platform is paved with innumerable granite slabs which in the old +Cathedral covered the tombs of the city's illustrious citizens, whose +names may still be easily deciphered. + +Taken as a whole, the façade is bald and void of charm. It is neither +good nor especially faulty, of a certain strength, but without interest +or merit. It is logically subdivided by five pronounced buttresses +marking the nave, side aisles and outer row of chapels. Their relative +heights and the lines of their roofing are clearly defined. To the +north, a rather insignificant turret terminates the façade, while to the +south rises the lofty tower, three hundred and forty-five feet above the +whole mountain of masonry, the most conspicuous landmark in the +landscape of Segovia. It consists of a square base of sides thirty-five +feet wide, broken by six rows of twin arches; the first, the third and +the sixth are open, the last is a belfry. The present dome curves from +an octagonal Renaissance base, the transitional corners being filled +with crocketed pyramids similar to the many crowning buttresses and +piers at all angles of the church below. The dome and lantern are almost +exact smaller counterparts of those crowning the crossing. They were put +up by the same architect, Mogaguren, who certainly could not have been +over-gifted with artistic imagination. The tower had varying +fortunes,--much to the distress of the citizens, it has been twice +struck by lightning. The wooden structure and lead covering were burned +and melted by the fire which followed the first catastrophe, but +fortunately it was soon put out by the rain which saved the Cathedral +and city. After the second thunderbolt, in 1809, the surmounting cross +was replaced by a lightning-rod. + +The nave is entered by the Perdon portal, which, under a Gothic arch, is +subdivided into two elliptical openings. Peculiarly late Gothic railings +here, as elsewhere, crown the masonry and conceal the tiling of the +sloping roofs. + +Rounding the church to the south, we find the view obstructed by the +cloisters and sacristy; only the façade of the transept, ascended from +the lower ground by a flight of steps, remains visible. The southern +doorway is quite denuded, and even its buttresses rise without as much +as a corbel to soften their lines. When one has, however, dodged through +the tortuous, narrow, malodorous streets and come out opposite the apse +and northern flank, the whole bulk of the logical organic body of the +church becomes visible with its larger squat and higher lofty domes +towering into the blue. To the same Renaissance period as the two domes +belongs the classical portal of Pedro Brizuela, leading to the northern +transept. The view from the northeast is particularly fine. Every +portion of the structure is expressed by the exterior lines. One above +the other rise chapels, ambulatory, apse, transepts and lanterns, each +level crowned by its sparkling balustrade. The sky is jagged by the +crocketed spires which terminate the flying buttresses, the piers and +the angles of the wall surface. Here the Latin cross may be seen, and +the sub-divisions of every portion of the interior. There is no +deception nor trickery. It is simple and straightforward. Its artistic +merits may be small, the forest of carved turrets rising all around the +apse, tiresome, but this final impression of Spanish Gothic was +thoroughly sincere. + + + + +VII + +SEVILLE + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE + +The Giralda, from the Orange Tree Court] + + "Wen Gott lieb hat, dem giebt er ein Haus in Sevilla." + + +Seville is ever youthful, for the blood which courses in her veins +absorbs the sunlight. Venice is the city of dreamy love, Naples, of +indolence, Rome, of everlasting age, but Seville keeps an eternal youth. + +What picturesqueness, what color, what passion blend with memories of +Andalusia! + + All sunny land of love! + When I forget you, may I fail To ... say my prayers! + +And Seville is the queen of Andalusia, of noble birth, proud and +beautiful. Distinctly feminine in her subtle, indefinable charm, like a +woman she changes with her surroundings, and her mutability adds to her +fascination. We never fathom nor quite know her, for she is one being as +she slumbers in the first chalky light of morning, another, in the +resplendent nakedness of noontide, overarched by the indigo firmament, +and yet another, in the happy laughter of evening when her mantle has +turned purple and her throbbing life is more felt than seen. The roses, +hyacinths and crocuses have closed in sleep, but the orange groves, the +acacia, and eucalyptus, jasmine, lemon, and palm trees and hedges of box +fill the air with heavy, aromatic perfume. To the exiled Moors she was +so sweet in all her moods that they said, "God in His justice, having +denied to the Christians a heavenly paradise, has given them in exchange +an earthly one." With the oriental languor of her ancestors, she keeps +the freshness and sparkle of the dewy morn. She is as gay and full of +youthful vitality as her Toledan sister is old and worn and haggard. +While Toledo is sombre and funereal, Seville is alive with the tinkling +of silver fountains, the strumming of guitars and mandolins, and the +songs of her women. She lies rich and splendid on the bosom of the +campagna, fruitfulness and plenty within her embattled walls. "She is a +strange, sweet sorceress, a little wise perhaps, in whom love has +degenerated into desire; but she offers her lovers sleep, and in her +arms you will forget everything but the entrancing life of dreams." + +Andalusia and Seville justly claim an ancient and royal pedigree, which +through all the vicissitudes of centuries has still left its stamp upon +them. Andalusia was the Tarshish of the Bible, whither Jonah rose to +flee. Her commerce is spoken of in Jeremiah, Isaiah, the Psalms, and the +Chronicles: "Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all +kind of riches, with silver, iron, tin, and lead they traded in thy +fairs" (Ezekiel xxvii, 12). + +In passing the Straits of Hercules, Seville and Ceuta alone caught +Odysseus' eye:-- + + Tardy with age + Were I and my companions, when we came + To the Strait pass, where Hercules ordain'd + The bound'ries not to be o'erstepp'd by man. + The walls of Seville to my right I left, + On th' other hand already Ceuta past. + + _Inferno_, xxvi. 106-110. + +The honor of founding the city of Seville seems to be shared by Hercules +and Julius Cæsar. In the popular mind of the Sevillians, as well as +through an unbroken chain of mediæval historians and ballad-makers, +Hercules is called its father. Monuments throughout the city bear +witness to its founders. On one of the gates recently demolished the +inscription ran,-- + + Condidit Alcides, Renovavit Julius urbem. + Restituit Christo Fernandus tertius heros. + +The Latin verses were later paraphrased in the Castilian tongue over the +Gate of Zeres:-- + + Hercules me edifico, + Julio Cesar me cerco, + de meno y torres altes + y el rey santo me ganó, + Con Garci Perez de Vargas. + +"Hercules built me, Julius Cæsar surrounded me with walls and high +towers, the Holy King conquered me by Garcia Perez de Vargas." Statues +of the founder and protector still stand in various parts of the city. + +In the second century B. C., the shipping of Seville made it one of the +most important trade centres of the Mediterranean. PhÅ“nicians and +Greeks stopped here to barter. In 45 B. C., Rome stretched forth her +greedy hand, and Cæsar entered the town at the head of his victorious +legion. Eighty-two years later the Romans formed the whole of southern +Spain into the "Provincia Bætica." With its formation into a Roman +colony, Seville's historical background begins to stand out clearly and +its riches are sung by the ancients. "Fair art thou, Bætis," says +Martial, "with thine olive crown and thy limpid waters, with the fleece +stains of a brilliant gold." The whole province contained what later +became Sevilla, Huelva, Cadiz, Cordova, Jaen, Granada and Almeria. +Seville, or Hispalis, became the capital and was accordingly fortified +with walls and towers, garrisoned and supplied with water from aqueducts +and adorned with Roman works of art. After the spread of Christianity +during the later Emperors, Seville was important enough to be made the +seat of a bishop. + +With the fall of Rome, Hispalis was overrun by hordes of Goths and +Vandals. They held possession of the country until they were conquered +in 711 by the Moors, who, after crossing the strait between Africa and +Europe, gradually spread northward through the Iberian peninsula. The +Goths made Hispalis out of the Roman Hispalia, and the Arabians in their +turn, unable to pronounce the p, formed the name into Ixbella, of which +the Castilians made Seville. + +To the Moors, Andalusia was the Promised Land flowing with milk and +honey. What was lacking, their genius and husbandry soon supplied. The +land which they found uncultivated soon became a garden filled with +exotic flowers and rich fruits, while they adorned its cities with the +noblest monuments of their taste and intelligence. They divided their +territory (el Andalus) into the four kingdoms of Seville, Cordova, Jaen, +and Granada, which still exist as territorial divisions. To-day the +three latter contain only the ruins of a great past. Seville alone +remains in many respects a perfectly Moorish city. Her courts, her +squares, the streets and houses, the great palace and the tower are +essentially Arabian and bear witness to the magnificence of her ancient +masters. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF SEVILLE CATHEDRAL + + A. The Giralda. + B. Royal Chapel. + C. Chapter House. + D. Sacristy. + E. Old Sacristy. + F. Colombina Library. + G. Portal of the Perdon. + H. Courtyard of the Orange Trees. + I. The Sagrario. + J. Portal of the Orange Trees. + K. Choir. + L. Capilla Mayor. + M. Portal of the Lonja (San Cristobal). + N. Portal of the Palos. + O. Portal of the Campanillas. + P. Portal of the Bautismo. + Q. Puerta Mayor. + R. Portal of the Nacimiento. + S. Trascoro. + T. Dependencias de la Hermandad. + U. Portal of the Sagrario. + V. Portal of the Lagarto. + X. Tomb of Fernando Colon.] + +They had lost all the rest of Spain except Granada before Cordova and +Jaen surrendered, and finally Seville fell into the hands of Ferdinand +III of Castile in 1248, and its Christian period began. Three hundred +thousand followers of the detested faith were banished from Seville, and +slowly the power of the Catholic Church began to rise and the +agricultural beauty and industry of the surrounding province to wane. + +The city was divided into separate districts for the different races, +the canals were dammed up, the water-works fell to pieces, the valley +was left untilled, and fruit trees were unpruned and unwatered. Hides +bleached in the sun and webs rotted on the looms, sixty thousand of +which had woven beautiful silk fabrics in the palmy days of the Moors. + +Ferdinand the Holy was a great king, of a saintliness and greatness +still acknowledged by the soldiers of Seville. After eight centuries +they still lower their colors as they march past the great shrine of the +Third Ferdinand, in the church which he purged from Mohammedanism and +dedicated to the worship of the Christians' God and the Holy Virgin. + +After him, Seville became the theatre of momentous deeds and events that +had a far-reaching influence on the history of the country. Into her lap +was poured the riches of the New World; within her halls Queen Isabella +laid the foundation of her united kingdom; from Seville came the +intellectual stimulus that revived the arts and letters of the whole +Peninsula. Here were born and labored Pedro Campaña, Alejo Fernandez, +Luis de Vargas, the several Herreras, Francisco de Zurbaran, Alfonso +Cano, Diego de Silva Velasquez, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and Miguel +Florentino. The riches of the western world made of Seville a second +Florence, where art found ready patrons, and literature, cultivated +protectors. She rivaled the great schools of Italy and the Netherlands, +but out of her secret council chambers came the Institution of the Holy +Office, the scourge that withered the nation. In the latter half of the +sixteenth century, forty-five thousand people were put to death in the +archbishopric of Seville. Finally, under Philip II, Seville and her +great church rose to stupendous wealth and power. + +"When Philip II died, loyal Seville honored the departed king by a +magnificent funeral service in the Cathedral. A tremendous monument was +designed by Oviedo. On Nov. 25th, 1598, the mourning multitude flocked +to the dim Cathedral while the people knelt upon the stones, and the +solemn music floated through the air. There was a disturbance among a +part of the congregation. A man was charged with deriding the imposing +monument and creating disorder. He was a tax-gatherer and ex-soldier of +the city named Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Some of the citizens +took his side, for there was a feud between the civil and the +ecclesiastical authorities in Seville. The brawler was expelled from the +cathedral,--but he had his revenge. He composed a satirical poem upon +the tomb of the King which was read everywhere in the city:-- + + _To the Monument of the King of Seville_ + + I vow to God I quake with surprise, + Could I describe it, I would give a crown, + And who, that gazes on it in the town + But starts aghast to see its wondrous size; + Each part a million cost, I should devise: + What pity 'tis, ere centuries have flown, + Old time will mercilessly cast it down! + Thou rival'st Rome, O Seville, in my eyes! + I bet, the soul of him who's dead and blest, + To dwell within this sumptuous monument, + Has left the seats of sempiternal rest! + A fellow tall, on deeds of valour bent, + My exclamation heard. "Bravo," he cried, + "Sir Soldier, what you say is true, I vow! + And he who says the contrary has lied!" + With that he pulls his hat upon his brow, + Upon his sword-hilt he his hand doth lay, + And frowns--and--nothing does, but walks away!"[16] + +Far more ineffaccable even than the record left by Philip's life upon +the history of Seville and Spain is that of this immortal soldier and +scribbler, who "believed he had found something better to do than +writing comedies." + +The soft, sonorous syllables of Guadalquivir (from the Arabic +Wad-el-Kebir, or The Great River) would picture to the imaginative eye a +river far more poetic than the sluggish stream that loiters across the +wide plain and fruitful valley until it pierces the amber girdle of +crenelated walls and embattled towers which enclose the treasures of +Seville. On its broad bosom have swept the barks and galleys of +PhÅ“nicia and Greece, of Roman, Goth, and Moor. On its shores Columbus +lowered the sails of his caravel and presented Spain with a new world on +Palm Sunday, 1493; Pizarro and Cortez here first embarked their greedy +and daring adventurers; hither Pizarro returned with hoards of gold and +silver treasures from Mexico and Peru, for the Council of the Indies +restricted all the trade of the colonies to the port of Seville. The +valley through which the river descends is sheltered from the cold +tablelands lying northward by the Sierra Moreña chain. Gray olive trees, +waving pastures, and fields of grain cover its slopes. A soft, tempered +wind whispers through the grassy meadows of La Tierra de Maria +Santissima, and the atmosphere is so dry and clear that far away against +the horizon objects stand out in clear silhouette. So vivid are the +colors that the smoky olive groves, the orange and lemon-colored walls, +the fir trees, the chalky white of the stucco, the fleshy, prickly +leaves of the cacti, and the tall standards of the aloes seem +photographed on the brain. + +In a fair and fruitful land lies the city, and her spires pierce a +smokeless, unspotted sky. + +In the heart of the city, set down in the very centre of her life of +song and laughter and childish simplicity, surrounded by crooked streets +and great airy courts, in the widest sunlit square, lies her Cathedral. + +The first impression made by a building is generally not only the most +distinct but the truest. That produced by Seville's Cathedral is its +immensity of scale. + + Toledo la rica, + Salamanca la fuerta, + Leon la bella, + Oviedo la sacra, + Sevilla la grande, + +runs the Spanish saying. The size is overpowering. Each of the four side +aisles is nearly as broad and high as the nave of Westminster Abbey, +while the arcades of Seville's nave have twice the span. To the +impressionable sensitiveness of Théophile Gautier it was like a mountain +scooped out, a valley turned topsy-turvy. Notre Dame de Paris might walk +erect under the frightful height of the middle nave; pillars as large as +towers appear so slender that you catch your breath as you look up at +the far-away, vaulted roof they support. + +Here are the first impressions of two early Spanish writers. Cean +Bermudez finds that, "seen from a certain distance, it resembles a +high-pooped and beflagged ship, rising over the sea with harmonious +grouping of sails, pennons, and banners, and with its mainmast towering +over the mizzenmast, foremast, and bowsprit." Caveda is struck by "the +general effect, which is truly majestic. The open-work parapets which +crown the roofs; the graceful lanterns of the eight winding stairs that +ascend in the corners to the vaults and galleries; the flying buttresses +that spring lightly from aisle to nave, as the jets of a cascade from +cliff to cliff; the slender pinnacles that cap them; the proportions of +the arms of the transept and of the buttresses supporting the side +walls; the large pointed windows to which they belong, rising over each +other, the pointed portals and entrances,--all these combine in an +almost miraculous effect, although they lack the wealth of detail, the +airy grace, and the delicate elegance that characterize the cathedrals +of Leon and Burgos." + +Such are the varying impressions of ancient critics. To the student's +question, "To what period of architecture does the Cathedral of Seville +belong?" we must answer, "To no period, or rather to half a dozen." +Authorities and writers will give completely different information, and +Seville has found more willing and loving chroniclers than any other of +Spain's churches. Gallichan classes it as the "largest Gothic cathedral +in the world," and Caveda calls it "a type of the finest Spanish Gothic +architecture." + +The interior of the main body of the church is pure, severe Gothic, the +sacristy major, highly developed Renaissance; the main portions of the +exterior are what might be termed for want of a better word "Spanish +Renaissance--plateresco"; other details are Moorish, classical, late +florid Gothic, rococo, and so forth. As if to add to the incongruity of +the architectural hodge-podge, it is surrounded by shafts of old Roman +columns as well as Byzantine pillars from the original mosque, sunk deep +into the ground and connected with iron chains. The total impression to +any student of architecture is one of outraged law and order, +composition and unity. Recalling the carefully membered and distinctly +developed plan of the great Gothic churches of France, the expressive +exteriors of the huge Renaissance cathedrals of Italy, the satisfying +perspective of English monastic temples, one feels the hopelessness of +attempting a comparison between this huge, impressive undertaking and +any accepted standards or schools. It is something so entirely different +and apart, a mighty and unbridled effort which cannot be classified nor +grouped with other churches, nor studied by methods of earlier +architectural training. It is full of romance,--a building romantic as +the Cid, a child of architectural fervor or even architectural furor. +Centuries of Spanish history and religion and the various temperaments +of different and inspired races have created it and fostered its +growth. Like many of its sister churches, the artisans that labored on +it were gathered from different lands and their work stretches through +centuries of time and architectural thought. There is the sparkling, +oriental fancy of the Mudejar, the classic training of the Italian, the +brilliant color and technique of the Fleming and Dutchman, the skilled +and masterful chiseling of the German, and the restless pride and +domination of the Spaniard. You find it expressed in every way,--on +canvas, in wood and clay and stone, on plaster and in glass. It is a +museum of art from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries, with +portions still waiting for the work of the twentieth. The artists range +from Juan Sanches de Castro, "the morning star of Andalusia," in 1454, +to Francisco Goya, the last of the great Spanish painters. + +It is colossal, incongruous, mysterious, and elusive. It breathes the +spirit of the middle ages with all their piety and loyalty to church and +crown, and their unparalleled ardor in building religious temples. +Gazing at it, you feel the same religious fervor that flung the arches +of Amiens and Chartres high into the northern air and rounded the dome +of Santa Maria del Fiore under Lombardy's azure vault. + +If you stand in the Calle del Gran Capitan, or better, the Plaza del +Triumfo, best of all, near the gateway of the Patio de las Banderas, +where the Cathedral and the Giralda pile up in front of you, +unquestionably you have before you Spain's mightiest architectural work, +a sight as impressive as the view from the marble pavement of the +Piazzetta by the Adriatic. + +The lofty tower is entirely oriental. The walls of the Cathedral which +rise from a broad paved terrace consist below of a classical screen, +whose surface is broken by a Corinthian order carrying a Renaissance +balustrade and topped by heavy, meaningless stone terminations. Windows +with Italian Renaissance frames pierce the ochre masonry. Above rises a +confusion of buttresses, kettle-shaped domes, and Renaissance lanterns, +simple, massive walls, some portions entirely bare, others overloaded +with delicate Gothic interlacings full of Spanish feeling; flowers and +rosettes, broad blazons and coats-of-arms,--above all, a forest of +Gothic towers, finials, crockets, parapets, and rails peculiarly Spanish +in carving and treatment. There is practically no sky line. The interior +of the nave and aisle vaulting are entirely concealed externally by the +parapets and walls. + +So lacking in sobriety is the first view!--but you are ready to echo the +Spanish saying,-- + + Quien no ha visto Sevilla + No ha visto maravilla.[17] + +or the words of Pope, "_There_ stands a structure of majestic fame!" + +The Spanish Christians in Seville, like those who obtained possession of +other Moorish strongholds, first appropriated the old Arab mosque for +their house of worship. Later, when it no longer sufficed, they and +their fellow-believers elsewhere built the new cathedral on, around, or +adjacent to, the old consecrated walls. Like all other churches from +which Islam had been driven, the great mosque of Seville was dedicated +to Santa Maria de la Sede. The famous Moorish conqueror, Abu Jakub +Jusuf, had laid the foundation stones of his mosque and tower in 1171, +building his walls with the materials left by imperial Rome, and laying +out orange courtyard and walls in a manner befitting his power and the +traditions of his race. It belongs to what architectural writers have +for convenience called the second period of the Spanish Arabs, between +1146 and about 1250, under the Almohaden dynasty. This was the period of +the Moors' greatest constructive energy,--they no longer blindly copied +the ancient architecture of Byzantium, but endeavored to create a bold +and independent art of their own. + +After the capture of Seville in 1248, Ferdinand at once consecrated the +mosque to Christian service, and it was used without alteration until it +began to crumble. Its general plan was probably very much like the one +in Cordova, a great rectangle filled with a forest of columns: its high +walls of brick and clay supported by buttresses and crowned with +battlements enclosed an adjacent courtyard with fountain and rows of +orange trees, abutted by the bell or prayer tower. The courtyard and +tower remain with but slight changes or additions; portions of the +foundation walls, the northeast and west porticos, decorative details +and ornamentation still to be found on the Christian church are all +Moorish. The plan and general structure have been restricted by the +lines of the old Moorish foundations. There are no documents extant that +give a trustworthy account of what portions of the old mosque were +allowed to remain when the Christians finally decided to rebuild, but +the most cursory glance at the outline of the Cathedral shows how +organically it has been bound by what was retained. The mosque must have +been built on as large and magnificent a scale as the one which still +amazes us in Cordova. The peculiar, oblong, quadrilateral form was +probably common to both. + +On the 8th of July, 1401, the Cathedral Chapter issued the challenge to +the Catholic world which to the more practical piety of to-day rings +with a true mediæval fervor. Verily a faith that could remove mountains! +The inspired Chapter proclaimed they could build a church of such size +and beauty that coming ages should call them mad to have undertaken it. +And their own fat pockets were the first to be emptied of half their +stipends. The pennies of the poor, grants from the crown, indulgences +published throughout the kingdom, all went to satisfy the ever-grasping +building fund. + +In 1403 the work of tearing down and commencing afresh on the old +foundations was begun. These measured about some 415 feet in length by +278 feet in width. The old mosque or the present church proper is now +only the central edifice in a rectangle of about 600 by 500 feet. This +is the size of a village, with its courts, its tower, the great library +of the Cathedral Chapter where books were collected from all over the +lettered world by the son of Columbus, the parroquia or parish church, +the endless row of chapels, some larger than ordinary churches, the +sacristy, the chapter house and offices. It became the largest church of +the middle ages, covering 124,000 square feet; Milan covers only 90,000, +Toledo, 75,000, and Saint Paul's in London, 84,000. Among the churches +of all ages, Saint Peter's, with an area of 162,000 square feet, alone +exceeds it in size. + +In 1506, under the archbishops Alfonso Rodriguez and Gonzalo de Rojas, +the building was completed. For a century the work had been carried on +with such reckless haste that inferior building methods had been +employed, which led to subsequent disasters. On December 28, 1511, to +the consternation of the devout workmen, the great central dome fell in +during an earthquake, carrying with it or weakening many of the vaults +and much of the masonry below. After the earthquake, some of the large +piers supporting the great crossing as well as the adjacent ones were +found filled with the most carelessly laid rubble and earth, with no +carrying power nor resistance. About 1520 the building might in the main +be said to be finished. Externally it has never been completed, although +in the nineteenth century the west front was finished and its central +doorway ornamented. An extensive restoration which took place in 1882 +was interrupted by the second earthquake of 1888, during which the dome +again fell in. To-day it is all rebuilt. + +The entrance is at the west end. The plan, as I have said, was governed +by the old basilica-shaped mosque. The transepts do not project beyond +the chapels of the side aisles, and at the east end it differs from most +Spanish churches in having a square termination instead of an apse. Also +along the east wall chapels have been built between the buttresses +similar to those between the north and south sides. The central portions +of the east end open into the great Capilla Real. There are nine +doorways to the church. + +In studying the plan, it is interesting to note what Mr. Ferguson has +indicated, that similarly to what is found in the Indian Jain temples, +the diagonal of the aisle compartments has the same length as the width +of the nave. The original documents and accounts of the church, which +have disappeared, were probably burnt among Philip II's papers destroyed +by the great Madrid fire. + +Scarcely two of the Cathedral's many biographers agree as to its +architects, its historic precedents or what part of the work was +actually inspired by earlier Spanish architecture and national builders. +Naturally Spanish writers attribute workmanship, precedents and builders +all to their own Peninsula, while the different foreign authorities vary +in their estimates. Distinctly Spanish features of construction as well +as ornamentation are found side by side with others which unquestionably +came from masters trained beyond the Pyrenees. In various places +vaulting is found thoroughly German in its complexity and florid detail. +Several authorities point out the resemblances between Milan and +Seville, not that the ornamentation of the frosted and encrusted Italian +misconception can be intelligently compared with the Plateresque +carving, but there is a certain mixture of local and foreign feeling in +both. In Seville French and German feeling seems to be struggling under +Spanish fetters, just as in Lombardy the German seems to be laboring +with Italian comprehension of Gothic, finally abandoning the inorganic +scheme for a lovely, riotous, and marvelous attempt at carving to which +the material no longer placed any limitations. + +The Spanish architect of the middle ages was placed in a novel +situation, and his art had very peculiar and unusual influences bearing +upon it. Gothic methods of construction and ornamentation had slowly +spread over the country with the growing sovereignty of Aragon and +Castile, and in spite of the corresponding decline of the Arab kingdoms, +Moorish art began to work hand in hand, as far as was possible, with the +forms of the Christian invader, although the hostility between the races +hindered any extensive fusion of the two. They began, however, to +influence each other for good or bad and to flourish side by side. The +result might be called architectural volapük. In Seville it is certain +that, whatever the nationality of the original architect and however +incongruous and expressionless the exterior may finally have become, the +interior is less exotic, less unquestionably a French importation, than +in either of the great Gothic churches of Toledo or Burgos. When we +recall the organic completeness, the truthful exterior expression, of +interior lines and construction in the greatest Gothic cathedrals of +France, we turn with sadness to the outer form of so fair a soul as that +of Santa Maria of Seville, the work of the most famous architects of her +age. Some attribute the original plans of the church to Alfonso +Rodriguez, others to Alfonso Martinez, who was Maestro Mayor of the +chapter in 1396, others again to Pedro Garcia; a long list of names +follows: Juan the Norman, Juan de Hoz, Alfonso Ruiz, Ximon, Alfonso +Rodriguez, and Gonzalo de Rojas, Pedro Mellan, Miguel Florentin, Pedro +Lopez, Henrique de Egas, Juan de Alava, Jorge Fernandez Alleman, Juan +Gil de Hontañon and the masters who after the earthquake hurried to +Seville from their buildings in Toledo, Jaen, Vittoria, and other +places. Casanova is the last of her many architects. + +Correctly speaking, there is no façade. The Cathedral runs from west to +east, the western or main entrance portal being pierced by three ogival +doorways, the Puerta Mayor with a modern relief of the Assumption, the +Puerta del Nacimento or de San Miguel to the south, and the Puerta del +Bautizo or de San Juan to the north. Saint Miguel has a relief of the +Nativity of Christ, Saint Juan, one representing Saint John baptizing. +In the moldings surrounding these, are very exquisite little figures of +early sixteenth-century work executed in terra-cotta. They are full of +the best Gothic feeling, splendidly fitted to their spaces, alive with +the expression of the imaginative period of their sculptor, Pedro +Millan. Above and around the door of San Juan is a Gothic tracery of the +most elaborate character. + +One cannot refrain from comparing the sculptural work of these three +doorways. Riccardo Bellver's modern Assumption over the central doorway +is as congealed as the terra-cotta sculptures above and around the side +portals are admirable. They are unquestionably among the most +interesting bits of relief as well as figure sculpture of their kind +produced in Spain during the fifteenth century. Pedro Millan stands out +as a great mediæval master, not only from the consummate skill with +which the drapery is treated but from the living, breathing personality +and attitudes of the men and women around him, which we still gaze at in +the truth of their curious, naïve, fifteenth-century light. + +As the whole western façade was not completed in its present form until +1827, much of its work is as poor as it is modern. + +There are two entrances to the eastern end, richly decorated with fine +terra-cotta statues and reliefs of angels, patriarchs, and Biblical +figures, attributed to Lope Marin. In the northern façade there are +three,--one classical and of very little interest leading to the parish +church; the second is the Puerto de los Naranjos. + +In the Puerta del Lagarto, where the Giralda abuts the Cathedral, there +hangs a poor stuffed crocodile, once sent by a Sultan of Egypt in token +of admiration to Saint Ferdinand. The beast, having died on his way from +the Nile, could never crawl in the basins of the Alcazar gardens, but +found a resting-place under the shelves of the Columbina library. + +On the opposite side of the orange-tree court is the Puerta del Perdon. +The Florentine relief above, representing the crouching traders as they +were driven from the Temple, naturally spoils the effectiveness of the +magnificent Moorish portal below. Its horseshoe curve, with delicate +Moorish interlacing, arabesques, frieze and bronze doors, is a curious +and striking note of a bygone age, leading as it does to the walled and +fragrant courtyard of its builders, and the fountain where they made +their ablutions. Later Renaissance statues of the Annunciation and Saint +Peter and Saint Paul, as well as Florentine pilasters and ornament, +flank the Moorish moldings in an utterly meaningless manner. + +On the south is the gate of San Cristobal, or of the Lonja, finished +only a few years ago. + +In and out of these many entrances the populace stream, to worship, to +whisper, to gossip, to rest, to bargain, to beg, and to make love. The +whole drama of life in its conglomerate population goes on within the +walls of the Cathedral. It is the most frequented thoroughfare, where +the people enter as often with a song on their lips as with a prayer. +The great edifice with all the ceremonial of its religious services is +woven into their life, as is the sound of the guitars and castanets that +echo within its portals and courtyards. The church and her children are +not strangers. The Sevillian does not approach her altars with religious +awe and fear, but with a childish trust; he kneels down before them as +much at home as when rolling his cigarette on the bench of his café. The +Cathedral, like the houses nestling and crumbling around it, opens wide +and hospitable gates that lead to the refreshing shade and comfort +within. + +The western front is practically the only one which presents the +Cathedral unobscured by adjacent buildings climbing up its sides or +struggling between the buttresses,--or which is not concealed by +enclosing screenwork. To the north the walls of the Orange Court block +the view; to the east, the high screen; and to the south, the chapter +house and the Dependencias de la Hermanidad and the sacristy. The mass +of domes with supporting flying buttresses, ramps and finials above it,all +remind one curiously of a transplanted and ecclesiasticized +Chambord. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE + +Gateway of Perdon in the Orange Tree Court] + +As the plan conforms to the conditions of the old rectangular mosque and +has neither projecting transepts nor semicircular chevet, it can +scarcely be called Gothic. It consists of nave and double side +aisles,--the nave 56 feet wide from centre to centre of the columns and +145 feet high, and the inner side aisles 40 wide and about 100 high. +Outside these is another aisle filled with various chapels. + +At the crossing of the nave and transept, we have the typical, small +Spanish octagonal dome,--in this instance covering possibly what was in +the original mosque a central octagonal court. It is a construction +rising some hundred and seventy feet above the level of the eye, +admitting light below its spring into what in the French Gothic edifices +would usually be the gloomiest portions of the building. + +The side aisles differ slightly in width, the two lateral ones being +filled with various chapels. There are nine bays, separated by +thirty-six clustered pillars, some of them perfect towers in their huge +and massive strength. Their detail and outline are excellent, all of the +greatest simplicity and restraint. The delicate engaged shafts which +surround the huge supports of fifteen feet diameter terminate below the +vaulting ribs in delicately interlaced palm-leaf caps. Nothing is +confused or intricate. Sixty-eight compartments spring from the various +piers with a loftiness reminding one of Cologne. The groining differs +very much. The greater portion is admirably plain, of simple +quadripartite design; other parts are fanciful and elaborate, recalling +florid German prototypes. The five central vaults forming the cross +under the dome alone have elaborate fan-vaulting; the geometrical design +is as excellent as its detail. The richness given this central and most +correct portion of the great roofing is all the more effective by +contrast with the plain, unelaborated groins of the surrounding vaults. +The petals of the flower, the very holy of holies, between the choir +and the Capilla Mayor, before the high altar, are what is most beautiful +and enriched. +The lighting is very unusual, and better than either Leon or Toledo. +Ninety-three windows are filled with the most glorious glass. There are +two clerestories to light the body of the church, one in the walls of +the second side aisle, admitting light above the roofs of the chapels, +the second in the nave. Added to this come the huge lights of the five +rose windows. + +In Seville, as in Toledo and many of the other great Spanish cathedrals, +the general view of the interior is blocked, and the majesticeffectiveness of +the columnar rows marred, by the placing of the great +choir in the centre of the edifice. + +But the interior effect is nevertheless one of the most inspiring +produced by the imagination and hands of man. All truly majestic +conceptions are simple and, though we may at times wonder at the secret +of their power, we always find their enduring grandeur due to a hidden +simplicity. This is true of the Parthenon, of the Venus of Milo, and the +Sistine Madonna. Whoever enters the Cathedral of Seville is struck first +of all by its simplicity. The tremendous scale of the interior is +unperceived, owing to the just proportion between all the parts. There +is height as well as width, massiveness and strength, boldness and +light. None of the detail is petty or too elaborate, but simple and +effective, making a harmony in all its parts. Even the furniture carries +out the tremendous boldness and grandeur of the edifice. Bells, choir +books, candles, altar chests, are all on the same grandiose scale. It +has true majesty in its simplicity of direct, honest appeal, and a +proud unconsciousness, because it is free from the artificiality which +is invariably vulgar. The truly beautiful woman needs none of the +devices of art. The shafts and vaults and string courses in Seville's +Cathedral need little ornamentation to bring out their beauty; they are +in fact as effective as the elaborate carving of Salamanca and Segovia. +Seville preaches a great lesson to our twentieth century, of peace, rest +and completeness. It has room for all its children; they may kneel at +eighty-two different shrines and find romance or encouragement or the +consolation they are seeking. Some churches are strangely secular in +their restlessness of feeling, while others breathe an atmosphere full +of poetry, exaltation and the infinite peace of the Gospels. Seville's +religion is for the humble and simple as much as for the grandee. It is +not only the great cathedral church of the archbishop and bishop, the +eleven dignitaries, forty canons, twenty prebendaries, twenty minor +canons, twenty veinteneros, twenty chaplains and the host of a choir, +but the beloved home of the poor, miserable, starving sons and daughters +of Santa Maria de la Sede. + +Although architecturally the injurious effect of placing choir and high +altar in the middle of the church cannot be overstated, from the point +of view of ritual, of closely uniting the officiating body with the +worshipers, it is undoubtedly a far happier arrangement than where the +prayers and psalms proceed from the extreme apsidal termination. In the +former case the religious guidance seems to emanate from the very soul +of the edifice, and to reach all humble worshipers in the remotest nooks +and corners. + +The Spanish nature craves the sensuous and theatrical in religious +rites, and not far-away but intimately, as part and parcel of it. In the +time of the great ecclesiastical power of the bishopric of Seville +20,000 pounds of wax were burned every year, 500 masses were daily +celebrated at the 80 altars, and the wine consumed in the yearly +sacrament amounted to 18,750 litres. Seville's children wished to be +close to the glare and flicker of the wax candles and torches and to +hear distinctly the unintelligible Latin service. Seek the shade of the +cathedral when the July sun is burning outside, or during one of the +nights of Holy Week, when the great Miserere of Eslava is sung, and you +will find it the most thronged spot in all Seville. In the words of +Havelock Ellis: "Profoundly impressive,--around the choir an impassive +mass, in the rest of the church characteristic Spanish groups crouched +at the bases of the great clustered shafts, and chatted and used their +fans familiarly, as if in their own homes, while dogs ran about +unmolested. The vast church lent itself superbly to the music and the +scene. It was a scene stranger than the designs of Martin, as bizarre as +something out of Poe or Baudelaire. In the dim light the huge piers +seemed larger and higher than ever, while the faint altar lights dimly +lit up the iron screen of the Capilla Mayor, as in Rembrandt's +conception of the Temple of Jerusalem. In the scene of enchantment one +felt that Santa Maria of Seville had delivered up the last secret of her +mystery and romance." + +If you enter the church from the west through the main portal, or the +Puerta Mayor, the whole length of the nave is broken by various +structures. On the axis, under the second vault, is the tomb of +Fernando Colon; the fourth and fifth vaults contain the choir; the sixth +comes under the dome; the seventh and eighth take in the Capilla Mayor +and Sacristia Alta; back of the ninth and terminating the eastern end, +rises the great Renaissance royal chapel (Capilla Real). Fernando Colon +deserves to live not only in Seville's history but in the memory of all +Spain, first and foremost for being his father's son (by his mistress +Beatrix Enrigues), and, secondly, for leading a most pious and studious +life and devoting his time and fortune while traversing Europe during +the first half of the sixteenth century, to the purchase of the most +valuable books and manuscripts of the time. These he united into the +famous Columbina Library and presented to the Cathedral Chapter. The +enormous wooden tabernacle erected every Passion Week over the great +Discoverer's son, to reach the very arches of the vaults overhead, is as +hideous as the inscription is touching. Three caravels are inlaid on the +slab, between which runs the legend, "A Castilla y a Leon mundo nuevo +die Colon"[a] (To Castile and Leon Columbus gave a new world), and the +following inscription: "Of what avails it that I have bathed the entire +universe in my sweat, that I have thrice passed through the new world, +discovered by my father, that I have adorned the banks of the gentle +Bati and preferred my simple tastes to riches, in order to gather around +thee the divinities of the Castalian Spring and offer thee the treasures +already gathered by Ptolemy, if thou in passing this stone in Seville, +dost not at least give a greeting to my father and a thought to me." + +Directly back of Fernando Columbus' tomb rises the rear surface or +trascoro of the choir. The choir, which occupies the fourth and fifth +bays, is enclosed by the most elaborate walls, except at the entrance to +the east, where it is screened by the remarkable iron reja. This, as +well as the rejas of the choir, is in design and workmanship a marvelous +example of mediæval craft, quite as fine as the screens of Toledo and +Granada and the best work of the German forgers and guilds. The design, +from 1519, harmonizes splendidly with the ironwork facing it. Its +gilding must have improved as each century has toned it down. Now in the +evening hours when it catches the reflection of some light, the spikes +look like angels' spears rising flame-like out of the mysterious +twilight and guarding the holy places beyond. + +The choir, placed so nearly under the dome, naturally suffered greatly +by its fall. A portion of the 127 stalls has been so well restored that +it is difficult to distinguish the old from the new. "Nufro Sanchez, +sculptor, whom God guarded, made this choir in the year 1475." The +subjects are as usual from the New and Old Testaments, and the character +of the carving constantly betrays Moorish influence. The pillars as well +as the canopies and the figures themselves are possibly entirely Gothic, +but one glance at the gaudily inlaid backs shows Arab workmanship. Along +the outer sides of the choir around the four little stonework niches, +which serve as smaller chapels, the Gothic carving (some of it executed +in transparent alabaster), works more happily than usual in combination +with the later Plateresque or Renaissance, here containing the fine +feeling of the Genoese school. One piece of sculpture stands out from +all the rest, viz., the Virgin, carved by Montañes. Her hands are of +such exquisite girlish delicacy, of such immature and dimpled softness, +that one cannot pass them by without a feeling of delight. + +The organs, which form a part of the choir, have an incredible number of +pipes and stops. According to a remarkable old tale, they were filled +with air by the choir boys, who walked back and forth over tilting +planks placed on the bellows. Whether or no the boys still have this +happy outlet for their ecclesiastic activities, the music means little +to the Spaniard, and their design still less to the architect's eye. + +The Capilla Mayor faces the choir, merely separated from it by the space +lying directly under the dome and forming the intersection of nave and +transepts. As the church services constantly require the simultaneous +use of the choir and the high altar of the Capilla Mayor, a portion of +the intermediate space or "entre los dos Coros" is roped off during +service time for the clergy to pass from one to the other. The Spanish +taste for pomp and magnificence centres in all its extravagance about +the high altar, while a more subdued richness characterizes the +surrounding stone and iron work which encloses the sanctuary on all +sides. Not only on the front, complementing and balancing admirably the +facing reja of the choir, but on the western ends of the sides, immense +ornamental iron screens bar the way. The front one is quite overpowering +in size, rising some seventy-five feet above the altar. The Spaniard was +equal to any undertaking in the days of early Hapsburg splendor under +the pious Reyes Catolicos. With the aid of Sancho Munoz and Diego de +Yorobo, a Dominican Friar, Francesco de Salamanca designed them (1518) +and then superintended the welding, gilding and the final erection in +1523. + +The east end of the Capilla Mayor is formed by the magnificent retablo, +almost four thousand square feet in size. One is immediately struck by +its immense proportions and the infinite amount of carving bestowed on +it. Its great scheme was conceived in 1482 by the Flemish sculptor +Dancart, evidently a man of prolific and versatile imagination. If we +try to compare it with the work of English churches, we might best liken +it to the great altar screens. This and the retablo at Toledo are +probably the richest specimens of mediæval woodwork in existence. +Portions of the execution are somewhat inferior to the conception, and +yet the artists who labored on it with loving skill until the middle of +the following century carried out all their work with a richness and +delicacy which make it not only a representative piece of late Gothic +sculpture but one of the most magnificent specimens of this branch of +Spanish art. Its various portions embrace the whole period of florid +Gothic from its earlier, more restrained expression to the very last +stroke of the art, when wood was mastered and carved into incredible +filigree work as if it had been as soft and pliable as silver leaf. +Everything that could be carved is there, figures, foliage, tracery, +moldings and mere conventionalized ornament. The central portions are of +the earlier fifteenth century, the outer ones, of the late sixteenth, +executed under Master Marco Jorge Fernandez. The wood is principally +larch, with minor portions of chestnut and pine. The whole field is +divided by slender shafts and laboriously carved bands into forty-four +compartments representing in high and low relief various scenes from the +life of Christ and the Virgin Mary. In the centre is Santa Maria de la +Sede, the patron saint of the church, surmounted by a Crucifixion with +Saint John and the Virgin on either side. + +Between the retablo and the rear wall enclosing the rectangle of the +Capilla Mayor, there is a dark space known as the Sacristia Alta, where +is preserved the Tablas Alfonsinas[18] brought from Constantinople to +Paris by Saint Ferdinand's son, Alfonso. + +Seville ranks high among the churches of Spain in the beauty of its +carving. The stone screen that forms the rear of the retablo is filled +with admirable Gothic terra-cotta statues, saints, virgins, bishops, +martyrs and prelates executed with a little of the curious rigidity of +the Dutch School still awaiting its Renaissance emancipation, but with +faces full of holy devotion. The modeling is correct and the treatment +of the drapery excellent. + +Within the enclosure of the Capilla Mayor, there is still to be seen at +certain times of the year, a ceremony which has been performed for +centuries, and which is certainly the most unique religious rite +celebrated in any Christian church. To the Saxon it is most +extraordinary. During the last three days of the Carnival or after the +Feast of Corpus Domini, we may see boys dressed in costumes perform a +dance before the high altar of the Cathedral. Children, so the tale +runs, danced, skipped and shouted for joy when the city of Seville was +finally taken from the Mohammedans, and these childish demonstrations so +touched the hearts of the clergy who entered the city with the +conquering army, that they resolved that succeeding generations of boys +should perpetuate them forever. Of all the festivals and religious +processions culminating in or outside Saint Mary's shrine, surely none +can give her so much pleasure as the sight of these little boys dancing +and singing in her honor. + +This naïf and charming ceremonial is part of the Mozarabic Ritual, the +work of Saint Isidore, a metropolitan of Seville a hundred years before +the arrival of the Saracens. In his early years, when his elder brother +Leander ruled the Gothic Church with stern hand, Isidore had time and +talents to master in his cloistered seclusion so much art and science +that he became the Admirable Crichton of his day. His work on "The +Origin of Things" shows the profundity of his knowledge, his history of +the Goths is beyond doubt his most valuable legacy to us, but what +endeared him above all to his countrymen was the Mozarabic Rite, of +which he composed both breviary and music. The Benedictine monks of +Cluny, those architects and chroniclers, who had been obliged to +sacrifice their Gallican liturgy for the Roman, could not rest satisfied +until they had imposed it on the Peninsula. They were supported in this +truly foreign aggression by Constance of Burgundy, Queen of Alfonso VI, +and by the masterful Gregory VII, himself a Benedictine. And so Saint +Isidore's quaint old hymn with the accompanying melody was banished from +all but one or two favored chapels. Fortunately Cardinal Ximenez became +its enthusiastic and powerful protector. He endowed in the Cathedral of +Toledo a special chapel and had thirteen priests trained for the +service, "Mozarabes sodales." In Ximenez' time a German, Peter +Hagenbach, first printed "missale secundum regulam beati Isidori dictum +Mozarabes," what Saint Isidore called "those fleeting sounds so hard to +note down." His breviary was the first Roman one to be used in Spanish +churches. + +To enumerate the endless rows of chapels with their countless treasures +and chaste or tawdry architecture and decoration would be tiresome and +unprofitable,--with a plan and guide-book, one may pass them in review. +"Sixty-seven of the great sculptors and thirty-eight of the painters +here display to the astonished and incredulous eye the masterpieces of +their hand," says one. Here is almost every painter belonging to the +great Sevillian school of painting of the sixteenth and seventeenth +centuries. They form a veritable museum or a series of small museums, +each chapel being a separate room of masterpieces. But here, as in the +museum, there are good and bad paintings and statues, and only the +excellent are worth attention. They are better worth studying here than +elsewhere, for they have been left in the surroundings for which they +were intended and painted. Spain's great religious artist did not paint +his Madonnas so full of distracting and sensuous loveliness for the +walls of the Prado; their smiles, human and pathetic, were for the +altars and panels of sanctuaries. Here is the light in which they were +studied and for which they were colored; here are the walls and frames +which were intended to surround them; they are in the company they +would choose, and they were painted with the same religious devotion +that inspires the prayers now offered before them. The painter's +inspiration sprang from the fervor of his faith. + +Three of the paintings are lovely above all others. Two are Murillo's, +namely the Angel de la Guarda and the San Antonio of the baptistery; the +third is the Deposition from the Cross, by Pedro de Campana (or more +correctly Kempeneer), hanging in the great sacristy. This is the +painting, Spanish historians will tell you, Murillo loved so well that +whenever he was downhearted he would stand in front of it for hours, and +become lost to all around him, even forgetting his own Madonnas. One day +the sacristan asked him impatiently, why he so often stood there +staring. "I am waiting," Murillo answered, "till those holy men have +taken the Saviour down from the Cross." It hangs well lighted over one +of the altars of the Sacristy. Few faces have ever been painted which +convey depth and intensity of feeling in a more affecting way. The +agonized faces of the women at the foot of the Cross express all an +innocent human heart can feel of compassion, heart-wrung sorrow and +despair. The ecstasy with which Saint Anthony, who is kneeling in +prayer, gazes at the Child Jesus has seldom been surpassed in reality +and power. Entirely lifted beyond the earthly sphere, his features +kindle with ardent piety and divine love. The angels surrounding the +Infant Jesus have a simplicity of expression which never escapes those +who have loved and studied children. The coloring is unique and of a +truly penetrating softness. All the little details of the miserable cell +in which the saint is kneeling are rendered with the vigorous reality +so characteristic of the Spanish school, while in the upper part of the +painting one seems to see even the dust particles floating in the rays +of sunlight. The shadows have a marvelous transparency. + +The Angel de la Guarda, or Guardian Angel, is one of the master's very +best works. The purples and yellows of the angel's vesture have kept +their depth and richness through all the centuries in which the colors +have been drying. + +There might be a guide-book dealing with the paintings of the Cathedral +alone. How differently it is decorated from the great Gothic cathedrals +of the present Anglican Church! In Seville as in Florence, all the fine +arts seemed to flower and come to perfection during the sixteenth +century. Sculpture and painting were employed to embellish architecture, +as in the ancient days of Greece. The sister arts walked once more hand +in hand. The figures in stone and still more in terra-cotta which adorn +the exterior porches and the more decorative portions of the interior +are unusually fine. Many of the bishops, saints and kings have an +unmistakable Renaissance feeling. Take, for instance, such a statue as +the Virgin del Reposo, so dear to the Sevillians,--you feel in all the +handling the period of transition. Such sculptors as Miguel Florentin, +Juan Marin, and Diego de Pesquera must have been influenced by Italy +when they carved the statues which adorn the Cathedral of Seville. + +The contact with Italy and the many Italian workmen gradually induced +faithlessness to the earlier Gothic ideals of the founders and builders +of the church. The great Maestro Mayor of Toledo Cathedral, Henrique de +Egas, was among the first to introduce restraint in Spanish building +after the fanaticism of the later flamboyant. In the time of Ferdinand +and Isabella, a well-known Toledan published a Spanish abridgment of +Vitruvius; this in conjunction with the influence of many foreign +artists led the way to classical building. Granada was soon resurrected +as a Greek-Roman "Centralbau" and even the crossing of Gothic Burgos was +unfortunately restored by Borgoña after classic models. + +The new foreign movement found expression in architecture, in sculpture +and in painting, often with the most extraordinary attempts to employ +the new without discarding the old. Grotesque and fantastic ornaments +crown illogical construction. + +The royal chapel, the chapter house, the sagrario and the great sacristy +are examples of the new-born style. The first two are magnificent +specimens of Spanish Renaissance. Each of them is a fine church in +itself, and they can only be classed as chapels because they bear that +relation and are proportioned to the immense mother church of Seville. + +The walls of the Capilla Real form the eastern termination to the +Cathedral, and the chapel is very properly planned upon the axe of the +church and entered through a splendidly decorated lofty arch. It is +about 81 by 59 feet in plan, and 113 feet high to the lantern crowning +the really fine dome. A round altar at its eastern extremity is closed +off by a typically impressive reja. The architecture is of the +magnificence of Saint Peter's in Rome, and not unlike it in detail. +Eight Corinthian pilasters support the dome, breaking the wall space +into panels and carrying the richest classical cornice surmounted by +fine statues of the Apostles, Evangelists and kings. The chapel takes +its name from being the burial place of the royal house. Along its walls +are the tombs of Saint Ferdinand's consort, of Alfonso the Learned and +his mother, Beatrice of Suabia, and the beautiful Doña Maria de Padilla, +the mistress of Pedro the Cruel. He himself is buried below in the vault +with many other of the royal princes. In the centre of the chapel Saint +Ferdinand lies in full armor with a crown on his head. Three times a +year he is shown to the soldiers of Spain, who march past with sounding +bugles and lowered banners. + +The chapel was planned and built by Martin Ganza during the reign of +Charles V. Shortly after the defeat of the Moors, an earlier royal one +was built upon the same site and added to the old mosque. When the great +new Cathedral was planned, the Chapter begged permission to remove +temporarily the bodies of the royal personages interred in the +chapel,--the holy King Ferdinand, his mother and son. This petition was +granted by Queen Joanna on condition that they would rebuild it on a +more fitting scale at as early a date as possible. The Chapter +preferred, however, to expend all its means and energies on the great +vaulting of the Cathedral rather than on the new royal sepulchre, and +this was not rebuilt until Charles V finally lost patience over the +negligent and disrespectful manner in which the remains of his forbears +were treated and wrote to the Chapter, in 1543, commanding them "to +start the work without any delay whatsoever, and to bring it to +completion as rapidly as possible, and to execute the work as +excellently as befitted its royal guests." That the workmen made no +delay in obeying the royal commands is shown by the fact that the walls +were well up as early as 1566 and finished shortly afterwards. + +None of the Spanish cathedrals have a better type of Plateresque +architecture and decoration than the sacristy, built during the first +half of the seventeenth century. The plan is that of a Greek cross, 70 +by 40 feet, and about 120 feet high. Its dome, spanning the great +central vault, is a distinct feature in any comprehensive exterior view +of the Cathedral. The Sacristy is filled with curious and priceless +relics, treasures, and vestments belonging to the church. As Santa Justa +and Santa Rufina are in a manner the patron saints of Seville, their +picture by Goya hanging here is of interest. Both of them hold vessels +of the character of soup dishes; and their faces, taken from Seville +models, are of decidedly earthly types. + +To the west of the façade as you enter, lies the large sagrario, or +parish church. It is a building entirely by itself, 112 feet long, with +a single nave spanned by a dangerously bold barrel vault. + +Here and there among the chapels you come suddenly on famous subjects by +great masters, names renowned in Spanish history or striking works of +art. Learning and statesmanship are honored in great Mendoza's monument: +the silent mailed effigies of the Guzmans commemorate the thrilling +exploits of Spanish arms. What sympathies are stirred as you stand +uncovered before the tomb of the great and deeply wronged Discoverer! We +hear again the passionate appeals and the vain pleadings of his +undaunted faith. The living head was left to whiten within prison +walls; its effigy is now proudly carried on the four gorgeous shoulders +of the Spanish states; the poor bones, after their weary travels from +Valladolid to the Carthusian monastery of Las Cuevas, from Hispaniola to +Havana, have finally found a resting-place within the very walls where +they were once treated with such contumely,--for here lies the Great +Admiral, Cristoforo Colon. + +You pass paintings by Alfonso Cano, Ribera, Zurbaran, Greco and +Goya,--Murillo's Immaculate Conception, better known than all his other +works; Montañez' exquisite Crucifixion, canvases by Valdes, Herrera, +Boldan and Roelas. There are subjects curious and out of keeping with +our present artistic sentiments, saints walking about with their heads +instead of breviaries under their arms, dresses more fitting for the +ballroom than the wintry scenery amid which they are worn, marriage +ceremonies of the Virgin, Adam and Eve, entirely forgetful of their lost +Eden in the contemplation of the Virgin's halo, keys with quaint old +Arab inscriptions: "May Allah render eternal the dominion of Islam in +this city," saints with removable hair of spun gold and jointed limbs, +others snatched from quiet altar service to plunge into the turmoil of +battle on the saddle bow of reigning kings. Verily a museum of +historical curiosities as well as of the fine arts, satisfying +sensational cravings as well as the finer artistic sense. + +The structure is revealed to us through a light of unearthly sweetness. +None of the Spanish cathedrals are more satisfactorily lighted, for +Seville has neither the brilliant clarity of some of the northern +churches, which robs them of a certain mystery and awe, nor has it the +sinister obscurity of some of the southern, where both structure and +detail are half lost in shadows, as in Barcelona. + +The light from the cimborio and from the two rows of windows as well as +the doors penetrates every chapel with its rainbow hues; it reveals the +whole majestic structure, the lofty spring of the arches, the glittering +ironwork of the screens, the titanic strength and simple caps of the +columns, and breathes celestial life into the army of saints and +martyrs. It gives a soul to it all. The effect produced by the early +morning and late afternoon light is very different. Santa Maria de la +Sede, like all her earthly sisters, has a variety of expressions. At +times she burns with animation, even a remnant of earthly passion may +glow in her holy countenance, and again she is cold, impassive and +nunlike in her gray garb of renunciation. + +According to an Andalusian proverb, the rays of the sun have no evil +power where the voice of prayer is heard. For this reason, only a few of +the highest windows are screened by semi-transparent curtains, and the +light pours in unbroken through most of their brilliant tints--down the +nave in deep blood reds and indigo blues. The greater portion of the +glass is unusually rich in coloring,--perhaps too florid, but typical of +the Flemish School of glass-painting. Ninety-three windows were stained +during the first half of the sixteenth century, for which the church +paid the painters the large sum of 90,000 ducats. The earliest ones are +by Micer and Cristobal Aleman, who in 1538 introduced in Seville real +stained glass. Aleman's, representing the Ascension of Christ, Mary +Magdalen, and the Awakening of Lazarus, the Entry into Jerusalem, the +Descent of the Holy Ghost and the Apostles, all in the transept, +together with those by his brother Arnao de Flanders, are thebest,--better than +most Flemish windows of the time in any European +cathedral. True, they are somewhat heavy in outline and the coloring +lacks softness and restraint in tone, but they have great depth, +excellency of drawing and power of expression in faces and figures. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE + +Illustration: AND THE GIRALDA] + +The little chapel, the Capilla de los Doncelles, contains a magnificent +sheet of glass representing the Resurrection of Christ, painted by +Carlos de Bruges, one of the great Flemish artists. A whole school of +foreign painters seem to have gathered round these famous "vidrieros," +many of them working in their shops. Among the best known are Arnao de +Vergara, Micer Enrique Bernardino de Celandra and Vicente Menardo. + + * * * * * + +The Giralda is incomparable, a unique expression of feminine strength. +She is as oriental and mysterious as the Sphinx, or might be likened to +a great sultana in enchanted sleep. Though her majestic head has towered +for centuries beside her Christian sister, they still seem as +irreconcilable as their faiths a thousand years ago. It has been a +strange companionship. The oriental loveliness and splendor of the +Giralda, like that of Seville, are best felt at the twilight hour, when +her jewels sparkle in the last rays of the setting sun. With the waning +light the coloring becomes purple, then indigo, while the silhouette +still stands out in startling clearness and strength against the +spotless blue of the evening sky. You feel as if the whole mountain of +masonry were slowly but surely leaning more and more from its base and +about to bury you in its fall. The vermilion and ochre coloring are like +the petals of the rose. Nowhere is the surface uniform, but passes +gradually from light cream and buff through warmer amber to brilliant +orange and carmine and crimson lake, even to the color of the +pomegranate's heart. The exquisite surface of delicate tinting, mellowed +by the storms and suns of centuries, is everywhere relieved by the +brilliant sparkle, the delicate play of light and shade, of the Moorish +designs. When the low rays of the Andalusian sun illumine the Giralda, +just touched here and there with dots of molten gold like the orange +trees from whose green bed it rises, you see the boldest creation of +Moorish imagination in all its splendor. The great Cathedral itself +becomes a modest nun with rich, but sombre, cape over her shoulders, +beside this dazzling creature glowing with Saracenic fire. + +The Giralda is the greatest of all the monuments of that enlightened +civilization. She is so different from any other tower that comparison +becomes difficult. There is a robustness, an appearance of adequate +solidity and strength which are lacking in the Italian towers of Saint +Mark's, of Pistoja, or of Florence. This holds true even in relation to +other Moorish towers, or such edifices as the Mosque at Cordova, the +Alcazar at Seville, or the pillared halls of Granada; all other Moorish +work seems to have a certain feminine weakness, a timidity and +insecurity, when compared with the tower which dominates Maria +Santissima. The Giralda is your first and last impression of this +corner of the world, for it embodies all the grace and strength that can +be combined in architecture. Old Spanish authorities assert that it was +in the very year when believers throughout Christendom were anxiously +expecting the end of the world that the Moslem infidels began to build +their huge monument. More probably it was started about the year 1185, +as the prayer tower or minaret of the mosque which was then rapidly +progressing. The Spanish historian Gayangos says that it was completed +by Jabar or Gever in 1196, during the reign of the illustrious Almohad +ruler, Abu Jakub Jusef, the same monarch who erected the Mesquita at +Cordova. Other authorities insist that its original purpose was as an +observatory,--but although it may have been used for astronomical +purposes, it was certainly erected as a tower from which the muezzin +could call the faithful to prayer in the Mosque of Seville. While +building it, Gever claims to have invented algebra. + +The original tower has undergone skillful but of course detrimental +changes from the hands of later generations. We have descriptions and +representations of it prior to the changes made in 1500. The main Arab +structure was, like almost all Mohammedan prayer-towers, surmounted by a +smaller tower and capped by a spire. It was about 250 feet high, and on +its summit an iron standard supported, before the earthquake of 1395, +four enormous balls of brass. King Alfonso the Wise, in his "Cronica de +España," describing Seville in the thirteenth century, says that "when +the sun shone upon these balls, they emitted so fierce a light that they +might be seen a day's journey away from the city." When Seville was +taken by Saint Ferdinand in 1248, the tower was standing in the full +glory of its original conception. The thought that it might fall into +the hands of the conquerors so horrified its builders that they were +only prevented from destroying it by Saint Ferdinand's threat that, if a +single brick were removed, not an infidel in Seville should keep his +head. + +The Giralda had already lost the Byzantine crown which it had worn +proudly for five hundred years when, in 1595, it came near total +destruction, and was only saved during the terrible earthquake and storm +which almost destroyed the city by the interposition of its special +protectresses, the potter girls of Triana, Santa Justa and Santa Rufina. +There are pictures which show us these blessed Virgins supporting the +tower while the wind devils with distended cheeks are blowing on its +sides with all their might and main. We are not only grateful to them +for this timely intervention, but very glad it cost them so little +exertion, for we find them shortly afterwards holding the tower in their +hands as lightly as a filigree casket. The architects who restored it +about twenty years ago fortunately refrained from all attempts at +improving or renovating its sunburned, wind-swept surface. + +The Giralda is as strong as it looks. The huge walls have a thickness of +eight feet below, diminishing to seven feet in the upper stories. The +height to the very top of the crowning figure is 308 feet. In the +foundations are bricks, rubble, and huge blocks of earlier Roman and +Visigothic masonry; even Latin inscriptions are found immured. The +Moors, like all other builders, used the materials readiest at hand; +the rejected building stones of one generation become the corner stones +of the next. + +Below the Renaissance addition with which the tower was terminated in +1568, the broad sides of the shaft had been broken by the Arabs in the +simplest and most felicitous manner. The brickwork was treated in three +panels with the corner borders very properly broader and stronger than +the two intermediate ones. The panels, which could not be of a happier +depth, are filled down to eighty feet of the ground with varying Moorish +arabesque patterns; the figured diaper-work on all sides is broken in +the two outer panels by blind cusped arches, and in the central +patterns, by Moorish windows of the "ajuiez" variety. Their double +arches are subdivided by small Byzantine columns; these again are framed +within larger cusped and differently broken horseshoe curves. Small +Renaissance balconies have at a later date been placed below the +windows. The small niches comprising the total Moorish composition +sparkle throughout with life and charm, and, though no two are alike, +they form a harmonious whole. The Arab seemed to have an instinctive +aversion from tedious repetition. He would always vary the design just +enough to satisfy his imagination and creative faculty, but never +sufficiently to disturb the harmony of the general scheme. As with the +windows, so also with the arabesques. They begin at slightly varying +heights on the different sides of the tower, so that the windows may +properly meet the different elevations of the interior stair. Their +patterns are not quite the same, neither on the various sides of the +tower nor at different heights on the same side. The decoration +employed is admirably fitted to a large surface which would have been +weakened by strong cutting or deep relief. Considering what Arab art +achieved within prescribed limits, the student of Christian art may well +deplore that the Koran, in its abhorrence of idol-worship, forbade its +followers in any way to reproduce human or animal forms. Forever +debarred all the wider possibilities of movement and poetry these would +have given them for interior decoration, Moorish art necessarily +stagnated to mere conventionalization of floral and natural subjects. +These are well adapted to exterior mural surfacing. When we look at the +fancifully handled geometric patterns on the Giralda, we can only +rejoice that the frescoes added by the later Renaissance artists in the +upper arches and along some of the lower surfaces have been washed away +by time. They were ineffective; all that remains of Moorish is +magnificent. A small arcade, running the width of each side in its +single panel, terminates the Moorish work. + +It is almost to be regretted that the Renaissance top has been so well +done, for its barbarous exotism is sufficient to condemn it. It has +excellently fulfilled a dastardly purpose. + +The original Moorish termination was taken down by the architect, +Francisco Ruiz, who was commissioned by the Cathedral Chapter in 1568 to +give it a more fitting crown. His design consists of three stages +reaching to a height of about a hundred feet. The first, of the same +width as the shaft below, is pierced by openings "to let out the sweet +sounds of the bells inside." The second stage consists of a double tier +of considerably smaller squares pierced by wide arches. Around the four +sides of its upper frieze runs the inscription so legible that all +Sevillians who know how may read, "Nomen Domini Fortissima Turris" +(Proverbs, xviii, 10). The third stage consists of a double lantern +surmounted by a soaring Seraphim, bearing in one hand the banner of +Constantine and in the other the Roman palm of conquest. The +"Girardello" was cast in gilded bronze by Bartolomé Morel in the year +1568. Intended to symbolize Faith, the name, a diminutive of Giralda, or +weathercock, is most inappropriate. Despite her enormous size and +weight, the faintest zephyr blowing down from the Sierra Moreña sets her +turning on the spire she treads so lightly, whereupon the crowds of +hawks resting on Girardello disperse in noisy scolding. + +Dumas gazed at her in wonder and admiration. "C'est merveilleux," he +said, "de voir tourner dans un rayon de soleil cette figure d'or aux +ailes deployées, qui semble, comme un oiseau céleste fatigué d'une +longue course, avoir choisi pour se reposer un instant le point le plus +proche du ciel." + +The great bells of the tower, all baptized with holy oil, a custom very +frequent in Spain, are dear to the hearts of those whom they daily call +to rest and prayer. As they strike the hours, passers-by look up to see +their great tongues protrude. Their sweet peal is heard in the most +distant quarters of the city, and beyond on the waters of the +Guadalquivir and in the fertile valley through which it flows. The deep +resonant note of Santa Maria is the last sound we hear before falling +asleep. + +Inside you may ascend to the very summit by steps so broad and easy +that two horses abreast may go as far as the platform of the bells. +Below you lies the city with its scattered white buildings that once +housed half a million, and beyond, the valley that enfolded twelve +thousand villages. Though dwindled and changed, time has dealt gently +with Seville. There is gay laughter in her sunny streets and the olive +groves echo with rippling song. Just under your feet throbs the heart of +it all. Though repeatedly struck by lightning, the great Cathedral still +stands, an everlasting symbol of the Church, triumphant and eternal. + + + + +VIII + +GRANADA + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA + +West front] + + Kennst du das Land we die Citronen blühn, + Im dunkeln Land die Goldorangen glühn, + Ein sanfter Wind vom blauen Himmel weht, + Die Myrte still und hoch der Lorbeer steht? + + GOETHE'S _Wilhelm Meister_. + + Thus being entred, they behold arownd + A large and spacious plaine, on every side + Strewed with pleasauns, whose fayre grassy grownd + Mantled with greene, and goodly beautifide + With all the ornaments of Floraes pride. + + _Faerie Queene_, book 2, c. xii. + + +I + +The first stars shone pale in the fields of upper air over walls and +towers wrapt in the mystery of twilight which softened every outline and +cast a kindly veil over the decay of a thousand years. The air was +oppressively sweet with the fragrance exhaled by southern vegetation on +a summer evening. The roses had climbed to the top of the walls, where +they could cool their flushed cheeks on the marble copings of the +battlements. The myrtle and ivy trembled in the evening breeze, and +through the broken casements the aloes whispered to the sweet-breathing +orange trees in the courtyards. The martlet twittered in the branches. +On all sides was heard in cool silvery continuity the gurgle and plash +of streams which, issuing from mountain snows, had wound their loitering +way through fields of violets and forget-me-nots to the "large and +spacious plaine" of the Vega. The fairy palace of the Alhambra, the +Acropolis that once held forty thousand defenders of the faith, crowns +and encircles the hill. From its watch-tower the nightingales pour forth +lovers' songs, plaintive and passionate, heightening the enchantment of +a scene unsurpassed in natural loveliness and the charm of a romantic +past. + +The hillsides undulating from the vermilion ramparts of the Alhambra are +clad with graceful elms, with orange and pomegranate trees bearing deep +red and golden fruit and with the mulberry's glistening olive green. +Here and there are open spaces between the groves; fields of roses and +lilies. The Darro and the Xenil flow by the foot of the hill, and from +their banks for almost thirty miles stretches the Vega. At the base of +the fortress, between the rivers, lies the city of Granada,-- + + The artist's and the poet's theme, + The young man's vision, the old man's dream,-- + Granada, by its winding stream, + The City of the Moor. + +Out on the plain the settlement becomes gradually sparser, the houses +more scattered. White stucco walls are interspersed with plots of green +garden, the ochre houses are smaller shining patches amid the +yellow-flowering fig-cactus and the regularly planted olive groves, +until finally the eye must search for the farmhouse hidden among +vineyards, orchards and waving fields of corn. The gleaming villas and +farmhouses still look as they did to the Moor, like "oriental pearls set +in a cup of emeralds." + +The endless plain, once the fertile bosom of fourteen cities, +innumerable strong castles and high watch-towers, is shut in from the +outside world like a very Garden of Eden, by the mountain walls of the +Alpujarras and Sierra Alhama. Far away on the horizon the barrier is +broken at a single point, the Loja gorge. This was once guarded by +sentinels ever on the watch for the distant gleam of Christian lances to +light the fires that signaled approaching danger to the distant citadel. +Most Spanish cities were densely built within high walls, but Granada +felt so secure in her mountain fortress that her dwellings were strewn +broadcast over the plain. Behind the walls of the Alhambra, on a second +slope wooded with cypress, the brilliant towers of the Generaliffe gleam +against the dark foliage. Beyond, across the whole southern sweep, rises +the chalky, hazy blue of the Sierra Nevada, capped with glittering, +everlasting snow. Gazing up from the valley below, one might fancy it a +white veil thrown back from the lovely features of the landscape. + +Thus lies Granada, a verdant and perfumed valley wrapt in the soft +mystery of its hazy atmosphere,--"Grenade,--plus éclatante que la fleur +et plus savoureuse que le fruit, dont elle porte le nom, semble une +vierge paresseuse qui s'est couchée au soleil depuis le jour de la +création dans un lit de bruyères et de mousse, défendue par une muraille +de cactus et d'aloes,--elle s'endort gaiement aux chansons des oiseaux +et le matin s'éveille souriante au murmure de ses cascatelles."[19] + +More than any other spot on earth, Granada seems haunted by memories of +bygone glory. The wide plains, now inhabited by less than seventy-five +thousand, once swarmed with over half a million souls. The artist feels +poignantly the charm of those long centuries of Arabian Days and Nights +that were forever blotted out by the zeal of the Christian sword. The +ruined temples still attest the thrift and industry, the refinement and +learning of the vanished race; the squalid poverty that has replaced it +is deaf and blind to the records of ancient grandeur, but the traveler +and the historian may still be thrilled by the struggle that destroyed +"the most voluptuous of all retirements" and feel there as nowhere else +the relentless power of the most Catholic Kings, the pathos of the Moor. + +Granada is a very old city, and like Cordova and Seville, it was one of +the principal Moorish centres; in fact after their fall, the industries +and culture which had been theirs went to swell the inheritance of +Granada. Its name has always been associated with the scarlet-blossoming +tree which covers its slopes, whose fruit the Catholic sovereigns +proudly placed in the point of their shield, with stalks and leaves and +shell open-grained. During the Roman occupation, a settlement had been +made on the wooded slopes at the foot of the Sierra Nevada and called +Granatum (pomegranate). The Goths in their turn swept over the peninsula +until, in 711, they were driven out of the valley by the advancing Arab +hordes. These transformed the name given it by the Romans to Karnattah. +Seven hundred and eighty-two years passed before the Crescent set +forever on the Iberian peninsula. Dynasties had succeeded one another in +the various kingdoms formed of larger and smaller portions of southern +and central Spain, but in the north, hardy monarchs had founded more +stable thrones on the ruins of the Gothic Empire, and they were eagerly +watching the advancing decay, the domestic discord of the Mohammedan +power and grasping every opportunity for the aggrandizement of their own +states. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF GRANADA CATHEDRAL + + A. Sagrario. + B. Royal Chapel. + C. Capilla Mayor. + D. Choir. + E. Door of the Perdon. + F. Door of St. Jeronimo. + G. Main Entrance.] + +In the tenth century, the Moorish power was at its zenith. During the +eleventh, Granada had become strong enough to break away from the +caliphate of Cordova. There the Almorvides and Almohades dynasties had +alternated while the Nasrides ruled in the kingdom and city of Granada +until the luckless Boabdil surrendered its keys. + +During the last three centuries of Moorish rule, the northern Cross cast +an ever longer shadow before it. Alfonso of Aragon advanced to within +the walls of the outer forts in 1125, and in the two and a half +centuries following, tribute was exacted by the crown of Castile. The +Moors of Cordova were more hardy and warlike than the Arabs of Granada. +The arts of peace flourished with this latter poetical, artistic and +commercial race, who as time went on became less and less able to defend +themselves against the fanaticism and skill of the Spanish armies. Like +Hannibal's soldiers on the fertile plains of Lombardy, they had become +enervated in the luxury of their beautiful valley. When their imprudent +ruler answered the Castilian envoys who had come to collect the usual +tribute, "that the Kings of Granada who paid tribute were dead, and that +the mint now only coined blades of scimeters and heads of lances," the +hour of Granada's destiny had struck. The smiling valley became for ten +years a field of blood and carnage, after which its devastation was +relentlessly completed by the Holy Office of the Inquisition. + +Ferdinand and Isabella entered the last stronghold of the Moors in the +very year when the history of the civilized world was changing its +course. Its helmsman, Columbus, was received in the Castilian camp +outside the walls of the beleaguered city. On the second of January, +1492, Hernando, Bishop of Avila, raised the Christian Cross beside the +banner of Castile on the ramparts of the highest tower of the Alhambra; +four days later, on the day of the Kings and the festival of the +Epiphany, Ferdinand and Isabella entered the city. + +"The royal procession advanced to the principal mosque, which had been +consecrated as a cathedral. Here the sovereigns offered up prayers and +thanksgivings and the choir of the royal chapel chanted a triumphant +anthem, in which they were joined by the courtiers and cavaliers. +Nothing could exceed the thankfulness to God of the pious King Ferdinand +for having enabled him to eradicate from Spain the empire and name of +that accursed heathen race, and for the elevation of the Cross in that +city where the impious doctrines of Mohamed had so long been +cherished."[20] + +Bells were rung and masses celebrated in gratitude throughout the +Christian world. As far away as Saint Paul's in London town, a special +Te Deum was chanted by order of the good King Henry the Seventh. Spain +had reached the summit of her glory, before which yawned the abyss. + +And now in the name of Christ the Inquisition was established and one of +its chief offices founded; in His name the Jews were driven out, +Christian oaths and covenants broken, and the peaceful Moorish +inhabitants hounded from their hearths. Under Philip III, in 1609, their +last descendants were banished from the realm. + +No scene of chivalry during the middle ages displayed a more brilliant +and bloody pageant than the battlefield of Granada. It was the +culmination of the work of Spain's greatest rulers,--the great crisis in +her history. + + Here gallants held it little thing for ladies' sake to die, + Or for the Prophet's honour, or pride of Soldenry. + For here did Valour flourish and deeds of warlike might + Ennobled lordly palaces in which was our delight.[21] + +Gazing over this famous plain, the Vega, that "Pearl of Price," with its +courtyards now desolate, its gardens parched and well-nigh calcined by +the sun, one recalls Voltaire's words: "Great wrongs are always recent +wounds!" and long years have passed since the iron heel of Austria set +its first impress on the soil. + +James Howell, the English traveler and busybody in the capital at the +time Prince Charles went surreptitiously wooing, writes home in 1623, +after visiting Granada: "Since the expulsion of the Moors, it is also +grown thinner, and not so full of corn; for those Moors would grub up +wheat out of the very tops of the craggy hills, yet they used another +grain for their bread, so that the Spaniard had nought else to do but go +with his ass to the market and buy the corn of the Moors." + +Only once more does Granada's name emerge from the oblivion of +ages,--when the Iron Duke occupied the city during the Peninsular War. +He covered with a kindly hand some of her barrenness, planting English +elms beneath her fortress. + + +II + +In the heart of a crumbling mass of chalky, chrome-colored walls and +vermilion roofs, rises the dome of the Cathedral. Here, as in Seville, +the ground once sanctified to Moslem prayer was cleansed by the +Catholics from the pollution of the Moor, and the Christian edifice was +reared on the foundations of the Mohammedan mosque. As already noted, +one of the first religious acts of the conquerors was the consecration, +in January, 1492, of the ancient mosque, which thereafter was used for +Christian worship under the direction of the wise and tolerant Talavera, +as first Bishop of Granada. The new building was not begun until the +year 1523, an exceedingly late date in cathedral-building,--a time when +the great art was slowly dying down, and, in northern countries, +flickering in its last flamboyancy. + +On March 25, 1525, the corner stone was laid of the new Cathedral of +Santa Maria de la Encarnacion. It was planned on a much more elaborate +scale than the previous mosque, which, however, continued to be +independently used as a Christian church until the middle of the +seventeenth century and was not demolished till the beginning of the +eighteenth, to make room for the new sagrario, or parish church, of +Santa Maria de la O. + +The old mosque was of the usual type of Moslem house of prayer, its +eleven aisles subdivided by a forest of columns and resembling in +general aspect the far greater mosque of Cordova. Prior to the actual +commencement of the new Cathedral, though not to its design, the Royal +Chapel was erected, between the years 1506 and 1517, and when the +Cathedral was built, it became its southern, lateral termination and by +far the most magnificent and interesting portion of the interior. It was +planned and executed by the original designer of the church, and even +after this was finished, the Royal Chapel remained, like the chapel of +Saint Ferdinand of Seville, an independent church with its own Chapter +and clergy and independent services. + +About a dozen master-builders, almost all working under foreign +influence, are known as the architects of the great Spanish cathedrals. +They seem generally to have worked more or less in conjunction with each +other, several being employed on the same building, or called in turn to +advise in one place or superintend in another. Sometimes a whole body of +them reported together, or several of them were jointly consulted by a +cathedral chapter. + +The original conception of the Cathedral of Granada was the work of +Enrique de Egas of Brussels, who, when he was commissioned by the new +Chapter to plan a fitting memorial to the final triumph of Christianity +over Islam in Spain, was among the most celebrated builders of his day. +He had already succeeded his father as Maestro Mayor of the Cathedral of +Toledo when, just before his death, in 1534, he executed the Royal +Chapel of Granada Cathedral, as well as built the hospital of Santa Cruz +in the same city. The Colegio de Santa Cruz at Valladolid was also his +work, and he had been summoned with other leading architects to decide +the best mode of procedure in Seville Cathedral after the disastrous +collapse of its dome. At times he was giving advice in both Saragossa +and Salamanca. Enrique de Egas' designs were accepted in 1523. He had +hardly proceeded further in two years than to lay out the general plan +of the Cathedral, when, either through misunderstanding or some +controversy, he was supplanted in his office by the equally celebrated +Diego de Siloé. Like Egas, his activity was not confined to Granada, but +extended to Seville and Malaga. + +In the year 1561, two years before Siloé's death, the building was +sufficiently completed to be opened for public worship, and consequently +on August 17th of that year it was solemnly consecrated. The foundations +and lower portion of the northern tower were executed about this time by +Siloé's successor, Juan de Maeda. The tower was completed and partially +taken down again during the following twenty years by Ambrosio de Vico. +Then follows the main portion of the exterior work, especially the west +façade (of the first half of the seventeenth century), by the +celebrated, not to say notorious, Alfonso de Cano, and José Granados. +The decoration of the interior, the addition of chapels and the building +of the sagrario were continued through the latter part of the +seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA + +The exterior cornices of the Royal Chapel] + +The building operations thus extended over a period of two hundred and +fifty years. Alfonso de Cano's reputation was of various kinds; the son +of a carpenter and a native of Granada, as soon as his talents were +recognized, he was apprenticed to the great Montañes. To judge from +contemporaneous accounts, he must have been as hot-headed and +quarrelsome as the Florentine goldsmith of similar talents and +versatility. He was always ready to exchange the paint-brush or chisel +for his good sword, and there was scarcely a day during the years of his +connection with the Cathedral in which he was not enjoying a hot +controversy with the Chapter. His favor with the weak monarch and the +powerful ruling Conde-Duc was so great that they had the audacity to +appoint him a prebendary of the Chapter after he had been forced to fly +from justice in Valladolid on a charge of murder, as well as for having +beaten his wife on his return from a meeting of the ecclesiastical body. +The Chapter deprived him of his office as soon as they dared, which was +six years after his appointment. + +Egas' original plan, like the work he actually carried out in the Royal +Chapel, was undoubtedly for a Gothic edifice, as this style was +understood and executed in Spain. From the fact that the original Gothic +intention was abandoned for a Spanish Renaissance church, many +authorities give the date of its commencement as 1529, when Diego de +Siloé's Renaissance work was under way. In the end of the fifteenth and +beginning of the sixteenth centuries, the great turning-point had come. +Italian influences were beginning to predominate over earlier styles and +the last exquisite flames of the Gothic fire were slowly dying out to +give place to the heavy Renaissance structure of ecclesiastical +inspiration. Spaniards who had returned fresh from Italian soil and +tutelage evolved with their ornate sense and characteristic love for +magnificence, the style, or rather decorative treatment, which marks the +first stage of Spanish Renaissance architecture called "Estilo +Plateresco." This is a happy name for it, its derivation being from +"plata," or silver plate, and indicating that architects were attempting +to decorate the huge superficial spaces on their churches with the same +intricacy and sparkle as the silversmiths were hammering on their +ornaments. There was evolved the same lace-like quality, the same +sparkling light and shade. Wonderful results were indeed obtained by the +stone-cutters of the sixteenth century. + +The Cathedral of Granada is not at all remarkable. Its interest is +derived from the city of which it is the chief Christian edifice and the +great bodies which it contains; to students of architecture it is in a +manner a connecting link between the Gothic building of the middle ages +and the modern revival of classical building methods. + +It is the death of the old and the birth of the new; it marks the advent +of stagnant, uninspired formalism in constructive forms. Its sarcophagi +and much of its decoration are both in design and execution most +exquisite and appropriate examples of Renaissance art in Spain. Its easy +victory in decorative forms was owing to the fact that there had +practically been evolved little or no Spanish ornamental design outside +of that produced by the ingenuity and peculiar skill of the Moors. The +influence of Moorish design is long traceable in Christian decoration. +The Spanish nature craves rich adornment in all material. The art of the +great sculptors who, like Berruguete, returned at the beginning of the +new century with inspiration gained in the workshops of the Florentine +Michael Angelo, soon found a host of pupils and followers. Not only in +stone, but in wood, metal, plaster, and on canvas, the new forms were +carried to a gorgeous profusion never dreamt of before. Charles V stands +out amid its glories in as clear relief as in the tumult of the +battlefield. The decline and frigid formality did not set in until the +reign of his unimpassioned and repulsive son. The grandest epoch in +Spain's history thus corresponds to the most inspired period of its +sculpture. The first architects of this period worked on Granada +Cathedral; the work of the greatest sculptor, the Burgundian Vigarny, is +found in inferior form on the retablo of the Royal Chapel. In Spain, +where the climate made small window openings desirable, the churches +offered great wall spaces to the sculptor. The splendid portals, window +frames, turrets and parapets, the capitals and string courses and niches +all became rich fields for Spanish interpretation of the exquisite art +of Lombardy. + +The new art first found tentative expression in decorative forms, then +in more radical and structural changes. The world-empire of which +Ferdinand had dreamed, and which his grandson almost possessed, placed +untold wealth and the art of every kingdom at the disposal of Spain. + +Granada Cathedral has a strange exterior, meaningless except in certain +portions, which are essentially Spanish. To the Granadines it is as +marvelous as Saint Peter's to the Romans. Its view is obstructed on all +sides by a maze of crumbling walls, yellow hovels, and shop fronts +shockingly modern and out of keeping. It is all very, very provincial. +The stream of the world has left it behind and its pageants and glories +had departed centuries ago. Donkeys heavily laden with baskets of market +produce stand--personifications of wronged and unremonstrating +patience--hitched to the iron rails before its main portals. Goats +browse on the grass in its courtyards, and are milked between the +buttresses. Immediately to the south of it lies the old episcopal +palace, where the archbishop preached the sermons criticized by the +ingenuous Gil Blas. + +The main entrance is to the west. This front is the latest portion of +the building with the exception of certain portions of the interior. +Though not as corrupt as some of the surgical decorations in the +trascoro, it is the heaviest and least interesting part of the church. +It bears no relation to the sides of the building, but seems to have +been clapped on like a mask. The central portion is subdivided into +three huge bays, the spring of the arch, which rises from the +intermediate piers, being considerably higher in the centre than those +of the two to the north and south. Diego de Siloé probably designed the +composition, intending that it should be flanked and terminated by great +towers. Three stages, rising to a height of some 185 feet, stand to the +north. Corinthian and Ionic orders superimpose a Doric entablature over +a plain and restrained base. Arches frame more or less meaningless and +unpierced designs between the pilasters and engaged columns of the +orders. The whole is as painfully dry as the transfer of a student's +compass from a page of Vignola. Old cuts and descriptions represent this +northern tower crowned by an octagonal termination with a height of 265 +feet. Despite the apparent massiveness of the substructure, this soon +made the whole so alarmingly insecure that it was pulled down. The +present tower scarcely reaches above the broken lines and flat surfaces +of the roof tiles and, particularly at a distance, has the effect of a +huge buttress. The southern tower was never erected, but in place of it +the front was supported by a makeshift portion of base. The northern +tower is the work of Maeda, the façade principally by Cano, although +much of the sculpture, such as the Incarnation over the central doorway, +and the Annunciation and Assumption over the side portals, are by other +inferior eighteenth-century sculptors. + +Statues, cartouches and ornamental medallions relieve the paneled +surfaces of the stonework, the masonry of which has been laid and +jointed with the utmost conceivable mechanical skill. The whole central +composition fizzles out in a meaningless mass of parapets and variously +carved stone terminations. One feels as if the original designer had +started on such a gigantic scale that he either had to give up finishing +his work proportionately or keep on till it reached the sky,--he wisely +chose the former alternative. + +In Granada, as in most of the Spanish cathedrals, the decoration of the +doorways and portals forms one of the principal features of exterior +interest. Their ornamentation, with that of the parapets crowning the +outer walls of chapels and aisles, is practically all that relieves the +huge surfaces of ochre masonry. The walls themselves indicate in no +manner the interior construction; the windows which pierce them are very +low and narrow and Gothic in outline. The north and south façades,--if +despite their many obstructions they may be spoken of as such,--differ +radically. The northern is to a great extent executed in the same +ponderous magnificence as the western. Two doorways pierce it, the +Puerta de San Jeronimo with mediocre sculpture by Diego de Siloé and his +pupil and successor, Juan de Maeda, and the Puerta del Perdon, leading +into the transept. The decoration of this doorway is as good pure +Renaissance work as was executed in Spain during the first quarter of +the sixteenth century. It consists of a double Corinthian order crowned +by a broken pediment. The shafts of both orders are wreathed. The +pilasters, the moldings of the arch, the archivolt and jambs are all, in +the lower order, most profusely covered with exquisite designs, +admirably fitted to their respective fields, full of imagination and +virility. They are as good as the best corresponding work in Italy.Above the +arch key of the main door, splendidly treated bas-reliefs of +Faith and Justice support from the spandrels an inscription recounting +the defeat of the Moors. The frieze band of both lower and upper orders +is profusely filled with ornament, while small cherubs in excellent +scale replace the conventional volutes of the Corinthian capitals. In +the upper order the niches have unfortunately been left uncompleted. A +bas-relief of God the Father fills the semicircle of the main arch; +Moses and David occupy the lunettes. + +The huge pilasters or buttresses of the church which run up east and +west of the entire composition are decorated with the enormous imperial +shields of Charles V, overshadowing in their vulgar predominance all the +exquisitely proportioned and delicate detail adjacent to them. + +Some of the bays on the southern side of the Cathedral can be better +seen, as a small courtyard separates them from the adjacent building, +the episcopal palace. The others are choked by the Capilla del Pulgar, +the Royal Chapel and the sagrario. + +This side of the church exhibits in its balustrades, its ornamentation +and the crocketed terminations and finials to the exterior buttresses, +what is far more interesting in the Plateresque style of Spain than the +purely borrowed and imitative features of the west and northern fronts. +Here appear in jeweled play of light and shade, in all their imaginative +and exquisite intricacy, those forms of carved string courses which were +developed by the Spanish Renaissance and were essentially Spanish and +national. You feel somewhere back of it the Moorish influence. It +presents all the richness, the magnificence and exuberant fancy which +characterizes the spirit in which its masters worked. The labor it +involved must have been enormous. The splendor of the solid lacework ten +to twelve feet high is thrown out by contrast with the naked walls which +it crowns. + +The Capilla del Pulgar, which blocks the most westerly corner of the +south elevation, was named in honor of Hernan Peres del Pulgar, the site +of whose brave exploit it marks. In 1490, during the last siege of +Granada, he determined on a deed which should outdo all feats of heroism +and defiance ever performed by Moslem warriors. At dead of night, some +authorities say he was on horseback, others that he swam the +subterranean channel of the Darro, he penetrated to the heart of the +enemy's city and fastened with his dagger to the door of their principal +mosque a scroll bearing the words "Ave Maria." Before this insult to +their faith had been discovered, he had regained Ferdinand's camp. + +A double superimposed arcade faces the southern side of the sagrario: +the lower story has been brutally closed and defaced by modern +additions, almost concealing its original carving. The upper story, +however, which forms a balcony, strongly recalls by its fancifully +twisted shafts, elliptical arches and Gothic traceried balustrade, +similar early Renaissance work at Blois, where the Gothic and early +Italian work were so charmingly blended. + +The Royal Chapel is entered through an Italian Renaissance doorway of +good general design and decoration, but the Spanish cornice and +balustrade crowning the outer walls are much more interesting in +details. The principal member consists of a band of crowned and +encircled F's and Y's, the initials of the Catholic Kings. It is broken +over the window by three gigantic coats-of-arms. To the left is +Ferdinand's individual device of a yoke, the "yugo," with the motto +"Tato Mota" (Tanto Monta) tantamount, assumed as a mark of his equality +with the Castilian Queen; to the right Isabella's device of a bundle of +arrows or "flechas," the symbol of union. In the centre is the common +royal shield, proudly adopted after the union of the various kingdoms of +the Peninsula had been cemented. The Eagle of Saint John the Evangelist +and the common crown surmount the arms of Castile and Leon, of Aragon, +Sicily, Navarre, and Jerusalem and the pomegranate of Granada. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA + +The reja enclosing the Royal Chapel and tombs of the Catholic Kings] + +The various roofs of the Cathedral are covered with endless rows of +tiles, which in the furrowed, overlapping irregularity of their surfaces +add to the general play of light and shade. Above them all spreads the +umbrella-shaped dome which crowns the Capilla Mayor. + +At the period when Gothic church-building was disappearing, we find not +a few edifices where the old and new styles are curiously blended. A +Renaissance façade added in later days might encase a practically +complete Gothic interior. In Granada, with the exception of the Royal +Chapel, very little of the interior contained traces of the expiring +style. In the Cathedral proper, it is principally found in a groined +vaulting of the different bays, which is covered with varying and most +elaborate schemes of ornamental Gothic ribs, which seem strangely +incongruous to the architect as he looks up from the classical shafts in +the expectation of finding a corresponding form of building and +decoration in the later vaulting. + +The general plan of the church is more Renaissance than Gothic, +exhibiting rather the form of the "Rundbau" than the "Langbau" of the +Latin cross. Its main feature is likewise the great dome rising above +and lighting the Capilla Mayor. The Spanish cimborio has at last reached +its fullest development in the Renaissance lantern. + +The church is divided into nave and double side aisles, outside of which +is a series of externally abutting chapels. East and west it contains +six bays. The choir blocks up the fifth and sixth bays of the nave, and +in the customary Spanish manner it is separated from the high altar in +the Capilla Mayor by the croisée of the transept. Back of this, forming +the eastern termination, runs an ambulatory. + +The vaulting, one hundred feet high, is carried by a series of gigantic +white piers consisting of four semi-columns of Corinthian order with +their intersecting angles formed by a triple rectangular break. The +vaulting springs from above a full entablature and surmounting +pedestals, the latter running to the height of the arches dividing the +various vaulting compartments. The church is about 385 feet long and 220feet +wide. + +The choir is uninteresting; the carving of its stalls and organs in +nowise comparing with the "silleria" of Seville or Burgos. The Capilla +Mayor, the principal feature of the interior, is circular in form, and +separated from the nave by a splendid "Arco Toral." The dome, which +rises to a height of 155 feet, is carried by eight Corinthian piers. In +general scheme it is pure Italian Renaissance, of noble and harmonious +proportions and very richly decorated. At the foot of the pilasters +stand colossal statues of the Apostles. Higher up there is a series of +most remarkable paintings by Alfonso Cano and some of his pupils. Cano's +represent seven incidents in the life of the Virgin,--the Annunciation, +Visitation, Nativity, Assumption, etc. Though some of his carvings, and +especially the dignified and noble Virgin in the sacristy, are +admirable, still, to judge from this series, it was as a painter that he +excelled. They show, too, how essentially Spanish he was, like his great +master, Montañez. The careless, lazy quality of his temperament is +sufficiently apparent, but he cannot be denied a place among the great +masters of Spanish painting who immediately preceded the all-eclipsing +glory of Velasquez, Murillo, and Ribera. + +The lights of the dome which rises over the paintings are filled with +very lovely stained glass, representing scenes from the Passion by the +Dutchmen, Teodor de Holanda, and Juan del Campo. On the two sides of the +choir below are colossal heads of Adam and Eve carved by Cano and +kneeling figures of Ferdinand and Isabella. + +There are endless chapels outside the outer aisles, but, in spite of +some good bits of sculpture and painting here and there, one longs to +sweep them out of the way and free the edifice from their encumbrance. + +The interior of the great sagrario is an expressionless jumble of the +later Renaissance decadence,--and it is a shame that no more fitting +architecture surrounds the tomb of the good Talavera, here laid to rest +by his friend Tendilla, the first Alcaide of the Alhambra, with the +inscription over his tomb, "Amicus Amico." + +The general color scheme in the interior of the Cathedral is white and +gold. One feels that it is handsome, even harmonious and magnificent, +but that all the mystery and religious awe that pervaded the great +churches of the previous centuries have vanished forever. + +The Royal Chapel, although the oldest part of the building, should be +considered last of all, as it is by far the most interesting portion and +leaves an impression so vivid as to overshadow all other parts of the +great edifice. It is situated between the sagrario and the Sacristia and +is entered through the southern arm of the transept. The chapel itself +is the very last Gothic efflorescence from which the spirit has fled, +leaving only empty form. It consists of a single big nave flanked by +lower chapels. The ornamentally ribbed vaulting with gilt bosses and +keystones is carried by clustered shafts engaged in its side walls. The +shafts are too thin and the capitals too meagre. A broader and more +generous string course runs, at the height of the capitals, across the +wall surfaces between the upper clerestory and the lower arcades. +Portions of this reveal a strong Moorish influence, as the manner in +which the great Gothic lettering is employed to decorate the band. +Similarly to the invocations to Allah running round the walls of the +Alhambra, we read here that "This chapel was founded by the most +Catholic Don Fernando and Doña Isabel, King and Queen of the Españos[d], +of Naples, of Sicily, and Jerusalem, who conquered this kingdom and +brought it back to the faith, who acquired the Canary Isles and Indies, +as well as the cities of Ican, Tripoli, and Bugia; who crushed heresy, +expelled Moors and Jews from these realms, and reformed religion. The +Queen died Tuesday, November 26, 1504. The King died January 25, 1516. +The building was completed 1517." Enrique de Egas had, at Ferdinand's +order, commenced building two years after Isabella's death. The grandson +enlarged it later, finding it "too small for so much glory." + +The high altar with its retablo and the royal sarcophagi are separated +from the rest of the chapel by the most stupendous and magnificent iron +screen or reja ever executed. Spaniards have here surpassed all their +earlier productions in this their master craft. Not even the screens of +the great choir and altar of Seville or Toledo can compare with it. With +the possible exception of the curious Biblical scenes naively +represented by groups of figures near the apex, which still tell their +story in true Gothic style, it is a burst of Renaissance, or Plateresque +glory. It is not likely that the crafts, with all their mechanical +skill, will ever again produce a work of such artistic perfection. It +represents the labor of an army of skilled artisans,--all the sensitive +feeling in the finger-tips of the Italian goldsmith, the most cunning +art of the German armorer and a combination of restraint and boldness in +the Spanish smith and forger. The difficulty naturally offered by the +material has also restrained the artisan's hand and imagination from +running riot in vulgar elaboration. The design, made by Maestro +Bartolomé of Jaen in 1523, is as excellent as the technique is +astonishing. It may be said that in grandeur it is only surpassed by the +fame of the Queen whose remains lie below. The material is principally +wrought iron, though some of the ornaments are of embossed silver plate +and portions of it gilded as well as colored. Bartolomé's design +consists in general of three superimposed and highly decorated rows of +twisted iron bars with molded caps and bases. Each one must have been a +most massive forging, hammered out of the solid iron while it was red +hot. The vertically aspiring lines of the bars are broken by horizontal +rows of foliage, cherubs' heads and ornamentation, as well as two broad +bands of cornices with exquisitely decorated friezes. Larger pilasters +and columns form its panels, the central ones of which constitute the +doorway and enclose the elaborate arms of Ferdinand and Isabella and +those of their inherited and conquered kingdoms. The screen is crested +by a rich border of pictorial scenes, of flambeaux and foliated +Renaissance scrollwork, above which in the centre is throned the +crucified Saviour adored by the Virgin and Saint John. The crucifix +rises to the height of the very capitals which carry the lofty vaulting. + +Inside the reja, a few steps above the tombs, rises Philip Vigarny's, or +Borgoña's, elaborate reredos. To the Protestant sense this is gaudy and +theatrical, a strikingly garish note in the solemnity and grandeur of +the chapel. To the right and left of its base are, however, most +interesting carvings, among them the kneeling statues of Ferdinand and +Isabella. Behind the former is his victorious banner of Castile. The +figures are vitally interesting as contemporaneous portraits of the +monarchs, aiming to reproduce with fidelity their features and every +detail of their dress. There is also a series of bas-reliefs portraying +incidents in the siege of Granada,--the Cardinal on a prancing charger, +behind him a forest of lances, the lurid, flaming sky throwing out in +sharp silhouette the pierced walls and rent battlements. The Moors, very +much like dogs shrinking from a beating, are being dragged to the +baptismal font;--the gesticulating prelates hold aloft in one hand the +cross and in the other, the sword, for the tunicked figures to make +their choice. The scene has been described by Sir W. Stirling Maxwell, +who tells us "that in one day no less than three thousand persons +received baptism at the hands of the Primate, who sprinkled them with +the hyssop of collective regeneration." + +Again, in another, the cringing Boabdil is presenting the keys of the +city to the "three kings." Isabella is on a white genet, and Mendoza, +like the old pictures of Wolsey, on a trapped mule. Ferdinand is there +in all his magnificence; the knights, the halberdiers and horsemen, all +the details of the dramatic moment, full of the greatest imaginable +historic and antiquarian interest, perpetuated by one who was probably +an eye-witness of the scene. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA + +The tombs of the Catholic Kings, of Philip and of Queen Juana.] + +At the foot of the altar, in the centre of the chapel, stand the tombs +of Ferdinand and Isabella and of Philip and Joan. They are as gorgeous +specimens of sepulchral monuments as the reja is of an ecclesiastical +iron screen. Both sarcophagi are executed in the softest flushed +alabaster; that of Ferdinand and Isabella by the Florentine Dominico +Fancelli; that of their daughter and her son by the Barcelonian +Bartolomé Ordenez, "The Eagle of Relief," who carved his blocks at +Carrara. The tomb of poor crazy Jane, and the unworthy, handsome husband +whom she doted on to the extent of carrying his body with her throughout +the doleful wronged insanity of her later years, is somewhat more +elevated than that of the Catholic Kings, though its general design is +very similar. Philip of Austria sleeps vested with the Order of the +Golden Fleece. + +Isabella's celebrated will begins with her desire that her body may be +taken to Granada and there laid to rest in the Franciscan monastery of +Santa Isabella in the Alhambra, with a simple tomb and inscription: "but +should the King, my lord, prefer a sepulchre in some other place, then +my will is that my body be there transported, and laid where he can be +placed by my side, that the union we have enjoyed in this world, and +which through the mercy of God may be hoped for again when our souls are +in heaven, may be symbolized by our bodies being side by side on earth." +The humble burying-ground designated by Isabella, and where she was +first laid to rest with the simple rites she desired, was, however, no +fitting place for the grandparents of Imperial Charles. Here, in the +Cathedral's principal chapel, he had them laid in the year 1525. + +The sarcophagus consists of three stages, containing the ornamental +motives so characteristic of the best sculpture of the Italian +Renaissance. No other form of statuary brought out their skill and +genius so fully as a sepulchral monument. Medallions, statues, niches,saints, +angels, griffins and garlands are all woven into a magnificent +base to receive the recumbent effigies. Apostles and bas-reliefs of +scenes from the life of Christ surround the base, while winged griffins +break the angles. Above are the four Doctors of the Church, the arms of +the Catholic Kings and the proud and simple epitaph, "MahometicÄ“ +sectÄ“ prostratores et hereticÄ“ pervicaciÄ“ extinctores: +Fernandus Aragonium et Helisabetha CastellÄ“, vir et uxor unanimes, +catholici appelati, marmoreo clauduntur tumulo."[22] In tranquil crowned +dignity above lie Ferdinand in his mantle of knighthood, his sword +clasped over his armored breast, and Isabella with the cross of her +country's patron saint. The recumbent figures are extremely fine; the +faces, which are portraits, convey all we know of their prototypes' +characteristics. Ferdinand's proud, pursed lips whisper his selfish +arrogance, his iron will, and the greatness and fulfillment of his +dreams. The hard, masterful jaw confirms the character given him by the +shrewd French cynic as one of the most thorough egotists who ever sat on +a throne, as well as that of his English son-in-law, who knew enough to +call him "the wisest king that ever ruled Spain." + +Beside Ferdinand sleeps his lion-hearted consort. It is her lofty soul +which broods over the sepulchre and heightens the feeling of reverence +already inspired by reja and sarcophagus. She is still the brightest +star that ever rose in the Spanish firmament and shone in clear radiance +above even the lights of Ximenez, of Columbus, or the Great Captain. Her +smile is now as cold and her look as placid as moonlight sleeping on +snow. + +Noble, tender-hearted and true, dauntless, self-sacrificing and +faithful, she rose supreme in every relation of life and the great +crisis of her people's history. "In all her revelations of Queen or +Woman," said Lord Bacon, "she was an honour to her sex, and the corner +stone of the greatness of Spain." + +Standing before her tomb, on the battlefield of her victorious armies, +the clear perspective and calm judgment of four centuries still declare +her "of rare qualities,--sweet gentleness, meekness, saint-like, +wife-like government, the Queen of earthly queens." + + + + +BOOKS CONSULTED + + +DE AMICIS, EDMONDO. _Spain._ + +BAEDEKER, KARL. _Spain (Guidebook)._ + +BERMUDEZ, CEAN. _Descripcion Artistica de la Catedral de Sevilla._ + +BERMUDEZ, CEAN. _Noticias de los Arquitectos y Arquitectura de España._ + +CAVEDA, JOSÉ. _Ensayo Historico sobre los diversos Generos de +Arquitectura._ + +DIDIER. _Année en Espagne._ + +DUMAS, ALEXANDRE, PÈRE. _De Paris à Cadiz._ + +ELLIS, HAVELOCK. _Macmillan's_, May, 1903 (vol. 88). + +FORD, RICHARD. _The Spaniards and their Country._ + +FORD, RICHARD. _Gatherings in Spain._ + +GAUTIER, THÉOPHILE. _Voyage En Espagne._ + +HARE, A. J. C. _Wanderings in Spain._ + +HAY, JOHN. _Castilian Days._ + +HUME, M. A. S. _The Spanish People._ + +HUME AND BURKE. _History of Spain._ + +HUTTON, EDWARD. _The Cities of Spain._ + +HUTTON, EDWARD. _Studies in Lives of the Saints._ + +IRVING, WASHINGTON. _Alhambra._ + +JUNGHAENDEL, MAX. _Die Baukunst Spanien's._ + +LAMPEREZ Y ROMEA, D. VICENTE. _Estudio sobre las Catedrales Españas._ + +LAMPEREZ Y ROMEA, D. VICENTE. _Historia de la Arquitectura Cristiana +Española en la Edad Media._ + +LUND, L. _Spanske tilstande i nutid og fortid._ + +LYNCH, HANNAH. _Toledo, the Story of a Spanish Capital._ + +MEAGHER, JAMES L. _The Great Churches of the World._ + +MOORE, CHARLES HERBERT. _Development and Character of Gothic +Architecture._ + +NORTON, CHARLES ELIOT. _Church-building in the Middle Ages._ + +ORCAJO, DON PEDRO. _Historia de la Catedral de Burgos._ + +PEYRON, JEAN FRANÇOIS. _Essays on Spain._ + +PRESCOTT, W. H. _Ferdinand and Isabella._ + +QUADRADO, D. JOSÉ MA. _España, sus Monumentos y Artes--su Naturaleza e +Historia_. + +RUDY, CHARLES. _The Cathedrals of Northern Spain_. + +ROSE, H. J. _Among the Spanish People_. + +ROSSEEUW DE ST. HILAIRE, E. F. A. _Histoire D'espagne_. + +ST. REYNALD. _La Nouvelle Revue_, 1881, "L'espagne Musulmane." + +SCHMIDT, K. E. _Sevilla_. + +SMITH. _Architecture of Spain_. + +STREET, G. E. _Gothic Architecture in Spain_. + +WORT, TALBOT D. _Brochure Series of Arch. Illustration_, 1903 (vol. 9). + +WYATT, SIR MATHEW DIGBY. _An Architect's Note-book in Spain_. + +(OFFICIAL PUBLICATION). _Los Monumentos Arquitectonicos de España_. + + + + +INDEX + + +Aaron, 54. + +Abel, 110. + +Abu Jakub Jusuf, 203, 231. + +Abraham, 153. + +Acropolis, 240. + +Acuna, Bishop of, 48, 49, 62. + +Adaja, 67. + +Adam, 227, 259. + +Adriatic, 201. + +Africa, 194. + +Aguero, Campo, 184. + +Alava, Juan de, 22, 177, 207. + +Alcides, 193. + +Alcaide, 127, 259. + +Alcantara, Bridge of, 123. + +Alcantara, Order of, 128. + +Alcazar of Avila, 84. + +Alcazar of Segovia, 169, 171, 172, 173. + +Alcazar of Seville, 209, 230. + +Alcazar of Toledo, 123. + +Alcazerias, Toledo, 129. + +Aleman, Christobal, 228. + +Alfaqui Abu Walid, 154. + +Alfonso, architect of Toledo, 135, 141. + +Alfonso I, 68, 127, 243. + +Alfonso III, 37. + +Alfonso IV, 129, 130, 156. + +Alfonso VI, 5, 7, 37, 61, 68, 69, 91, 96, 127, 220. + +Alfonso VII, 155. + +Alfonso VIII, 73, 154. + +Alfonso IX, 5, 6, 74, 96. + +Alfonso X, The Wise, 47, 70, 97, 169, 219, 225, 231. + +Alfonso XI, 36, 155, 171. + +Alfonso, King, 34. + +Alfonso de Cartagena, Bishop, 49, 52, 62. + +Alfonsinas, Tablas, 219. + +Alhambra, 240, 241, 244, 259, 260, 263. + +Alleman, Jorge Fernandez, 207. + +Almanzor, 95. + +Almeria, 194. + +Almohaden, 203, 243. + +Almorvides, 243. + +Alpujarras, 241. + +Alvarez of Toledo, Juan, 44. + +Alvaro, Maestro, 23. + +Amiens, Cathedral of, 25, 43, 93, 94, 124, 131, 163, 201. + +Andalusia, 122, 191, 192, 194, 201. + +Andino, Cristobal, 51. + +Angelo, Michael, 153, 251. + +Angers, Bishop of, 20. + +Angevine School, 40. + +Anna, Sta., 41, 48. + +Antonio, St., 222. + +Apostles, 144, 229. + +Aquitaine, 7, 10, 15. + +Aragon, King of, 48, 127. + +Aragon, Province of, 19, 122, 143, 207, 256. + +Arge, Juan de, 107. + +Arnao de Flanders, 229. + +Astorga, 20. + +Asterio, Bishop of, 61. + +Asturias, 34, 69, 70, 94, 95. + +Augustus, Emperor, 94. + +Avila, Cathedral of, 65-87. + +Aymar, 70. + +Ayuntamiento, Toledo, 129. + +Azeu, Bernard of, 91. + + +Bacon, Lord, 265. + +Badajoz, Juan, 22, 97. + +Bagdad, 127. + +Bætica, Provincia, 193. + +Bætis, 193, 215. + +Baldwin, Maestro, 107. + +Banderas, Seville, Patio de las, 201. + +Bandinelli, Baccio, 153. + +Barcelona, 228. + +Bartolomé of Jaen, 261. + +Basle, Council of, 49, 62. + +Baudelaire, 214. + +Bautizo, Seville, door of, 208. + +Beatrice of Suabia, 53, 223. + +Beauvais, Cathedral of, 93. + +Belgium, 162. + +Bellini, Giovanni, 162. + +Bellver, Riccardo, 208. + +Benavente, Cathedral of, 142. + +Benedict, St., 5. + +Benedictines, 37, 220. + +Benilo, 70. + +Berenzuela, Queen, 92. + +Bermudez, Cean, 44, 45, 69, 134, 199. + +Bernard, Archbishop of Toledo, 7, 130, 154, 156. + +Berroqueña, 138, 141. + +Berruguete, Alfonso, 79, 134, 151, 153, 250. + +Berruguete, Pedro, 79. + +Blanche of France, 47. + +Blas, Gil, 169, 252. + +Blasquez Dean Blasco, 74. + +Blois, 256. + +Boabdil, 243, 262. + +Boldan, 227. + +Bologna, University of, 6. + +Bordeaux, 93. + +Borgoña, 224. + +Borgoña, Juan de, 79, 134. + +Borgoña, Philip, 151, 152, 177, 262. + +Boston, 18. + +Bourges, Cathedral of, 94, 134. + +Brizuela, Pedro, 187. + +Bruges, Carlos de, 229. + +Brunelleschi, 176. + +Brussels, 247. + +Bugia, 260. + +Burgos, Cathedral of, 30-63, 80, 81, 86, 93, 97, 101, 105, 106, 111, +131, 132, 134, 141, 177, 183, 199, 207, 224, 258. + +Burgos, Bishopric of, 122. + +Burgundy, School of, 10, 13. + +Burne-Jones, 50. + + +Cadiz, 194. + +Cæsar, Julius, 193. + +Calderon, 6. + +Caliphs, 4. + +Calix, 157. + +Calatrava, Order of, 128. + +Calixtus III, Pope, 8. + +Campaña, Pedro, 195. + +Campero, Juan, 22. + +Campo, Juan del, 259. + +Canary Isles, 260. + +Cano, Alfonso, 195, 227, 248, 258, 259. + +Cantabria, 70. + +Capulet, 138. + +Capitan, Calle del Gran, 201. + +Carlos de Bruges, 229. + +Carmona, 82. + +Carpentania, 124. + +Casanova, 208. + +Castanela, Juan de, 44, 45. + +Castile, Province of, 6, 19, 30, 33, 34, 68, 72, 74, 92, 95, 122, 127, +135, 136, 143, 159, 171, 172, 178, 207, 215, 219, 243, 244, 256, 264. + +Catalina, Toledo, Puerta de Sta., 145. + +Catarina, Burgos, Chapel of, 41, 60. + +Catharine Plantagenet, Queen, 159. +Catholic Kings, 20, 128, 143, 172, 217, 242, 256. + +Caveda, 199, 200. + +Cebrian, Pedro, 97. + +Celandra, Enrique Bernardino de, 229. + +Cellini, 152. + +Cervantes, 196. + +Cespedes, Domingo de, 134, 150. + +Ceuta, 192. + +Chambord, 210. + +Champagne, 99. + +Charles V, Emperor, 45, 46, 71, 137, 153, 171, 172, 173, 225, 251, 254, +263. + +Charles, Prince of England, 169, 245. + +Chartres, Cathedral of, 40, 93, 94, 102, 109, 141, 201. + +Chartudi, Martin Ruiz de, 179. + +Chico, Patio, 18, 24, 25. + +Christopher, St., 162. + +Chronicles, 192. + +Churriguera, 28. + +Cid, Campeador, 33, 123, 127, 134, 200. + +Cisneros, Cardinal, 80. + +Cistercians, 40. + +Citeaux, 130. + +Clamores, 167. + +Clara, Sta., 172, 173, 177, 185. + +Clement, St., 102. + +Cluny, 5, 7, 10, 130, 131, 220. + +Cologne, 138, 211. + +Colonia, Diego de, 49. + +Colonia, Francisco de, 57, 60. + +Colonia, Juan de, 49, 60, 62, 101. + +Colonia, Simon de, 49. + +Columbina Library, 209, 215. + +Columbus, 197, 204, 215, 216, 227, 244, 265. + +Compero, Juan de, 178. + +Compostella, St. James of, 157. + +Compostella, Cathedral of, 96. + +Comuneros, 71. + +Comunidades, 127, 173, 182. + +Constable, Burgos, Chapel of, 41, 49, 57, 58. + +Constance, Queen, 130, 154, 156, 220. + +Constantine, 235. + +Constantinople, 219. + +Copin, 134. + +Cordova, Caliphate of, 5, 194, 195, 203, 204, 230, 231, 242, 243, 247. + +Cornelis, 83. + +Coroneria, Burgos, Puerta de la, 47, 56. + +Corpus Christi, Burgos, Chapel of, 41. + +Corpus Domini, Feast of, 219. + +Cortes, 36, 125. + +Cortez, 197. + +Council of the Indies, 197. + +Councils, 126, 157. + +Covarrubias, Alfonso, 22, 134, 177. + +Cristela, St., 86. + +Cristobal, Seville, Gate of St., 209. + +Cruz, Granada, Hospital of Sta., 247. + +Cruz, Valladolid, Colegio de, 247. + +Cruz, Santos, 79. + +Cubillas, Garcia de, 174, 177, 179. + +Cuevas, Monastery of Las, 227. + + +Dado, Chapel of Nuestra Señora del, 114. + +Damascus, 2. + +Dancart, 218. + +Daniel, 112. + +Darro, 240, 255. + +David, 3, 48, 112, 158, 254. + +Davila, Bishop Blasquez, 74. + +Davila, Juan Arias, 171, 177, 184. + +Davila, Sancho, 82. + +Denis, Abbey of St., 40. + +Dominican, 128, 218. + +Dominic, St., 6. + +Donatello, 152. + +Doncelles, Seville, Capilla de los, 229. + +Dueñas, Convent of Las, 30. + +Duke, Iron, 245. + +Durham, 123. + +Dumas, Alexandre, 241. + + +Eden, Garden of, 241. + +Edward I, 33. + +Egas, Annequin de, 135. + +Egas, Anton de, 21, 22, 134. + +Egas, Enrique de, 135, 177, 207, 224, 247, 248, 249, 260. + +Egypt, 209. + +Eleanor of Castile, 33. + +Eleanor Plantagenet, 37. + +Ellis, Havelock, 214. + +Ely, Cathedral of, 148. + +England, 33, 124, 149. + +Enrique, Architect, 54, 60, 97. + +Enrique II, 70. + +Enriquez, Beatrix, 215. + +Erasma, 167. + +Eslava, 214. + +Esteban, Burgos, Church of San, 34. + +Esteban, Salamanca, Church of San, 30, 44. + +Estrella, 72. + +Eugenio IV, 74. + +Eugenio, St., 141. + +Europe, 162, 194, 215. + +Eve, 227, 259. + +Exodus, 153. + +Ezekiel, 192. + + +Fancelli, Dominico, 263. + +Fanez, Alvar, 123. + +Ferdinand I, 34, 95. +Ferdinand III, St., 37, 48, 53, 61, 70, 92, 131, 193, 195, 203, 209, +219, 224, 225, 231, 232, 249. + +Ferdinand of Aragon, 20, 49, 82, 127, 128, 136, 137, 152, 244, 251, 256, +259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265. + +Ferdinand, Infante, 47. + +Ferguson, 206. + +Fernandez, Alejo, 195. + +Fernandez, Marco Jorge, 218. + +Fernandez, Martin, 60. + +Flanders, 183. + +Florence, 70, 196, 223, 230. + +Fonfria, 167. + +Fonseca, Bishop Don Juan Rodriguez de, 56, 136. + +France, 28, 44, 47, 69, 72, 92, 94, 109, 123, 132, 133, 149, 153, 162, +183, 200, 207. + +Francesco de Salamanca, 218. + +Francis, St., 137. + +Franciscan Monastery, 263. + +Frederic of Germany, 92. + +Friola, St., 114, 167. + +Front of Périgueux, St., 15. + +Frumonio, Bishop, 95. + +Frutos, St., 174. + +Gallichan's Story of Seville, 197, 199. + +Gallo, Torre del, 15. + +Ganza, Martin, 225. + +Garcia, Alvar, 72. + +Garcia, Pedro, 207. + +Gautier, Théophile, 46, 122, 151, 199. + +Gayangos, 231. + +Generaliffe, 241. + +Germany, 93, 162, 183. + +Gever, 231. + +Ghiberti, 48, 152. + +Gibbon, Grinling, 27. + +Gil de Hontañon, Juan, 22, 23, 28, 174, 175, 176, 177, 179, 207. + +Gil de Hontañon, Rodrigo, 23, 179, 184. + +Giralda, 201, 209, 229, 230, 232, 234, 235. + +Giraldo, Luis, 83. + +Goethe, 239. + +Goliath, 3. + +Gomez, Alvar, 136, 141. + +Gonzales, Bishop, 97. + +Gonzales, Ferdinand, 33, 34. + +Gonzalo, Don, 53. + +Gorda, 142. + +Goya, 162, 201, 226, 227. + +Granada, Cathedral of, 182, 216, 224, 237-265. + +Granada, Province of, 122, 138, 152, 194, 195, 230. + +Granados, José, 248. + +Gray, Thomas, 167. + +Greco, El, 162, 227. + +Gredos, Sierra, 67, 121. + +Greece, 153, 197, 223. + +Gregory the Great, 126. + +Gregory VII, 91, 220. + +Guadalquivir, 197, 235. + +Guadarrama, Sierra de, 34, 67. + +Guarda, Angel de la, 222, 223. + +Guas, Juan, 135. + +Guzman, 226. + + +Hagenbach, Peter, 221. + +Hannibal, 5, 243. + +Hapsburg, 217. + +Hare, 264. + +Havana, 227. + +Hell, Toledo, Gate of, 143. + +Henry of Aragon, 159. + +Henry II, 53, 155, 160, 178. + +Henry III, 155. + +Henry IV, 172. + +Henry VII, 244. + +Henry VIII, 61, 164. + +Hercules, 192, 193. + +Hermanidad, Dependencias de la, 210. + +Hernando, 244. + +Herrera, 195, 227. + +Hispalis, 194. + +Hispania, Citerior, 68. + +Hispaniola, 227. + +Holanda, Teodor de, 259. + +Holando, Alberto, 80. + +Holy Office, 196, 243. + +Houssaye, La, 151. + +Howell, James, 245. + +Hoz, Juan de, 207. + +Huelva, 194. + + +Iago, Burgos, Chapel of St., 60. + +Iberian Peninsula, 136. + +Ildefonso, St., 108, 127, 143, 147, 157, 158. + +Ildefonso, Toledo, Chapel of St., 157. + +Indies, 128, 260. + +Innocent III, 20, 92, 93. + +Inquisition, 128, 243, 244. + +Irving, Washington, 160, 244. + +Isaac, 153. + +Isabella, 20, 62, 82, 127, 128, 131, 136, 137, 138, 152, 154, 195, 224, +244, 256, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264. + +Isabella, Granada, Monastery of Sta., 263. + +Isabella of Portugal, 160. + +Isaiah, 48, 106, 192. + +Isidore, 126, 220, 221. + +Islam, 202, 227, 247. + +Isle-de-France, 99, 102. + +Italy, 72, 93, 153, 196, 200, 223, 254. + +Ixbella, 194. + + +Jacob, 153. + +Jaen, 194, 195, 208, 260. + +Jain Temples, 205. + +James I, 136. + +James, St., 54. + +James, Professor, 87. + +Janera, Cathedral of, 153. + +Jeremiah, 112. + +Jeronimo, Granada, Puerta de, 254. + +Jerusalem, 29, 214, 229, 256. + +Jesse, Tree of, 162. + +John, St., 55, 57, 208, 219, 256, 262. + +John the Baptist, Toledo, Hospital of St., 153. + +John I, 155. + +John II, 159. + +Jonah, 192. + +Joshua, 112. + +Juan, Don, 134. + +Juan, Bishop of Sabina, 171. + +Juan, Toledo, chapel of St., 161. + +Juan, Seville, door of St., 208. + +Juana, Queen, 21, 225, 263. + +Judgment, Last, 126. + +Junta, Santa, 71. + +Justa, Sta., 226, 232. + +Jusquin, Maestro, 101, 110. + + +Karnattah, 242. + +Kempeneer, 222. + +Koran, 234. + + +Lagarto, Seville, door of, 209. + +Lamperez y Romea, Señor D., 9, 40, 76, 108. + +Lara, Bishop Manrique, 96. + +Latin, 126, 187, 193, 232. + +Lazarus, 229. + +Leander, 220. + +Leocadia, Sta., 157, 158. + +Leon, Cathedral of, 26, 36, 39, 43, 80, 81, 82, 86, 90, 117, 132, 134, +142, 177, 198, 199, 212, 256. + +Leon, Kingdom of, 5, 6, 19, 30, 34, 69, 127, 215. + +Lerida, Cathedral of, 133. + +Lerma, Bishop Gonzalvo da, 52. + +Lions, Toledo, gate of, 144, 161. + +Llana, Toledo, gate of, 145. + +Lockhart, 245. + +Loevgild, 94, 126. + +Loja, 241. + +Lombardy, 201, 206, 243, 251. + +London, 204, 244. + +Lonja, Seville, gate of, 209. + +Lopez, Pedro, 207. + +Lorenzana, 136. + +Louis, St., 47, 92. + +Lucas of Holland, 152. + +Luis, Fray, 6. + +Luna, Count Alvaro de, 159. + +Luther, 86. + +Lusitania, 5. + + +Madrid, 96, 128, 173, 206. + +Madrigal, Tostada de, 79. + +Maeda, Juan de, 248, 253, 254. + +Magi, adoration of the, 104. + +Malaga, 248. + +Mancha, La, 93. + +Manrico de Lara, Francisco, 23. + +Mans, Cathedral of Le, 148. + +Mantanzas, D. Juan Ruiz, 156. + +Maria, Burgos, gate of Sta., 60. + +Maria, de la Encarnacion, Sta., Granada, 246. + +Maria, Burgos, Sta. Maria la Mayor, 34, 57, 60. + +Maria, Leon, Sta., 92, 96, 98, 116. + +Maria del Fiore, Sta., 17, 176, 201. + +Maria, de la O., Sta., 246. + +Maria de la Sede, Seville, Sta., 203, 207, 213, 214, 219, 228, 230. + +Mary, Virgin, 104, 130, 157, 158, 167, 171, 173, 174, 179, 195, 217, +219, 220, 227, 258, 262. + +Mary Magdalen, 229. + +Marin, Juan, 223. + +Marin, Lope, 209. +Marks, St., 12, 15, 230. + +Marmont, 30. + +Martial, 193. + +Martin, 214. + +Maurice, Bishop, 37, 46, 49, 54, 61. + +Maxwell, Sir W. Stirling, 262. + +Medina, Pedro de, 97. + +Mediterranean, 122, 193. + +Meister Wilhelm, 239. + +Mellan, Pedro, 207, 208. + +Menardo, Vicente, 229. + +Mendoza, Doña Mencia de, 50. + +Mendoza, 136, 138, 143, 155, 226, 262. + +Merida, 68. + +Mesquita, 231. + +Mexico, 197. + +Micer, 228. + +Michael, St., 86. + +Miguel, Florentino, 196, 207, 223. + +Miguel, San, 172, 173, 185. + +Miguel, Seville, Door of St., 208. + +Milan, Cathedral of, 138, 204, 206. + +Milo, Venus of, 212. + +Miserere, 214. + +Mohamed, 244. + +Molina, Juan Sanchez de, 60. + +Montagues, 138. + +Montañez, 217, 227, 249, 258. + +Moses, 54, 112, 254. + +Mogaguren, Juan de, 179, 186. + +Munoz, Sancho, 217. + +Murillo, 196, 222, 227, 258. + + +Nacimiento, Seville, doors of, 207. + +Nacimiento, Salamanca, door of, 25. + +Nantes, 93. + +Naples, 191, 260. + +Napoleon, 135. + +Naranjos, Seville, door of the, 209. + +Narbonne, 93, 157. + +Nasrides, 243. + +Navarre, 72, 92, 256. + +Navas de Tolosa, Las, 70, 93, 154. + +Netherlands, 196. + +Nevada, Sierra, 241, 242. + +Ney, 30. + +Nicholas, Church of, Burgos, 34. + +Nicholas Florentino, 14. + +Nile, 209. + +Norman, Juan de, 207. + + +Odysseus, 192. + +Oliquelas, 139. + +Ontoria, 42. + +Orazco, Juan de, 22. + +Ordoñez, Bartolomé, 263. + +Ordoño, King, 95, 113, 114. + +Ouen of Rouen, Cathedral of St., 28. + +Oviedo, 34, 196, 198. + +Oxford, University of, 6. + + +Padella, 127, 225. + +Palazzo del Goberno Civil, Salamanca, 28. + +Pardon, Burgos, Door of, 61. + +Pardon, Granada, Door of, 254. + +Pardon, Segovia, Door of, 185. + +Pardon, Seville, Door of, 209. + +Pardon, Toledo, Door of, 126, 143. + +Paris, 219. + +Paris, University of, 6. + +Paris, Cathedral of, 25, 101, 105, 148, 163, 199. + +Parthenon, 212. + +Pater, Walter, 125. + +Paul, St., 30, 54, 62, 85, 142, 209, 164. + +Paul's, London, St., 204, 244. + +Pedro, Avila, Church of St., 71. + +Pedro, Bishop of Avila, Don, 72. + +Pedro de Aguilar, 155. + +Pedro el Cruel, 127, 225. + +Pedro of Castile, Don, 70. + +Pedro, Infante, Don, 178. + +Pellejeria, Burgos, Door of, 56, 58. + +Peninsular War, 246. + +Perez, 135. + +Perez, Juan, 60. + +Perez de Vargas, Garcia, 193. + +Périgueux, 7. + +Peru, 197. + +Pesquera, Diego de, 223. + +Peter, St., 30, 54, 62, 85, 142, 209, 164. + +Peter's, Rome, St., 205, 224, 251. + +Philip, 48. + +Philip I (of Austria), 263. + +Philip II, 23, 45, 128, 196, 197, 206. + +Philip III, 245. + +Philip of Burgundy, Sculptor, 44, 45, 48. + +Philip, St., 54. + +PhÅ“nicia, 197. + +PhÅ“nicians, 193. + +Piazzetta, Venice, 201. + +Pilayo, Bishop of Oviedo, Don, 69. + +Pituenga, Florin de, 69. + +Pius II, 160. + +Pius III, 23. + +Pistoja, 230. + +Pizarro, 197. + +Plaza del Colegio Viejo, Salamanca, 5. + +Pliny, 128. + +Plutarch, 125. + +Poe, 214. + +Poitou, 137. + +Porcello, Diego, 60. + +Poniente, 28. + +Portugal, 127. + +Prado, 221. + +Presentacion, Burgos, Chapel of, 41, 52. + +Presentacion, Toledo, Puerta de la, 145. + +Psalms, 192. + +Ptolemy, 215. + +Pulgar, Capilla del, 255. + +Pulgar, Herman Perez del, 255. + +Pyrenees, 93, 176, 206. + +Puy, Notre Dame de, 144. + + +Quadrado, 178. + +Quixote, 134. + + +Ramos, Alfonso, 101. + +Ramos, door of, 25, 29. + +Raphael, Angel, 155. + +Raymond, Count of Burgundy, 7, 8, 69, 70, 72, 170. + +Real, Seville, Capilla, 205, 224. + +Reccared, 126. + +Reloi, Toledo, gate of, 145. + +Rembrandt, 214. + +Rios, D. Demetrio de los, 96. + +Reposo, Virgin del, 223. + +Reye Nuevos, Toledo, chapel of, 161. + +Res, Juan, 83. + +Rheims, Cathedral of, 25, 39, 43, 93, 94, 148. + +Ribera, 162, 221, 258. + +Richard, papal legate, 156. + +Richelieu, 136. + +Ridriguez, Canon Juan, 174. + +Rodan, Guillen de, 97. + +Roderick, King, 126. + +Rodrigo, architect of Toledo, 135. + +Rodrigo, Archbishop, 93. + +Rodrigo de Ferrara, 107. + +Rodriguez, Archbishop of Seville, 205. + +Rodriguez, Bishop, 136. + +Rodriguez of Alava, Count Diego, 34. + +Rodriguez, Maestro of Seville, 22, 207. + +Rodriguez, Sculptor, 151. + +Roelas, 227. + +Rojas, Gonzalo de, 205, 207. + +Romano, Casandro, 69. + +Rome, 5, 93, 116, 130, 135, 142, 143, 191, 193, 197, 224. + +Roundheads, 61. + +Rovera, D. Diego de, 174. + +Royal Chapel, Granada, 247, 249, 251, 255, 256, 257, 259. + +Rubens, 162. + +Rufina, Sta., 226, 232. + +Ruiz, Alfonso, 207. + +Ruiz, Bishop Francisco, 80. + +Ruiz, Francisco, 234. + + +Sabina, St., 86. + +Sacchetti, 26. + +Salamanca, city of, 69. + +Salamanca, council of, 45. + +Salamanca, Cathedral of, 3-30, 44, 163, 170, 174, 175, 176, 177, 179, +184, 198, 213, 248. + +Salmantica, 5. + +Salisbury, Cathedral of, 131. + +Salto, Maria del, 178, 179. + +Salvador, Avila, Cathedral of San, 67, 71. + +Sancha, Countess, 114. + +Sanches de Castro, Juan, 201. + +Sanchez, Martin, 135. + +Sanchez, Nufro, 216. + +Sanchez, Bishop Pedro, 69. + +Sanchez, Architect Pedro, 53, 60. + +Sancho the Brave, 155. + +Sancho the Deserted, 155. + +Santander, Diego de, 53. + +Santiago, bishopric of, 122. + +Santiago, Burgos, chapel of, 41. + +Santiago, Leon, chapel of, 99, 107, 115. + +Santiago, order of, 128, 135, 159. + +Santiago, Toledo, chapel of, 147, 157, 159. + +Santo, Andrea del, 153. + +Sarabia, Rodrigo de, 22. + +Sarmental, Puerta del, 54. + +Sarmentos, family of, 54. + +Scriveners, Toledo, gate of, 143. + +Segovia, city of, 67, 69. + +Segovia, Cathedral of, 165-187, 213. + +Segundo, St., 86. + +Segundo, Avila, church of San, 71. + +Sens, Cathedral of, 40. + +Seville, Cathedral of, 24, 44, 96, 97, 138, 158, 182, 183, 189-236, 242, +248, 258, 260. + +Seville, bishopric of, 122. + +Sicily, kingdom of, 19, 143, 256, 260. + +Siena, 70. + +Sierra Alhama, 241. + +Sierra Gredos, 67, 122. + +Sierra de Guadarrama, 34, 67. + +Sierra Moreña, 198, 235. + +Sierra Nevada, 241, 242. + +Siloé, Diego de, 49, 248, 249, 252, 254. + +Silva, Diego da, 195. + +Simon, architect, 97. + +Sistine Madonna, 212. + +Sofia, St., 12. + +Stevenson, R. L., 145. + +Suabia, 53, 225. + + +Tagus, 93, 122. + +Talavera, 246, 259. + +Tarragon, bishopric of, 122. + +Tarragona, Cathedral of, 133. + +Tarshish, 192. + +Tavera, 136, 141. + +Tecla, Sta., 41. + +Tendilla, 259. + +Tenorio, 136, 141, 163. + +Teresa, Sta., 86, 87. + +Theotocopuli, Jorge Manuel, 140. + +Thiebaut, 30. + +Thomas, convent of St., 71. + +Tierra de Maria Santissima, 198. + +Titian, 162. + +Toledo, Cathedral of, 36, 39, 42, 93, 96, 106, 108, 121-164, 170, 177, +182, 192, 198, 204, 207, 212, 216, 218, 223, 247, 260. + +Toledo, council of, 8, 126. + +Toledo, province of, 23, 169. + +Tomé, Narciso, 155. + +Tornero, Juan, 22. + +Torquemada, 171. + +Trajan, 167. + +Triana, 232. + +Trinity, Boston, church of, 18. + +Triolan, San, 104. + +Tripoli, 260. + +Triumfo, Seville, Plaza del, 201. + +Tudela, Cathedral of, 133. + + +Urraca, Doña, 69. + + +Vaccæi, 68. + +Vadajos, Bishop of, 20. + +Vergara, Arnao de, 229. + +Vargas, Luis de, 195. + +Valdes, 227. + +Vallejo, Juan de, 44, 45, 60. + +Valencia, See of, 7, 93, 122. + +Valencia, Alonzo, 97. + +Valladolid, City of, 21, 23, 160, 227, 248, 249. + +Valladolid, Cathedral of, 36, 122. + +Vega, 240, 245. + +Velasco, Don Pedro Fernandez, Count of Haro, 49, 50. + +Velasco, Bishop Antonia de, 52. + +Velasquez, 196, 258. + +Venice, 191. + +Vergara, 134. + +Viadero, 184. + +Vicente, Avila, Church of, 71. + +Vico, Ambrosio de, 248. + +Vigarny, Philip (Borgoña), 151, 153, 251, 262. + +Vignola, 252. + +Villalon, Cathedral of, 143. + +Villalpando, 134, 154. + +Villanueva, 82. + +Villegas, Fernando de, 52. + +Vincente, St., 86. + +Viscaya, 69. + +Visitacion, Burgos, Capilla de, 52. + +Visquio, Jeronimo, 7, 8, 10. + +Vitruvius, 224. + +Vittoria, 208. + +Voltaire, 245. + + +Wamba, 126. + +Wear, 123. + +Wells, Cathedral of, 99. + +Westminster Abbey, 149, 198. + +Wharton, Mrs., 103. + +Williams, Leonard, 183. + +Wolsey, 136, 262. + + +Xenil, 240. + +Ximenez, 136, 154, 156, 221, 261, 265. + +Ximon, 207. + + +Yorobo, Diego de, 218. + + +Zamora, cathedral of, 133. + +Zamora, See of, 7. + +Zaragoza, bishopric, 122, 248. + +Zeres, gate of, 193. + +Zimena Doña, 33. + +Zurbaran, 195, 227. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The precedence of Oxford was established by the decree of Constance +of 1414. + +[2] Ego comes Raimundus una pariter cum uxore mea Orraca filia Adefonsi +regis, placuit nobis ut propter amorem Dei et restaurationem ecclesie S. +Marie Salamantine sedis et propter animas nostras vel de parentum +nostrorum vobis domino Jeronimo pontefici et magistro nostro quatinus +saceremus vobis sicut et facimus cartulam donationis vel ut ita decam +bonifacti. + +[3] Though to the city itself, in which he had been married, he dealt +the death-blow when he moved his Court from Toledo to Valladolid and +established a bishopric at Valladolid (in 1593), which had previously +been subject to Salamanca. + +[4] According to Doctor Döllinger, "a faithless and cruel freebooter." +As a daring and successful "condottiere," he was dear to his +liberty-loving contemporaries, who protested against any encroachments +from Rome or curtailment of their civil rights by native rulers. + +[5] Married to Alfonso III of Castile. + +[6] Cean Bermudez, _Noticias de los Arquitectos y Arquitectura de +España_, vol. i, p. 208. + +[7] Avila santos y cantos. + +[8] Spain is divided into nine archbishoprics. In Castile are those of +Santiago, Burgos, Valladolid, and Toledo; in Aragon, Zaragoza; on the +Mediterranean, Taragon and Valencia; and in Andalusia, Seville and +Granada. + +[9] + + Ye men so noble and so bright, + Who from your elevated height + Do rule Toledo's avarice, + And govern fear and cowardice. + Of costly bed, the Lord of Hosts + Hath made ye to the corner posts. + Leave private interests behind, + Show truth and justice to mankind, + To common good yourselves do bind. + + + +[10] Poitou, _Spain and its People_. + +[11] The work of Jorge Manuel Theotocopuli, son of the great painter. + +[12] + + Bell of Toledo, + Church of Leon, + Clock of Benavente, + Columns of Villalon. + + +[13] He is also the sculptor of the marvelous tomb of Cardinal Janera in +the hospital of St. John the Baptist at Toledo. + +[14] The cost of this reja was 250,000 reales. + +[15] "Transparente," really meaning transparent, allowing the passage of +light. The composition took its name from the little closed glass or +crystal window placed directly back of the altar, and which thus pierced +a portion of the decorated wall surface behind the altar. + +[16] From William Gallichan's _Story of Seville_. + +[17] + + He who has not seen Seville, + Has not seen a marvel. + + +[18] The great astronomical work, performed by that wonder of learning, +Alfonso X of Castile, in concert with Arab and Jewish men of science. + +[19] _Impressions de Voyage_, Alexandre Dumas. + +[20] Washington Irving's _Granada_. + +[21] Lockhart's _Spanish Ballads_. + +[22] Hare's _Queen of Queens_. + + * * * * * + +Notes of the transcriber of this etext: + +[a] Probably "A Castilla y a León mundo nuevo dió Colon" (note of ebook +transcriber). + +[b] Probably Canon Juan Rodriguez. + +[c] Should be Puerta del Reloj. + +[d] Probably means Españas. + + +Changes made: + +colonnettes => colonettes + +Narciso Tome => Narciso Tomé {1} + +Vaccaei => Vaccæi {1 index} + +Perigueux =>Périgueux {1 index} + +Baetica => Bætica {1 index} + +Baetis => Bætis {1 index} + +Dean Blasco Blasques => Dean Blasco Blasquez {1 page 74} + +Guadalquiver => Guadalquivir {2 page 197 & 235} + +Juan Gil de Houtañon => Juan Gil de Hontañon {1} + +Bartolomé of Iaen => Bartolomé of Jaen {1 page 261} + +Pellegeria => Pellejeria {1 plan of Burgos Cathedral} + +Pintuenga => Pituenga {1 page 69} + +Reyos Nuevos => Reyes Nuevos {1 index} + +Reyos Catolicos => Reyes Catolicos {1 page 217} + +Demetrio de los Reos => Demetrio de los Rios + +Repiso, Virgin del => Reposo, Virgin del {1 index} + +Diego de Silhoé => Diego de Siloé {page 48 & index + +Philip Vigarni => Philip Vigarny {page 151, 153, 251, 262 index} + +Villalpondo => Villalpando {page 134 & 154} + +Ximenes => Ximenez {2 page 265 & index} + +Juan de Maedo => Juan de Maeda {1 page 248} + +Gayangoz => Gayangos {1 index} + +Guaz => Guas {1 page 135} + +Maria, de la Incarnacion => Maria, de la Encarnacion {1 index} + +Mugaguren, Juan de => Mogaguren, Juan de {1 index} + +Rez, Juan => Res, Juan {1 index} + +Rojas, Gonsalo de => Rojas, Gonzalo de {1 index} + +Sachetti => Sacchetti {1 index} + +Salamantica => Salmantica {1 index} + +Vaga, Luis de => Vargas, Luis de {page 195 & index} + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN*** + + +******* This file should be named 31966-0.txt or 31966-0.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/1/9/6/31966 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/31966-0.zip b/31966-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..392e5ab --- /dev/null +++ b/31966-0.zip diff --git a/31966-8.txt b/31966-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..12611e4 --- /dev/null +++ b/31966-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9163 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Cathedrals of Spain, by John A. (John Allyne) +Gade + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Cathedrals of Spain + + +Author: John A. (John Allyne) Gade + + + +Release Date: April 12, 2010 [eBook #31966] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN*** + + +E-text prepared by Chuck Greif and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images +generously made available by Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the numerous original illustrations. + See 31966-h.htm or 31966-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31966/31966-h/31966-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31966/31966-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://www.archive.org/details/cathedralsofspai00gadeiala + + + + + +CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +NEW CATHEDRAL] + +[Illustration: SALAMANCA] + + +CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN + +by + +JOHN ALLYNE GADE + +Fully Illustrated + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + +Boston and New York +Houghton Mifflin Company +The Riverside Press Cambridge +1911 + +Copyright, 1911, by John A. Gade +All Rights Reserved + +Published February 1911 + + + + +TO +THE LAST CHÂTELAINE +OF FROGNER HOVEDGAARD + +IN REVERENCE, GRATITUDE +AND AFFECTION + + + + +PREFACE + + +In the last dozen years many English books on Spain have appeared. They +have dealt with their subject from the point of view of the artist or +the historian, the archæologist, the politician, or the mere sight-seer. +The student of architecture, or the traveler, desiring a more intimate +or serious knowledge of the great cathedrals, has had nothing to consult +since Street published his remarkable book some forty years ago. There +have been artistic impressions, as well as guide-book recitations, by +the score. Some have been excellent, though few have surpassed the older +ones of Dumas, père, and Gautier, or Baedeker's later guide-book. A year +ago appeared the second and last volume of Señor Lamperez y Romea's +"Historia de la Arquitectura Cristiana Española en la Edad Media," a +work so comprehensive and scholarly that it practically stands alone. + +It has seemed to me that certain buildings, and especially cathedrals, +cannot be properly studied quite apart from what surrounds them, or from +their past history. To look comprehendingly up at cathedral vaults and +spires, one must also look beyond them at the city and the people and +times that created them. In some such setting, the study of Avila, +Salamanca the elder and the younger, Burgos, Toledo, Leon, Segovia, +Seville, and Granada is here attempted, in the hope it will not prove +too technical for the ordinary traveler, nor too superficial for the +student of architecture. The cathedrals selected cover nearly all +periods of Gothic art, as interpreted in Spain, as well as the earlier +Romanesque and succeeding Renaissance, with which the Gothic was +mingled. All the great churches were the work of different epochs and +consequently contain several styles of architecture. The series here +described is very incomplete, but the book would have grown too bulky +had it included Santiago da Compostella with its heavenly portal, and +Barcelona or Gerona, Lerida or Tudela. + +Whether we read a page of Cervantes, or gaze on one of Velasquez's +faces, or wander through one of the grand cathedrals of Spain, we +realize that this great world-empire has never ceased to exist in +matters of art, but still in the twentieth century must rouse our wonder +and admiration. In barren deserts, on parched and lonely plains, amid +hovels crumbling to decay, still stand the monuments of Spain's +greatness. But if nowhere else in the world can one find such glorious +works of art surrounded by such squalor, let us draw from the past the +promise of a revival in Spain of all that constitutes the true greatness +of a nation. In the fourth century, Bishop Hosius of Cordova was, from +every point of view, the first living churchman--Cordova itself became, +under the Ammeyad Caliphs in the tenth century, the most civilized, the +most learned, and the loveliest capital in Europe. Three hundred years +later, Alfonso X of Castile was not only a distinguished linguist and +poet, but the greatest astronomer and lawgiver of his age. When the +Spanish people have once more made education as general as it was under +the accomplished Arabs, and adopted the division of power insisted on +in a letter from Bishop Hosius to the Emperor Constantius, "Leave +ecclesiastical affairs alone.... We are not allowed to rule the earth," +they will take the rank their character and genius deserve among the +nations. Their cathedrals will then stand in an environment befitting +their grandeur, a society which will help them to transmit to coming +generations the noblest, imperishable hopes of humanity. + +JOHN ALLYNE GADE. + +NEW YORK CITY. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. SALAMANCA 1 + + II. BURGOS 31 + + III. AVILA 65 + + IV. LEON 89 + + V. TOLEDO 119 + + VI. SEGOVIA 165 + + VII. SEVILLE 189 + + VIII. GRANADA 237 + + BOOKS CONSULTED 267 + + INDEX 269 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +NEW CATHEDRAL OF SALAMANCA (page 24) _Frontispiece_ + +CATHEDRALS OF SALAMANCA: The towers of the old and new buildings 3 + +CATHEDRALS OF SALAMANCA: Plans 6 + +THRESHING OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF SALAMANCA 10 + +CATHEDRAL OF SALAMANCA: The Tower of the Cock 16 + +SALAMANCA: From the Vega 28 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: West front 33 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: Plan 36 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: View of the nave 40 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: Lantern over the crossing 46 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: The Golden Staircase 50 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: The Chapel of the Constable 54 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: The spires above the house-tops 58 + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA 67 + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA: Plan 68 + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA: Exterior of the apse turret 72 + +AVILA: From outside the walls 80 + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA: Main entrance 86 + +CATHEDRAL OF LEON: From the southwest 91 + +CATHEDRAL OF LEON: Plan 94 + +CATHEDRAL OF LEON: Looking up the nave 98 + +CATHEDRAL OF LEON: Rear of apse 104 + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO 121 + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO: Plan 124 + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO: The choir stalls 140 + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO: Chapel of Santiago, tombs of Alvaro +de Luna and his spouse 158 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA 167 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA: Plan 170 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA: From the Plaza 176 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE: The Giralda, from the Orange Tree Court 191 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE: Plan 194 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE: Gateway of Perdon in the Orange Tree Court 210 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE AND THE GIRALDA 228 + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA: West front 239 + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA: Plan 242 + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA: The exterior cornices of the Royal Chapel 248 + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA: The reja enclosing the +Royal Chapel and tombs of the Catholic Kings 256 + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA: The tombs of the Catholic Kings, +of Philip and of Queen Juana 262 + + + + +I + +SALAMANCA + +[Illustration: Photo by Author + +CATHEDRALS OF SALAMANCA + +The towers of the old and new buildings] + + + + +CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN + + + + +I + +SALAMANCA + + In quella parte ove surge ad aprire + Zeffiro dolce le novelle fronde, + Di che si vede Europa rivestire. + + _Paradiso_, c. XII, l. 46. + + +I + +Nowhere else in Spain, and certainly in few places outside her borders, +can one take in the whole architectural development of successive styles +and ages so comprehensively as in Salamanca. Byzantine and Romanesque, +Gothic from its first fire to the last flicker and coldness of the +ashes, and the triumphant domination of the reborn classicism,--all are +massed together here. + +Contrasts are eloquent to belittle or magnify. Here two cathedrals stand +side by side, the older from the days of the Kingdom, a mere chapel in +size compared to the larger and later expression of Imperial Spain. A +David beside a Goliath, simple power by the side of ponderous +self-assurance. Rude in its simplicity, seemingly unconscious of its +great inheritance and the genius it embodies, the old church stands a +monument of early virile effort, in strength and poetry akin to the +wind-swept rocks round which still whisper mysterious Oriental legends. +The huge bulk that overshadows it betrays exhausted vigor and a decadent +form. Here is simplicity by complexity, majestic sobriety close to +wanton magnificence, poise by restlessness; each speaks the language of +the age that conceived and brought it forth. Proximity has compelled the +odiousness of comparison, for you can never see the later Cathedral +apart from the old. You are haunted by the salience of their divergency, +the importance of their contrasts, until their meaning becomes so far +clear to you that the solid blocks of the ancient temple seem to +symbolize the Church Militant and Triumphant. That indomitable spirit +did not meet you under the mighty arches of the newer church, but go +into the hushed perfection of those abandoned walls and walk along the +dismantled nave and you will repeat the old epithet coupled with the +city, "Fortis Salamanca!" + +This once famous town lay in a curious setting as seen from the +cock-tower in the month of August. Here and there were rusty, +copper-colored fields, where the plow had just furrowed the surface. +There were vineyards in which the sandy, white mounds were tufted by the +deep emerald of the grape-vines, but the prevailing color was the yellow +straw of harvested fields. These were a busy scene,--laborers were +driving their oxen harnessed to primitive carts and treading out the +grain as in olden times. They made their rounds between the high yellow +cones built up of grain-stalks and filled the hot air with golden dust. + +This is Salamanca of to-day, seemingly robbed of all but her rich +vowels. The whole city, like her two cathedrals, bears traces of the +dynasties that have swept over her. Their footprints are everywhere. +Hannibal's legions passed through Roman Salmantica on their victorious +march to Rome, and the city soon afterwards became a military station in +the province of Lusitania. Plutarch praises the valor of her women. Age +after age generals have built her bridges and the towers and walls that +surround the valley and the three hills, on one of which stands her +supreme mediæval creation. + +From the eighth century Salamanca became an apple of discord between +Moslem bands and the forces of early Castilian kings, Crescent and Cross +constantly supplanting each other on her turrets. Not until the latter +half of the eleventh century, in the days of King Alfonso VI, were the +Moors driven south of Leon, and Salamanca could at last claim to be body +and soul Christian. The safety of the city was finally assured by +Alfonso's conquest of Toledo. + +The university, destined to become so famous, was founded by Alfonso IX +about 1230. Among the Arab rulers in Spain, there were not a few as +eager as their co-believers in eastern Islam to learn all that the +civilized world could teach in art and science. The Caliphate of Cordova +had from the tenth century drawn to its schools and academies +proficients in astronomy, mathematics, and jurisprudence, as well as in +the more graceful arts of music, rhetoric, and poetry. The monks of +Cluny, belonging to the Order of Saint Benedict, then the most +influential in Europe, now became domiciled in Salamanca under the +protection of King Alfonso. They contributed the arts of France, +preëminently architecture, and the training of their order as +instructors and veracious compilers of historical annals to the learning +and skill already established by the followers of Mahomet in several +cities of the Spanish Peninsula. Thus the science and arts of the Orient +joined forces with those of the Occident within the strong walls of +Salamanca and founded there an illustrious seat of learning. Only three +universities, Oxford,[1] Paris, and Bologna, could boast a greater age, +but Salamanca soon attained such eminence as to rank with these by papal +decree among the "four lamps of the world." In the sixteenth century, +she numbered over seven thousand scholars. Among those destined to +become famous in the world's history were Saint Dominic, Ignatius +Loyola, Fray Luis of Leon, and Calderon. + +To-day solitude and intellectual stagnation reign in the halls and +courts of this once renowned university. In a few half-empty +lecture-rooms the rustic now receives an elementary education, as he +listens to the cathedral chimes across the sunlit courtyard. + +Within the crumbling crenelations of the ancient battlements twenty-four +once large parishes are more or less abandoned or laid waste with their +convents, monasteries, and palaces. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLANS OF NEW AND OLD CATHEDRALS OF SALAMANCA + + A. Old Cathedral. + B. New Cathedral. + C, C. Crossing. + D. Cloisters. + E. Choir. + F. Apse. + G, G. Apsidal Chapels. + H. Altar.] + +The history of Salamanca's ecclesiastical architecture is connected with +the campaigns which were carried on in Castile and Leon at the end of +the eleventh and the beginning of the twelfth centuries. These had +established the dominion of King Alfonso VI, and the great influence +of the distinguished immigrant prelates of the French orders. King +Alfonso left Castile to his daughter Urraca, who, with her husband, +Count Raymond of Burgundy, settled in Salamanca. The old city, which had +suffered so long and terribly from the successive fortunes of war and +its quickly shifting masters, was once more to feel the blessings of law +and order. To replace its sad depopulation, Count Raymond allotted the +various portions of the city to newcomers of the most different +nationalities,--Castilians, Gallegos, Mozarabes, Basques, and Gascons. +Among them were naturally pilgrims and monks, who played an important +part in every colonizing enterprise of the day, introducing new ideas, +arts, and craftsmen's skill. After his conquest of Toledo, Alfonso VI +placed on the various episcopal thrones of his new dominion Benedictine +monks of Cluny,--men of unusual ability and energy. The great Bernard, +who had been crowned Archbishop of Toledo, had brought with him many +brethren from the mother house, whose patrimony was architecture. Among +them was a young Frenchman from Périgueux in Aquitaine, Jeronimo +Visquio, whose ability as organizer and builder, up to the time of his +death in 1120, left great results wherever he labored, and most +especially in Salamanca. He was the personification of the Church +Militant of his time,--fighting side by side with the most romantic hero +of Spanish history and legend, confessing him on his death-bed, and +finally consigning him to his tomb. Jeronimo was transferred from the +See of Valencia to that of Zamora, to which Salamanca was subject, and +shortly afterwards Salamanca was elevated to episcopal dignity by Pope +Calixtus II, Count Raymond's brother. Even in the days of the Goths, we +find mention of prelates of Salamanca who voiced their ideas in the +Councils of Toledo, and later followed, for such scanty protection as it +offered, the Court of the early Castilian kings. In calling Jeronimo to +Salamanca, Raymond had, however, a very different purpose in mind from +that of attaching to his court an already celebrated churchman. He +understood the vital importance of building up within his city a +powerful episcopal seat with a great church. Grants and other assistance +were at once given the churchman and were in fact continued through +successive reigns until, with indulgences, benefices, and privileges, it +grew to be a feudal power. As late as the fifteenth century, the workmen +of the Cathedral were exempted from tributes and duties by the Spanish +kings.[2] During the first years of Jeronimo's activity and the earliest +work on the building, we find curious descriptions of how the Moorish +prisoners were put to work on the walls, even to the number of "five +hundred Moslem carpenters and masons." + +The Cathedral stands upon one of the hills of the old city. The exact +date of its inception, as well as the name of the original architect, is +doubtful, but it is certain that it was begun not long after the year +1100. At Jeronimo's death it could not have been far advanced, but the +crossing and the Capilla Mayor could be consecrated and employed for +services in the middle of the century, and the first cloisters were +built soon after. The nave and side aisles followed, their arches being +closed in the middle of the thirteenth century. The lantern was probably +placed over the crossing as late as the year 1200. Following an order +inverse to that pursued by later Gothic architects, the Romanesque +builders finished their work with the eastern end. + +Its building extended over long periods marked by a gain in confidence +and skill and a development of architectural style, so that in its +stones we may read a most interesting story of different epochs, and to +serious students of church-building, the old Cathedral of Salamanca is +possibly the most interesting edifice in Spain. It is magnificent in its +early, virile manhood. The tracing of the many and varied influences is +as fascinating as it is bewildering. Every student and authority on the +subject has a new conception or some definite final conclusion in regard +to its many surprising elements. No student of Spanish architecture has +studied its origin with greater insight or knowledge than Señor Don +Lamperez y Romea in his recent luminous work on Spanish ecclesiastical +architecture. + +To say that the old Cathedral was wholly a French importation would be +unjust; to speak of it as sprung entirely from native precedents and +inspiration would show equal ignorance. No, there were many and subtle +influences affecting its original conception and formation; first of all +and naturally, those derived from Burgundy, now only partially visible, +as for instance the vaulting of the nave. These precedents have been +altered or concealed in the evolution of the building. Byzantine +influences follow,--most obvious in the magnificent dome crowning the +crossing. The School of Aquitaine of course made itself felt through +Bishop Jeronimo as well as several of his successors. Great portions are +Gothic, slightly visible in some of the later exterior work, but +throughout in the last interior portions of the great arches and vaults. + +After carefully considering all these influences and going to their +roots, we may conclude that the old Cathedral of Salamanca is both in +plan and structure a Romanesque church of the Burgundian School built on +Spanish soil by French monks from Cluny, who in their new surroundings +were strongly affected by Byzantine and Oriental influences and possibly +by the original Spanish or Moorish development of the dome. At a later +date, under Aquitaine bishops, certain forms of vaulting characteristic +of their region were adopted as well as devices to bring about the +transition between the circular dome and the square base. + +Strange to say it is a Romanesque church erected at the time when what +are regarded as the finest Gothic cathedrals were being built in France. +The Spaniard clung more tenaciously to the older style, which in many +ways adapted itself better to his climate and requirements, while it +easily flowed into native streams of inspiration to form with them a +mighty whole. The church is neither French nor Spanish nor Arab nor +Italian in its various composition, but distinctly Romanesque in +spirit. + +[Illustration: Photo by Author + +THRESHING OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF SALAMANCA] + +The plan is in general that of the old basilica: a nave with side aisles +of five bays, a crossing prolonged one bay to the south beyond the side +aisle, while to the east the nave and side aisles all terminate in a +semicircular apsidal chapel. A portion of the southern wall of the huge +new Cathedral replaces the northern one of the old church by encroaching +on its side aisle. A flight of eighteen broad stone steps occupies the +northern bay of the old Cathedral's crossing and leads from its +considerably lower pavement up to the level of the new one. To the south +lie the great cloisters. It was a plan which for its time was +undoubtedly as magnificent in scale as it seemed diminutive and +insignificant in the sixteenth century when the new Cathedral was built. + +The massiveness on which the old Romanesque builders depended to obtain +their elevations and support the great weight is most impressive. The +outer walls have in some places a thickness of ten feet and the piers +are much larger in section than those of the new Cathedral which carry +vaults soaring far above the roof of the earlier structure. The choir +had formerly blocked the clear run of the nave; to the good fortune of +the old church and the injury of the new, this was removed to the latter +when it was sufficiently advanced to receive it. Unfortunately, the plan +of the west front was very radically disturbed by the building of the +new Cathedral, the two old towers flanking the entrance being removed +and a narrow passage, which leads into the nave through the immense +later masses of masonry, taking the place of the old entrance. The nave +is 33 feet wide, 190 feet long and 60 feet high; the side aisles are 20 +feet broad, 180 feet long and 40 feet high, thus surprisingly high in +proportion to the nave. + +The main piers which subdivide nave and side aisles are most +interesting, as their greater portion belongs to the original structure. +They are faced by semicircular shafts which carry simple, unmolded, +transverse ribs in the central aisle. A small additional columnar +section is seen in the angles of the piers, supporting in an awkward +position, with the assistance of the interposed corbel, molded, diagonal +vaulting ribs. Columns, reaching to about two thirds of the height of +the tall shafts of the nave, carry the arches separating nave from side +aisles. The undecorated base-molds of the total composite piers are all +supported upon a heavy, widely projecting, common drum, a curious +remnant of the earlier single Byzantine pillar of but one body and base. + +The capitals are among the great glories of the edifice. They are +remarkable from every point of view, and among the finest Byzantine +extant, comparable to the best of Saint Mark's or of Sancta Sofia. The +acanthus leaves are carved with all the jewel-like sparkle and crispness +and the play of light and shade of the best period; the life and spring +of a living stem are in them. Their oriental parentage is apparent at a +glance. Much of the carving is alive with all the fancy and imagination +of the day,--beasts and monsters, real and mythical animals, masks and +contorted human figures and devils interlace on the bells and peer out +from the foliage. The execution is quite unrestrained. It has a +divergency which must have had its unconscious origin in the different +antique caps serving again in the early Byzantine edifices. The ancient +carvers must have realized the full importance of sculptural relief in +their poorly lighted edifices. Again, the corbels which carry the +diagonal ribs are formed by crude contorted beings and animals, in some +instances bearing figures leaning against the lower surfaces of the +diagonal ribs and intended still further to conceal its faulty spring. +At the intersections of the diagonal ribs are bosses with figures at the +salient points. + +With an astonishment verging on incredulity, we look up at the vaulting +supported by these piers. In place of the great Burgundian barrel vaults +above the nave and semicircular arches between nave and side aisles, +there are pointed Gothic transverse arches and quadripartite vaulting of +low spring and simplest sections, but nevertheless ogival. It is evident +both by the appearance of shafts, as well as by other indications, that +it could not have been the original construction, but rather one reached +at a later day when the new art was supplanting the old, a substitution +for the original Romanesque vaulting; the upper windows and the most +glorious lantern are all constructed in the Romanesque style to which +the Spanish builders clung so long and tenaciously in preference to the +subtle and nervous French Gothic which suited neither their temperament +nor conditions. The church must originally have been carried out in +their more native art, which they better understood. + +The western termination of the church is formed by three semicircular +apses crowned by semicircular vaults. In the central one, closed from +the transept by a simple iron reja, stands the high altar backed by a +great Gothic retablo of fifty-five panels and crowned in the vaulting by +a most remarkable painting. In the walls of the niches is a series of +tombs of persons with varying claims to our interest and esteem. Its +original exclusiveness in the reception of royal princes of pure lineage +gave way in the thirteenth century to admit princesses and bastards. +Here lies the Dean of Santiago and Archdeacon of Salamanca, a natural +son of the King of Leon. His mother, owing to her short-comings, got no +farther than the cloister vaults. Some one has extracted from the +archives of the old Cathedral the origin of the ancient mural decoration +above the high altar. On the 15th of December, 1445, the Chapter engaged +the services of Nicholas Florentino, painter, who for a consideration of +75,000 maravedis "of current white Castilian money, which is worth two +old white ones and three new," promised to complete the painting "from +top to bottom." On a rich blue background the Supreme Judge stands in +the centre; to the right, is a regiment of the dead clad in white +raiment, graciously welcomed by angels with trumpets; on the left, the +damned are being hustled into hell by devils. As a well-preserved +example of very ancient Spanish painting, it certainly is of intrinsic +value and interest and recalls the naïve representations of early +Italian artists. + +It is unusually well lighted for a Romanesque church, which is naturally +owing to the dome and not to the various windows or roses. There is no +triforium, but the side walls, transepts, and apses are pierced by +openings of true Romanesque type. The thick masonry has been most +timidly pierced for narrow, round-headed slits of light, with splayed +jambs and colonettes engaged to their sides carrying the typically +ornamented archmolds enframing the whole. The stone mullions of the two +remaining roses are equally timid and typical, but have not suffered +like the windows from the encroachment of the new edifice. + +The pavement undulates like that of Saint Mark's. High above the +crossing of nave and transepts rises the tower flooding the church with +light and internally as well as externally expressing one of the +grandest architectural conceptions of the Spanish Peninsula. + +Superlatives can alone describe the Torre del Gallo,--truly a product +and glory of Spanish soil. Many writers have argued its similarity to +the domes of Aquitaine churches, to Saint Front of Périgueux and others, +but it is distinctly different from and far superior to those with which +it has been compared in the magnificently interposed members of the +drum, which shed light into the church through their openings and raise +the cupola high enough to make of it a finely proportioned, crowning +member. The cupola alone, certainly not the general disposition, may be +regarded as a copy of earlier examples. + +The internal and external cores have been admirably managed, the outer +one being much higher to be in correct proportion to the surrounding +masonry which it crowns. The interior transition from the square to the +round base, twenty-eight feet in diameter, is rather clumsily managed. +The successive masonry courses of the angles step out in Byzantine +fashion in front of each other. The four piers of the crossing, upon +which the pendentives descend, are no larger than the main piers of the +nave. Above the pendentives which stand out, in their undecorated +masonry, the circle is girdled by a carved cyma, above which rises a +double arcade of sixteen arches, each arch flanked by strong and simple +columns with Byzantine caps of barely indicated foliage. Powerful, +intermediate columnar shafts separate the superimposed arcades and carry +on their caps the sixteen ribs that shoot upwards and meet in the great +floral boss at the apex of the inner dome. The lower arcades are +semicircular, the upper, trefoiled, while the intermediate shafts are +broken by two band-courses. All the moldings, and especially the +energetic, muscular ribs, are splendidly simple and vigorous in their +undecorated profiles. The lower arcade is blind, the upper admits light +through timidly slender apertures, with the exception of every fourth +arch, which coincides with an exterior turret. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF SALAMANCA + +The Tower of the Cock] + +Externally the lantern is even more remarkable than internally. As seen +from within, it is faced alternately by four tympanums and four turrets. +These are broken by long, narrow, round-headed openings, vivified by +ball moldings ornamenting the heavy rounding of their splays. The +tympanums, as well as the windows between them, and the turrets are +flanked by a series of Romanesque columns. Their grouping, the deep +reveals and resulting shadows, the play of light and shade brought out +in the foliage of their various caps, which is but indicated in the +simple manner of the style, and the adjacent moldings, all give a most +archaic impression. The roofing of the turrets, as well as that of the +outer dome, suggests a stone coat-of-mail. The flags are laid in +scallops or stepped rows, like the scales of a fish, giving a far +tighter joint than the stone channels covering the roofing of Avila +Cathedral. The outline of the dome is that of a cone with a slightly +modulated curve, perhaps unconsciously affected by a Moorish +delineation. The angles are marked by bold crockets. Above, crowning the +apex, perches the cock, gayly facing whatever part of the heavens the +wind blows from. There is an everlasting triumph in it all, reminding +one not a little of that won at a later date in Santa Maria del Fiore. +Salamanca holds the religious triumph of a militant age; Florence, the +sacred glory of an artistic one. The lofty aspiration, boldly hewn in +the Spanish fortress, is no less admirable than the constructive genius +rounded in Brunelleschi's dome. + +The remainder of the interior is now singularly undecorated and severe. +The entrance has been so much transformed by later additions that, in +place of the original portal and vestibule, there remains only a +vestibule considerably narrower than the nave, compressed on one side by +the huge towers of the new Cathedral, and on the other by later +alterations. The two older towers which contained, one the chimes and +the other the dwelling of the Alcaide, have quite disappeared. The +vestibule has excellent allegorical sculptures and Gothic statuary. + +The northern aisle still has a few mural paintings, but the larger part +of those which once illuminated the bare walls were washed off by a +bigoted prelate in the fifteenth century and the present gray of the +stone, as seen in the dim light, looks cold compared to the rich gold of +the exterior masonry bathed in sunshine. The excellence of the vaulting +is such that to-day hardly a fissure or crack is visible. The old +pavement consists of great rectangles marked by red sandstone borders +and bluestone centre slabs, the size of a grave, with central dowels for +lifting and closing. In the southern transept-arm leading to the +cloisters, some of the original windows are still preserved with their +fine columns, archivolts, and carved moldings. The ribs of the vaults +are decorated by zigzag ornamentation, and here a few magnificent old +tombs remain intact in their ancient niches. + +There is, properly speaking, no exterior elevation of the whole +structure. The western front is hidden by the modernization, the north +and south, by the new Cathedral, the cloisters, and squalid, encumbering +walls and chapels. From the "Patio Chico" alone, the old structure can +be seen unobstructed. The curves of the apses bulge out like +full-bellied sails, their great masonry surfaces broken by the small +windows, which are cut with enormous splays and encased and arched by +typical Romanesque features, the windows protected by heavy Moorish +grilles. Engaged shafts run up the sides of the central apse to below a +quatrefoil gallery, originally a shelter for the archers stationed to +defend the building. Two fortress-towers formed the eastern angles north +and south; the one to the north was removed in building the new +Cathedral. A scaled turret, broken by later Gothic pediments, crosses +the one remaining. Above all soars the dome, the inspiration of our +greatest American Romanesque temple, Trinity Church in Boston. + +At the end of the twelfth century the houses of a sacrilegious Salamanca +gentleman were confiscated and given to the Cathedral Chapter, who +forthwith began the cloisters upon their site. They lie to the south and +thus came to be planned and built into the original fabric and with +Romanesque arches and wooden roof. They were practically entirely +rebuilt in the fifteenth century and again restored in the eighteenth. +Curious, elaborate, vaulted chapels--in one of which the Mozarabic rite, +the ancient Gothic ritual prolonged under Moslem rule, is still +occasionally celebrated--adjoin it to the east and south. Recently, old +Byzantine niches and tombs, some of great interest, have been uncovered +in the outer walls. + + +II + +"Most Reverend Father in Christ, Lord Cardinal, our much beloved and +very dear Friend; We the King and the Queen of Castile, of Leon, and of +Aragon, Sicily, etc., send this to salute you, as one whom we love and +esteem highly, and to show we desire God may give life, health, and +honor, even to the extent of your own desire. We inform you that the +City of Salamanca is one of the most notable, populous, and principal +cities of our kingdoms, in which there is a society of scholars, and +where all sciences may be studied, and to which people from all states +continually come. The Cathedral Church of the said city is very small, +dark, and low, to such an extent that the divine services cannot be +celebrated in such a manner as they should be, especially during +feast-days when a large concourse of people streams to the Cathedral, +and by the Grace of God, the said city increases and enlarges day by +day. And considering the extreme narrowness of the said Church, the +Administrator and Dean and Chapter have agreed to rebuild it, making it +as large as is necessary and convenient, according to the population of +the said city. This furthermore as the form and the fabric of the said +Church cannot be rebuilt without disfigurement. And in order to build +better and promptly, as the said Church has a very small income, it is +necessary that our most Holy Father concede some indulgences in the form +that the Bishops of Vadajos and Astorga, our agents and emissaries to +your Court, will tell your Reverend Fatherhood, and we request you to +beseech His Holiness to concede the said indulgences. Therefore we +affectionately beg you to undertake the matter in the manner which we +affectionately supplicate, because our Lord will be served, and the +Divine Service increased, and we will receive it from you in peculiar +gratitude. Regarding this, we wrote details to the said bishops. We beg +you to give them credit and favor. Most Reverend Father in Christ, Lord +Cardinal, our very dear and beloved friend, may God our Lord at all +times especially guard and favor your Reverend Fatherhood. + +"I, THE KING, I, THE QUEEN. + +SEVILLE, the 17th day of February, in the ninety-first year." + +That was the way the Catholic Kings wrote to the Cardinal of Angers to +make plain to him that the plain, dark, small, old Cathedral was no +longer in keeping with their glory or the times, and to begin the +movement for a larger edifice. The stern simplicity of the ancient +Church was indeed out of harmony with the brilliance and craving for +lavish display and magnificent proportions which characterize the age of +Ferdinand and Isabella. + +Pope Innocent VIII answered the appeal in the year 1491, granting +permission for the transference of the services to a larger edifice more +fitting the congregation of Salamanca, now at the zenith of its +prosperity and academic renown. In 1508 Ferdinand passed through +Salamanca, and was again sufficiently fired by religious zeal to issue +the following order: "The King to the Master Mayor of the works of the +Church of Seville. Since it has now to be decided how the Church of +Salamanca may be made, in order that its design may be made as it ought, +I consent that you be present there. I charge and command you instantly +to leave all other things, and come to the said City of Salamanca, that, +jointly with the other persons who are there, you may see the site where +the said Church has to be built, and may make a drawing for it, and in +all things may give your judgment how it may be most suited to the +Divine Worship and to the ornature of the said Church; which, having +come to pass, then your salary shall be paid, which I shall receive +return for in this service. Done in Valladolid, the 23d day of November, +1509." + +The famous Master of Toledo, Anton Egas, received a similar summons +(served in his absence on his two maids), but neither architect seems to +have been over-zealous in carrying out the royal commands, for next year +Queen Juana, Ferdinand's daughter, growing impatient, writes again: "I +find it now good, as I command you, that immediately that this my letter +shall be made known to you, without making any excuse or delay, you go +to the said City of Salamanca." + +This produced the desired result, for the two delinquent architects +hurried to the city, studied the conditions, and, after considerable +squabbling with each other and the Chapter, many drawings, and a lengthy +report, agreed to disagree. This was too much for the Bishop, and +without further ado he summoned on the 3d of September, 1512, a famous +conclave of all the celebrated architects in Spain to pass on the report +of Egas of Toledo and Rodriguez of Seville and settle the matter. Here +sat besides Egas, Juan Badajos, Juan Gil de Hontañon, Alfonso +Covarrubias, Juan de Orazco, Juan de Alava, Juan Tornero, Rodrigo de +Sarabia and Juan Campero. The matter was thrashed out both as to site +and form and a final report sent in, stating the result of their +deliberations, "and as they were much learned and skilful men, and +experienced in their art, their opinion ought certainly to be acted on." +However, to leave no further doubt, every one of them swore "by God and +Saint Mary, under whose protection the Church is, and upon the sign of +the Cross, upon which they all and each of them put their hands bodily, +that they had spoken the entire truth, which each of them did, saying, +'So I swear, and Amen.'" This settled the business. Three days +afterwards, Juan Gil de Hontañon, the later builder of Segovia and +rebuilder of the dome of Seville, was named Maestro Mayor and Juan +Campero, his apprentice. + +On a stone of the main façade there still stands an inscription +recording the solemn laying of the corner-stone on the 12th of May, +1513. It was dedicated to the Mother and the Saviour. The wisest of the +resolutions passed by this wisest of architectural bodies was the +recommendation to leave the old edifice undisturbed. + +Work was immediately started on the western entrance front and continued +with untiring energy by Juan Gil until his death in 1531. His two sons +assisted him, and they were all constantly guided and aided by a body of +the most eminent Spanish architects who yearly visited the edifice. On +the death of Maestro Alvaro, six years later, Juan's son, Rodrigo Gil, +was selected as Maestro Mayor. He naturally tried to carry out all his +father had planned, building with equal rapidity and no less excellence. +By 1560 the work had been carried as far towards the east as the +crossing. Amid immense popular rejoicing, and with ecclesiastical pomp, +the Holy Sacrament was moved from the old Basilica to the new. "Pio III +papa, Philippe II rege, Francisco Manrico de Lara episcopo, ex vetere ad +hoc templum facta translatio xxv mart. anno a Christo nato MDLX." This +of course gave a new impetus to the work, and arch after arch, chapel on +chapel, rapidly grew through the next decades. The bigoted Philip +naturally looked on with favoring eye.[3] Twice the work languished, but +was resumed through the waning period of the Gothic style. The new +classicism was triumphantly replacing the dying art, and the builders of +Salamanca were sorely perplexed whether or not to make a radical +departure to the newer style. Most fortunately, the conclave called +together at this critical moment remained loyal to the original +conception, and the Renaissance only took possession in ornamentation +and the dome. Not until 1733 was the final "translation" celebrated. +Later, earthquakes and lightning shook down both dome and tower, so that +practically it was not till the nineteenth century that the last mortar +was dry. The building spanned a long and glorious epoch in the city's +history, from a time when her imperial master ruled the world until a +foreign upstart trampled her under foot. + +The plan of the new Cathedral, like that of Seville, is an enormous +rectangle of ten bays, resembling a huge mosque, 378 feet long by 181 +feet wide. It consists of nave and double side aisles without projecting +transept; square chapels fill the outer aisles as well as the bays of +the eastern termination. After much discussion it was decided that the +nave (130 feet high) should be about one third higher than the first +side aisles; the chapels are 54 feet in height. + +The choir blocks the third and fourth bays of the nave, while the +Capilla Mayor occupies the eighth. Over the sixth soars the lantern. The +platform of the Patio Chico separates the sacristy and the old Cathedral +that practically abuts the entire southern front. At the southwestern +angle, the intersection of the two cathedrals is hidden by the gigantic +tower. The northern front is admirably free, the whole structure being +visible on its high granite platform. The western front is entered +through the great triple doorway, the central being that of the +Nacimiento; the northern, through the Puerta de las Ramos, the southern, +through the Puerta del Patio Chico. + +Glancing at the plan as a whole, one cannot but deplore that a +conception of such daring proportions with no limitation of time nor +money, having centuries and the wealth of the Indies to draw on, was not +conceived with that most perfect of all Gothic developments, the +semicircular apsidal termination. The Spanish, as well as the customary +English eastern end, can never, from any standpoint of ingenuity or +beauty, be comparable to the amazing conceptions of Rheims or Amiens or +Paris. + +The interior effect is expressed in one word,--"grandiloquence." It is a +true child of the age which conceived it, and the spirit which informed +its erection. If the fabric of the old Cathedral is essentially +Romanesque, with later Gothic ornamentation and constructional features, +the new is entirely Gothic, with Renaissance additions. The spirit and +form are Gothic,--Spanish Gothic,--and one of its last sighs. The fire +was extinct. By display and sculptural fire-works, by bold flaunting of +mechanical mastery, a last trial and glorious failure were made in an +attempt to emulate the marvelous structural logic and simplicity which +had marked the Gothic edifices of an earlier age. + +The blending of the two styles does not jar, but has been effected with +a harmony scarcely to be expected. If one were not hampered with an +architectural education, one could admire it all, instead of criticizing +and wondering why a Renaissance lantern is raised upon a Gothic crown, +and why a fine Renaissance balustrade above Gothic band-courses +separates the nave arches from its clerestory, while those of the side +aisles are separated by a Gothic one. The interior fabric itself is +fine: it is more in detail, in the stringiness and multiplicity of +moldings, in the fineness, subdivision, and elaboration of carvings and +ornament that one feels the advancing degeneration. From being frank and +simple, it has become insincere and profuse. + +The Gothic window openings, which had been steadily developing larger +and bolder up to their culmination in the glorious conservatory of Leon, +had again grown smaller and more fitted to the climate. In Salamanca +they are small and high up. Nave and side aisles both carry +clerestories; that of the nave consisting of seventy-two windows in +alternate bays of three windows and two windows with circle above, that +of the side aisle, of one large window subdivided within its own field. +The chapel walls are also pierced by smaller openings. Some have good +though not excellent coloring. + +The form of the Renaissance lantern is not infelicitous, either from the +inside or outside. It was first built by Sacchetti. The double base is +octagonal, with corners strengthened by columns and pilasters and +executed with much artistic skill. Were it not for the vulgar interior +coloring and ornamentation of cherubs, scrolls, and scallop shells, +contorted, disproportionate, and unmeaning, its high, brilliantly +lighting semicircle might be pleasing. Horrible decoration fills the +panels of the octagonal base. The dome itself is almost as gaudily +colored. + +The interior is built of a clear gray stone on which sparing employment +of color in certain places is most effective. Thus in the bosses of the +vaulting ribs throughout, in the capitals of the piers of nave and +transept, in the very elaborate fan-vaulting of the Capilla Mayor, and +in the soffits of nave-clerestory, the blue and gold contrasts finely +with the cold gray surfaces. Renaissance medallions decorate the +spandrels of the nave, but those of the side aisles bear the +coats-of-arms of the Cathedral and the City of Salamanca. A differently +designed fan-vaulting spreads over every chapel. Great rejas enclose +choir and Capilla Mayor from the transept. The rear of the choir is +badly mutilated by a Baroque screen, while the sides and back of the +high altar still consist of the rough blocks which have been waiting for +centuries to be carved. The choir-stalls are very late eighteenth +century, a mass of over-elaborate detail, as fine as Grinling Gibbon's +carving, and if possible even more remarkable in the detail. + +The west and north façades are, for a Spanish cathedral, singularly free +and unencumbered. The west faces the old walls of the university. The +entire composition is overshadowed by the tremendous tower that looms up +for miles around in the country. It is indeed "Salamanca qui érige ses +clochers rutilants sur la nudité inexorable du désert." Though it has +nothing to do with the rest of the composition, it is a happy mixture of +the two styles; the massive base is as high as the roofing of the nave, +blessedly bare and severe beside the restlessness of the adjoining +screen. A clock and a few panels are all that break it. Classical +balconies run round it above and below the first bell-story, the sides +of which are decorated with a Corinthian order and broken by round +arched openings. A similar order decorates the drum of the cupola, while +Gothic crocketed pyramids break the transition at angles. At the peak of +the lantern, three hundred and sixty feet in the air, soars the +triumphant emblem of the Church of Christ. That man of architectural +infamy, Churriguera, erected it, showing in this instance an +extraordinary restraint. + +The façade belongs to the first period of the Cathedral, and portions of +it are Juan Gil de Hontañon's work, though the later points to Poniente. +It is interesting to compare it with the last Gothic work in France, +with, for instance, Saint-Ouen at Rouen. The end of the style in the two +countries is totally different--one expiring in a mass of glass and +tracery, the other, in a meaningless jumble of ornamentation, of cusped +and broken and elliptical arches and carving incredible in its delicacy. +One can scarcely believe it to be stone. The Spanish, though not wild in +its extravagance, yet lacks all sense of restraint. The front is +composed of a screenwork of three huge arches, within which three +portals leading to the aisles form the main composition, the whole +crowned by a series of crocketed pinnacles. A plain fortress-like pier, +resembling the remnant of an old bastion, terminates it to the north. +Great buttresses separate the portals. Around them are deep reveals and +archivolt; somewhat recalling French examples in their forms; above them +is an inexhaustible effort in stone. There are myriads of brackets and +canopies, some few having statues. There are enough coats-of-arms to +supply whole nations with heraldic emblems, and recessed moldings of +remarkable and exquisite workmanship and crispness of foliage. Some of +the bas-reliefs, as those of the Nativity and Adoration, are very fine. +The Virgin in the pillar separating the doors of the central entrance +gathers the folds of her robe about her with a queenly grace and +dignity. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +SALAMANCA + +From the Vega] + +The whole doorway on its great scale is a remarkable work of the +transition from Gothic to Renaissance. While the treatment of the +figures has a naturalism already entirely Renaissance, the main bulk of +the ornamental detail is still in its feeling quite Gothic. + +From the steps of the Palazzo del Goberno Civil, the northern front +stretches out before you above the bushy tops of the acacia trees in the +Plaza del Colegio Viejo. The demarcations are strong in the horizontal +courses of the balconies which crown the walls of the nave and +side-aisle chapels,--the two lower quite Gothic. The thrust of the naves +is met by great buttresses flying out over the roofs of the side aisles, +and there, as well as above the buttresses of the chapel walls, +pinnacles rise like the masts in a great shipyard. The whole organism of +the late Spanish Gothic church lies open before you. The long stretch of +the three tiers of walls is broken by the face of the transept, the door +of which is blocked, while the surrounding buttresses and walls are +covered with canopies and brackets, all vacant of statues. In place of +the condemned door, there is one leading into the second bay, the Puerta +de los Ramos or de las Palmas, in feeling very similar to the main doors +of the west. Its semicircular arches support a relief representing +Christ entering Jerusalem. A circular light flanked by Peter and Paul +comes above, and the whole is encased in a series of broken arches +filled with the most intricate carving. + +The grand and the grandiloquent Cathedral seem to gaze out over the town +and the vast plain of the old kingdom of Leon and to listen. It is a +golden town, of a dignity one gladly links with the name of Castile. It +is a city--or what is left of it after the firebrands of Thiebaut, of +Ney, and of Marmont--of the sixteenth century, of convents and churches +and huge ecclesiastical establishments. They rise like amber mountains +above the squalid buildings crumbling between them, and stand in grilled +and latticed silence. Las Dueñas lies mute on one side and on the other +San Esteban, where the great discoverer pleaded his cause to deaf ears. +In the evening glow their brown walls gain a depth and warmth of color +like the flush in the dark cheeks of Spanish girls. + + + + +II + +BURGOS + +[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS + +West front] + + Whereat he wondred much, and gan enquere + What stately building durst so high extend + Her lofty towres unto the starry sphere. + + _The Faerie Queene_, book I, c. x, lvi. + + +I + +The best view of the spires of Burgos is from the ruined walls of the +Castillo high above the city. From these crumbling ramparts, pierced and +gouged by a thousand years of assault and finally rent asunder by the +powder of the Napoleonic armies, you look directly down upon the +mistress of the city and the sad and ardent plain. A stubbly growth, +more like cocoa matting than grass, covers the unroofed floor beneath +your feet. From this Castle, Ferdinand Gonzales ruled Castile, and here +the Cid led Doña Zimena, and Edward I of England Eleanor of Castile, to +the altar. The only colors brightening the melancholy hillside are here +and there the brilliant blood-stain of the poppy, the gold of the +dandelion, and the episcopal purple of the thistle. Below and beyond, +stretches a sea of shaded ochre, broken in the foreground by the +corrugations of the many roofs turned by time to the brownish tint of +the encircling hillocks and made to blend in one harmony with its +monochrome bosom. Fillets of silver pierce the horizon, glittering as +they wind nearer between over-hanging birches and poplars. The deep, +guttural, roar of the great Cathedral's many voices rises in majestic +and undisputed authority from the valley below, now and again joined by +the weaker trebles of San Esteban and San Nicolas. Regiments of soldiers +march with regular clattering step through holy precincts and up and +down the crooked lanes and squares; barracks and parade-grounds occupy +consecrated soil,--still Santa Maria la Mayor raises her voice to +command obedience and proclaim her undivided dominion over the plains of +drowsy, old Castile. + +From this height, one does not notice the transformation of the Gothic +into seventeenth-century edifices, nor the changes wrought by later +centuries. In the glare of the dazzling sun, the tremulous atmosphere, +and the lazy, curling smoke of the many chimneys, Burgos still seems +Burgos of the Middle Ages, the royal city, mistress of the castles and +sweeping plains, and the Cathedral is her stronghold. + +She is very old,--tradition says, founded by Count Diego Rodriguez of +Alava with the assistance of an Alfonso who ruled in Christian Oviedo +towards the end of the ninth century. For many years his descendants, as +well as the lords of the many castles strewn along the lonely hills +north of the Sierra de Guadarrama, owed allegiance to Leon and the +kingdom of the Asturias. Burgos finally threw off the yoke, and chose +judges for rulers, until one of them, Ferdinand Gonzalez, assumed for +himself and his successors the proud title of "Conde of Castile." Under +his great-grandson, Ferdinand I, Castile and Leon were united in 1037, +thus laying the foundations of the later monarchy. Burgos became a +capital city. Against the dark background of mediæval history and +interwoven with many romantic legends, there stands out that greatest of +Spanish heroes, the Cid Campeador. This Rodrigo Diaz was born near +Burgos. The lady Zimena whom he married was daughter of a Count Diego +Rodriguez of Oviedo, probably a descendant of the founder of the city. +In the presence of the knights and nobles of Burgos, the Cid forced +Alfonso VI to swear that he had no part in the murder of King Sancho, +and in the royal city he was then elected King of Castile by the Commons +(1071). Alfonso never forgave the Cid this humiliation, and later exiled +him. To the Burgalese of to-day, he seems as living and real as he was +to mediæval Castilians. Spanish histories and children will tell you of +two things that make Burgos immortal--her Cathedral, and her motherhood +to Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar.[4] + +The importance of the city as a Christian centre becomes evident at the +end of the eleventh century (1074), when it receives its own bishop, and +shortly afterwards, fully equipped, convokes a church council to protest +against the supplanting by the Latin of the earlier Mozarabic rite, so +dear to the hearts of the people. The same Alfonso transferred his +capital to the newly conquered Toledo and, contemporaneous with the +great prosperity of Burgos during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, +there was endless jealousy as to precedence, first between Burgos and +Toledo and afterwards between these and Valladolid. Burgos reaches the +zenith of her power in the reign of Saint Ferdinand and the first half +of the thirteenth century, though as late as 1349, Alfonso XI, in the +assembled Cortes, still recognizes Burgos's claim as "first city" by +calling on her to give her voice first,--"prima voce et fide," saying +_he_ would then speak for Toledo. Not long after, Valladolid overshadows +them both. + +The greatness of Burgos is that of the old Castilian kingdom; with its +extinction came hers. Her flowering and expansion were contemporaneous +with the most splendid period of Gothic art. Her day was a glorious one, +before bigotry had laid its withering hand upon the arts, and while the +rich imagination and skilled hands of Moorish and Jewish citizens still +ennobled and embellished their capital city. + + +II + +The present Cathedral is singularly picturesque and by far the most +interesting of the three great Gothic Cathedrals of Spain,--Leon, +Toledo, and Burgos. The interest is mainly due to her vigorous organism, +an outcome of more essentially Spanish predilections (as well as a +natural interpretation of the French importations) than we find in +either of the sister churches. Later additions and ornamentation have +naturally concealed and disfigured, but the old body is still there, +admirable, fitting, and sane. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF BURGOS CATHEDRAL + + A. Chapel of Santa Thecla. + B. Chapel of Santa Anna. + C. Chapel of the Holy Birth. + D. Chapel of the Annunciation. + E. Chapel of Saint Gregory. + F. Chapel of the Constable. + G. Chapel of the Parish of St. James. + H. Chapel of Saint John. + I. Chapel of Saint Catherine. + K. Chapel of Jean Cuchiller. + L. Chapter House. + M. Sacristy. + N. Minor Sacristy. + O. Chapel of Saint Henry. + P. Altar. + Q. Choir. + R. Chapel of the Presentation of the Virgin. + S. Choir. + T. Golden Staircase. + U. Door of the Pellegeria. + X. Door of the Sarmental. + Y. Door of the Perdon. + Z. Door of the Apostles.] + +Burgos Cathedral is built upon a hillside, her walls hewn out of and +climbing the sides of the mountain, making it necessary either from +north or south to approach her through long flights of stairs. What she +loses in freedom and access, she certainly gains in picturesqueness. She +is flesh of the flesh and blood of the blood of the city, scaling its +heights like a great mother and drawing after her the surrounding houses +which nestle to her sides. She would not gain in majesty by standing +free in an open square, nor by receiving the sunlight on all sides. And +so, though many later additions hide much of the early fabric, they +combine with it to form a picturesque whole, a wonderful jewelled +casket, a sparkling diadem set high on the royal brow of the city, such +as possibly no other city of its size in Christendom can boast. + +It was King Alfonso VI who at the end of the eleventh century gave his +palace-ground for the erection of a Cathedral for the new Episcopal See. +We know nothing of its design, nor whether it occupied exactly the same +site as the later building. The early one must, however, have been a +Romanesque Church;--what might not a later Romanesque Cathedral have +been!--for the style had arrived at a point of vitally interesting +promise and national development, when it was forced to recoil before +the foreign invaders, the Benedictines and Cistercians. + +Two great names are linked to the founding of the present Cathedral of +Burgos, Saint Ferdinand and Bishop Maurice. The latter was bishop from +1213 to 1238, and probably an Englishman who came to Burgos in the train +of the English Queen, Eleanor Plantagenet.[5] He was sent to Speyer as +ambassador from the Spanish Court to bring back the Princess Beatrice +as bride for Saint Ferdinand. Maurice's mission took him through those +parts of Germany and France where the enthusiasm for cathedral-building +was at its height, and he had time to admire and study a forest of +exquisite spires, newly reared, particularly while the young lady given +him in charge was sumptuously entertained by King Philip Augustus. +Naturally he returned to his native city burning with ardor to begin a +similar work there, and probably brought with him master-builders and +skilful artists of long training in Gothic church-building. + +Queen Berengaria and King Ferdinand met the Suabian Princess at the +frontier of Castile. The first ceremony was the conference of the Order +of Knighthood, in the presence of all the "ricos hombres" (ruling men), +the cavaliers of the kingdom with their wives and the burgesses. The +sword was taken from the altar and girded on by the right noble lady +Berengaria. We read that the other arms had been blessed by Bishop +Maurice and were donned by the King with his own hands, no one else +being high enough for the office. Three days later Ferdinand was married +to "dulcissimam Domicellam" in the old Cathedral by the Bishop of Burgos +without protest from the Primate of Castile, Archbishop Rodrigo of +Toledo. This took place in 1219, and two years after King and Bishop +laid the corner-stone of the new edifice. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS + +View of the nave] + +The work must have been spurred on by all the religious ardor which +fired the first half of the thirteenth century, for only nine years +later services were held in the eastern end of the building. The good +Bishop was laid to rest in the old choir, where he still lies +undisturbed, though to-day it is the Capilla Mayor. By the middle of the +century, the great bulk of the old structure must have been well +advanced. The lower portions of the towers and the eastern termination +are fourteenth-century work; the spires themselves, fifteenth. A +multitude of changes and additions, new chapels and buildings, +gradually, as years went on, transformed the primitive plan from its +first harmony and beauty to a confused mass of aisles, vaults, and +chapels. When we compare the present fabric with the early plan, we see +with what masterly skill and simplicity the original one was conceived. + +All that is left or can be seen of this first structure is splendid. +Though built in the second period of the great northern style, it has +none of the lightness of the French churches which were going up +simultaneously, nor even that of Spanish Leon or Toledo. It has heavy +supporting walls and is of the family of the early French with a +magnificently powerful and efficient system of piers and buttresses. It +is not free from a certain Romanesque feeling in its general lines, its +windows, and in many of its details. Though a splendid type of Gothic +construction, this first church is a convincing proof that the nervous, +subtle, fully developed system was foreign to Spanish taste. The +complicated solutions, the intricate planning, were not in accordance +with their temper nor predilections. Rheims may be said to express the +radical temper of its French builders, Burgos, the conservative Spanish. +In Spain, construction and artistic principles did not go hand in hand +in the glorious manner they were wont to in France. Burgos seems much +more emotional than sensitive. Riotous excess and empty display take the +place of restrained and appropriate decoration. The organic dependence +which should exist between sculpture and architecture, so invariably +present in the early French church, is lacking in Burgos. A careful +analysis is interesting. It reveals the fusion of foreign elements, the +severe monastic of the Cistercians and the later sumptuous secular +style, the florid intricacy of the German, the glory of the Romanesque, +the dryness of its revival and the bombast of the Plateresque, all more +or less transformed by what Spaniards could and would do. In its +construction and buttresses, it recalls Sens and Saint-Denis; in its +nave, Chartres; in its vaulting, the Angevine School. The symmetry of +the early plan is fascinating, and Señor Lamperez y Romea's sincere and +beautiful reconstruction must be a faithful reproduction. It makes the +side aisles quite free, the broad transepts to consist of two bays, +while the crossing is carried by piers heavy enough to support an +ordinary vault but not a majestic lantern. Five perfectly formed radial +chapels surround the polygonal ambulatory and are continued towards the +crossing by three rectangular chapels on each side. The vaulting of nave +and transepts is throughout sexpartite; that of the side aisles, +quadripartite. Most of this has, as will be seen, been profoundly +modified. + +The old structure is the kernel of the present church. It consists of a +central nave of six bays up to a strongly marked crossing and three +beyond, terminating in a pentagonal apse. The side aisles are decidedly +lower and continue across the transept round the apse. These again are +flanked on the west by the chapel churches of Santa Tecla, Santa Anna, +and the Presentacion, as well as by a number of other smaller, vaulted +compartments. Only two of the radial chapels outside the polygonal +ambulatory remain, the others having been altered or supplanted by the +great Chapels of the Constable, of Santiago, Santa Catarina, Corpus +Christi, and the Cloisters. The western front is entered by a triple +doorway corresponding to nave and side aisles; the southern transept, by +an incline 40 feet wide, broken by 28 steps. On reaching the door of the +northern transept, one finds the ground risen outside the church some 26 +feet above the level of the inner pavement, and instead of descending by +the interior staircase, one wanders far to the northeast, there to +descend to a portal in the north of the eastern transept. The whole +church is about 300 feet long, and in general 83 feet wide, the +transepts, 194 feet. + +The piers under the crossing, as well as those of the first bay inside +the western entrance, are much larger than the others, in order to +support the additional weight of crossing and towers, and the piers, +abutting aisle and transept walls, are also unusually strong. The +interior pillars are of massive cylindrical plan, of well-developed +French Gothic type, solid, but kept from any appearance of heaviness by +their form and by eight engaged columns. The ornamented bases are high +and of characteristic Gothic moldings. The finely carved capitals carry +square abaci in the side aisles and circular ones in the nave. Both +abaci and bases have been placed at right angles to the arches they +support. The three engaged pier columns facing the nave carry the +transverse and diagonal groining ribs, while the wall ribs are met by +shafts on each side of the clerestory windows. + +The four main supports at the angles of the crossing are rather towers +than piers. In the original structure, they were probably counterparts +of those supporting the inner angles of the tower between nave and side +aisles, with a fully developed system of shafts for the support of the +various groining ribs. With the collapse of the old crossing and the +consequent erection of an even bulkier and far more weighty +superstructure, tremendous circular supports upon octagonal bases were +substituted. They are thoroughly Plateresque in feeling, 50 feet in +circumference and delicately fluted and ribbed as they descend, with +Renaissance ornaments on the pedestals and similar statues under Gothic +canopies, evidently inserted in their faces as a compromise to the +surrounding earlier style. + +Glancing up at the superstructure and vaulting, there is a great +consciousness of light and joy,--a feeling that it would have been +well-nigh perfect, if the choir and its rejas could only have remained +in their old proper place east of the crossing, instead of sadly +congesting a nave magnificent in length and size. The brightness is due, +partly to the stone itself, almost white when first quarried from +Ontoria, and partly to the uncolored glass in the greater portion of the +clerestory. Here and there the masonry has the mellow tones of +meerschaum, shaded with pinkish and lava-gray tints, but the effect is +rather that of ancient marble than of limestone. The interior, compared +to Toledo, is a bride beside a nun. Granting the loss of original +simplicity and a rather distressing mixture of two styles, the +combination has been handled with a skill and genius peculiarly Spanish +and therefore picturesque. The austerity of the French prototype has +been replaced by joyousness and regal splendor. If we examine carefully +the older portions of the interior structure and carving as well as the +traces of parts that have disappeared, we feel how very French it is, +and undoubtedly erected without assistance from Moorish hands. The +vaulting is like some of the French, very rounded, especially in the +side aisles. It is all plain excepting under the dome and the vaults +immediately abutting, where additional ribs were evidently added at a +later time. The vaulting ribs of the main arches start unusually low +down, almost on a level with the top of the triforium windows, giving +the church relatively a much lower effect than Leon or the French Rheims +or Amiens. + +Both triforium and clerestory are very fine, especially in the nave, +where, although they have undergone alterations, these are less radical +than in the Capilla Mayor. The triforium, which is early +thirteenth-century work, is strikingly singular. Its narrow gallery is +covered by a continuous barrel vault parallel to the nave. Six slender +columns divide its seven arches, while above them are trefoil and +quatrefoil penetrations contained within a segmental arch, broken by +carved heads. The fine old shafts, separating the trefoiled or +quatrefoiled arcade, are hidden by crocketed pinnacles and a traceried +balcony. The triforium east of the crossing has only four arches, with +much later traceried work above. The charming old simplicity is of +course lost wherever gaudy carving has been added, but the oldest +portions belong decidedly to the early Gothic work of northern France. +Above rises the clerestory in its early vigor, with comparatively small +windows, consisting of two arches and a rose. + +Probably the crossing had originally a vault somewhat more elaborate +than the others, or, possibly, even a small lantern. To emphasize the +crossing, both internally and externally, was always a peculiar delight +to Spanish builders. This characteristic was admirably adapted to +Romanesque churches and in the Gothic was still felt to be essential, +but Burgos shared the fate of Seville and the new Cathedral of +Salamanca. The old writer, Cean Bermudez, relates that "the same +disaster befell the crossing of Burgos that had happened to Seville,--it +collapsed entirely in the middle of the night on the 3d of March, 1539. +At that time the Bishop was the Cardinal D. Fray Juan Alvarez de Toledo, +famous for the many edifices which he erected and among them S. Esteban +of Salamanca. Owing to the zeal of the Prelate and the Chapter and the +piety of the generous Burgalese, the rebuilding began the same year. +They called upon Maestro Felipe, who was assisted in the planning and +construction by Juan de Vallejo and Juan de Castanela, architects of the +Cathedral. Felipe died at Toledo, after completing the bas-reliefs of +the choir stalls. The Chapter honored his memory in a worthy manner, for +they placed in the same choir under the altar of the Descent from the +Cross this epitaph: 'Philippus Burgundio statuarius, qui ut manu +sanctorum effigies, ita mores animo exprimebat: subsellis chori +struendis itentus, opere pene absoluto, immoritur.'"[6] + +In place of the old dome rose one of the most marvelous and richest +structures in Spain, a crowning glory to the heavenly shrine. It is at +once a mountain of patience and a burst of Spanish pomp and pride. It is +the labor of giants, daringly executed and lavishly decorated. "The work +of angels," said Philip II. Nothing less could have called forth such an +exclamation from those acrimonious lips and jaded eyes. The men who +designed and erected it were the best known in Spain. There was Philip, +the Burgundian sculptor with exquisite and indefatigable chisel, who had +come to Spain in the train of the Emperor. Vallejo, one of the famous +council that sat at Salamanca, had with Castanela erected the triumphal +arch which appeased Charles's wrath kindled against the citizens of +Burgos, and is even to-day, after the Cathedral, the city's most +familiar landmark. In the year 1567, twenty-eight years after the +falling of the first lantern, the new one towered completed in its +place. It was a magnificent attempt at a blending, or rather a +reconciliation, of the Renaissance and the Gothic. There is the +character of one and the form of the other. Gothic trefoil arches and +traceries are carried by classical columns. Renaissance balustrades and +panels intermingle with crockets and bosses, and Florentine panels and +statues with Gothic canopies. They are so interwoven that the careful +student of architecture feels himself in a nightmare of styles and +different centuries. It was of course an undertaking doomed to failure. + +The outline is octagonal. Above the pendentives, forming the transition +of the octagon, comes a double frieze of armorial bearings (those of +Burgos and Charles V) and inscriptions, and a double clerestory, +separated and supported by classical balustraded passages; the window +splays and heads are a complete mass of carving and decorations. The +vaulting itself contains within its bold ribs and segments an infinite +variety of stars, as if one should see the panes of heaven covered with +frosty patterns of a clear winter morning. + +Théophile Gautier's description of it is interesting as an expression of +the effect it produced on a man of artistic emotions rather than trained +architectural feeling: "En levant la tête," he says, "on aperçoit une +espèce de dôme formé par l'intérieur de la tour,--c'est un groupe de +sculpture, d'arabesques, de statues, de colonettes, de nervures, de +lancettes, de pendentifs, a vous donner le vertige. On regarderait deux +ans qu'on n'aurait pas tout vu. C'est touffu comme un chou, fenestré +comme une truelle à poisson; c'est gigantesque comme une pyramide et +délicat comme une boucle d'oreille de femme, et l'on ne peut comprendre +qu'un semblable filigrane puisse se soutenir en l'air depuis des +siècles." + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS + +Lantern over crossing] + +The work immediately around and underneath this gigantic effort is +really the earliest part of the church, for, as was usual, the portion +indispensable for services was begun first. The transepts, the abutting +vaults, the southern and possibly the northern entrance fronts, +undoubtedly all belong to the work carried so rapidly forward by Bishop +Maurice's contagious enthusiasm. The work of the transepts is very +similar to that in the nave, but, in the former, one obtains really a +much finer view of the receding bays north and south than in the nave +with its choir obstruction. The huge rose of the south transept, placed +directly under the arch of the vaulting, is a splendid specimen of a +Gothic wheel. Its tracery is composed of a series of colonettes +radiating from centre to circumference, every two of which form, as it +were, a separate window tracery of central mullion, two arches and upper +rose. The other windows of the transepts are, barring their later +alterations, typically thirteenth-century Gothic, high and narrow with +colonettes in their jambs. While the glazing of the great southern rose +is a perfect burst of glory, that of the northern transept arm is later +and very mediocre. + +There is a little chapel opening to the east out of the northern +transept arm which is full of interest from the fact that it belongs to +the original, early thirteenth-century structure. Probably there was a +corresponding one in the southern arm, with groining equally remarkable. +The northern transept arm is filled by the great Renaissance "golden +staircase" leading to the Puerta de la Coroneria, now always closed. It +must have been a magnificent spectacle to see the purple and scarlet +robes of priest and prelate sweep down the divided arms of the stair +uniting in the broad flight at the bottom. Such an occasion was the +marriage in 1268 of the Infante Ferdinand, son of Alfonso the Wise, to +Blanche of France, a niece of Saint Louis. The learned monarch ever had +a lavish hand, and he spared no expense to dazzle his distinguished +guests, among whom were the King of Aragon and Philip, heir to the +French throne. Ferdinand was first armed chevalier by his father, and +the marriage was then celebrated in the Cathedral of Burgos with greater +pomp and magnificence than had ever before been seen in Spain. + +The gilt metal railing is as exquisite in workmanship as in design, +carried out by Diego de Siloé, who was the architect of the Cathedral in +the beginning of the sixteenth century. There is also a lovely door in +the eastern wall of the southern transept, now leading to the great +cloisters. The portal itself is early work of the fourteenth century, +with the Baptism of Christ in the tympanum, the Annunciation and David +and Isaiah in the panels, all of early energy and vitality, as full of +feeling as simplicity. And the extraordinary detail of the wooden doors +themselves, executed a century and a half later by order of the +quizzical-looking old Bishop of Acuna, now peacefully sleeping in the +chapel of Santa Anna, is as beautiful an example of wood-carving as we +have left us from this period. If Ghiberti's door was the front gate of +paradise, this was certainly worthy to be a back gate, and well worth +entering, should the front be found closed. + +The choir occupies at present as much as one half the length of nave +from crossing to western front, or the length of three bays. With its +massive Corinthian colonnade, masonry enclosure and rejas rising to the +height of the triforium, it is a veritable church within a church. The +stalls, mostly Philip of Burgundy's work from about the year 1500, +surround the old tomb of the Cathedral's noble founder. As usual, the +carvings are elaborate scenes from Bible history and saintly +lore,--over the upper stalls, principally from the old Testament, and +above the lower, from the New. + +A very remarkable family of German architects have left their indelible +stamp upon Burgos Cathedral. In 1435 a prominent Hebrew of the tribe of +Levi died as Bishop of the See, and was succeeded by his son, Alfonso de +Cartagena. Alfonso not only followed in his father's footsteps, but +became one of the most renowned churchmen in Spain during the early +years of Ferdinand of Aragon. And he looks it too, as he lies to-day +near the entrance to his old palace, in fine Flemish lace, mitre covered +with pearls, and sparkling, jewelled crozier. As Chancellor of Spain, +Alfonso was sent to the Council of Basle, and thereafter, like his +predecessor Maurice, he returned to Burgos, bringing with him visions of +church-building such as he had never dreamed of before and the architect +Juan de Colonia. + +The Plateresque style was rapidly developing towards the effulgence so +in harmony with Spanish taste. Interwoven and fused with the work Juan +was familiar with from his native country, he and his sons, Simon and +Diego, encouraged and royally assisted by Alfonso and his successor, D. +Luis of Acuna, set about to erect some of the most striking and +wonderful portions of Burgos Cathedral,--the towers of the façade, the +first lantern and the Chapel of the Constable. + +The Chapel of Don Pedro Fernandez de Velasco, Count of Haro and +Constable of Castile, was not erected with pious intent, but to the +immortal fame of the Constable and his wife. In the centre of the +chapel-church on a low base lie the Count and Countess. The white +Carrara of the figures is strangely vivid against the dark marble on +which they rest, and all is colored by the sunlight striking down +through the stained glass. It is very regal. The Constable is clad in +full Florentine armor, his hands clasping his sword and his mantle about +his shoulders. The carving of the flesh and the veining, and especially +the strong knuckles of the hands, are astonishing. The fat cushions of +the forefinger and thumb seem to swell and the muscles to contract in +their grip on the cross of the hilt. The robe of his spouse, Doña Mencia +de Mendoza, is richly studded with pearls, her hand clasps a rosary, +while, on the folds of her skirt, her little dog lies peacefully curled +up. + +The plan of the chapel is an irregular hexagon. It should have been +octagonal, but the western sides have not been carried through and end +in a broad-armed vestibule, which by rights should be the radial chapel +upon the extreme eastern axis of the whole church. Above the vaulting +early German pendentives are inserted in the three faulty and five true +angles in order to bring the plan into the octagonal vaulting form. The +builder seems almost to have made himself difficulties that he might +solve them by a tour-de-force. A huge star-fish closes the vault. The +recumbent statues face an altar. The remaining sides are subdivided by +typically Plateresque band-courses and immense coats-of-arms of the Haro +and Mendoza families. The upper surfacing is broken by a clerestory with +exquisite, old stained glass. It is melancholy to see tombs of such +splendid execution crushed by meaningless, empty display, out of all +scale, vulgar, gesticulating, and theatrical, especially so when one +notices with what extraordinary mechanical skill much of the detail has +been carved. It thrusts itself on your notice even up to the vaulting +ribs, which the architect, not satisfied to have meet, actually crossed +before they descend upon the capitals below. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS + +The Golden Staircase] + +The reja closing the chapel off from the apse is among the finest of the +Renaissance, the masterpiece of Cristobal Andino, wrought in the year +1523. Curiously enough, the supporters of the shield above might have +been modeled by Burne-Jones instead of the mediæval smith. + +The interior could not always have been as light and cheerful as at +present, for probably all the windows were more or less filled with +stained glass from the workshops of the many "vidrieros" for which +Burgos was so renowned that even other cathedral cities awarded her the +contracts for their glazing. The foreign masters of Burgos were +accustomed to see their arches and sculpture mellowed and illumined by +rainbow lights from above, and surely here too it was of primary +importance. + +After the horrible powder explosion of 1813, when the French soldiers +blew up the old fortress, making the whole city tremble and totter, the +agonized servants of the church found the marble pavements strewn with +the glorious sixteenth-century crystals that had been shattered above. +They were religiously collected and, where possible, reinserted in new +fields. + +Chapels stud the ground around the old edifice. The Cloisters, a couple +of chapels north of the chevet and small portions here and there, rose +with the transepts and the original thirteenth-century structure, but +all the others were erected by the piety or pride of later ages or have +been transformed by succeeding generations. Their vaulting illustrates +every period of French and German Gothic as well as Plateresque art, +while their names are taken from a favorite saint or biblical episode or +the illustrious founders. The fifteenth century was especially sedulous, +building chapels as a rich covering for the splendid Renaissance tombs +of its spiritual and temporal lords. They are carved with the admirable +skill and genius emanating once more from Italy. The Castilian Constable +and his spouse, Bishop Alfonso de Cartagena (in the Capilla de la +Visitacion), Bishop Antonia de Velasco, the eminent historian-archbishop +(in the Sacristia Nueva), are splendid marbles of the classic revival. +They must all have been portraits: for instance Bishop Gonzalvo de +Lerma, who sleeps peacefully in the Chapel of the Presentacion; his fat, +pursed lips and baggy eyelids are firmly closed, and his soft, double +chin reposes in two neat folds upon the jeweled surplice. So, too, +Fernando de Villegas, who lies in the north transept and whose scholarly +face still seems to shine with the inner light which prompted him to +give his people the great Florentine's Divine Comedy. + +The poetry and romance that cling to these illustrious dead are equally +present as you pass through the lovely Gothic portal into the cloisters +which fill the southeastern angle of the church and stand by the figures +of the great Burgalese that lie back of the old Gothic railings in many +niches of the arcades. To judge from the inscriptions they would, if +they could speak, be able to tell us of every phase in their city's +religious and political struggles, from the age of Henry II down to the +decay of Burgos. Saints, bishops, princes, warriors, and architects lie +beneath the beautiful, double-storied arcade. Here lies Pedro Sanchez, +the architect, Don Gonzalo of Burgos, and Diego de Santander, and here +stand the effigies of Saint Ferdinand and Beatrice of Suabia. The very +first church had a cloister to the west of the transept, now altered +into chapels. For some reason, early in the fourteenth century, the +present cloister was built east of the south transept and with as lovely +Gothic arches as are to be found in Spain. We read of great church and +state processions, marching under its vaults in 1324, so then it must +have been practically completed. Later on the second story was added, +much richer and more ornate than the lower. The oldest masonry, with its +delicate tracery of four arches and three trefoiled roses to each +arcade, seems to have been virtually eaten away by time. New leaves and +moldings are being set to-day to replace the old. The pure white, native +stone, so easy to carve into spirited crockets and vigorous strings +similar to the old, stands out beside the sooty, time-worn blocks, as +the fresh sweetness of a child's cheek laid against the weather-beaten +furrows of the grand-parent. A careful scrutiny of all the details shows +in what a virile age this work was executed. The groining ribs are of +fine outline, the key blocks are starred, the foliage is spirited both +in capitals and in the cusps of the many arches, the details are +carefully molded and distributed, and the early statues in the internal +angles and in places against the groining ribs are of rich treatment, +strong feeling, and in attitude equal to some of the best French Gothic +of the same period. The door that leads out of the cloisters into the +old sacristy with the Descent from the Cross in its tympanum is truly a +beautiful piece of this Gothic work. + +While these cloisters lie to the east, the broad terraces leading to the +glorious, southern transept entrance are flanked to the west by the +Archbishop's Palace, whose bare sides, gaudy Renaissance doorway and +monstrous episcopal arms, repeated at various stages, hide the entire +southwestern angle of the church. + +Between the cloisters and the Archbishop's Palace at the end of the +broad terraces, rises the masonry facing the southern transept arm. It +belongs, together with that of the northern, to the oldest portions of +the early fabric erected while Maurice was bishop and a certain +"Enrique" architect, and shows admirable thirteenth-century work. The +Sarmentos family, great in the annals of this century, owned the ground +immediately surrounding this transept arm. As a reward for their +concession of it to the church, the southern portal was baptized the +"Puerta del Sarmental," and they were honored with burial ground within +the church's holy precincts. It cannot be much changed, but stands +to-day in its original loveliness. + +[Illustration: Photo by A. Vadillo + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS + +The Chapel of the Constable] + +A statue of the benign-looking founder of the church stands between the +two doors, which on the outer sides are flanked by Moses, Aaron, Saint +Peter and Saint Paul, and the two saints so beloved by Spaniards, Saint +James and Saint Philip. The archivolts surrounding the tympanum are +filled by a heavenly host of angels, all busied with celestial +occupations, playing instruments, swinging censers, carrying candelabra, +or flapping their wings. Both statues and moldings are of character and +outline similar to French work of this best period, nevertheless of a +certain distinctly Spanish feeling. The literary company of the tympanum +is full of movement and simple charm. In the lowest plane are the twelve +Apostles, all, with the exception of two who are conversing, occupied +with expounding the Gospels; in the centre is Christ, reading to four +Evangelists who surround him as lion, bull, eagle and angel; finally, +highest up, two monks writing with feverish haste in wide-open folios, +while an angel lightens their labor with the perfume from a swinging +censer. + +It is sculpture, rich in effect, faithful in detail and of strong +expression, admirably placed in relation to the masonry it ornaments. It +has none of the whimsical irrelevancy to surroundings characterizing so +much of the work to follow, nor its hasty execution. It is not +meaningless carving added indefinitely and senselessly repeated, but +every bit of it embellishes the position it occupies. Above the portal +the stonework is broken and crowned by an exquisite, early rose window +and the later, disproportionately high parapet of angels and +free-standing quatrefoiled arches and ramps. + +The northern doorway, almost as rich in names as in sculpture, is as +fine as the southern, so far below it on the hillside. It is called the +Doorway of the Apostles from the twelve still splendidly preserved +statues, six of which flank it on each side. It is also named the Door +of the Coroneria, but to the Burgalese it is known simply as the Puerta +Alta, or the "high door." The door proper with its frame is a later +makeshift for the original, thirteenth-century one. On a base-course in +the form of an arcade with almost all its columns likewise gone, stand +in monumental size the Twelve Apostles. The drapery is handled +differently on each figure, but with equal excellence; the faces, so +full of expression and character, stand out against great halos and +represent the apostles of all ages. Similar in treatment to the southern +door, the archivolts here are filled with a series of fine statues. +There are angels in the two inner arches and in the outer, and the naked +figures of the just are rising from their sepulchres in the most +astonishing attitudes. The tympanum is also practically a counterpart of +the southern one, only here in its centre the predominating figure of +the Saviour is set between the Virgin and Saint John. + +As the Puerta Alta is so high above the church pavement, and ingress +would in daily use have proved difficult, the great door of the +Pellejeria was cut in the northeastern arm of the transept at the end of +the furriers' street, and down a series of moss-grown, cobblestone +planes the Burgalese could gain entrance to their church from this side. +The great framework of architecture which encases it is so astonishingly +different from the work above and around it that one can scarcely +believe it possible that they belong to one and the same building. It is +a tremendous piece of Plateresque carving, as exquisite as it is out of +place, erected through the munificence of the Archbishop Don Juan +Rodriguez de Fonseca in 1514 by the architect Francisco de Colonia. It +might have stood in Florence, and most of it might have been set against +a Tuscan church at the height of the Renaissance. There is everywhere an +overabundance of luxurious detail and rich carving. Between the +entablatures and columns stand favorite saints. The Virgin and Child are +adored by a very well-fed, fat-jowled bishop and musical angels. In one +of the panels the sword is about to descend on the neck of the kneeling +Saint John. In another, some unfortunate person has been squeezed into a +hot cauldron too small for his naked body, while bellows are applied to +the fagots underneath it and hot tar is poured on his head. While the +whole work is thoroughly Renaissance, there is here and there a curious +Gothic feeling to it, from which the carvers, surrounded and inspired by +so much of the earlier art, seem to have been unable to free themselves. +This appears in the figure ornamentation in the archivolts around the +circular-headed opening, the angel heads that cut it as it were into +cusps and the treatment and feeling of some of the figures in the larger +panels. + +The exterior of Santa Maria is very remarkable. It is a wonderful +history of late Gothic and early Renaissance carving. The only clearing +whence any freedom of view and perspective may be had is to the west, in +front of the late fifteenth-century spires, but wherever one stands, +whether in the narrow alleys to the southeast, or above, or below in the +sloping city, the three great masses that rise above the cathedral roof, +of spires, cimborio, and the Constable's Lantern, dominate majestically +all around them. If one stands at the northeast, above the terraces +that descend to the Pellejeria door, each of the three successive series +of spires that rise one above the other far to the westward might be the +steeple of its own mighty church. The two nearest are composed of an +infinite number of finely crocketed turrets, tied together by a sober, +Renaissance bulk; that furthest off shoots its twin spires in Gothic +nervousness airily and unchecked into the sky, showing the blue of the +heavens through its flimsy fabric. Between them, tying the huge bulk +together, stretch the buttresses, the sinews and muscles of the +organism, far less marked and apparent, however, than is ordinarily the +case. At various stages above and around, crowning and banding towers, +chapels, apse, naves, and transepts, run the many balconies. They are +Renaissance in form, but also Gothic in detail and feeling. Like the +masts of a great harbor, an innumerable forest of carved and stony +trunks rise from every angle, buttress, turret, and pier. In among them, +facing their carved trunks and crowning their tops, peeping out from the +myriads of stony branches, stands a heavenly legion of saints and +martyrs. Crowned and celestial kings and angels people this petrified +forest of such picturesque and exuberant beauty. + +[Illustration: Photo by A. Vadillo + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS + +The spires above the house-tops] + +The general mass that rises above the roofs, now flat and covered with +reddish ochre tiles, is, whatever may be the defects of its detail, +almost unique in its lavish richness. The spires rest upon the +house-tops of Burgos like the jeweled points of a monarch's crown. The +detail is so profuse that it well-nigh defies analysis. It seems as if +the four corners of the earth must for generations have been ransacked +to find a sufficient number of carvers for the sculpture. The closer one +examines it, the more astonishing is the infinite labor. Rich, crocketed +cornices support the numerous, crowning balconies. Figure on figure +stands against the many sides of the four great turrets that brace the +angles of the cimborio, against the eight turrets that meet its octagon, +on the corners of spires, under the parapets crowning the transepts, +under the canopied angles of the Constable's Lantern, on balconies, over +railings, and on balustrades. Crockets cover the walls like feathers on +the breast of a bird. It surely is the temple of the Lord of Hosts, the +number of whose angels is legion. It is confused, bewildering, over-done +and spectacular, lacking in character and sobriety, sculptural +fire-works if you will, a curious mixture of the passing and the coming +styles, but nevertheless it is wonderful, and the age that produced it, +one of energy and vitality. Curiously enough, the transepts have no +flying, but mere heavy, simple buttresses to meet their thrusts. The +ornamentation of the lower wall surfaces is in contrast to the +superstructure, barren or meaningless. On the plain masonry of the lower +walls of the Constable's Chapel stretch gigantic coats-of-arms. Knights +support their heads as well as the arms of the nobles interred within. +Life-sized roaring lions stand valiantly beside their wheels like +immortally faithful mariners. Above, an exquisitely carved, German +Gothic balustrade acts as a base for the double clerestory. The angle +pinnacles are surrounded by the Fathers of the Church and crowned by +angels holding aloft the symbol of the Cross. The gargoyles look like +peacefully slumbering cows with unchewed cuds protruding from their +stony jaws. Tufts of grass and flowers have sprung from the seeds borne +there by the winds of centuries. + +Outside the Chapel of Sant Iago are more huge heraldic devices: knights +in full armor and lions lifting by razor-strops, as if in some test of +strength, great wheels encircling crosses. Above them, gargoyles leer +demoniacally over the heads of devout cherubim. In the little street of +Diego Porcello, named for the great noble who still protects his city +from the gate of Santa Maria, nothing can be seen of the great church +but bare walls separated from the adjacent houses by a dozen feet of +dirty cobblestones. Ribs of the original chapels that once flanked the +eastern end, behind the present chapels of Sant Iago and Santa Catarina, +have been broken off flat against the exterior walls, and the cusps of +the lower arches have been closed. + +Thus the fabric has been added to, altered, mutilated or embellished by +foreign masters as well as Spanish hands. Who they all were, when and +why they wrought, is not easy to discover. Enrique, Juan Perez, Pedro +Sanchez, Juan Sanchez de Molina, Martin Fernandez, Juan and Francisco de +Colonia and Juan de Vallejo, all did their part in the attempt to make +Santa Maria of Burgos the loveliest church of Spain. + +The mighty western façade rises in a confined square where acacia trees +lift their fresh, luxuriant heads above the dust. The symmetry of the +towers, the general proportions of the mass, the subdivisions and +relationship of the stories, the conception as a whole, clearly show +that it belongs to an age of triumph and genius, in spite of the +disfigurements of later vandals, as well as essentially foreign masters. +It is of queenly presence, a queen in her wedding robes with jewels all +over her raiment, the costliest of Spanish lace veiling her form and +descending from her head, covered with its costly diadem. + +North and south the towers are very similar and practically of equal +height, giving a happily balanced and uniform general appearance. The +lowest stage, containing the three doorways leading respectively into +north aisle, nave, and south aisle, has been horribly denuded and +disfigured by the barbarous eighteenth century, which boasted so much +and created so little. It removed the glorious, early portico, leaving +only bare blocks of masonry shorn of sculpture. No greater wrong could +have been done the church. In the tympanum above the southern door, the +vandals mercifully left a Coronation of the Virgin, and in the northern +one, the Conception, while in the piers, between these and the central +opening, four solitary statues of the two kings, Alfonso VI and Saint +Ferdinand, and the two bishops, Maurice and Asterio, are all that remain +of the early glories. The central door is called the Doorway of Pardon. + +One can understand the bigotry of Henry VIII and the Roundheads, which +in both cases wrought frightful havoc in art, but it is truly +incomprehensible that mere artistic conceit in the eighteenth century +could compass such destruction. The second tier of the screen facing the +nave, below a large pointed arch, is broken by a magnificent rose. Above +this are two finely traceried and subdivided arches with eight statues +set in between the lowest shafts. The central body is crowned by an +open-work balustrade forming the uppermost link between the towers. The +Virgin with Child reigns in the centre between the carved inscription, +"Pulchra es et decora." Three rows of pure, ogival arches, delicate, and +attenuated, break the square sides of the towers above the entrance +portals; blind arches, spires and statues ornament the angles. +Throughout, the splays and jambs are filled with glittering balls of +stone. Inscriptions similar in design to that finishing the screen which +hides the roof lines crown the platform of the towers below the base of +the spires. + +The towers remained without steeples for over two hundred years until +the good Bishop Alfonso de Cartagena, returning to his city in 1442 from +the Council of Basle, brought with him the German, Juan de Colonia. +Bishop Alfonso was not to see their completion, for he died fourteen +years later, but his successor, Don Luis de Acuna, immediately ordered +the work continued and saw the figures of Saint Peter and Saint Paul +placed on the uppermost spires, three hundred feet above the heads of +the worshipping multitude. + +The spires themselves, essentially German in character, are far from +beautiful, perforated on all sides by Gothic tracery of multitudinous +designs, too weak to stand without the assistance of iron tie rods, the +angles filled with an infinite number of coarse, bold crockets breaking +the outlines as they converge into the blue. + +When prosperity came again to Burgos, as to many other Spanish cities, +it was owing to the wise enactments of Isabella the Catholic. The +concordat of 1851 enumerated nine archbishoprics in Spain, among which +Burgos stands second on the list. + +Such is Burgos, serenely beautiful, rich and exultant, the apotheosis of +the Spanish Renaissance as well as studded with exquisitely beautiful +Gothic work. She is mighty and magnificent, speaking perhaps rather to +the senses than the heart, but in a language which can never be +forgotten. Although various epochs created her, radically different in +their means and methods, still there is a certain intangible unity in +her gorgeous expression and a unique picturesqueness in her dazzling +presence. + + + + +III + +AVILA + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA] + + I lift mine eyes, and all the windows blaze + With forms of saints and holy men who died, + Here martyred and hereafter glorified; + And the great Rose upon its leaves displays + Christ's Triumph, and the angelic roundelays + With splendor upon splendor multiplied. + + _Longfellow._ + + +The Cathedral of San Salvador is the strongest link in the chain that +encircles the city of Avila,--"cuidad de Castilla la vieja." Avila lies +on a ridge in the corner of a great, undulating plain, clothed with +fields of grain, bleached light yellow at harvest, occasional groups of +ilex and straggling pine and dusty olives scrambling up and down the +slopes. Beyond is the hazy grayish-green of stubble and dwarfed +woodland, with blue peaks closing the horizon. To the south rises the +Sierra Gredos, and eastwards, in the direction of Segovia, the Sierra de +Guadarrama. The narrow, murky Adaja that loiters through the upland +plain is quite insufficient to water the thirsty land. Thistles and +scrub oak dot the rocky fields. Here and there migratory flocks of sheep +nibble their way across the unsavory stubble, while the dogs longingly +turn their heads after whistling quails and the passing hunter. + +The crenelated, ochre walls and bastions that, like a string of amber +beads, have girdled the little city since its early days, remain +practically unbroken, despite the furious sieges she has sustained and +the battles in which her lords were engaged for ten centuries. As many +as eighty-six towers crown, and no less than ten gateways pierce, the +walls which follow the rise or fall of the ground on which the city has +been compactly and narrowly constructed for safest defense. It must look +to-day almost exactly as it did to the approaching armies of the Middle +Ages, except that the men-at-arms are gone. The defenses are so high +that what is inside is practically hidden from view and all that can be +seen of the city so rich in saints and stones[7] are the loftiest spires +of her churches. + +To the Romans, Avela, to the Moors, Abila, the ancient city, powerfully +garrisoned, lay in the territory of the Vaccæi and belonged to the +province of Hispania Citerior. During three later centuries, from time +to time she became Abila, and one of the strongest outposts of Mussulman +defense against the raids of Christian bands from the north. Under both +Goths and Saracens, Avila belonged to the province of Merida. At a very +early date she boasted an episcopal seat, mentioned in church councils +convoked during the seventh century, but, during temporary ascendencies +of the Crescent, she vanishes from ecclesiastical history. For a while +Alfonso I held the city against the Moors, but not until the reign of +Alfonso VI did she permanently become "Avila del rey," and the +quarterings of her arms, "a king appearing at the window of a tower," +were left unchallenged on her walls. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF AVILA CATHEDRAL + + A. Capilla Mayor. + B. Crossing. + C. Cloisters. + D. Towers. + E. Main Entrance. + F. Northern Portal.] + +By the eleventh century the cities of Old Castile were ruined and +depopulated by the ravages of war. Even the walls of Avila were +well-nigh demolished, when Count Raymond laid them out anew and with the +blessing of Bishop Pedro Sanchez they rose again in the few years +between 1090 and the turning of the century. The material lay ready to +hand in the huge granite boulders sown broadcast on the bleak hills +around Avila, and from these the walls were rebuilt, fourteen feet thick +with towers forty feet high. The old Spanish writer Cean Bermudez +describes this epoch of Avila's history. + +"When," he says, "Don Alfonso VI won Toledo, he had in continuous wars +depopulated Segovia, Avila and Salamanca of their Moorish inhabitants. +He gave his son-in-law, the Count Don Raymond of the house of Burgundy, +married to the Princess Doña Urraca, the charge to repeople them. Avila +had been so utterly destroyed that the soil was covered with stones and +the materials of its ruined houses. To rebuild and repopulate it, the +Count brought illustrious knights, soldiers, architects, officials and +gentlemen from Leon, the Asturias, Vizcaya and France, and from other +places. They began to construct the walls in 1090, 800 men working from +the very beginning, and among them were many masters who came from Leon +and Vizcaya. All obeyed Casandro Romano and Florin de Pituenga, Masters +of Geometry, as they are called in the history of this population, which +is attributed to the Bishop of Oviedo, D. Pilayo, who lived at that time +and who treats of these things." + +During these perilous years, Count Raymond wisely lodged his masons in +different quarters of the city, grouping them according to the locality +they came from, whether from Cantabria, the Asturias, or the territory +of Burgos. + +A nobility, as quarrelsome as it was powerful, must have answered Count +Raymond's call for new citizens, for during centuries to come, the +streets, like those of mediæval Siena and Florence, constantly ran with +the blood of opposing factions. Warring families dared walk only certain +streets after nightfall, and battles were carried on between the +different castles and in the streets as between cities and on +battlefields. In the quarrels between royal brothers and cousins, Avila +played a very prominent part. The nurse and protectress of their tender +years, and the guardian of their childhood through successive reigns of +Castilian kings, she became a very vital factor in the fortunes of +kings, prelates, and nobles. In feuds like those of Don Pedro and his +brother Enrique II, she was a turbulent centre. Great figures in Spanish +history ruled from her episcopal throne, especially during the +thirteenth century. There was Pedro, a militant bishop and one of the +most valiant on the glorious battlefield of Las Navas; Benilo, lover of +and beloved by Saint Ferdinand; and Aymar, the loyal champion of Alfonso +the Wise through dark as well as sunny hours. + +The Jews and the Moriscoes here, as wherever else their industrious +fingers and ingenious minds were at work, did much more than their share +towards the prosperity and development of the city. The Jews especially +became firmly established in their useful vocations, filling the king's +coffers so abundantly that the third of their tribute, which he granted +to the Bishop, was not appreciably felt, except in times of armament +and war. With the fanatical expulsion of first one, and then the other, +race, the city's prosperity departed. Their place was filled by the +bloodhounds of the Inquisition, who held their very first, terrible +tribunal in the Convent of Saint Thomas, blighting the city and +surrounding country with a new and terrible curse. The great rebellion +under the Emperor Charles burst from the smouldering wrath of Avila's +indignant citizens, and in 1520 she became, for a short time, the seat +of the "Junta Santa" of the Comuneros. + +It is still easy to discern what a tremendous amount of building must +have gone on within the narrow city limits during the early part of its +second erection. The streets are still full of bits of Romanesque +architecture, palaces, arcades, houses, balconies, towers and windows +and one of the finest groups of Romanesque churches in Spain. Of lesser +sinew and greater age than San Salvador, they are now breathing their +last. San Vicente is almost doomed, while San Pedro and San Segundo are +fast falling. + +But San Salvador remains still unshaken in her strength,--a fortress +within a cathedral, a splendid mailed arm with its closed fist of iron +reaching through the outer bastions and threatening the plains. It is a +bold cry of Christian defiance to enemies without. If ever there was an +embodiment in architecture of the church militant, it is in the +Cathedral of Avila. Approaching it by San Pedro, you look in vain for +the church, for the great spire that loomed up from the distant hills +and was pointed out as the holy edifice. In its place and for the +eastern apse, you see only a huge gray bastion, strong and secure, +crowned at all points by battlements and galleries for sentinels and +fighting men,--inaccessible, grim, and warlike. A fitting abode for the +men who rather rode a horse than read a sermon and preferred the +breastplate to the cassock, a splendid epitome of that period of Spanish +history when the Church fought instead of prying into men's souls. It +well represents the unification of the religious and military offices +devolving on the Church of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in +Castile,--a bellicose house rather than one of prayer. + +All the old documents and histories of the Church state that the great +Cathedral was started as soon as the city walls were well under way in +1091 and was completed after sixteen years of hard work. Alvar Garcia +from Estrella in Navarre is recorded as the principal original +architect, Don Pedro as the Bishop, and Count Raymond as spurring on the +1900 men at work, while the pilgrims and faithful were soliciting alms +and subscriptions through Italy, France, and the Christian portions of +the Spanish Peninsula. + +Of the earliest church very little remains, possibly only the outer +walls of the great bastion that encloses the eastern termination of the +present edifice. This is much larger than the other towers of defense, +and, judging from the excellent character of its masonry, which is +totally different from the coarse rubble of the remaining city walls and +towers, it must have been built into them at a later date, as well as +with much greater care and skill. Many hypotheses have been suggested, +as to why the apse of the original church was thus built as a portion of +the walls of defense. All seem doubtful. It was possibly that the +altar might come directly above the resting-place of some venerated +saint, or perhaps to economize time and construction by placing the apse +in a most vulnerable point of attack where lofty and impregnable masonry +was requisite. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA + +Exterior of the apse turret] + +The church grew towards the west and the main entrance,--the transepts +themselves, and all work west of them, with the advent of the new style. +We thus obtain in Avila, owing to the very early commencement of its +apse, a curious and vitally interesting conglomeration of the Romanesque +and Gothic. Practically, however, all important portions of the +structure were completed in the more vigorous periods of the Gothic +style with the resulting felicitous effect. + +The building of the apse or the chevet westward must, to judge from its +style, have advanced very slowly during the first hundred years, for its +general character is rather that of the end of the twelfth and beginning +of the thirteenth centuries (the reign of Alfonso VIII) than of the pure +Romanesque work which was still executed in Castile at the beginning of +the twelfth century. A great portion of the early Gothic work is, apart +from its artistic merit, historically interesting, as showing the first +tentative, and often groping, steps of the masters who wished to employ +the new forms of the north, but followed slowly and with a hesitation +that betrayed their inexperience. Arches were spanned and windows +broken, later to be braced and blocked up in time to avert a +catastrophe. The transepts belong to the earliest part of the fourteenth +century. We have their definite dates from records,--the northern arm +rose where previously had stood a little chapel and was given by the +Chapter to Dean Blasco Blasquez as an honorable burial place for himself +and his family, while Bishop Blasquez Davila, the tutor of Alfonso IX +and principal notary of Castile, raised the southern arm immediately +afterwards. He occupied the See for almost fifty years, and must have +seen the nave and side aisles and the older portions, including the +northwestern tower, all pretty well constructed. This tower with its +unfinished sister and portions of the west front are curiously enough +late Romanesque work, and must thus have been started before the nave +and side aisles had reached them in their western progress. The original +cloisters belonged to the fourteenth century, as also the northern +portal. Chapels, furnishings, pulpits, trascoro, choir stalls, glazing, +all belong to later times, as well as the sixteenth-century mutilations +of the front and the various exterior Renaissance excrescences. + +It is interesting to infer that the main part of the fabric must +virtually have been completed in 1432, when Pope Eugenio IV published a +bull in favor of the work. Here he only speaks of the funds requisite +for its "preservation and repair." We may judge from such wording the +condition of the structure as a whole. + +The most extraordinary portion of the building is unquestionably its +"fighting turret" and eastern end. This apse is almost unique in Spanish +architectural history and deeply absorbing as an extensive piece of +Romanesque work, not quite free from Moorish traces and already +employing in its vaulting Gothic expedients. It may be called "barbaric +Gothic" or "decadent Romanesque," but, whatever it is termed, it will be +vitally interesting and fascinating to the student of architectural +history. + +Externally the mighty stone tower indicates none of its interior +disposition of chapels or vaulting. The black, weather-stained granite +of its bare walls is alternately broken by slightly projecting pilasters +and slender, columnar shafts. They are crowned by a corbel table and a +high, embattled parapet, that yielded protection to the soldiers +occupying the platform immediately behind, which communicated with the +passage around the city walls. This is again backed by a second wall +similarly crowned. The narrowest slits of windows from the centres of +the radiating, apsidal chapels break the lower surfaces, while double +flying buttresses meet, at the level of the triforium and above the +clerestory windows, the thrusts of the upper walls. + +The plan is most curious, and on account of its irregularity as well as +certain inconsistencies, it is difficult to guess how far it was +originally conceived in its present form, or what alterations were made +in the earlier centuries. Some changes must have been made in its +vaulting. The chevet or Capilla Mayor, which at first very properly +contained the choir, is surrounded by a double ambulatory, outside of +which the thick walls are pierced by nine apsidal chapels. It is +probable that these were originally constructed by the engineers to +lighten the enormous bulk of the outer masonry. They are not quite +semicircles in plan, and are vaulted in various simple ways. Where ribs +occur, they meet in the key of the arch separating chapel from +ambulatory. The piers round the apse itself are alternately +monocylindrical and composite; the intermediate ones, subdividing +unequally the "girola," are lofty, slender columns, while those of the +exterior are polygonal in plan, with shafts against their faces. Some of +the caps are of the best Romanesque types, and composed of animals, +birds, and leaves, while others, possibly substituted for the original +ones, have a plain bell with the ornamentation crudely applied in color. + +The Capilla Mayor has both triforium and clerestory of exquisite early +work. Dog-tooth moldings ornament the archivolts. Mohammedan influence +had asserted itself in the triforium, which is divided by slender shafts +into two windows terminating in horseshoe arches, while the clerestory +consists of broad, round, arched openings. + +The construction and balance of the apse thrusts were doubtless +originally of a somewhat different nature from what we find at present, +as may easily be observed from the materials, the function and positions +of the double flying buttresses. They may have been added as late as +three centuries after the original fabric. Lamperez y Romea's +observations in regard to this are most interesting:-- + +"We must observe in the two present orders of windows, that the lower +was never built for lights and its construction with double columns +forming a hollow space proves it a triforium. That it was actually so is +further abundantly proved by several circumstances: first, by a parapet +or wall which still exists below the actual roof and which follows the +exterior polygonal line of the girola, as well as by some +semi-Romanesque traceries which end in the wall of the Capilla Mayor, +and finally, by a continuous row of supports existing in the thickness +of the same wall below a gutter, separating the two orders of windows. +These features, as well as the general arrangement of the openings, +demonstrate that there was a triforium of Romanesque character, +occupying the whole width of the girola, which furthermore was covered +by a barrel vault. Above this came the great platform or projecting +balcony, corresponding to the second defensive circuit. Military +necessity explains this triforium; without it, there would be no need of +a system of continuous counterthrusts to that of the vaults of the +crossing. If we concede the existence of this triforium, various obscure +points become clear." + +The Capilla Mayor has four bays prior to reaching the pentagonal +termination. The vaulting of the most easterly bay connects with that of +the pentagon, thus leaving three remaining bays to vault; two form a +sexpartite vault, and the third, nearest the transept, a quadripartite. +All the intersections are met by bosses formed by gilded and spreading +coats-of-arms. The ribs do not all carry properly down, two out of the +six being merely met by the keystones of the arches between Capilla +Mayor and ambulatory. The masonry of the vaulting is of a reddish stone, +while that of the transepts and nave is yellow, laid in broad, white +joints. + +In various portions of the double ambulatory passage as well as some of +the chapels, the fine, deep green and gold and blue Romanesque coloring +may still be seen, giving a rich impression of the old barbaric splendor +and gem-like richness so befitting the clothing of the style. Other +portions, now bare, must surely all have been colored. The delicate, +slender shafts, subdividing unequally the ambulatory, have really no +carrying office, but were probably introduced to lessen the difficulty +of vaulting the irregular compartments of such unequal sides. Gothic art +was still in its infancy, and the splendid grasp of the vaulting +difficulties and masterly solution of its problems exemplified in so +many later ambulatories, had not as yet been reached. Here we have about +the first fumbling attempt. The maestro is still fighting in the dark +with unequal thrusts, sides and arches of different widths, and a desire +to meet them all with something higher and lighter than the old +continuous barrel vault. A step forward in the earnest effort toward +higher development, such as we find here, deserves admiration. The +profiles of the ribs are simple, undecorated and vigorous, as were all +the earliest ones; in the chapels, or rather the exedras in the outer +walls, the ribs do not meet in a common boss or keystone, its advantages +not as yet being known to the builders. A good portion of the old +roof-covering of the Cathedral, not only over the eastern end, but +pretty generally throughout, has either been altered, or else the +present covering conceals the original. + +Thus it is easy to detect from the outside, if one stands at the +northwestern angle of the church and looks down the northern face, that +the upper masonry has been carried up by some three feet of brickwork, +evidently of later addition, on top of which comes the present covering +of terra-cotta tiles. The old roof-covering here of stone tiles, as also +above the apse, rested directly on the inside vaults, naturally +damaging them by its weight, and not giving full protection against the +weather. The French slopes had in some instances been slavishly copied, +but the steep roofs requisite in northern cathedrals were soon after +abandoned, being unnecessary in the Spanish climate. Over the apse of +Avila, there may still be found early thirteenth-century roofing, +consisting of large stone flags laid in rows with intermediary grooves +and channels, very much according to ancient established Roman and +Byzantine traditions. Independent superstructure above the vault proper, +to carry the outside covering, had not been introduced when this roofing +was laid. + +In its early days many a noted prelate and honored churchman was laid to +rest within the holy precinct of the choir in front of the high altar or +in the rough old sepulchres of the surrounding chapels. With the moving +of the choir, and probably also a change in the church ceremonies, came +a rearrangement of the apse and the Capilla Mayor's relation to the new +rites. + +The retablo back of the high altar, consisting of Plateresque ornament, +belongs for the most part to the Renaissance. The Evangelists and church +fathers are by Pedro Berruguete (not as great as his son, the sculptor +Alfonso), Juan de Borgoña and Santos Cruz. In the centre, facing the +ambulatory behind, is a fine Renaissance tomb of the renowned Bishop +Alfonso Tostada de Madrigal. He is kneeling in full episcopal robes, +deeply absorbed either in writing or possibly reading the Scriptures. +The workmanship on mitre and robe is as fine as the similar remarkable +work in Burgos, while the enclosing rail is a splendid example of the +blending of Gothic and Renaissance. + +The glass in the apse windows is exceptionally rich and magnificently +brilliant in its coloring. It was executed by Alberto Holando, one of +the great Dutch glaziers of Burgos, who was given the entire contract in +1520 by Bishop Francisco Ruiz, a nephew of the great Cardinal Cisneros. + +Such, in short, are the characteristics of the chevet of the Cathedral +of Avila, constructed in an age when its builders must have worked in a +spirit of hardy vigor with the trowel in one hand and the sword in the +other. As we see it to-day, it imparts a feeling of mystery, and its +oriental splendor is enhanced by the dim, religious light. + +In entering the crossing, we step into the fullness of the Gothic +triumph. The vaults have been thrown into the sky to the height of 130 +feet. It is early Gothic work, with its many errors and consequent +retracing of steps made in ignorance. The great arches that span the +crossing north and south had taken too bold a leap and subsequently +required the support of cross arches. The western windows and the great +roses at the end of the transepts, with early heavy traceries, proved +too daring and stone had to be substituted for glass in their apertures; +the long row of nave windows have likewise been filled with masonry. +Despite these and many similar penalties for rashness, the work is as +dignified as it is admirable. Of course the proportions are all small in +comparison with such later great Gothic churches as Leon and Burgos, the +nave and transepts here being merely 28 to 30 feet wide, the aisles only +24 feet wide. Avila is but an awkward young peasant girl if compared +with the queenly presence of her younger sisters. Nevertheless Avila is +in true Spanish peasant costume, while Leon and Burgos are tricked out +in borrowed finery. The nave is short and narrow, but that gives an +impression of greater height, and the obscurity left by the forced +substitution of stone for glass in the window spaces adds to the +solemnity. The nave consists of five bays, the aisle on each side of it +rising to about half its height. The golden groining is quadripartite, +the ribs meeting in great colored bosses and pendents, added at periods +of less simple taste. In the crossing alone, intermediary ribs have been +added in the vaulting. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +AVILA + +From outside the walls] + +The walls of the transept underneath the great blind wheels to the north +and south are broken by splendid windows, each with elaborate tracery +(as also the eastern and western walls), heavy and strong, but finely +designed. The glazing is glorious, light, warm, and intense. The walls +of the nave, set back above the lowest arcade some eighteen inches, have +triforium and clerestory, and above this again, they are filled quite up +to the vaulting with elaborate tracery, possibly once foolhardily +conceived to carry glass. Each bay has six arches in both triforium and +clerestory, all of simple and early apertures. The glazing of the +clerestory is white, excepting in one of the bays. In this single +instance, a simple, geometric pattern of buff and blue stripes is of +wonderfully harmonious and lovely color effect. + +The shafts that separate nave from side aisles are still quite +Romanesque in feeling,--of polygonal core faced by four columns and +eight ribs. The capitals are very simple with no carving, but merely a +gilded representation of leafage, while the base molds carry around all +breaks of the pier. It may be coarse and crude in feeling and execution, +certainly very far from the exquisite finish of Leon, nevertheless the +infancy of an architectural style, like a child's, has the peculiar +interest of what it holds in promise. Like Leon, the side aisles have +double roofing, allowing the light to penetrate to the nave arcade and +forming a double gallery running round the church. + +Many of the bishops who were buried in the choir in its old location +were, on its removal to the bay immediately west of the crossing, also +moved and placed in the various chapels. The sepulchre of Bishop Sancho +Davila is very fine. Like his predecessors, he was a fighting man. His +epitaph reads as follows:-- + +"Here lies the noble cavalier Sancho Davila, Captain of the King Don +Fernando and the Queen Doña Isabel, our sovereigns, and their alcaide of +the castles of Carmona, son of Sancho Sanches, Lord of San Roman and of +Villanueva, who died fighting like a good cavalier against the Moors in +the capture of Alhama, which was taken by his valor on the 28th of +February in the year 1490." + +The pulpits on each side of the crossing, attached to the great piers, +are, curiously enough, of iron, exquisitely wrought and gilded. The one +on the side of the epistle is Gothic and the other Renaissance, the body +of each of them bearing the arms of the Cathedral, the Agnus Dei, and +the ever-present lions and castles. The rejas, closing off choir and +Capilla Mayor in the customary manner, are heavy and ungainly. On the +other hand, the trascoro, that often sadly blocks up the sweep of the +nave, is unusually low and comparatively inconspicuous. It contains +reliefs of the life of Christ, from the first half of the sixteenth +century, by Juan Res and Luis Giraldo. The choir itself is so compact +that it only occupies one bay. The chapter evidently was a modest one. +The stalls are of elaborate Renaissance workmanship. The verger now in +charge, with the voice of a hoarse crow, reads you the name of the +carver as the Dutchman "Cornelis 1536." + +Strange to say, there are no doors leading, as they logically should, +into the centre of the arms of the transept. Through some perversity, +altars have taken their place, while the northern and southern entrances +have been pushed westward, opening into the first bays of the side +aisles. The southern door leads to a vestibule, the sacristy with fine +Gothic vaulting disfigured by later painting, a fine fifteenth-century +chapel and the cloisters. None of this can be seen from the front, as it +is hidden by adjoining houses and a bare, pilastered wall crowned by a +carved Renaissance balustrade. The galleries of the present cloisters +are later Gothic work with Plateresque decorations and arches walled up. + +Avila Cathedral is, as it were, a part and parcel of the history of +Castile during the reigns of her early kings, the turbulent times when +self-preservation was the only thought, any union of provinces far in +the future, and a Spanish kingdom undreamed of. She was a great church +in a small kingdom, in the empire she became insignificant. Much of her +history is unknown, but in the days of her power, she was certainly +associated with all great events in old Castile. Her influence grew +with her emoluments and the ever-increasing body of ecclesiastical +functionaries. In times of war, she became a fortress, and her bishop +was no longer master of his house. The Captain-General took command of +the bastions, as of those of the Alcazar, and soldiers took the place of +priests in the galleries. She was the key to the city, and on her flat +roofs the opposing armies closed in the final struggle for victory. + +The Cathedral has, in fact, only an eastern and a northern elevation, +the exterior to the west and south being hidden by the huge tower and +the confused mass of chapels and choir which extend to the walls and +houses. + +The western entrance front is noble and dignified in its austere +severity; probably as old as the clerestory of the nave, it is a grim +sentinel from the first part of the fourteenth century. With the +exception of the entrance, it speaks the Romanesque language, although +its windows and some of its decoration are pointed. It is magnificent +and impressive, very Spanish, and almost unique in the Peninsula. Four +mighty buttresses subdivide the composition; between these is the +entrance, and to the north and south are the towers which terminate the +aisles. + +The southern tower has never been finished. The northern is full of +inspiration. It is broken at two stages by double windows, the upper +ones of the belfry being crowned by pediments and surmounted by rich, +sunk tracery. The piers terminate in hexagonal pinnacles, while the +tower, as well as the rest of the front, is finished with a battlement. +The later blocking up of this, as well as the superimposed roofing, is +very evident and disturbing. All the angles of buttresses, of windows, +arches, splays, and pyramids,--those also crowning the bulky piers that +meet the flying buttresses,--are characteristically and uniquely +decorated with an ornamentation of balls. It softens the hard lines, +splashing the surface with infinite series of small, sharp shadows and +making it sparkle with life and light. The angles recall the blunt, blue +teeth of a saw. + +The main entrance, as well as the first two bays of the naves underneath +the towers, must originally have been of different construction from the +present one. Inside the church, these bays are blocked off from nave and +side aisles by walls, on top of which they communicate with each other +as also with the eastern apse by galleries, probably all necessary for +the defense of troops in the early days. Possibly a narthex terminated +the nave back of the original entrance portal underneath the present +vaulted compartment. + +The main entrance door is indeed a strange apparition. In its whiteness +between the sombre tints of the martial towers, it rises like a spectre +in the winding-sheets of a later age. It is distressingly out of place +and time in its dark framework. + +"But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, +but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor, and some to dishonor." + +The semicircular door is crowned by a profusely subdivided, Gothic +archivolt and guarded by two scaly giants or wild men that look, with +their raised clubs, as if they would beat the life out of any one who +should try to enter the holy cavern. Saints Peter and Paul float on +clouds in the spandrels. Above rises a sixteenth-century composition of +masks and canopied niches. The Saviour naturally occupies the centre, +flanked by the various saints that in times of peril protected the +church of Avila: Saints Vincente, Sabina and Cristela, Saint Segundo and +Santa Teresa. In the attic in front of a tremendous traceried cusp, with +openings blocked by masonry, the ornamentation runs completely riot. +Saint Michael, standing on top of a dejected and doubled-up dragon, +looks down on figures that are crosses between respectable caryatides +and disreputable mermaids. It is certainly as immaterial as unknown, +when and by whom was perpetrated this degenerate sculpture now +shamelessly disfiguring a noble casing. The strong, early towers seem in +their turn doubly powerful and eloquent in their simplicity and one +wishes the old Romanesque portal were restored and the great traceries +above it glazed to flood the nave with western sunlight. + +The northeastern angle is blocked by poor Renaissance masonry, the +exterior of the chapels here being faced by a Corinthian order and +broken by circular lights. + +The northern portal is as fine as that of the main entrance is paltry. +The head of the door, as well as the great arch which spans the recess +into which the entire composition is set, is, curiously enough, +three-centred, similar to some of the elliptical ones at Burgos and +Leon. A lion, securely chained to the church wall for the protection of +worshipers, guards each side of the entrance. Under the five arches +stand the twelve Apostles, time-worn, weather-beaten and mutilated, but +splendid bits of late thirteenth-century carving. For they must be as +early as that. The archivolts are simply crowded with small figures of +angels, of saints, and of the unmistakably lost. In the tympanum the +Saviour occupies the centre, and around Him is the same early, naïve +representation of figures from the Apocalypse, angels, and the crowned +Virgin. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA + +Main entrance] + +Two years before Luther, a true exponent of Teutonic genius, had nailed +his theses to the door of a cathedral in central Germany, there was born +in the heart of Spain as dauntless and genuine a representative of her +country's genius. Each passed through great storm and stress of the +spirit, and finally entered into that closer communion with God, from +which the soul emerges miraculously strengthened. Do not these bleak +hills, this stern but lovely Cathedral, rising _per aspera ad astra_, +typify the strong soul of Santa Teresa? A great psychologist of our day +finds the woman in her admirable literary style. Prof. James further +accepts Saint Teresa's own defense of her visions: "By their fruits ye +shall know them." These were practical, brave, cheerful, aspiring, like +this Castilian sanctuary, intolerant of dissenters, sheltering and +caring for many, and leading them upward to the City which is unseen, +eternal in the heavens. + + + + +IV + +LEON + +[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF LEON + +From the southwest] + + Look where the flood of western glory falls + Through the great sunflower disk of blazing panes + In ruby, saffron, azure, emerald stains. + + _Holmes._ + + +In the year 1008 the ancient church of Leon witnessed a ceremony +memorable for more reasons than one. It was conducted throughout +according to Gothic customs, King, Queen, nobility and ecclesiastics all +being present, and it was the first council held in Spain since the Arab +conquest whose acts have come down to us. The object was twofold: to +hold a joyous festival in celebration of the rebuilding of the city +walls, which had been broken down some years before by a Moslem army, +and to draw up a charter for a free people, governing themselves, for +Spain has the proud distinction of granting municipal charters one or +two hundred years before the other countries of Europe. For three +centuries of Gothic rule, the kings of Leon, Castile and other provinces +had successfully resisted every attempt at encroachment from the Holy +See and, in session with the clergy, elected their own bishops, until in +1085 Alfonso VI of Castile takes the fatal step of sending Bernard +d'Azeu to receive the pallium and investiture as Bishop of Toledo from +the hands of Gregory VII. From this time forth, kings are crowned, +queens repudiated, and even the hallowed Gothic or Mozarabic ritual is +set aside for that of Rome by order of popes. + +In 1135 Santa Maria of Leon is the scene of a gorgeous pageant. An +Alfonso, becoming master of half Spain and quarter of France, thinks he +might be called Emperor as well as some others, and within the Cathedral +walls he receives the new title in the presence of countless +ecclesiastics and "all his vassals, great and small." The monarch's robe +was of marvelous work, and a crown of pure gold set with precious stones +was placed on his head, while the King of Navarre held his right hand +and the Bishop of Leon his left. Feastings and donations followed, but, +what was of vastly more importance, the new Emperor confirmed the +charters granted to various cities by his grandfather. + +Again a great ceremony fills the old church. Ferdinand, later known as +the Saint, is baptized there in 1199. A year or two later, Innocent III +declares void the marriage of his father and mother, who were cousins, +and an interdict shrouds the land in darkness. Several years pass during +which the Pope turns a deaf ear to the entreaties of a devoted husband, +the King of Leon, to their children's claim, the intercession of Spanish +prelates, and the prayers of two nations who had good cause to rejoice +in the union of Leon and Castile. Then a victim of the yoke, which Spain +had voluntarily put on while Frederic of Germany and even Saint Louis of +France were defending their rights against the aggressions of the Holy +See, the good Queen Berenzuela, sadly took her way back to her father's +home, to the King of Castile. + +His prerogative once established, Innocent III looked well after his +obedient subjects. When Spain was threatened by the most formidable of +all Moorish invasions, he published to all Christendom a bull of crusade +against the Saracens, and sent across the Pyrenees the forces which had +been gathering in France for war in Palestine. Rodrigo, Archbishop of +Toledo, preached the holy war and led his troops, in which he was joined +by the bishops of Bordeaux, Nantes, and Narbonne at the head of their +militia. Germany and Italy sent their quota of knights and soldiers of +fortune, and this concourse of Christian warriors, speaking innumerable +tongues, poured through mountain defiles and ever southward till they +met in lofty Toledo and camped on the banks of the Tagus. Marches, +skirmishes, and long-drawn-out sieges prelude the great day. The hot +Spanish summer sets in, the foreigners, growing languid in the arid +stretches of La Mancha, and disappointed at the slender booty meted out +to them, desert the native army, march northwards and again cross the +Pyrenees to return to their homes. It was thus left to the Spaniards, +led by three kings and their warlike prelates, to defeat a Moslem army +of half a million and gain the glorious victory of Las Navas de Tolosa +on the sixteenth of August, 1212. + +With Rome's firm grasp on the Spanish Peninsula came temples no less +beautiful than those the great Mother Church was planting in every +portion of her dominion north of the Pyrenees,--Leon, Burgos, Toledo and +Valencia rose in proud challenge to Amiens, Rheims, Beauvais and +Chartres. + +Leon may be called French,--yes, unquestionably so, but that is no +detraction or denial of her native "gentileza." She may be the very +embodiment of French planning, her general dimensions like those of +Bourges; her portals certainly recall those of Chartres, and the +planning of her apsidal chapels, her bases, arches, and groining ribs, +remind one of Amiens and Rheims; but nevertheless this exotic flower +blooms as gloriously in a Spanish desert as those that sprang up amid +the vineyards or in the Garden of France. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF LEON CATHEDRAL + + A. Capilla Mayor. + B. Choir. + C. Crossing. + D. Tombs. + E. Trascoro. + F. Towers. + G. Cloisters.] + +Leon is almost as old as the history of Spain. In the first century +after Christ, the seventh Roman legion, on the order of Augustus, +pitched their tents where the city now stands, built their customary +rectangular enclosure with its strong walls and towers, happily seconded +by the nature of the surrounding country. From here the wild hordes of +the Asturias could be kept in check. The city was narrowly built in the +fork of two rivers, on ground allowing neither easy approach nor +expansion, so that the growth has, even up to the twentieth century, +been within the ancient walls, and the streets and squares are in +consequence narrow and cramped. On many of the blocks of those old walls +may still be seen carved in the clear Roman lettering, "Legio septima +gemina, pia, felix." The name of Leon is merely a corruption first used +by the Goths of the Roman "Legio." Roman dominion survived the empire +for many years, being first swept away when the Gothic hordes in the +middle of the sixth century descended from the north under the +conqueror, Loevgild. Its Christian bishopric was possibly the first in +Spain, founded in the darkness of the third century, since which time +the little city can boast an unbroken succession of Leonese bishops, +although a number, during the turbulent decades of foreign rule, may not +actually have been "in residence." The Moslem followed the Goth, and +ruled while the nascent Christian kingdom of the Asturias was slowly +gaining strength for independence and the foundation of an episcopal +seat. In the middle of the eighth century, the Christians wrested it +from the Moors. On the site of the old Roman baths, built in three long +chambers, King Ordoño II erected his palace (he was reconstructing for +defense and glory the walls and edifices of the city) and in 916 +presented it with considerable ground and several adjacent houses to +Bishop Frumonio, that he might commence the building of the Cathedral on +the advantageous palace site in the heart of the city. Terrible Moorish +invasions occurred soon after, involving considerable damage to the +growing Byzantine basilica. In 996 the Moors swept the city with fire +and sword, and again, three years later, it fell entirely into the hands +of the great conqueror Almanzor, who remained in possession only just +the same time, for we may read in the old monkish manuscripts that in +1002 from the Christian pulpits of Castile and Leon the proclamation was +made: "Almanzor is dead, and buried in Hell." + +Leon could boast of being the first mediæval city of Europe to obtain +self-government and a charter of her own, and she became the scene of +important councils during the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth +centuries. In the eleventh century, under the great Ferdinand I, who +united Castile and Leon, work on the basilica was pushed rapidly +forward. French influence was predominant in the early building +operations, for Alfonso VI of Castile, who assumed the title of Emperor +of Spain, had two French wives, each of whom brought with her a batch of +zealous and skillful church-building prelates. + +The church was finally consecrated in 1149. About twenty-five years ago, +the Spanish architect, D. Demetrio de los Rios, in charge of the work of +restoration on the present Cathedral, discovered the walls and +foundations of the ancient basilica and was able to determine accurately +its relation to the later Gothic church. The exact date when this was +begun is uncertain,--many writers give 1199. Beyond a doubt the +foundations were laid out during the reign of Alfonso IX, early in the +thirteenth century, when Manrique de Lara was Bishop of the See of Leon +and French Gothic construction was at the height of its glory. It is +thus a thirteenth-century church, belonging principally to the latter +part, built with the feverish energy, popular enthusiasm, and +unparalleled genius for building which characterizes that period and +stamps it as uniquely glorious to later constructive ages. Though +smaller than most of the immense churches which afterwards rose under +Spanish skies, Leon remained in many respects unsurpassed and unmatched. + + "Sevilla en grandeza, Toledo en riqueza, + Compostella en fortaleza, está en sutileza + Santa Maria de Regla." + +In the middle of the thirteenth century, after the consecration of the +new church, a famous council of all the bishops of the realm was held in +the little town of Madrid, and there the faithful were exhorted, and +the lukewarm admonished with threats, to contribute by every means to +the successful erection of Leon's Cathedral. Indulgences, well worth +consideration, were granted to contributors, at the head of whom for a +liberal sum stood the king, Alfonso X. + +But Leon, capital of the ancient kingdom, was doomed before long to feel +the bitterness of abandonment. The Castilian kings followed the retreat +southward of the Moorish armies, and the history of the capital of Leon, +which, during the thirteenth century, had been the history of the little +kingdom, soon became confined within the limits of her cathedral walls. +Burgos, a mighty rival, soon overshadowed her. The time came when the +Bishop of Leon was merely a suffragan of the Archbishop of Burgos, and +her kings had moved their court south to Seville. The city of Leon was +lost in the union of the two kingdoms. + +The fortunes of the Cathedral have been varied and her reverses great. +Her architects risked a great deal and the disasters entailed were +proportionate. Though belonging preëminently in style to the glorious +thirteenth century, her building continued almost uninterruptedly +throughout the fourteenth. We have in succession Maestro Enrique, Pedro +Cebrian, Simon, Guillen de Rodan, Alonzo Valencia, Pedro de Medina, and +Juan de Badajoz, working on her walls and towers with a magnificent +recklessness which was shortly to meet its punishment. Although Bishop +Gonzalez in 1303 declared the work, "thanks be to God, completed," it +was but started. The south façade was completed in the sixteenth +century, but as early as 1630 the light fabric began to tremble, then +the vaulting of the crossing collapsed and was replaced by a more +magnificent dome. Many years of mutilations and disasters succeeded. The +south front was entirely taken down and rebuilt, the vaulting of aisles +fell, great portions of the main western façade, and ornamentation here +and there was disfigured or destroyed by the later alterations in +overconfident and decadent times, until, in the middle of the eighteenth +century, very considerable portions of the original rash and exquisite +fabric were practically ruined. There came, however, an awakening to the +outrages which had been committed, and from the middle of the nineteenth +century to the present day, the work of putting back the stones in their +original forms and places has steadily advanced to the honor of Leon and +glory of Spain, until Santa Maria de Regla at last stands once more in +the full pristine lightness of her original beauty. + +The plan of Leon is exceedingly fine, surpassed alone among Spanish +churches by that of Toledo. Three doorways lead through the magnificent +western portal into the nave and side aisles of the Church. These +consist of five bays up to the point where the huge arms of the transept +spread by the width of an additional bay. In proportion to the foot of +the cross, these arms are broader than in any other Spanish cathedral. +They are four bays in length, the one under the central lantern being +twice the width of the others, thus making the total width of the +transepts equal to the distance from the western entrance to their +intersection. The choir occupies the fifth and sixth bays of the nave. +To the south, the transept is entered by a triple portal very similar in +scale and richness to the western. The eastern termination of the +church is formed by a choir of three and an ambulatory of five bays +running back of the altar and trascoro, and five pentagonal apsidal +chapels. The sacristy juts out in the extreme southwestern angle. The +northern arm of the huge transepts is separated from the extensive +cloisters by a row of chapels or vestibules which to the east also lead +to the great Chapel of Santiago. All along its eastern lines the church +with its dependencies projects beyond the city walls, one of its massive +towers standing as a mighty bulwark of defense in the extreme +northeastern angle. + +[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF LEON + +Looking up the nave] + +It is a plan that must delight not only the architect, but any casual +observer, in its almost perfect symmetry and in the relationship of its +various parts to each other. It belonged to the primitive period of +French Gothic, though carried out in later days when its vigor was +waning. It has not been cramped nor distorted by initial limitation of +space or conditions, nor injured by later deviations from the original +conception. It is worthy of the great masters who planned once for all +the loveliest and most expressive house for the worship of God. Erected +on the plains of Leon, it was conceived in the inspired provinces of +Champagne and the Isle de France. + +It has a total length of some 308 feet and a width of nave and aisles of +83. The height to the centre of nave groining is 100 feet. The western +front has two towers, which, curiously enough, as in Wells Cathedral, +flank the side aisles, thus necessitating in elevation a union with the +upper portions of the façade by means of flying buttresses. + +There is a fine view of the exterior of the church from across the +square facing the southwestern angle. A row of acacia plumes and a +meaningless, eighteenth-century iron fence conceal the marble paving +round the base, but this foreground sinks to insignificance against the +soaring masses of stone towers and turrets, buttresses and pediments, +stretching north and east. Both façades have been considerably restored, +the later Renaissance and Baroque atrocities having been swept away in a +more refined and sensitive age, when the portions of masonry which fell, +owing to the flimsiness of the fabric, were rebuilt. The result has, +however, been that great portions, as for instance in the western front +and the entire central body above the portals, jar, with the chalky +whiteness of their surfaces by the side of the time-worn masonry. They +lack the exquisite harmony of tints, where wind and sun and water have +swept and splashed the masonry for centuries. + +The two towers that flank the western front in so disjointed a manner +are of different heights and ages. Both have a heavy, lumbering quality +entirely out of keeping with the aerial lightness of the remainder of +the church. It is not quite coarseness, but rather a stiff-necked, +pompous gravity. Their moldings lack vigor and sparkle. The play of +fancy and sensitive decorative treatment are wanting. The northern tower +is the older and has an upper portion penetrated by a double row of +round and early pointed windows. An unbroken octagonal spire crowns it, +the angles of the intersection being filled by turrets, as uninteresting +as Prussian sentry-boxes. The southern tower, though lighter and more +ornamented, has, like its sister, extremely bald lower surfaces, the +four angles in both cases being merely broken by projecting buttresses. +The lowest story was completed in the fourteenth century. It was added +to in successive centuries by Maestro Jusquin and Alfonso Ramos, but its +great open-work spire, of decided German form, probably much influenced +by Colonia's spires at Burgos, was first raised in the fifteenth +century. + +It is a complete monotonous lacework of stone, not nearly as spirited as +similar, earlier, French work. The spire is separated from the bald base +by a two-storied belfry, with two superimposed openings on each surface. +Gothic inscriptions decorate the masonry and the huge black letters +spell out "Deus Homo--Ave Maria, Gratia plena." + +At the base, between these huge, grave sentinels, stands the magnificent +old portico with the modern facing of the main body of the church above +it. This screen of later days, built after the removal of a hideously +out-of-keeping Renaissance front, is contained within two buttresses +which meet the great flying ones. In fact, looking down the stone gorge +between these buttresses and the towers, one sees a mass of pushing and +propping flying buttresses springing in double rows above the roof of +the side aisles towards the clerestories of the nave. The screen itself +contains, immediately above the portico, an arcade of four subdivided +arches, corresponding to the triforium, and above it a gorgeous rose +window. It is the best type of late thirteenth or early +fourteenth-century wheel of radial system, very similar in design to the +western wheel of Notre Dame de Paris and the great western one of +Burgos. Springing suddenly into being in all its developed perfection, +it can only be regarded as a direct importation from the Isle de France. +The ribs of the outer circle are twice as many as those of the inner, +thus dividing the glass surfaces into approximately equal breadth of +fields. This and the rose of the southern transept are similar, and both +are copies of the original one still extant in the north transept. A +fine cornice and open-work gallery surmount the composition, flanked by +crocketed turrets and crowned in the centre by a pediment injurious in +effect and of Italian Renaissance inspiration. The gable field is broken +by a smaller wheel, and in an ogival niche are statues of the +Annunciation. + +The portico is the most truly splendid part of the Cathedral. Erected at +the end of the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth century, much +of its Gothic sculpture is unsurpassed in Spain. A perfect museum of art +and a history in magnificent carving. The composition as a whole recalls +again unquestionably Chartres. It consists of three recessed arches +hooding with deep splays the three doorways which lead into nave and +side aisles. Between the major arches are two smaller, extremely pointed +ones, the most northerly of which encases an ancient columnar shaft +decorated with the arms of Leon and bearing the inscription, "locus +appellationis." Beneath it court was long held and justice administered +by the rulers of Leon during the Middle Ages. + +The arches of the porches are supported by piers, completely broken and +surrounded by columnar shafts and niches carrying statues on their +corbels. These piers stand out free from the jambs of the doors and +wall surfaces behind, and thus form an open gallery between the two. +Around and over all is an astounding and lavish profusion of +sculpture,--no less than forty statues. The jambs and splays, the +shafts, the archivolts, the moldings and tympanums are covered with +carving, varied and singularly interesting in the diversity of its +period and character. Part of it is late Byzantine with the traditions +of the twelfth century, while much is from the very best vigorous Gothic +chisels, and yet some, later Gothic. Certain borders, leafage, and vine +branches are Byzantine, and so also are some of the statues, "retaining +the shapeless proportions and the immobility and parched frown of the +Byzantine School, so perfectly dead in its expression, offering, +however, by its garb and by its contours not a little to the study of +this art, and so constituting a precious museum." Again, other statues +have the mild and venerable aspect of the second period of Gothic work. +The oldest are round the most northerly of the three doorways. Every +walk of life is represented. There is a gallery of costumes; and most +varying emotions are depicted in the countenances of the kings and +queens, monks and virgins, prelates, saints, angels, and bishops. +Separating the two leaves of the main doorway, stands Our White Lady. +But if the statues are interesting, the sculpture of the archivolts and +the personages and scenes carved on the fields of the tympanums far +surpass them. + +Mrs. Wharton says somewhere, "All northern art is anecdotic,--it is an +ancient ethnological fact that the Goth has always told his story that +way." Nothing could be more "anecdotic" than this sculpture. The +northern tympanum gives scenes from the Life of Christ, the Visitation, +the Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi, and the Flight into Egypt. In +the southern, are events from the life of the Virgin Mary; but the +central one, and the archivolts surrounding it, contain the most +spirited bits. The scene is the Last Judgment, with Christ as the +central figure. Servants of the Church of various degrees are standing +on one side with expressions of beatitude nowise clouded by the fate of +the miserable reprobates on the other. In the archivolts angels ascend +with instruments and spreading wings, embracing monks or gathering +orphans into their bosoms, while the lost with horrid grimaces are +descending to their inevitable doom. Not even the great Florentine could +depict more realistically the feelings of such as had sinned grievously +in this world. + +The long southern side of the church has for its governing feature the +wide transept termination, which in its triple portal, triforium arcade, +and rose is practically a repetition of the west. The central body is +all restored. The original, magnificent old statues and carving have, +however, been set back in the new casings around and above the main +entrance. An old Leonese bishop, San Triolan, occupies in the central +door the same position as "Our White Lady" to the west, while the +Saviour between the Four Evangelists is enthroned in the tympanum. + +[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF LEON + +Rear of apse] + +One obtains a most interesting study in construction by standing behind +the great polygonal apse, whence one may see the double rows of flying +buttresses pushing with the whole might of the solid piers behind them +against the narrow strips of masonry at the angles of the choir. From +every buttress rise elegantly carved and crocketed finials. Marshalled +against the cobalt of the skies, they body forth an array of shining +lances borne by a heavenly host. The balconies, forming the cresting to +the excessively high clerestory, are entirely Renaissance in feeling, +and lack in their horizontal lines the upward spring of the church +below. Almost all of this eastern end, breaking through the city walls, +is, with the possible exception of the roof, part of the fine old +structure, in contrast to the adjoining Plateresque sacristy. + +It is generally from the outside of French cathedrals that one receives +the most vivid impressions. Though the mind may be overcome by a feeling +of superhuman effort on entering the portals of Notre Dame de Paris, yet +the emotion produced by the first sight of the queenly, celestial +edifice from the opposite side of the broad square is the more powerful +and eloquent. Not so in Spain,--and this in spite of the location of the +choirs. It is not until you enter a Spanish church that its power and +beauty are felt. + +The audacious construction of Leon, which one wonders at from the square +outside, becomes well-nigh incredible when seen from the nave. How is it +possible that glass can support such a weight of stone? If Burgos was +bold, this is insane. It looks as unstable as a house of cards, ready +for a collapse at the first gentle breeze. Can fields of glass sustain +three hundred feet of thrusts and such weights of stone? It is a +culmination of the daring of Spanish Gothic. In France there was this +difference,--while the fields of glass continued to grow larger and +larger, the walls to diminish, and the piers to become slenderer, the +aid of a more perfectly developed system of counterthrusts to the +vaulting was called in. In Spain we reach the maximum of elimination in +the masonry of the side walls at the end of the thirteenth century, and +in the Cathedral of Leon, whereas later Gothic work, as in portions of +Burgos and Toledo, shows a sense of the futile exaggeration towards +which they were drifting, as well as the impracticability of so much +glass from a climatic point of view. + +Internally, Leon is the lightest and most cheerful church in Spain. The +great doorways of the western and southern fronts, as well as that to +the north leading into the cloisters, are thrown wide open, as if to add +to the joyousness of the temple. Every portion of it is flooded with +sweet sunlight and freshness. It is the church of cleanliness, of light +and fresh air, and above all, of glorious color. The glaziers might have +said with Isaiah, "And I will make thy windows of agates and thy gates +of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones." The entire walls +are a continuous series of divine rainbows. + +The side walls of the aisles for a height of some fourteen feet to the +bottom of their vaulting ribs, the triforium, commencing but a foot +above the arches which separate nave from side aisles, and immediately +above the triforium, forty feet of clerestory,--all is glass, emerald, +turquoise, and peacock, amber, straw, scarlet, and crimson, encased in a +most delicate, strangely reckless, and bold-traceried framework of +stained ivory. Indeed, the jeweled portals of Heaven are wide open when +the sun throws all the colors from above across the otherwise colorless +fields of the pavement. "The color of love's blood within them glows." +There is glazing of many centuries and all styles. In some of the +triforium windows are bits of glass, which, after the destruction or +falling of the old windows, were carefully collected, put together, and +used again in the reglazing. Some of it is of the earliest in Spain, +probably set by French, Flemish, or German artisans who had immigrated +to practise their art and set up their factories on Spanish soil +adjacent to the stone-carvers' and masons' sheds under the rising walls +of the great churches. Like all skilled artisans of their age, the +secret of their trade, the proper fusing of the silica with the +alkalies, was carefully guarded and handed down from father to son or +master to apprentice. They were chemists, glaziers, artists, colorists, +and glass manufacturers, all in one. The heritage was passed on in those +days, when the great key of science which opens all portals had not yet +become common property. Some of the oldest glass is merely a crude +mosaic inlay of small bits and must date back to early thirteenth +century. Coloring glass by partial fusion was then first practised and +soon followed by the introduction of figures and themes in the glass, +and the acquisition of a lovely, homogeneous opalescence in place of the +purely geometrical patterns. Scriptural scenes or figures painted, as +the Spanish say, "en caballete," became more and more general. The best +of the Leon windows are from the fifteenth century, when the glaziers' +shops in the city worked under the direction of Juan de Arge, Maestro +Baldwin, and Rodrigo de Ferraras, and its master colorists were at work +glazing the windows of the Capilla Mayor, the Capilla de Santiago, and a +portion of those of the north transept. "Ces vitreaux hauts en couleur, +qui faisaient hésiter l'oeil émerveillé de nos pères entre la rose du +grand portail et les ogives de l'abside." The glazing has gone on +through centuries; even to-day the glaziers at Leon are busy in their +shops, making the sheets of sunset glow for their own and other Spanish +cathedrals. + +In some of the side aisles, they have, alas, during recent decades +placed some horrible "grisaille" and geometrically patterned +windows,--in frightful contrast to the delightful thirteenth-century +legends of Saint Clement and Saint Ildefonso, or that most absorbing +record of civic life depicted in the northern aisle. In studying the +windows of Leon, Lamperez y Romea's observations on Spanish glazing are +of interest: "In the fourteenth century the rules of glazing in Spain +were changed. Legends had fallen into disuse and the masters had learned +that, in the windows of the high nave, small medallions could not be +properly appreciated. They were then replaced by large figures, isolated +or in groups, but always one by one in the spaces determined by the +tracery. The coloring remained strong and vivid. The study of nature, +which had so greatly developed in painting and in sculpture, altered the +drawing little by little, the figures became more modeled and lifelike, +and were carried out with more detail. At the same time the coloring +changed by the use of neutral tints, violet, brown, light blues, rose, +etc. Many of the old windows are of this style. And so are the majority +of the windows of Avila, Leon, and Toledo, as it lasted in Spain +throughout the fifteenth century, and others which preserve the +composition of great figures and strong coloring, although there may be +noticed in the drawings greater naturalism and modeling." + +These rules differed slightly from those followed in France, where, with +the exception of certain churches in the east, the windows of the +thirteenth century were richer in decoration, more luscious in coloring +and more harmonious in their tones than those of the fourteenth. There +is little in this later century that can compare with the +thirteenth-century series of Chartres figures. + +The Leonese windows are perhaps loveliest late in the afternoon, when +the saints and churchmen seem to be entering the church through their +black-traceried portals, and, clad in heavenly raiment, about to descend +to the pavement,-- + + As softly green, + As softly seen, + Through purest crystal gleaming, + +there to people the aisles and keep vigil at the altars of God to the +coming of another day. + +There are, fortunately, scarcely any other colors or decorations,--or +altars off side aisles,--that might divert the attention from the +richness of glass. The various vaulting has the jointing of its +stonework strongly marked, but, with the exception of the slightly +gilded bosses, no color is applied. The glory of the glass is thus +enhanced. Owing to the great portions of masonry which have been +rebuilt, this varies in its tints, but the old was, and has remained, of +such an exquisitely delicate creamy color that the new interposed +stonework merely looks like a lighter, fresher shade of the old. The +restoration has been executed with rare skill and artistic feeling. + +In studying the inner organism and structure of the edifice, one soon +sees how recklessly the original fabric was constructed and in how many +places it had to be rebuilt, strengthened and propped,--indeed, +immediately after its completion. Here, as was the general custom in the +greater early Gothic cathedrals, the building began with the choir and +Capilla Mayor, to be followed by the transepts, the portions of the +edifice essential to the service. The choir was probably temporarily +roofed over and the nave and side aisles followed. The exterior façades, +portals, and upper stories of the towers were carried out last of all by +the aid of indulgences, contributions, alms and concessions. + +In old manuscripts and documents which record the very first work on the +cathedrals we find the one in charge called "Maestro,"--or _magister +operis_, _magister ecclesiae_, _magister fabricae_, but not till +the sixteenth century does the appellation "arquitecto" appear. +His pay seems to have varied, both in amount and in form of +emolument,--sometimes it was good hard cash, often a very poor or +dubious remuneration, handed out consequently with a more lavish hand; +sometimes grants, and again royal favor. Generally the architect entered +into a stipulated agreement with the Cathedral Chapter, both as to his +time and services, before he began his work. We find Master Jusquin +(1450-69) receiving from the Chapter of Leon not only a daily salary but +also annual donations of bushels of wheat, pairs of gloves, lodgings, +poultry, other supplies, and the use of certain workmen. + +Leon's unquestionable French parentage is, if possible, even more +obvious in the interior than in the exterior. The piers between nave and +side aisles are cylindrical in plan, having in their lowest section on +their front surface three columns grouped together that continue +straight up through triforium and clerestory and carry the transverse +and diagonal ribs of the nave. They have further one column on each side +of the axis east and west and, strange to say, only one toward the side +aisles, which thus lack continuous supports for their diagonal ribs. The +outer walls of the side aisles are formed by a blind arcade of five +arches, surmounted by a projecting balcony or corridor and a clerestory +subdivided by its tracery into four arches and three cusped circles. The +nave triforium consists of a double arcade with a gallery running +between (one of the very rare examples in Spain). Each bay has in the +triforium four open and two closed arches, surmounted by two +quatrefoils. The clerestory rises above, divided by marvelously slender +shafts into six compartments and three cusped circles in the apex of the +arch. Here shine, in dazzling raiment and with ecstatic expressions, the +saints and martyrs ordered in the fifteenth century from Burgos for the +sum of 20,000 maravedis. + +Throughout all the glazed wall surfaces we find evidence of the anxiety +that overtook their reckless projectors. All but the upper cusps of the +windows of the side aisles have been filled in by masonry, painted with +saints and evangelists in place of the translucent ones originally +placed here. The lower portions of the triforium lights have been +blocked up and also the two outer arches of the clerestory. The light, +clustered piers and slender, double flying buttresses could not +accomplish the gigantic task of supporting the great height above. Nor +could the ingenious strengthening of the stone walls (consisting of +ashlar inside and out, facing intermediate rubble) by iron clamps supply +the requisite firmness. + +It seems doubly unfortunate that the choir stalls should occupy the +position they do here, when there is such liberal space in the three +bays east of the crossing in front of the altar. The stone of their +exterior backing is cold and gray beside the ochre warmth of the +surrounding piers. The classic Plateresque statues and bas-reliefs, as +well as the exquisitely carved, Florentine decoration, seems strangely +out of place under the Gothic loveliness above. The trascoro itself is +warmer in color, but of the extravagant later period. Its pilasters, +spandrels, and band-courses are filled with elaborate and fine +Florentine ornamentation, while the niches themselves, with high reliefs +representing the Annunciation, the Nativity, and the Adoration of the +Magi, are not quite free from a certain Gothic feeling. Above, great +statues of Church Fathers weigh heavily on the delicate work and smaller +scale below. + +The carving of the double tier of walnut choir stalls is at once +restrained and rich. Beautiful Gothic tracery surmounts in both tiers +the figures that fill the panels above the seats. Below are characters +from the Old Testament,--Daniel, Jeremiah, Abel, David busily playing +his harp, Joshua "Dux Isri," Moses with splendid big horns and tablets, +Tobias with his little fish slit up the belly. Above stand firmly +full-length figures of the Apostles and saints. With the exception of +some of the work near the entrance, which is practically Renaissance in +feeling, all this carving is late Gothic from the last part of the +fifteenth century and executed by the masters Fadrique, John of Malines, +and Rodrigo Aleman. Two of the stalls, more elevated and pronounced than +the rest, are for the hereditary canons of the Cathedral, the King of +Leon and the Marquis of Astorga. Excellent as they are, these stalls are +not nearly so rich in design nor beautiful in execution as the Italian +Renaissance choir stalls, in the Convent of San Marcos directly outside +the city walls, carved some decades later by the Magister Guillielmo +Dosel. + +The crossing is splendidly broad, the transepts appearing, as one +glances north and south, as much the main arms of the cross as do the +nave and choir. The southern arm is quite new, having been completely +rebuilt by D. Juan Madrazo and D. Demetrio Amador de los Rios. The +glazing of its window and the arabesques cannot be compared to those of +the original fabric in the northern arm. The four piers of the crossing, +though slender and graceful, carry full, logical complements of shafts +for the support of the various vaulting ribs, intersecting at their +apexes. + +The retablo above the high altar is in its simplicity as refreshing as +the light and sunniness of the church. In place of the customary gaudy +carving, it merely consists of a series of painted fifteenth-century +tablets set in Gothic frames. Simple rejas close the western bays and a +florid Gothic trasaltar, the eastern termination. Directly back of the +altar lies a noble and dignified figure, the founder of the church, King +Ordoño II. At his feet is a little dog, looking for all the world like +a sucking pig in a butcher's window. And above him is an ancient and +most curious Byzantine relief of the Crucifixion. The lions and castles +of his kingdom surround the old king. The greater portion of the carving +must belong to the oldest in the church. + +In looking at the vaulting and considering the difficulty of planning +the "girola" or ambulatory, one realizes that such construction could +only be the outcome of many years of study, experiment and inspiration. +Perfection means long previous schooling and experience. The apsidal +chapels that radiate from it have glass differing in excellence. Here +and there frescoes of the thirteenth century line these earliest walls. +It is surprising in how many different places old sepulchres are to be +found, all more or less similar in their general design and belonging to +the period of transition from the Byzantine to the Gothic, yet each +denoting the building period of the place where it stands. Some of the +subjects of the carving are most curious: a hog playing the bagpipes, +the devil in the garb of a father confessor, tempting a penitent; or +again, a woman suckling an ass. Saint Froila lies on one side of the +altar. Not only his sanctity but even his authenticity were disputed by +various disbelievers in the city, prior to his being brought to this +final resting-place. The matter was decided by placing the body in +question on an ass's back, whereupon the sagacious animal took his holy +burden to the spot where it deserved burial. + +In the Capilla de Nuestra Señora del Dado, or "of the die," stands a +Virgin with the face of the Christ child ever bleeding, it is said, +since the time when an unlucky gambler in a fit of despair threw his +dice against the Babe. + +Directly opposite Ordoño's tomb lies the Countess Sancha, who, in a +burst of religious enthusiasm, decided to leave her considerable worldly +goods to the Church instead of to her nephew. This was more than he +could stand, and he murdered her. Below her figure he is represented, +receiving his just reward in being torn to pieces by wild horses. + +To the north, a florid Gothic portal leads on a higher level to the +Chapel of Santiago. This has been, and is still being, restored. Its +three vaults are differently arched, the ribs not being carried down +against the side walls to the floor, but met by broad corbels supported +by curious figures. The stonework is cold and gray in comparison to the +church proper. + +Separating the northern entrance from the cloisters is a row of chapels, +leading one into the other and crowded with tombs and sculpture. There +are few more complete cloisters in Spain. Large and elaborate, they are +a curious mixture of the old Gothic and the Renaissance restorations of +the sixteenth century. Ancient Gothic tombs, their archivolts crowded +with angels, pierce the interior walls, while the vaults themselves are +most elaborately groined, the arches and vaulting being later filled +with Renaissance bosses and rosettes. In the sunny courtyard are piled +up the Renaissance turrets and sculptures that once usurped on the +façades the places of the older Gothic ornamentation. The northern +portal itself is practically hidden by the chapels and cloisters. It is +fine Gothic work. A Virgin and Child form a mullion in its centre, while +very worldly-looking women parade in its archivolts. Everywhere are the +arms of the United Kingdoms. A great portion of the ancient tapestry +blue and Veronese red coloring is still preserved, throwing out the old +Gothic figures in their true tints. + +This aerial tabernacle, so rich and yet so simple, lies in the heart of +a city so fabulously old that the Cathedral itself belongs rather to its +later days. The old houses and streets have a dryness and close smell +like that in the ancient sepulchres of parched countries. Monuments and +walls and turrets of Rome crumble around the houses and vaults of +Byzantium. The naïve frescoes and carvings of the eighth and ninth +centuries seem to look down with childlike wonder and amazement on the +pedestrians now crowding the patterned pavements, or pressing against +the shady sides of the time-worn arches. + +The worshipers who tread the narrow lanes leading to and from the altar +have changed, but little else. The square, mediæval castles with their +angular towers still command the approach of the main thoroughfares. The +crabbed old watchman with lantern and stick under his cape treads his +doddering gait across the courtyards through the night hours, crying +after the peal of the bell above, "Las doce han dado y sereno," "Las +trece han dado y aleviendo," "Las quince han dado y nublano," just as in +the middle ages, so that the good peasant may know time and weather and +merely turn in his bed, if neither crops nor creatures need care. + +Santa Maria de Regla too stands to-day as she stood in the middle ages, +a monument to the care and affection of her children. She has the same +spirituality, harmony of proportions, slenderness, and purity of lines, +and she looks down and blesses us to-day with the same serenity and +queenly grace which she wore in the fourteenth century. She is the +finest Gothic cathedral in Spain. + + + + +V + + +TOLEDO + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO] + +I withdrew at once with the Morisco into the cloisters of the +Cathedral.--_Don Quixote._ + + +I + +The peace of death is over Toledo, unbroken by any invasion of modern +thought or new architecture since her last deep sighs mingled with the +distant echoes of the middle ages. But she still wears the mantle of her +imperial glory. She sleeps in the fierce, beating sunlight of the +twentieth century like the enchanted princess of fairy tales, +undisturbed by, and unconscious of, the world around her. + +The atmosphere is transparent; the sky spreads from lapis-lazuli to a +cobalt field back of the snow-capped, turquoise Sierra de Gredo +mountains, while a clear streak of lemon color throws out the sharp +silhouette of the battlements and towers. + +There is sadness and desolation in the decay, a pathetically forlorn and +tragical widowhood, strangely affecting to the senses. + + A blackened ruin, lonely and forsaken, + Already wrapt in winding-sheets of sand; + So lies Toledo till the dead awaken,-- + A royal spoil of Time's resistless hand. + +Toledo! The name rings with history, romance and legend. Enthralling +images of the past rise before one and vanish like the ghosts of +Macbeth. Capital of Goth, of Moslem, and of Christian; mightiest of +hierarchical seats,[8] city of monarch and priest, she has worn a double +diadem. Gautier says, "Jamais reine antique, pas même Cléopatre, qui +buvait des perles, jamais courtisane Vénitienne du temps de Titien n'eut +un écrin plus étincelant, un trousseau plus riche que Notre Dame de +Tolède." But the flame of life which once burned warm and bright is now +extinct and all her glory has vanished. Neglected churches, convents, +palaces, and ruins lie huddled together, a stern and solemn vision of +the past, waiting with the silence of the tomb, broken only by the +continual tolling of her hoarse bells. + +The city has a superb situation. Once seen, it is forever impressed upon +the memory. The hills on which it stands rise abruptly from the +surrounding campagna, which bakes brown and barren and crisp under the +scorching rays of the sun, and stretches away to the distant mountains, +vast and uninterrupted in its solitude and dreariness. It is "pobre de +solemnidad,"--solemnly poor, as runs the touching phrase in Spanish. +There is no joy and freshness of vegetation, no glistening of wet +leaves, no scent of flowers. You read thirst in the plains, hunger in +the soil-denuded hills. All is naked and bare, without a softening line +or gentler shadow, lying fallow in spring, unwatered in drought, and +ungarnered at harvest time. + +The Tagus rushes round the city in the shape of a horseshoe, confining +and protecting it as the Wear does the towers of Durham. It boils and +eddies 'twixt its narrow, rocky confines, hurrying from the gloomy +shadows to the sunshine below, through which it slowly sweeps, murky and +coffee-colored, to the horizon, no life between its flat banks, no +commerce to mark it as a highway. + +You pass over the high-arched Alcantara Bridge, which the Campeador and +his kinsman, Alvar Fanez, crossed with twelve hundred horsemen at their +back, to demand justice from their sovereign. A broad terrace crawls +like a serpent up the steep incline to the city gates. A forest of +soaring steeples rises above you, topped by the square bulk of the +Alcazar. + +The city smells sleepy. The narrow streets, or rather alleys, of the +town wind tortuously around the stucco façades, with no apparent +starting-point or destination, as confused as a skein of worsted after a +kitten has played with it. Thus were they laid out by the wise Arabs, to +afford shade at all hours of the day. At every corner, one runs into +some detail of historical or artistic interest,--history and +architecture here wander hand in hand. + +Huge, wooden doors, closely studded with scallop nails as big as a man's +fist, proud escutcheons of noble races lost to all save Spain's history; +charming glimpses of interior courtyards and gardens glittering fresh in +their emerald coloring, and sweet with the scent of orange blossoms; +Gothic crenelations, Renaissance ironwork and railing, and Moorish +capitals and ornamentation, all pell-mell, the styles of six centuries +often appearing in the same building. More than a hundred churches and +chapels and forty monasteries crumble side by side within the small +radius of the city. Half of its area was once covered by religious +buildings or mortmain property. + + +II + +The church, be it a grand cathedral or the humble steeple of some little +hamlet, is always the connecting link between past and present. It has +been the highest artistic expression of the people, and it remains an +eloquent witness to continuity and tradition. It is what makes later +ages most forcibly "remember," for it seeks to embody and satisfy the +greatest need of the human heart. + +The history of a great cathedral church of Spain is so closely connected +with the civil life of its city that one cannot be thoroughly studied +without some familiarity with the other. Spanish cathedrals differ in +this respect from their great English and French sisters. In England, +cathedrals were built and owned by the clergy, they belonged to the +priests, they were surrounded and hedged in from the outside world by +their extensive lawns and cloisters, refectories, chapter houses, +bishops' palaces, and numerous monastic buildings. They were shut off +from the rest of the world by high walls. In France, the cathedrals were +the centre of civic life; their organs were the heart-throbs of the +people; their bells were notes of warning. The very houses of the +artisans climbed up to their sides and nestled for protection between +the buttresses of the great Mother Church. Notre Dame d'Amiens, for +instance, was the church of a commune, what Walter Pater calls a +"people's church." They belonged to the people more than to the clergy. +They were a civil rather than an ecclesiastical growth, essentially the +layman's glory. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF TOLEDO CATHEDRAL + + A. Chapel of Saint Blase. + B. Chapel of the Parish of Saint Peter. + C. Octagon. + D. Chapel of the Virgin of the Sanctuary. + E. Large Sacristy. + F. Court of the Hall of Accounts. + G. Chapel of the New Kings. + H. Chapel of the Master of Santiago, D. Alvaro de Luna. + I. Chapel of Saint Ildefonso. + K. Chapter House. + L. Chapel of the Old Kings or of the Holy Cross. + M. Capilla Mayor. + N. Chapel of the Tower or of the Dean. + O. Mozarabic Chapel. + P. Choir. + Q. Portal of the Lions. + R. Portal of the Olive, or Gate of La Llana. + S. Portal of the Choir. + T. Portal of the Little Bread. + V. Portal of the Visitation. + W. Portal of the Tower or Gate of Hell. + X. Portal of the Scriveners or of Judgment.] + +In Spain, the church belonged to both. Municipal and ecclesiastical +history were one and the same, going hand in hand in bloody strife or +peaceful union,--the city was the body, the cathedral its animating +soul. The cathedrals were meant, not for prayer alone, but to live +in,--they were for festivals, meetings, thanksgivings, for surging, +excited crowds. The church was an _imperium in imperio_. It was the +rallying place in all great undertakings or excitements. Here the Cortes +often met, the great church conclaves assembled, the mystical Autos or +sacred plays were performed, in them soldiers gathered, prepared for +battle, edicts were published, sovereigns were first proclaimed, and +allegiance was sworn; kings were christened, anointed, and buried. The +troubled murmurings of the lower classes were here first voiced. They +were the art galleries; here were displayed their finest paintings, +statues and tapestries; they were even museums of natural history, and +exhibited the finest examples of their wood-carving and glass-work, and +the iron and silversmith's arts. It is thus easy to see that the +political history of Toledo becomes vital in connection with its +Cathedral church. + +The history of Toledo dates back to Roman days,--we find Pliny referring +to the city as the metropolis of Carpentania. She was among the first +cities of Spain to embrace Christianity. All the barbarians, with the +exception of the Franks, were Arians, but the last Gothic ruler in Spain +to withstand the Roman faith was Leovgild, who reigned in the last half +of the sixth century. He was also their first able administrator, the +first who consistently strove to bring order out of the chaos of warring +tribes and conflicting authorities. Contemporaries describe his palace +at Toledo, his throne and apparel, and his council chamber, as of truly +royal magnificence. It was reserved to his son Reccared to change the +history of Spain by publicly announcing his conversion to the Roman +faith before a council of Roman and Arian bishops held in Toledo in 587, +at the same time inviting them to exchange their views fearlessly and, +as many as would, to follow him. The Goths were never difficult to +convert, and many of the bishops and of the lords who were present +embraced the Catholic faith, to which a majority of the people already +belonged. Gregory the Great, hearing of the success of Reccared's gentle +and liberal proselytism, wrote to him: "What shall I do at the Last +Judgment when I arrive with empty hands, and your Excellency followed by +a flock of faithful souls, converted by persuasion?" He summoned a third +council at Toledo in 589, and in concert with nearly seventy bishops, +regulated the rites and discipline of the Church, at the same time +excluding the Jews from all employments. In royal Toledo Reccared was +anointed with holy oil, and he substituted the Latin for the Gothic +tongue in divine service, where Isidore was the first to use it. In +daily life Latin soon replaced Gothic. King Wamba built the great walls +round the city, and King Roderick held his glorious tournament inside +them. + +Greater than any fame of Gothic monarch was that of the Church Councils +which met here to determine the course of early dogma and shape the +destinies of the larger part of Christendom. + +The most salient figure during the rule of the Gothic kings was Saint +Ildefonso, who quite overshadows his royal contemporaries. In 711 the +Moors conquered the city, which then became a dependency of the Caliphs +of Damascus and Bagdad until a Moorish prince shook off the foreign +yoke. Independent Arab princes ruled, with Toledo as capital of their +empire, until Alfonso VI, King of Castile and Leon, in 1085, finally +conquered it for himself and his successors. + +During the reigns of the early Castilian kings, we find names connected +with the city's history which became famous all over Spain. The Cid was +the city's first Alcaide. Alfonso el Batallador and Pedro el Cruel stand +out in sombre relief, and Toledo was the cradle of the dramatic +Comunidades' rising, and the scene of the noble death of their patriotic +leader Padella. The streets ran with blood, and the walls spoke of +glorious resistance before the Flemish emperor had crushed the liberties +of the people. + +We have a description of the brilliant pageant of Ferdinand and +Isabella's entry after defeating the king of Portugal. "The Prince of +Aragon was in full armour on his war horse and Isabella riding a +beautiful mule, splendidly caparisoned, the bridle being held by two +noble pages. Followed by their gorgeous retinue they rode slowly towards +the Cathedral, while the highest dignitaries of the Church, the +archbishop, himself a mitred king, the canons, and the clergy, in their +pontifical garments, preceded by the Cross, came forth from the Puerta +del Perdon to receive them. On each side of the arch above the doorway +were two angels, and in the centre a young maiden richly clothed, with a +golden crown on her head, to represent the image of 'La Bendita Madre de +Dios, nuestra Señora.' When Ferdinand and Isabella and all the company +had gathered around, the angels began to sing. The following day the +trophies of war were presented to the Cathedral." + +During the period immediately following the reign of the Catholic Kings, +Toledo reached her highest prosperity. She numbered as many as 200,000 +inhabitants;--to-day she has only 20,000. Glorious processions swept +through her streets, the proud knights of the military orders of +Alcantara, Calatrava, and Santiago, black-robed Dominican inquisitors, +executioners, royal chaplains and major-domos, the Councils of the +Indies, Castilian grandees, Roman princes and cardinals, brawling +Flemish and Burgundian nobles, German landsknechts, and great Catholic +ambassadors. + +Toledo received her death-blow when Philip II, unable to brook the +haughty claims of the Toledan archbishops, and feeling his power second +to theirs, finally, in 1560, moved the capital of his realm to Madrid. +Toledo's annals grew dark. So merciless was the Tribunal of the +Inquisition that under its vigilant eye 3327 processes were disposed of +in little more than a year. So Toledo fell from her former greatness. + +The site of the Cathedral in the very heart of the city is by no means +dominant. The church lies so low that even the spire is inconspicuous in +the landscape. On three sides adjacent buildings completely bar all +view or approach. The only free perspective is on the fourth side, from +the steps of the Ayuntamiento across the square. + +The inscription above the door of the city hall, with its trenchant +advice to the magistrates, is well worth notice:-- + + Nobles discretos varones, + Qui gobernais a Toledo + En aquatos escalones + Codicia, temor y miedo. + Por los comunes provechos + Deschad los particulares + Puez vos hezo Dios pilares + De tan requisimos lechos + Estat vermes y derechos.[9] + +In the streets, the _alcazerias_ which wind around the sides of the +Cathedral, the rich silk guild traded. Here were shipped the goods that +freighted vessels sailing for the American colonies. + +During the Visigothic reign in Toledo, the Cathedral site was occupied +by a Christian temple. It was transformed by the Moors after their +occupancy of the city into their principal mosque; there they were still +permitted to carry on their worship, according to the terms of the +treaty made on their surrender of the city to King Alfonso IV in 1085. A +year afterwards King Alfonso went off on a campaign, leaving the +capital in charge of his French queen, Constance, and the Archbishop +Bernard, recently sent to Toledo at the King's request by the Abbot of +Cluny. No sooner was King Alfonso outside the city walls than the +regents turned the Moors out of the church. The Archbishop arrived with +a throng of Christian citizens, battered down the main entrance, threw +the Moslem objects of worship into the gutters, and set in their place +the Cross and the Virgin Mary. When the news of this outrage reached the +ears of the King, he returned in wrath to Toledo, swearing he would burn +both wife and prelate who had dared to break the oath he had so solemnly +sworn. The Moslems, sagely fearing later vengeance would be wreaked upon +them should they permit matters to take their course, besought the +returning sovereign to restrain his wrath while they released him from +his oath,--"Whereat he had great joy, and, riding on into the city, the +matter ended peacefully." + +The appearance of this fanatic Cluny monk is of the greatest importance +as heralding a new influence in the development and history of Spanish +ecclesiastical architecture. His coming marks the introduction of a +foreign style of building and a revolution in the previous national +methods, known as "obra de los Godos," or work of the Goths. Further, +with the gradual arrival of French ecclesiastics from Cluny and Citeaux, +came also a greater interference from Rome in the management of the +Spanish Church, and a radical limitation of the former power of the +Peninsula's arrogant prelates. Owing to the new influence, the Italian +mass-book was soon presented in place of the ancient Gothic ritual and +breviary. The foreign churchmen likewise aided in uniting sovereign, +clergy, and nobility in common cause against the Saracen infidels now so +firmly ensconced in the Peninsula. Spanish art had previously felt only +national influences; now, through the door opened by the monks, it +received potent foreign elements. + +Spain had been far too much occupied with internal strife and political +dissension to have had breathing spell or opportunity for the +development of the fine arts and the building of churches. The passion +for building which the French monks brought with them awoke entirely +dormant qualities in the Spaniard, which in the early Romanesque, but +especially in the Gothic edifices, produced beautiful, but essentially +exotic fruits. First in the days of the Renaissance the architecture +showed features which might be termed original and national. With the +Cluniacs came not only French artisans but Flemish, German, and Italian, +all taking a hand in, and lending their influences to the great works of +the new art. + +Nothing remains of the old Moorish-Christian house of worship. It was +torn down by order of Saint Ferdinand (he had laid the foundation stone +of Burgos as early as 1221), who laid the corner stone of the present +edifice with great ceremony, assisted by the Archbishop, in the month of +August, 1227 (seven years prior to the commencement of Salisbury and +Amiens). The building was practically completed in 1493, during the +reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the most illustrious epoch of Spanish +history. Additions and alterations injurious to the harmony and symmetry +of the building were made till the end of the seventeenth century, and +again continued during the eighteenth. It thus represents the +architectural inspiration and decadence of nearly six hundred years. + +In style it belongs to the group of three great churches, Burgos, Toledo +and Leon, which were based upon the constructional principles and +decorative features termed Gothic. In some respects these churches +embodied to a highly developed extent the organic principles of the +style, in others, they fell far short of a clear comprehension of them. +None of them had the beauty or the purity of the greatest of their +French sisters. Burgos may be said to be most consistently Gothic in all +its details, but neither Toledo nor Leon was free from the influence of +Moorish art, which was indeed developing and flowering under Moslem rule +in the south of the Peninsula, at the time when Gothic churches were +lifting their spires into the blue of northern skies under the guidance +and inspiration of the French masters. In many respects the Gothic could +not express itself similarly in Spain and France,--climatic conditions +differed, and, consequently, the architecture which was to suit their +needs. In France, Gothic building tended towards a steadily increasing +elimination of all wall surfaces. The weight and thrusts, previously +carried by walls, were met by a more and more skillfully developed +framework of piers and flying buttresses. Such a development was not +practical for Spain nor was it understood. The widely developed fields +for glass would have admitted the heat of the sun too freely, whereas +the broad surfaces of wall-masonry gave coolness and shade. Nor were the +sharply sloping roofs for the easy shedding of snow necessary in Spain. +In French and English Gothic churches, the light, pointed spire is the +ornamental feature of the composition, whereas in the Spanish, with a +few exceptions, the towers become heavy and square. + +None of the three Cathedrals in question impresses us as the outcome of +Spanish architectural growth, but seems rather a direct importation. +They have the main features of a style with which their architects were +familiar and in which they had long since taken the initial steps. They +are working with a practically developed system, whose infancy and early +growth had been followed elsewhere. + +While in the twelfth, and the early portion of the thirteenth century, +Frenchmen were gradually evolving the new system of ecclesiastical +architecture, the Spaniards, destined to surpass them, were to all +purposes still producing nothing but Romanesque buildings, borrowing +certain ornamental or constructional features of the new style, but in +so slight and illogical a degree, that their style remained based upon +its old principles. They employed the pointed arch between arcades and +vaulting, and unlike the French, threw a dome or cimborio over the +intersection of nave and transepts. In some instances we find a regular +French quadripartite vault at the crossing, but such changes are not +sufficient to term the cathedrals of the period (Tudela, Tarragona, +Zamora, and Lerida) Gothic. They remain historically, rather than +artistically, interesting. With the second quarter of the thirteenth +century, comes the change. + +In style Toledo corresponds most closely to the early Gothic of the +north of France. Its plan reminds one forcibly of Bourges, though it is +far more ambitious in size. Owing to the long period of its building, it +bears late Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque features, while traces of +Moorish influence are not wanting. + +The Cathedral of Toledo was built in an imaginative, creative and +passionate age,--an age when the ordinary mason was a master builder as +well as sculptor, stimulated by local affection, pride and piety. The +results of his work were tremendous,--his finished product was a +storehouse of art. Artists of all nations had a hand in the work. +Bermudez mentions 149 names of those who embellished the Cathedral +during six centuries. Here worked Borgoña, Berruguete, Cespedes, and +Villalpando, Copin, Vergara Egas, and Covarrubias. It is rather +difficult to analyze their genius. They were not naturally artists, as +were the French and Italians; they did not create as easily, but were +rather stimulated by a more naïve craving for vast dimensions. With this +we find interwoven in places the sparkling, jewel-like intricacy and +play of light and shade so natural to the Moorish artisan, and the +sombre, overpowering solemnity of the warlike Spanish cavalier. + +It is necessary for a people at all times to find expression for its +æsthetic life. Architecture, like literature, reflects the sentiments +and tendencies of a nation's mind. As truly as Don Quixote, Don Juan, or +the Cid express them, so do the stories told by Toledo, Leon, or Burgos. +They reproduce the passions, the dreams, the imagination, and the +absurdities of the age which created them. + +Toledo's first architect, who superintended the work for more than half +a century, was named Perez (d. 1285). He was followed by Rodrigo, +Alfonso, Alvar Gomez, Annequin de Egas, Martin Sanchez, Juan Guas, and +Enrique de Egas. Hand in hand with the architects, worked the high +priests. + +The Archbishop of Toledo is the Primate of Spain. Mighty prelates have +sat on that throne, and the chapter was once one of the most celebrated +in the world. The Primate of Toledo has the Pope as well as the King of +Spain for honorary canons, and his church takes precedence of all others +in the land. The offices attached to his person are numerous. As late as +the time of Napoleon's conquest of the city, fourteen dignitaries, +twenty-seven canons, and fifty prebends, besides a host of chaplains and +subaltern priests, followed in the train of the Metropolitan. At the +close of the fifteenth century, his revenues exceeded 80,000 ducats +(about $720,000), while the gross amount of those of the subordinate +beneficiaries of his church rose to 180,000. This amount, or 12,000,000 +reals, had not decreased at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In +the middle ages he was followed by more horse and foot than either the +Grand Master of Santiago or the Constable of Castile. When he threw his +influence into the balance, the pretender to the throne was often +victorious. He held jurisdiction over fifteen large and populous towns +besides numbers of inferior places. + +Many who occupied the episcopal throne of Toledo ruled Spain, not only +by virtue of the prestige their high office gave them, but through +extraordinary genius and remarkable attainments. They were great alike +in war and in peace. Many of them combined broadness of view and real +learning with purity of morals. They founded universities and libraries, +framed useful laws, stimulated noble impulses, corrected abuses, and +promoted reforms. Popes called them to Rome to ask their advice in +affairs of the Church. Bright in the history of Spain shine the names of +such prelates as Rodriguez, Tenorio, Fonseca, Ximenez, Mendoza, Tavera, +and Lorenzana. + +From the tenth to the sixteenth centuries Castile was far less bigoted +than other European nations, for, of all the daughters of the Mother +Church, Spain was the most independent. Her kings and her primate were +naturally her champions, ever ready and defiant. King James I even went +so far as to cut out the tongue of a too meddlesome bishop. From early +Gothic days to the time when Ferdinand began to dream of Spain as a +power beyond the Iberian Peninsula, no kingdom in Europe was less +disposed to brook the interference of the Pope. Ferdinand and Isabella +thwarted him in insisting upon their right to appoint their own +candidates for the high offices of the Spanish church, and the Pope was +obliged to give way. + +The figure we constantly encounter in the thrilling tilts between Rome +and Spanish prelates is the Archbishop of Toledo. Like Richelieu and +Wolsey, Ximenez and Mendoza towered above their time, and their great +spirits still seem present within their church. Ximenez, better known in +English as Cardinal Cisneros, rose to his high office much against his +will from the obscurity of a humble monk. The peremptory orders of the +Pope were necessary to make him leave his cell and become successively +Archbishop of Toledo, Grand Chancellor of Castile, Inquisitor General, +Cardinal, Confessor to Queen Isabella, Minister of Ferdinand the +Catholic, and Regent of the Kingdom of Charles V. He was "an austere +priest, a profound politician, a powerful intellect, a will of iron, and +an inflexible and unconquerable soul; one of the greatest figures in +modern history; one of the loftiest types of the Spanish character. +Notwithstanding the greatness thrust upon him, he preserved the austere +practices of the simple monk. Under a robe of silk and purple, he wore +the hard shirt and frock of St. Francis. In his apartments, embellished +with costly hangings, he slept on the floor, with only a log of wood for +his pillow. Ferdinand owed to him that he preserved Castile, and Charles +V, that he became King of Spain. He did not boast when, pointing to the +Cordon of St. Francis, he explained, 'It is with this I bridle the pride +of the aristocracy of Castile.'"[10] + +History may accuse him of the unpardonable expulsion of the Moriscos, +and the retention of the Inquisition as well as its introduction into +the New World,--but what he did was done from the strength of his +convictions and according to what, in the light of his age, seemed the +best for his country and his Church. He was perhaps even greater as a +Spaniard than as a churchman. His conceptions were all grand, and he was +as versatile as he was great. Victor in the greatest of all Spanish +toils, he executed the polyglot version of the Scriptures, the most +stupendous literary achievement of his age. Fitting his greatness is the +simplicity of his epitaph:-- + + Condideram musis Franciscus grande lyceum, + Condor in exiguo nunc ego sarcophago. + Praetextam junxi sacco, galeamque galero, + Frater, Dux, Praesul, Cardineusque pater. + Quin virtute mea junctum est diadema cucullo, + Cum mihi regnanti paruit Hesperia. + +The figure of Cardinal Mendoza stands out clear and strong in the final +struggle with Granada. It was he who first planted the Cross where the +Crescent had waved for six centuries, and he was the first to counsel +Isabella to assist the great discoverer. His keen intellect made him +lend a ready ear and friendly hand to the rapid development of the +science of his time and the fast-spreading taste for literature. + +And so the line of Toledo's illustrious bishops continues,--leaders of +the church militant, like the Montagues and Capulets, they fought from +the mere habit of fighting, but they seldom stained their swords in an +unworthy cause. + + +III + +There is a great discrepancy between the interior and the exterior of +the Cathedral. The former is as grand as the latter is insignificant and +unworthy. The scale is tremendous. Only Milan and Seville cover a +greater area, if the Cathedral is considered in connection with its +cloisters. Cologne comes next to it in size. It runs from west to east, +with nave and double side aisles, ending in a semicircular apse with a +double ambulatory. As is characteristic of Spanish churches, it is +astonishingly wide for its length,--being 204 feet wide and 404 feet +long. The nave is 98 feet high and 44 feet wide, while the outer aisles +are respectively 26 and 32 feet across. + +The exterior, with the exception of the ornamental portions of the +portals and a few carvings, is all built of a Berroqueña granite. The +interior is of a kind of mouse-colored limestone taken from the quarries +of Oliquelas near Toledo. Like many limestones, it is soft when first +quarried, but hardens with time and exposure. + +The impression of the exterior is strangely disappointing. Imposing and +massive, but irregular, squat, and encumbered by surrounding edifices +clinging to its masonry. An indifferent husk, encasing a noble interior. +Only one tower is completed, and no two portions of the decoration are +symmetrical. The exterior has no governing scheme, no "idée maîtresse," +no individual style, and is the outgrowth of no definite period. +Successive generations of peace or war have enriched or destroyed its +masonry. You stop with an exclamation of admiration in front of certain +details of the exterior; before others, you only feel astonishment. The +want of order and unity in the execution of its various portions and +elevations is distressing. + +Order and harmony may be preserved, even where an edifice is carried on +by successive ages, each of which imparts to its work the stamp of its +own developing skill and imagination. Very few of the great cathedrals +were begun and completed in one style. Most of the great French churches +show traces of the earlier Norman or Romanesque; most of the English +Gothic, traces of the Norman or of the different periods of English +Gothic architecture; but one dominating scheme has been followed by the +consecutive architects. The lack of such a governing and restraining +principle is felt in the exterior of Toledo. Further than this, although +successive wars and religious fanaticism have with their destructive +fury injured so many of the beautiful statues and exquisite carvings and +much of the stained glass of the French and English religious +establishments, still the architecture itself has in the main been left +undisturbed. In Toledo, there is hardly a portion of the early structure +and decoration of the lower, visible part of the Cathedral which has not +been altered or torn down by the various architects of the last three +centuries. + +As an obvious result, the portions of the exterior which are interesting +are individual features, and not a unified scheme; and they are +interesting historically, rather than in relation to or in dependence +upon one another. + +The west front, which is the principal façade, the various doorways and +completed tower form the most interesting portions of the exterior. + +The west front is flanked by two projecting towers, dissimilar in +design. To the south is the uncompleted one, containing the Mozarabic +chapel,[11] roofed by an octagonal cupola and surmounted by a lantern, +strangely betraying in exterior form its Byzantine ancestry. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO + +The choir stalls] + +To the north rises the spire which commands the city and the Cathedral +of Toledo. It was begun in 1380 and completed in sixty years,--no long +time when we take into account its size and detail and the carefulness +of its construction. Rodrigo Alfonso and Alvar Gomez were the +architects, and the Cardinals Pedro Tenorio and Tavera directed the +work. Although it lacks the soaring grace of the towers of Burgos, it +possesses quiet strength and a majestic dignity, and the transitions +between its various stories have been executed with a skill scarcely +less than that shown in the older tower of Chartres. It is in fact full +of a character of its own. Divided into three parts, it rises to a +height of some three hundred feet and terminates in a huge cross. The +principal building material is the hard but easily carved Berroqueña +granite, with certain portions finished in marble and slate. The lower +part, which is square, has its faces pierced by interlacing Gothic +arches, windows of different shapes, ornamental coats-of-arms and marble +medallions. It is crowned by a railing and, at the corners where the +transition to the hexagon occurs, by stone pyramids. The central part is +hexagonal in plan and ornamented by arches and crocketed finials. Above +it rises the slate spire terminating under the cross in a conical +pyramid, added after a fire in the year 1662. The spire is curiously and +uniquely encircled by three collars of pointed iron spikes, intended to +symbolize the crowns of thorns. + +The great bells of the Cathedral peal from this tower, among them the +huge San Eugenio, better known, though, by the name "Campana gorda," or +the Big-bellied Bell, weighing 1543 arobes (about 17 tons) and put up +the same day it was cast in the year 1753. Its fame is shown by the old +lines, which enumerate the wonders of Spain as the-- + + Campana la de Toledo, + Iglesia la de Leon, + Reloj el de Benavente, + Rollos los de Villalon.[12] + +Fifteen shoemakers could sit under it and draw out their cobbler's +thread without touching each other. A legend relates that "the sound of +it reached, when first it was rung, even to heaven. Saint Peter fancied +that the tones came from his own church in Rome, but on ascertaining +that this was not the case, and that Toledo possessed the largest of all +bells, he got angry and flung down one of his keys upon it, thus causing +a crack in the bell which is still to be seen." + +Not only does the hoarse croak of Gorda's voice remind the tardy +worshiper of the approaching hour of prayer, but it tells each and all +of the "barrio" where the fire is raging. Though the prudent Toledan may +not know the art of signing his name or reading his Pater Noster, full +well he knows, whenever Gorda speaks, whether the danger is at his own +door or at his neighbor's. + +The lower portion of the façade between the towers is composed of a fine +triple portal dating from 1418 to 1450, which, despite later changes, is +still an excellent piece of Gothic work. It contains over seventy +statues. Above, the façade is composed of an ornamental screen +inexpressive of the structure and the internal arrangement of the +edifice. A railing separated the "lonja," or enclosure immediately in +front of the entrances, from the street outside. The central entrance +is the Gate of Pardon; to the north is the Gate of the Tower, also +called the Gate of Hell; to the south is the Gate of the Scriveners or +of Judgment. The middle door is the largest and most important. For +centuries the steps leading to it have been climbed and descended by the +pregnant women of Toledo, to insure an easy parturition. + +The doors themselves are covered with most interesting bronze work, +showing how far the Spaniards had in later centuries developed the art +of their skillful Saracenic predecessors. The arch of the Gate of Pardon +is exquisitely formed and its moldings and recesses are profusely +decorated with finely chiseled figures and ornaments. Each of the three +doors is surmounted by a relief, that over the Pardon representing the +Virgin presenting the chasuble to Saint Ildefonso, who is kneeling at +her feet. + +The Scriveners' Gate derives its name from having been the door of entry +for the scriveners when they came to the Cathedral to take their oath, +but, though they had a gate for their own particular use, they did not +seem to enjoy an especially good reputation. According to an old verse, +their pen and paper would drop from their hands to dance an independent +fandango long before their souls ever entered the Kingdom of Heaven. + +Above the door is an inscription commemorative of the great exploits of +the Catholic Sovereigns and Cardinal Mendoza and of the expulsion of the +Jews from the Kingdoms of Castile, Aragon and Sicily. + +The principal feature above the doors is a classical gable which extends +the whole width of the façade, its field filled with colossal pieces of +sculpture representing the Last Supper. Our Lord and the Apostles are +seated, each in his own niche. It recalls the carving over the northeast +entrance of Notre Dame du Puy. Nothing could be more ineffective and out +of place than to crown this portion of the Gothic building with a Greek +gable end. Finally, above the gable, with a curious pair of arches built +out in front of it, comes a circular rose almost thirty feet in +diameter, of early fourteenth-century work, this again being surmounted +by late eighteenth-century Baroque additions. + +There are two doorways on the south side. The Gate of the Lions, which +forms the southern termination to the transept, is of course named from +the lions standing over the enclosing rail directly in front of it, each +supporting its shield. Here you have a bit of the finest work of the +exterior, a most exquisite specimen of the Gothic work of the fifteenth +century. Its detail and finish are remarkable, and few pieces of Spanish +sculpture of its time surpass it in elegance and grace. The larger +figures are most interesting, varying greatly in execution and +character. Those of the inner arches are stiff and still struggling for +freedom from tradition, but of admirably carved drapery,--while the +bishops in the niches to the right and left have faces radiating +kindness and patriarchal benignity, faces we meet and bless in our own +walks of life to-day. The bronze Renaissance doors are as fine as their +setting,--splendid examples of the metal stamping of the sixteenth +century, and the wooden carving on their inner surfaces is equally fine. +The bronze knocker might easily have come from the workshop of the great +Florentine goldsmith. + +The Gate of La Llana, west of the Gate of the Lions, is as ludicrous in +its eighteenth-century dress as the gable of the west façade. + +On the north side of the church we find three gates; in the centre, +forming the northern entrance to the transept, the Puerta del Reloi[c], +and east and west of it, the Puerta de Santa Catalina, and the Puerta de +la Presentacion. + + +IV + +You leave the outside with a feeling of distress at having viewed a +patchwork of architectural composition, feebly decorating and badly +expressing a noble and mighty frame. You enter into a light of celestial +softness and purity. It seems an old and faded light. As soon as you +regain vision in the cool, refreshing twilight, you experience the +long-deferred exultation. You are amid those that pray,--the poor and +sorrowing, those that would be strengthened. Here voices sink to a +reverent whisper, for curiosity is hushed into awe. "I could never +fathom how a man dares to lift up his voice to preach in a +cathedral,--what has he to say that will not be an anti-climax?" says +Robert Louis Stevenson, and you are struck by the force of his remark +when you compare the droning voice coming from one corner of the +building with the glorious expression of man's faith rising above and +around you. The quiet majesty and silent eloquence of the one +accentuates the feebleness of the other. + +For the interior is as simple and restrained and the planning as logical +and lucid as the exterior is blameworthy and unreasonable. Here is +rhythm and harmony. The constructive problems have been ingeniously +mastered, and the carved and decorated portions subordinated to the +gigantic scheme of the great monument. The sculptures are limited to +their respective fields. Structural and artistic principles go hand in +hand. Eloquently the carvings speak the language of the time,--they +become a pictorial Bible, open for the poor man to read, who has no +knowledge of crabbed, monastic letters. They are the language of true +religion, the religion that may change but can never die. + +The plan is unquestionably the _grand_ feature of the Cathedral; the +beauty and scale of it challenge comparison with those of all other +churches in Christendom. The vaulting and its development, the +concentration of the thrust upon the piers and far-leaping flying +buttresses are unquestionably on such a scale and of such character as +to place it among the mightiest, if not the most pure and well-developed +Gothic edifices. It is like a giant that knows not the strength of his +limbs nor the possibilities in his mighty frame. + +You do not feel the great height of the nave, owing to the immensity of +all dimensions and the great circumference of the supporting piers. The +nave and the double side aisles on each side are all of seven bays. The +transept does not project beyond the outer aisles. The plan proper has +thus, at a rough glance, the appearance of a basilica and seems to lack +the side arms of the Gothic cross. The choir consists of one bay, and +the chevet formed by an apse to the choir of five bays. Both aisles +continue around the chevet. Outside these again, and between the +buttresses of the main outer walls, lie the different chapels, the +great cloister and the different compartments and dependencies belonging +to church and chapel,--a tremendous development, accumulation, +growth,--a city in itself. The cloisters, as well as almost all the +chapels, were added after the virtual completion of the Cathedral +proper. + +The chevet is the keynote of the plan, and the solution of the problem, +how to vault the different compartments lying between the three +concentric circular terminations beyond the choir. Their vaulting shows +constructive skill and ingenuity of the highest order. The architects +solved the problem with a simplicity and grandeur which places their +genius on a level with that of the greatest of French builders. There +are no previous examples of Spanish churches where similar problems have +been dealt with tentatively. We are thus forced to acknowledge that the +schooling for, and consequent mastery of, the problem, must have been +gained on French soil. The central apse is surrounded by four piers, the +two aisles are separated by eight, and the outer wall is marked by +sixteen points of support. The bays in both aisles are vaulted +alternately by triangular and virtually rectangular compartments. The +vista from west to east is perfectly preserved, and the distance from +centre to centre of every second pair of outer piers is as nearly as +possible the same as that of the inner row. The outer wall of the +aisles, except where the two great chapels of Santiago and San Ildefonso +are introduced, was pierced alternately by small, square chapels +opposite the triangular, vaulting compartments and circular chapels +opposite the others. + +In the cathedrals of Notre Dame de Paris, Saint Remi of Rheims, and in +Le Mans, we find intermediate triangular vaulting compartments +introduced, but they are either employed with inferior skill or in a +different form. In none of these cathedrals do they call for such +unstinted admiration as those of the architect of Toledo. They just fall +short of the happiest solution. In Saint Remi, for instance, we have +intermediate trapezoids instead of rectangles, the inner chord being +longer than the exterior. + +The seventy-two well-molded, simple, quadripartite vaults of the whole +edifice (rising in the choir to about one hundred, and, in the inner and +outer aisles, to sixty and thirty-five feet) are supported by +eighty-eight piers. The capitals of the engaged shafts, composed of +plain foliage, point the same way as the run of the ribs above them. +Simple, strong moldings compose the square bases. The great piers of the +transept are trefoiled in section. The outer walls of the main body of +the church are pierced by arches leading into uninteresting, rectangular +chapels, some of them decorated with elaborate vaulting. In the outer +wall of the intermediate aisle is a triforium, formed by an arcade of +cusped arches, and above this, quite close to the point of the vault, a +rose window in each bay. The clerestory, filling the space above the +great arches on each side of the nave, is subdivided into a double row +of lancet-pointed windows, surmounted by a rosette coming directly under +the spring of the vault. + +The treatment of the crossing of transept and nave is in Toledo, as in +all Spanish churches, emphatic and peculiar. The old central lantern of +the cruciform church was retained and developed in their Gothic as well +as in their Renaissance edifices, and was permitted illogically to break +the Gothic roof line. The lantern of Ely is the nearest reminder we have +of it in English or French Gothic. In Spain the "cimborio" became an +important feature and made the croisée beneath it the lightest portion +of the edifice. It shed light to the east and west of it, into the high +altar and the choir. + +The position of the choir is striking and distressing. Its rectangular +body completely fills the sixth and seventh bays of the nave, +interrupting its continuity and spoiling the sweep and grandeur of the +edifice at its most important point. It sticks like a bone in the +throat. Any complete view of the interior becomes impossible, and its +impressive majesty is belittled. One constantly finds the choir of +Spanish cathedrals in this position, which deprives them of the fine +perspective found in northern edifices. In Westminster Abbey, strangely +enough, the choir is similarly placed, and there, as here, it is as if +the hands were tied and the breath stifled, where action should be +freest. + +This peculiar position of the choir was owing to the admission of the +laity to the transept in front of the altar. In earlier days the choir +was adjacent to and facing the altar, the singers and readers being +there enclosed by a low and unimportant rail. The short, eastern apses +of the Spanish cathedrals and the undeveloped and insufficient room for +the clergy immediately surrounding the altar almost necessitated this +divorce of the choir. In France and England the happier and more logical +alternative was resorted to, of providing sufficient space east of the +intersection of the transept for all the clergy. + +The rectangular choir of Toledo is closed at the east by a magnificent +iron screen; at the west, by a wall called the "Trascoro," acting as a +background to the archbishop's seat. A doorway once pierced its centre +but was blocked up for the placing of the throne. + +If the position of the choir is unfortunate, its details are among the +most remarkable and glorious of their time and country. The only +entrance is through the great iron parclose or reja at the east. This, +as well as the corresponding grille work directly opposite, closing off +the bay in front of the high altar, are wonderful specimens of the +iron-worker's craft, splendid masterpieces of an art which has never +been excelled since the days of its mediæval guilds. The master Domingo +de Cespedes erected the grille in the year 1548. The framework seems to +be connected by means of tenons and mortices, while the scrolls are +welded together. The larger moldings are formed of sheet iron, bent to +the shape required and flush-riveted to their light frames. Neither the +general design nor the details (both Renaissance in feeling) are +especially meritorious, but the thorough mastery of the material is most +astonishing. The stubborn iron has been wrought and formed with as much +ease and boldness as if it had been soft limestone or plaster. It is +characteristic of the age that the craftsman has not limited himself to +one material. Certain portions of the smaller ornaments are of silver +and copper. Originally their shining surfaces, as well as the gilding of +the great portion of the principal iron bars, must have touched the +whole with life and color. It was all covered with black paint in the +time of the Napoleonic wars to escape the greedy hands of La Houssaye's +victorious mob, and the gates still retain the sable coat that protected +them. + +Even a more glorious example of Spanish craftsmanship is found in the +choir stalls which surround us to the north and south and west as soon +as we enter. Here we are face to face with the finest flowering of +Spanish mediæval art. Théophile Gautier, generalizing upon the whole +composition, says: "L'art gothique, sur les confins de la Renaissance, +n'a rien produit de plus parfait ni de mieux dessiné." The whole +treatment of the work is essentially Spanish. + +The stalls, the "silleria," are arranged in two tiers, the upper reached +by little flights of five steps and covered by a richly carved, marble +canopy, supported by slender Corinthian columns of red jasper and +alabaster. All the stalls are of walnut, fifty in the lower row, seventy +in the upper, exclusive of the archbishop's seat. The right side of the +altar, that is, the right side of the celebrant looking from the altar, +is called the side of the Gospel,--the left, the side of the Epistle. +The great carvings, differing in the upper and lower stalls in period +and execution, are the work of three artists. The carvings of the lower +row were executed by Rodriguez in 1495, those of the upper, on the +Gospel side, by Alonso Berruguete, and those on the side of the Epistle, +by Philip Vigarny (also called Borgoña), both of the latter about fifty +years later (in 1543). + +The reading desk of the upper stalls forms the back of the lower and +affords the field for their sculptural decoration. The subjects are the +Conquest of Granada and the Campaigns of Ferdinand and Isabella. We are +shown in the childish and picturesque manner in which the age tells its +story, the various incidents of the war, all its situations and groups, +its curious costumes, arms, shields, and bucklers, and even the names of +the fortresses inscribed on their masonry. We can recognize the Catholic +monarchs and the great prelate entering the fallen city amid the +grief-stricken infidels. + +The spirit of the work is distinctly that of the period which has gone +before, without any intimations of that to come. It has the character of +the German Gothic, recalling Lucas of Holland and his school. If it has +a grace and beauty of its own, there is also a childish grotesqueness +without any of the self-assured mastery, so soon to spread its Italian +light. The imagination and composition are there, but not the +execution,--the mind, but not the hand. + +The carvings of the upper stalls were executed by their masters in +generous rivalry and in a spirit that shows a decided classic influence. + +Many curious accounts of the time describe the excitement which +prevailed during their execution and the various favor they found in the +eyes of different critics. Looking at them, one's thoughts revert to +that glorious dawn in which Cellini and Ghiberti and Donatello labored. +The inscription says of the two artists, "Signatum marmorea tum ligna +caelavere hinc Philippus Burgundio, ex adverso Berruguetus Hispanus: +certaverunt tum artificum ingenia; certabunt semper spectatorum +judicia." + +Berruguete's work (on the Gospel side) shows distinct traces of Michael +Angelo's influence and his study in Italian ateliers with Andrea del +Sarto and Baccio Bandinelli.[13] The nervous vigor of the Italian giant +and the purity of style which looked back at Greece and Rome, are +apparent. + +The subjects of Vigarny's work, as also of Berruguete's, are taken from +the Old Testament. They have a more subtle charm, more grace and +freedom. Some of them show strength and an unerring hand, others, +delicacy and exquisite subtleness. Where the Maestro Mayor of Charles V +is powerful and energetic, Vigarny is imaginative and rich. + +Comparing the upper and lower rows of panels, we must see what +remarkable steps had been taken in so short a time by the sculptors. A +lightness of execution, a victorious self-reliance, seems to follow +close on the steps of tentative, even if conscientious, effort. The +carving, the bold relief of the chiseling, have a vividness and +intensity of expression, surpassing some of the best work of Italy and +France. + +The niches in the marble canopy above the upper row of stalls are filled +with figures standing almost in full relief, and representing the +genealogy of Christ. + +The outer walls of the choir are also completely covered with sculpture. +It is thoroughly Gothic in character, crude, and fumbling for +expression, consisting of arcades with niches above containing +alto-relievo illustrations of Old Testament scenes and characters. You +recognize the Garden of Eden, Abraham with agonized face, Isaac, Jacob, +passages from Exodus, and other familiar scenes. Many of the panels +depict further the small, everyday occurrences and incidents so loved by +mediæval artists, and so full of earnest, religious feeling. Crowning it +all, amid the pinnacles, are a whole flock of angels, quite prepared for +Ascension Day. It is all very similar to the early fourteenth-century +work in French cathedrals. + +The bay in front of the high altar, forming with it the Capilla Mayor, +and the choir are closed from the transept by a huge reja as fine as the +one facing it, and the work of the Spaniard Francesco Villalpando +(1548).[14] + +The Capilla Mayor originally consisted of the one bay to the east of the +transept, the adjacent terminating portion of the nave being the chapel +containing the tombs of the kings. The great Cardinal Ximenez received +Isabella's permission to remove the dividing wall in case he could +accomplish the task without disturbing any of the monarchs' coffins. The +walls all round, both internally and externally, are completely covered +with sculpture. Many of the figures are faithful portraits; many of the +groups tell an interesting story. On the Gospel side there are two +carvings, one over the other, the upper representing Don Alfonso VIII, +and the lower, the shepherd who guided the monarch and his army to the +renowned plains of Las Navas de Tolosa, where the battle was fought +which proved so glorious to Christian arms. One likewise sees the statue +of the Moor, Alfaqui Abu Walid, who threw himself in the path of King +Alfonso and prevailed upon him to forgive Queen Constance and Bishop +Bernard for the expulsion of the Moors from their mosque, contrary to +the king's solemn oath. + +All around us lie the early rulers of the House of Castile, Alfonso VII, +Sancho the Deserted, and Sancho the Brave, the Prince Don Pedro de +Aguilar, son of Alfonso XI, and the great Cardinal Mendoza. Below in the +vault lie, by the sides of their consorts, Henry II, John I, and Henry +III. + +At the end of the chapel, acting as a background to the altar, you find +a composition constantly met in and characteristic of Spanish +cathedrals. The huge "retablo" is nothing but a meaningless, gaudy and +sensational series of carved and decorated niches. It is carved in +larchwood and merely reveals a love of the cheap and tawdry display of +the decadent florid period of Gothic. + +Back of the retablo and the high altar, you are startled by the most +horrible and vulgar composition of the church. Nothing but the mind of +an idiot could have conceived the "transparente."[15] It has neither +order nor reason. The whole mass runs riot. Angels and saints float up +and down its surface amid doughy clouds. The angel Raphael +counterbalances the weight of his kicking feet by a large goldfish which +he is frantically clutching. It is a piece of uncontrolled, imbecile +decoration, perpetrated to the everlasting shame of Narciso Tomé in the +first half of the eighteenth century. + +Nothing except the choir and Capilla Mayor disturb the simplicity of +the aisles and the great body of the church. All other monuments or +compositions are found in the numerous rooms and chapels leading from +the outer aisles or situated between the lower arches of the outside +walls. There are many of them, some important, others trivial. The +Mozarabic chapel, in the southwest corner of the cathedral, is the one +place in the world where you may still every morning hear the quaint old +Visigothic or Mozarabic ritual recited. The chapel was constructed under +Cardinal Ximenez in 1512 for the double purpose of commemorating the +tolerance of the Moors, who during their dominion left to the Christians +certain churches in which to continue their own worship, and also to +perpetuate the use of the old Gothic ritual. It is most curious, almost +barbaric: "The canons behind, in a sombre flat monotone, chant responses +to the officiating priest at the altar. The sound combines the +enervating effect of the hum of wings, whirr of looms, wooden thud of +pedals, the boom and rush of immense wings circling round and round." It +is strange to hear this echo a thousand years old of a magnanimous act +in so intolerant an age. + +In the eleventh century King Alfonso, at the insistence of Bernard and +Constance, and the papal legate Richard, decided to abolish the use of +the old Gothic ritual and to introduce the Gregorian rite. The Toledans +threatened revolt rather than abandon their old form of worship. The +King knew no other method of decision than to leave the question to two +champions. In single combat the Knight of the Gothic Missal, Don Juan +Ruiz de Mantanzas, killed his adversary while he himself remained +unhurt. At a second trial, where two bulls were entrusted with the +perplexing difficulty, the Gothic bull came off victor. Councils were +held and the Pope still persevered in his determination to abolish the +old Spanish service book. Outside the walls of the city, in front of the +King and churchmen and amid the entire populace of Toledo, a great fire +was built, and the two mass-books were thrown into it. When the flames +had died down, only the Gothic mass-book was found unscathed. Only after +many years, when traditions had gradually altered and even much of the +text had become meaningless to the clergy, did the Roman service book +become universally introduced into Toledan houses of worship. + +Two other chapels are of especial interest: those of Saint Ildefonso and +Santiago. Saint Ildefonso, who became metropolitan in 658, is second +only in honor to Saint James of Compostella; he was unquestionably the +most favored of Toledo's long line of bishops. + +Three natives of Narbonne had dared to question the perpetual virginity +of Our Lady. Saint Ildefonso gallantly took up her defense and proved it +beyond doubt or questioning in his treatise "De Virginitate Perpetua +Sanctae Mariae adversus tres Infideles." It was a crushing vindication +and a discourse of much reason and scriptural light. Shortly afterwards +the Bishop, together with the King and court, went to the Church of +Saint Leocadia to give public thanks. As soon as the multitude had had +sufficient time to kneel at the saint's tomb, a group of angels appeared +amid a cloud and surrounded by sweet scents. Next the sepulchre opened +of its own accord. Calix relates, "Thirty men could not have moved the +stone which slid slowly from the mouth of the tomb. Immediately Saint +Leocadia arose, after lying there three hundred years, and holding out +her arm, she shook hands with Saint Ildefonso, speaking in this voice, +'Oh, Ildefonso, through thee doth the honor of My Lady flourish.' All +the spectators were silent, being struck with the novelty and the +greatness of the miracle. Only Saint Ildefonso, with Heaven's aid, +replied to her. Now the virgin Saint looked as if she wished to return +into the tomb and she turned around for that purpose, when the King +begged of Saint Ildefonso that he would not let her go until she left +some relic of her behind, for a memorial of the miracle and for the +consolation of the city. And as Saint Ildefonso wished to cut a part of +the white veil which covered the head of St. Leocadia, the King lent him +a knife for that purpose, and this must have been a poniard or a dagger, +though others say it was a sword. With this the saint cut a large piece +of the blessed veil, and while he was giving it to the King, at the same +time returning the knife, the saint shut herself up entirely and covered +herself in the tomb with the huge stone." + +But even this was not a sufficient expression of gratitude to satisfy +Saint Mary, for next week she herself came down to enjoy matins with +Saint Ildefonso in the Cathedral. She sat in his throne and listened to +his discourse with both pleasure and edification. A celestial host +dispensed music in the choir, music of heaven, hymns, David's psalms and +chants, such as never had been heard before, either in Seville or in +Toledo. To cap it all, the Virgin made her favorite a splendid present +of a chasuble worked by the angels with which she invested him with her +own hands before she said good-bye. You may still kiss your fingers +after having touched the sacred slab upon which the Virgin stood and +above which run the words of the Psalmist: "Adorabimus in loco ubi +steterunt pedes ejus." The chapel is, similarly to the screens around +the choir, of fourteenth-century work. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO + +Chapel of Santiago, tombs of D. Alvaro de Luna and his spouse] + +The Chapel of Santiago was erected by Count Alvaro de Luna, for more +than thirty years the real sovereign of Castile. It is most elaborately +decorated throughout with rich Gothic work, interwoven with sparkling +filigree of Saracenic character. The tombs of the Lunas are of interest +because of the great Count. His own is not the original one. The first +mausoleum which he erected to himself was so constructed that the +recumbent effigy or automaton could, when mass was said, slowly rise, +clad in full armor, and remain kneeling until the service was ended, +when it would slowly resume its former posture. This was destroyed at +the instigation of Alvaro's old enemy, Henry of Aragon, who remained +unreconciled even after the death of his old minister. At each corner of +Alvaro's tomb kneels a knight of Santiago, at his feet a page holds his +helmet, his own hands are crossed devoutly over the sword on his breast, +and the mantle of his order is folded about his shoulders. His face +wears an expression of sadness. + +Alvaro began his career as a page in the service of Queen Catharine +(Plantagenet). He ended it as Master of Santiago, Constable of Castile, +and Prime Minister of John II, whom he completely ruled for thirty-five +years. He lived in royal state, became all-powerful and arrogant. His +diplomacy effected the marriage of Henry II and Isabella of Portugal, +but he later incurred the enmity of Isabella, was accused of high +treason, found guilty, and executed in the square of Valladolid. Pius II +said of him, "He was a very lofty mind, as great in war as he was in +peace, and his soul breathed none but noble thoughts." + +And thus we may continue all around the Cathedral, past the successive +chapels, vestries, sanctuaries and treasuries,--the architecture and +sculpture of each connected with great events and telling its own story +of dark tragedy or lighter romance. + +In one, the Spanish banners used to be consecrated before leading the +hosts against the Moors; in another, Spain now keeps her priceless +treasures under the locks of seven keys hanging from the girdles of an +equal number of canons. There are silver and gold and pearl and precious +jewels sufficient to set on foot every stagnant Spanish industry. The +8500 pearls of the Virgin's cape might alone feed a province for no +short time. They are buried in the dark. Outside in the light, the +children of Spain are starving and without means of obtaining food. At +one's elbow the whine of the beggar is continually heard, till one +recalls Washington Irving's words: "The more proudly a mansion has been +tenanted in the days of its prosperity, the humbler are its inhabitants +in the days of her decline, and the palace of the king commonly ends in +being the resting-place of the beggar." + +Here and there, in the interior as in the exterior, we find, mixed with +or decorating the Gothic, Moorish and Renaissance details and the later +extravagances which followed the decline of the Gothic. Even where the +carvers are expressing themselves in Gothic or Renaissance details, we +frequently observe an extreme richness, a love of chiaroscuro, of +sparkling jewel-like light and shade, and intricately woven +ornamentation which betrays the influence of the Arab. We see the +Morisco, a kind of fusion of French and Moorish, in many places. The +triforium of the choir is decidedly Moorish in its design, although it +is Gothic in all its details and has carvings of heads and of the +ordinary dog-tooth enrichment instead of merely conventionalized leaf +and figure ornament. It consists of a trefoil arcade. In the spandrels +between its arches are circles with heads and, above these, triangular +openings pierced through the wall. The moldings of all the openings +interpenetrate, and the whole arcade has the air of intricate ingenuity +so usual in Moorish work. Again, in the triforium of the inner aisle we +find Moorish influence,--the cusping of the arcade is not enclosed +within an arch but takes a distinct horseshoe outline, the lowest cusp +near the cap spreading inward at the base. We see Moorish tiles, we find +Moorish cupolas as in the Mozarabic chapel, and Moorish doorways, as the +exquisite one leading into the Sala Capitular,--here and there and +everywhere, we suddenly come upon details betraying the Arab intimacy. + +The children of the Renaissance also embellished in their new manner, +not only in the magnificent carvings of the choir but in a variety of +places, for instance, the doors themselves contained within the Moorish +molds leading to the Sala just mentioned, the entire chapel of St. Juan, +the Capilla de Reyes Nuevos, portions of the Puerta del Berruguete, and +the bronze doors of the Gate of the Lions. + +Again, on the capitals and bases of many of the piers, with the +exception of those of the central nave, Byzantine influence may be seen. + +So each age, according to its best ken, dealt with the Cathedral. In +among the varying styles of architectural decoration, the sister arts +embellish the stone surfaces or are hung upon them. There are paintings +by Titian, Giovanni Bellini, and Rubens, by El Greco, Goya, and Ribera; +Italian and Flemish tapestries, and frescoes too. Probably the greater +portion of the main walls were covered with them, for here and there +traces are still to be seen and a tree of Jesse remains in the tympanum +of the south transept, and near it an enormous painting of Saint +Christopher. + +While the "Tresorio" may have been the treasure-house of the clergy, the +church itself was that of the people. Here was their art museum, here +were their galleries. The decorations became the primers from which they +learnt their lessons. Here they would meet in the afternoon hour as the +light fell aslant sapphire and ruby, through the clerestory openings. It +would light up their treasures with strange, unearthly glory and form +aureoles and haloes of rainbow splendor over the heads of their beloved +saints. Cool amethyst and emerald and warmer amber and gold touched the +darkest corners, and a gold and purple glory illuminated the high altar. + +Some of the earlier glass is as fine as any to be found in Europe. The +depth and intensity of the colors are remarkable. Probably none of it +was Spanish, but all was imported from France, Belgium, or Germany. The +glass in the rose of the north transept and in the eastern windows of +the transept clerestory can hold its own beside that of the cathedrals +of Paris and Amiens. The subject scheme of the rose in the north +transept is truly noble. The earliest glass is that in the nave (a +little later than 1400), and this is Flemish. The windows of the aisles +are at least a century later. Their composition is simple and broad, the +coloring rich and deep, and the interior dusk of the church enhances the +value of the sunlight filtering through the glass. + +Better than to descend into the immense crypt below the Cathedral, with +its eighty-eight massive piers corresponding to those above, is it to +stray into the broken sunlight of the green and fragrant cloister +arcade. + +Bishop Tenorio procured the site for the church from the Jews, who here, +right under the walls of the Christian church, held their market. A +fresco adjoining the gate explains by what means. It represents on a +ladder a fiendish-looking Jew who has cut the heart out of a beautiful, +crucified child and is holding the dripping dagger in his hand. This +fresco stirred up the fury of the Christian populace to the point of +burning the Jewish market, houses and shops, which then were annexed by +the Bishop. The fine, two-story Gothic arcade of the cloisters encloses +a sun-splashed garden filled with fragrant flowers. Around the walls of +the lower arcade are a series of very mediocre frescoes. The +architecture itself is not nearly as interesting as that of the +cloisters of Salamanca. It ought particularly to be so in this portion +of the church, for here is the very climate and place for the courtyard +life of the Spaniard. + + +V + +So lies the Cathedral, crumbling in the sunlight of the twentieth +century. Beautiful, but strange and irreconcilable to all that is around +her, she alone, the Mother Church, stands unshaken, lonely and +melancholy, but grand and solemn in the midst of the paltry and tawdry +happenings of to-day. She has served giants, and now sees but a race of +dwarfs; princes have prostrated themselves at her altars, where now only +beggars kneel. Her walls whisper loneliness, desertion, widowed +resignation. + + NOTE.--In connection with the remarks on page 160, a Catholic + friend has pointed out how rarely, when Peter has been robbed, + ostensibly to pay Paul, Paul (otherwise the Poor) has derived any + benefit from it. It is willingly conceded that Henry VIII bestowed + much of the wealth derived from the dissolution of the religious + houses on his own favorites, and recent disclosures in France show + as scandalous a diversion of some of the funds similarly obtained. + + + + +VI + +SEGOVIA + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA] + + Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault, + The pealing anthem swells the note of praise. + + _Gray._ + + +Once upon a time, long, long ago, in the days of the Iberians, there was +a city and its name was Segovia. It is now so old that all of it, with +the exception of the great heap of masonry which crowns its summit, has +practically crumbled into a mountain of ruins. The pile still stands, +dominating the plain and facing the setting sun, triumphant over time +and decay,--the Cathedral of Saint Mary and Saint Froila. Though Mary +was the holier of the two patrons, owing to whose protection the church +stands to-day so well preserved, still Froila was in certain respects no +less remarkable. The Segovians of his day saw him split open a rock with +his jackknife and prove to the Moslems then ruling his city, beyond all +doubt, the validity of his Christian faith. + +But long before saints and cathedrals, the Romans, recognizing the +tenacious and commanding position as a military stronghold of the rock +of Segovia, which rises precipitously from the two valleys watered by +the Erasma and Clamores, pitched their camp upon its crest, renaming it +Segobriga. The city was fortified, and under Trajan the truly +magnificent aqueduct was built, either by the Romans or the devil, to +supply the city with the waters of the Fonfria mountains. A beautiful +Segovian had at this early time grown weary of carrying her jugs up the +steep hills from the waters below and promised the devil she would marry +him, if he only would in a night's time once and for all bring into the +city the fresh waters of the eastern mountains. She was worth the labor, +and the suitor accepted the contract. Fortunately the Church found the +arcade incomplete, the devil having forgotten a single stone, and the +maid was honorably released from her part of a bargain, the execution of +which had profited her city so greatly. Segovia still carries on her +shield this "Puente del diabolo," with the head of a Roman peering above +it. + +The strong position of the city made it an envied possession to whatever +conqueror held the surrounding country. It lay on the borderland, +constantly disputed with varying fortune by Christian and Moslem. Under +the dominion of the early Castilian kings, and even under the triumphant +Moors, the youthful church prospered and grew, for in the government of +their Christian subjects, the Mohammedans here, as elsewhere, showed +themselves temperate and full of common sense. The invaders had, indeed, +everywhere been welcomed by the numerous Jews settled in Spanish cities, +who under the new rulers exchanged persecution for civil and religious +liberty. Prompt surrender and the payment of a small annual tax were the +only conditions made, to confirm the conquered, of whatever race or +religion, in the possession of all their worldly goods, perfect freedom +of worship and continued government by their own laws under their own +judges. + +In the eleventh century, Segovia was included in the great Amirate of +Toledo, but the Castilian kings grew stronger, till in 1085 they were +able to recapture Toledo. The singularly picturesque contours of the +city are due to the various races which fortified her. Iberians were +probably the first to strengthen their hill from outside attack,--the +Romans followed, building upon the foundations of the old walls, and +Christian and Moslem completed the work, until the little city was +compactly girdled by strong masonry, broken by some three to four score +fighting towers and but few gates of entrance. Alfonso the Wise was one +of the great Segovian rulers and builders. He strengthened her bastions, +added a good deal to the walls of her illustrious fortress, and in 1108 +gave the city her first charter. A few years later Segovia was elevated +to a bishopric. + +Long before the earliest cathedral church, the Alcazar was the most +conspicuous feature in the landscape, and it still holds the second +place. Erected on the steep rocks at the extreme eastern end of the +almond-shaped hill, it stands like a chieftain at the head of his +warriors, always ready for battle, and first to meet any onslaught. +Several Alfonsos, as well as Sanchos, labored upon it during the +perilous twelfth century. Here the kings took up their abode in the +happy days when Segovia was capital of the kingdom, and even in later +times it sheltered such illustrious travelers as the unfortunate Prince +Charles of England, and Gil Blas, when out of suits with fortune. + +The first Cathedral was erected on the broad platform east of the +Alcazar, directly under the shadow of its protecting walls. The +ever-reappearing Count Raymond of Burgundy was commissioned by his +father-in-law, the King, to repopulate Segovia after the Moorish +devastations, and he rebuilt its walls, as he was doing for the +recaptured cities of Salamanca and Avila. The battlements were repaired, +and northerners from many provinces occupied the houses that had been +deserted. + +To judge from the ruins as well as from well-preserved edifices, +Romanesque days must have been full of great architectural activity. One +is constantly reminded of Toledo in climbing up and down the narrow +streets, where one must often turn aside or find progress barred by +Romanesque and Gothic courtyards or smelly culs-de-sac. Everywhere are +Romanesque portals and arches, palaces and the apses and circular +chapels of the age, bulging beyond the sidewalks into the cobblestones +of the street. They seem indeed venerable. Some of the old palaces +present a curious all-over design executed in Moorish manner and with +Moorish feeling. It is carved into the sidewalk, showing in relief a +geometrical, circular pattern, each circle filled with a quantity of +small Gothic lancets, surely difficult both to design and to execute. +Some of the old parish churches stand with their deep splays, +round-headed arches and windows and broad, recessed portals almost as +perfectly preserved as a thousand years ago. The Romanesque style died +late and hard. Even in the thirteenth century, the city could boast +thirty such parish churches. To-day they seem fairly prayer-worn. Beyond +their towers stretch the plains in every direction, seamed by stone +walls and dotted with gray rocks. Olive and poplar groves cluster round +the small hillocks, rising here and there like camels' backs. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF SEGOVIA CATHEDRAL + + A. Capilla Mayor. + B. Choir. + C. Crossing. + D. Sacristy. + E. Cloisters. + F. Tower.] + +As long as the welfare and development of the city depended on strong +natural fortifications, Segovia remained intact. To the twelfth and +thirteenth centuries belongs her glory. Her power passed with the middle +ages and their chivalry, and in the sixteenth century she was a dead +city. + +Villages, convents and churches lie scattered over the plain, the houses +crowded together for protection against the blazing, scorching, pitiless +sun. Standing by itself is the ancient and severe church, where many a +knight-templar kept his last vigil before turning his back on the plains +of Castile, and apart sleeps the monastery where Torquemada was once +prior. They all crumble golden brown against the horizon. + +Many a bloody fray or revolution upset the city during the middle ages. +The minority of Alfonso XI witnessed one of the worst. The revolt which +broke out in so many of the Spanish cities against the Emperor Charles +V, proved most fatal to the Cathedral of Segovia. + +The first Romanesque Cathedral had been built in honor of St. Mary, +under the walls of the Alcazar, during the first half of the twelfth +century. It was consecrated in 1228 by the papal legate, Juan, Bishop of +Sabina. Some two hundred and fifty years later, a new and magnificent +Gothic cloister was added to it by Bishop Juan Arias Davila, and +likewise a new episcopal palace more fitting times of greater luxury and +magnificence. This palace, despite the coming translation of the +Cathedral itself, remained the abode of the bishops for the three +following centuries. In the new cloisters a banquet of reconciliation +was celebrated in 1474 by Henry IV and the Catholic Kings. It was held +on the very spot whence Isabella had started in state on a journey +proving so eventful in the history not only of Castile but of the entire +Peninsula and countries beyond. Three years after the furious struggle +which took place around the entrance of the Alcazar, Charles V issued +the following proclamation:-- + +"The King: To the Aldermen, Justices, Councillors, Knights, Men-at-arms, +Officials, and good Burghers of the city of Segovia. The reverend Father +in Christ, Bishop of the church of this city, has told me how he and the +Chapter of his church believe that it would be well to move the +Cathedral church to the plaza of the city on the site of Santa Clara, +and that the parish of San Miguel of the plaza should be incorporated in +the Cathedral church; and this, because when the said Cathedral church +is placed in a situation where the divine services may be more +advantageously held, our Saviour will be better served and the people +will receive much benefit and the city become much ennobled; it appears +to me good that this plan should be carried out, desiring the good and +ennoblement and welfare of the said city because of the loyalty and +services I have always found in it, therefore I command and request that +you unite with the said Bishop or his representative and the Chapter of +said church and all talk freely together about this and see what will be +best for the good of the said city, and at the same time consider the +assistance that the said city could itself render, and after discussion, +forward me the results of your combined judgment, in order that I +better may see and decide what will be for the best service of Our Lord, +Ourselves, and the welfare of the city. Dated in Madrid, the 2d day of +October, in the year 1510.--I, the King." + +While the discussion of the feasibility and expense of commencing an +entirely new cathedral upon a new site nearer the heart of the city was +at its height, the revolt of the Comunidades broke out, in 1520, and +swept away in its burning and pillaging course the Romanesque edifice. +This stood at the entrance to the fortress, where the fight naturally +raged hottest. Only a very few of the most sacred images, relics and +bones were carried to safety within the walls of the Alcazar before the +old pile had been practically destroyed. Segovia was without a Cathedral +church. + +In the centre of the city, on the very crest of the hill, lay the only +clearing within the walls. Here at one end of the plaza was the site of +the convent mentioned by Emperor Charles, which had long sheltered the +nuns of Santa Clara. They had abandoned it for other quarters, and the +adjacent convent of San Miguel had become unpopular and was dwindling +into insignificance. Both could thus in this most free and commanding +location give way to a new and larger cathedral, distant from what would +always prove the rallying point of civic strife. Following the mighty +wave of revolt which had swept the city, came a great receding wave of +religious enthusiasm to atone in holy fervor for the impious act +recently committed. Citizen and noble alike proposed to build an edifice +which would be much more to the glory of Saint Mary than the shrine +which they had so recently pulled down. Lords gave whole villages; +women, their jewels; and the citizens, the sweat of their brows. We find +in the archives of the Cathedral the following entry by the Canon Juan +Ridriguez[b]: + +"On June 8th, 1522, ... by the consent and resolution of the Lord Bishop +D. Diego de Rovera and of the Dean and Chapter of the said church, it +was agreed to commence the new work of the said church to the glory of +God and in honor of the Virgin Mary and the glorious San Frutos and all +saints, taking for master of the said work Juan Gil de Hontañon, and for +his clerk of the works Garcia de Cubillas. Thursday, the 8th of June, +1552, the Bishop ordered a general procession with the Dean and Chapter, +clergy and all the religious orders." + +The corner stone was laid and the masonry started at the western end +under the most renowned architect of the age. Juan Gil had already +worked on the old Segovian Cathedral, but had achieved his great fame on +the new Cathedral of Salamanca, started ten years previously, whose +walls were rising with astounding rapidity. His clerk was almost equally +skilled, always working in perfect harmony with his master and carrying +out his designs without jealousy during the "maestro's" many illnesses +and journeys to and from Salamanca. Garcia lived to work on the church +until 1562, and the old archives still hold many drawings from his +skillful hand. + +The two late Gothic Cathedrals are so similar in many points that they +are immediately recognizable as the conception of the same brain. +Segovia is, however, infinitely superior, not only in the magnificent +development of the eastern end with its semicircular apse, ambulatory, +and radiating apsidal chapels, as compared with the square termination +of Salamanca, but, throughout, in the restrained quality of its detail +and the refinement of its ornamentation. How far the abrupt and +uninteresting apsidal termination of Salamanca was Juan Gil's fault, it +is difficult to say, for we find records of its having been imposed upon +him by the Chapter as well as of his having drawn a circular apse. +Fortunately, the Segovian churchmen had the common sense to leave their +architect alone in most artistic matters and allow him to make the head +of the church either "octagonal, hexagonal, or of square form." Where +Salamanca has been coarsened by the new style, Segovia seems inspired by +its fidelity to the old. + +The similarity of the two churches is visible throughout. The general +interior arrangements are much alike. The stone of the two interiors is +of nearly the same color, and the formation and details of the great +piers are strikingly similar. There is the same thin, reed-like descent +of shafts from upper ribs, the same, almost inconspicuous, small leaves +for caps, and, in both, the bases terminate at different heights above +the huge common drum, which is some three feet high. Externally, there +are analogous buttresses, crestings, pinnacles and parapets, and a +concealment of roof structure, but there is none of the vanity of +Salamanca in the sister church of Segovia. The last great Gothic church +of Spain, though deficient in many ways, was not lacking in unity nor +sincerity. The flame went out in a magnificent blaze. + +Such faithfulness and love as possessed Juan Gil for his old Gothic +masters seems well-nigh incredible. He designed, and during his +activity there of nine years, raised the greater portions of Segovia in +an age when Gothic building was practically extinct, when Brunelleschi +was building Santa Maria del Fiore, and the classic revival was in full +march. Segovia and Spaniards were as tardy in forswearing their Gothic +allegiance as they had been their Romanesque. Not until the beginning of +the sixteenth century does the reborn classicism victoriously cross the +Pyrenees, and then only in minor domestic buildings. The last +manifestations of Gothic church-building in Spain were neither weak nor +decadent, but virile, impressive and logical. Segovia Cathedral may be +said to be the last great monument in Spain, not only of Gothic, but of +ecclesiastical art. Thereafter came the deluge of decadence or +petrification. What must not the power of the Church, as well as the +religious enthusiasm of the populace, have been during this +extraordinary sixteenth century! It is almost incredible that this tiny +city, in a weak little kingdom, and so few miles from Salamanca, had the +spirit for an undertaking of the size of this Cathedral church, so soon +after Salamanca had entered on her architectural enterprise. Either of +the two seems beyond the united power of the kingdom. + +Even more remarkable than the starting of Segovia in the Gothic style at +so late a date, was the fact that the architects succeeding Juan Gil, +who were naturally tempted to embody their own ideas and to employ the +new style then in vogue, should nevertheless have faithfully adhered to +the original conception and completed in Gothic style all constructive +and ornamental details everywhere except in the final closing of the +dome and a few minor exterior features. Naturally the Gothic of the +sixteenth century was not that of the thirteenth,--not that of Leon or +Toledo, nor even of Burgos,--it had been modified and lost in spirit, +but still its origin was undeniable. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA. + +From the Plaza.] + +In 1525 Segovia was fairly started. House after house that impeded the +progress of the work was destroyed, until up to a hundred of them had +been razed. Santa Clara was kept for the services until the very last +moment, when a sufficient portion of the new building was ready for +their proper celebration. + +It was unusual to start with the western end, the apse and its +surrounding arches being the portion necessary for services. In Segovia, +however, as well as in the new Salamancan Cathedral, the great western +front was the earliest to rise. Gil did not live to finish it, but it is +evident that, as long as he directed, the work drew the attention of the +entire artistic fraternity of the Peninsula. We find constant mention in +old documents of the visits and the praise of illustrious architects, +among them Alfonso de Covarrubias, Juan de Alava, Enrique de Egas, and +Felipe de Borgoña. Gil's clerk-of-the-works, Cubillas, succeeded him as +"maestro," and under him the western front with its tower, the +cloisters, and the nave and aisles as far as the crossing, were +virtually completed by 1558. Aside from the manual labor, "it had taken +more than forty-eight collections of maravedis" to bring it to this +point. The magnificent old cloisters erected by Bishop Davila beside the +old Cathedral in 1470, had been spared the fury of the mob, and in 1524 +they were moved stone by stone to the southern flank of the new +Cathedral. This would have been a remarkable feat of masonry in our +age, and, for the sixteenth century, it was astonishing. Not a stone was +chipped nor a piece of carving broken. Juan de Compero took the whole +fabric apart and put it together again, as a child does a box of wooden +blocks. + +The 15th of August, 1558, when the first services were held in the +Cathedral, was the greatest day in Segovia's history. Quadrado, probably +quoting from old accounts, tells us, "The divine services were then held +in the new Temple. People came to the festival from all over Spain, and +music, from all Castile. At twilight on August 14th, 1558, the tower was +illuminated with fire-works, the great aqueduct, with two thousand +colored lights, and the reflection of the city's lights alarmed the +country-side for forty leagues round. The following day, the Assumption +of Our Lady, there was an astonishing procession, in which all the +parishes took part and the community offered prizes for the best +display. The procession went out by the gate of Saint Juan, and, after +going all around the city, returned to the plaza, where the sacrament +was being borne out of Santa Clara. There was a bull-fight, +pole-climbing, a poetical competition and comedies. The generosity of +the donations corresponded to the pomp of the occasion. Ten days +afterwards the bones were taken from the old church and reinterred in +the new one, among which were those of the Infante Don Pedro, Maria del +Salto, and different prelates." + +The bones of the two former were laid to rest under the arches of the +cloister. Don Pedro was a little son of King Henry II who had been +playing on one of the iron balconies in front of the Alcazar windows, +and, while his nurse's back was turned, pitched headlong over the +precipice into eternity and the poplar trees three hundred feet below. +The nurse, who knew full well it would be a question of only a few hours +before she followed her princely charge, anticipated her fate and jumped +after him. Maria del Salto ("of the leap") was a beautiful Jewess who, +having been taken in sin, was forced to jump from another of Segovia's +steep promontories. Bethinking herself of the Virgin Mary as a last +resource, she invoked her assistance while in mid-air, and the blessed +saint immediately responded, causing the Jewess to alight gently and +unharmed. It was naturally a great pious satisfaction to the Segovians +to carry to the new edifice such cherished bones. + +With services in the church, the building was well under way. Juan Gil's +son, Rodrigo Gil, had worked on Salamanca as well as very ably assisted +Cubillas. Upon the latter's death, in 1560, Rodrigo became maestro +mayor. Three years later, when the corner stone of the apse was laid, +the Chapter seems to have seriously discussed the advisability of +finally deviating from the original Gothic plans and building a +Renaissance head. It was, however, left to Rodrigo, who loyally adhered +to his father's original designs, and when he died in 1577, there was +fortunately but little left to do. Indeed, most of what followed in +construction, repair or decoration was rather to the detriment than +embellishment of the church. It was consecrated in 1580. Chapels were +added to the trasaltar by Rodrigo's successor, Martin Ruiz de Chartudi; +the lantern above the crossing was raised by Juan de Mogaguren in 1615; +five years later, the northern porch was erected and Renaissance +features invaded the edifice. Like most Spanish churches, it has been +constantly worked upon and never completed. + +The plan is admirable,--at once dignified and harmonious, and the +semicircular Romanesque termination is striking. The total length is +some 340 feet, its entire width, some 156; the nave is 43 and the side +aisles are 32 feet wide. It is thus logical, symmetrical, and fully +developed in all its members. Beyond the side aisles stretches a row of +chapels separated from each other by transverse walls. As the transepts, +which are of the same width as the nave, do not project beyond the +chapels of its outer aisles, the Latin cross disappears in plan. The +nave, aisles and chapels consist of five bays up to the crossing crowned +by the great dome. Beyond this comes the vault of the Capilla Mayor and +the semicircular apse surrounded by a seven-bayed ambulatory, or +"girola," and an equal number of radiating pentagonal chapels. The +chevet is clear in arrangement and noble in expression. Entrances lead +logically into the nave and side aisles of the western front and into +the centres of the northern and southern transepts, while cloisters +which abut to the south are entered through the fifth chapel. When +Segovia was built, Spaniards were thoroughly reconciled to the idea of +placing the choir west of the crossing and the Capilla Mayor east, and +consequently the latter was designed no larger than was requisite for +its offices, and a space was frankly screened off between it and the +choir for the use of the officiating clergy. The third and fourth bays +of the nave contained the choir. + +As one enters the church, there is a consciousness of joy and order. The +stone surfaces are just sufficiently warmed and mellowed by the +glorious light from above. The piers are very massive and semicircular +in plan; the foliage at their heads underneath the vaulting is so +delicate and unpronounced that it scarcely counts as capitals. The walls +of the chapels in the outer aisles, as well as round the ambulatory, are +penetrated by narrow, round-headed windows, as timid and attenuated as +those of an early Romanesque edifice; the walls of the inner aisle, by +triple, lancet windows; and the clerestory of the nave, by triple, +round-headed ones. Under them, in the apse, is a second row of +round-headed blind windows. None of them have any tracery whatever. The +glass is of great brilliancy of coloring and exceptional beauty, but the +designs are as poor as the glazing is glorious. In the smaller windows, +the subjects represent events in the Old Testament; in the larger, +scenes from the New. Around the apse much of the old, stained glass has +been shamefully replaced by white, so as to admit more light into this +portion of the building. + +There is no triforium, but a finely carved late Gothic balcony runs +around the nave and transepts below the clerestory. In the transepts, +this is surmounted by a second one underneath the small roses which +penetrate their upper wall surfaces. Both nave and side aisles are +lofty, the vaulting rising in the former to a height of about 100 feet +and, in the latter, to 80 feet, while the cupola soars 330 feet above. +The vaulting itself is most elaborate and developed. While the early +Gothic edifices have only the requisite functional transverse, diagonal +and wall ribs, we now find every vault covered with intermediate ones of +most intricate designs. Especially over the Capilla Mayor in its +ambulatory chapels and around the lantern, this ornamentation becomes +profuse,--everywhere ribs are met by bosses and roses. The general +effect of the endless cutting up of the vaults into numberless +compartments by the complicated system of lierne ribs is one of +restlessness. One misses the logical simplicity of the thirteenth and +fourteenth centuries and is reminded of the decadent surfacing of late +German work and the ogee, lierne ribs of some of the late English, in +which the true ridges can no longer be distinguished from the false. + +Looking up into the dome over the crossing, we see that the pendentives +do not rise directly above the four arches, but spring some fifteen feet +higher up above a Gothic balustrade which is surmounted by elliptical +arches pierced by circular windows. The dome, disembarrassed of the ribs +which still cling to some of its predecessors, is finely shaped,--a +thorough Renaissance piece of work. Light streams down through the +bull's eye under the lantern. + +There is considerable difference in the design as well as workmanship of +the many rejas. Tremendous iron rails, surely not as fine as those of +Seville, Granada, or Toledo, but still very remarkable, close the three +sides of the Capilla Mayor and the front of the choir. The emblematical +lilies of the Cathedral rise in rows one beside the other, as one sees +them in a florist's Easter windows. Rejas close off similarly all the +outer chapels from the side aisles. + +Among the very few portions of the old Cathedral which remained intact +after the fury of the Comunidades, were the choir stalls and an +exquisite door. The former were placed in the new choir and the latter +became an entrance to the transplanted cloisters. It was indeed +fortunate that these stalls were spared, for they are among the most +exquisite in Spain and excelled by few in either France or Germany. + +Wood-carving had long been a favorite art in Spain, one in which the +Spaniards learned to excel under the skillful tutelage of the great +masters from Germany and Flanders. The foreign carvers settled +principally in Burgos, where there grew up around them apprentices eager +to fill the churches with statues, retablos, choir stalls, and organ +screens executed in wood. The art of carving became highly honored. An +early ordinance of Seville referring to wood-carving, masonry and +building, esteems it "a noble art and self-contained, that increaseth +the nobleness of the King and of his kingdom, that pacifieth the people +and spreadeth love among mankind conducing to much good." In the +numerous panels of cathedral choir stalls, there was a wonderful +opportunity for relief work and the play of the fertile imagination and +childlike expressiveness of the middle ages. Curious freaks of fancy, +their extraordinary conceptions of Biblical scenes, the events and +personages of their own day, could all be portrayed and even carved with +wonderful skill. Leonard Williams, in his "Art and Crafts of Older +Spain," tells us that "the silleria consists of two tiers, the _sellia_ +or upper seats with high backs and a canopy, intended for the canons, +and the lower seats or _sub-sellia_ of simpler pattern with lower backs, +intended for the _beneficados_. At the head of all is placed the throne, +larger than the other stalls, and covered in many cases by a canopy +surmounted by a tall spire." + +Few of the many Gothic stalls are finer than those of Segovia. The +contrast with the work above them, as well as with that which backs onto +them, is doubly distressing. The tremendous organs above are a mass of +gilding and restless Baroque ornamentation, while their rear is covered +by multicolored strips of stone which would have looked vulgar and gaudy +around a Punch and Judy show and here enframe the four Evangelists. The +chapels and high altar are uninteresting, decorated in later days in +offensive taste. Apart from these furnishings, which play but a small +part, it is rare and satisfying to survey an interior in which there has +been so much decorative restraint, in which the constructive and +architectural lines dominate the merely ornamental ones, and where +harmony, severity and excellent proportions go hand in hand. Were it not +for the cupola and a few minor details, there would be added to these +merits, unity of style. + +The cloisters are rich and flamboyant, but nevertheless more restrained +than those of Salamanca. They are elaborately subdivided, carved and +festooned, and, in the bosses of the arches, they carry the arms of +their original builder, Bishop Arias Davila. Just inside their entrance +lie three of the old architects, Rodrigo Gil de Hontañon, Campo Aguero, +and Viadero. The old well in the centre is covered with a grapevine, and +nothing could be lovelier than the deep emerald leaves dotted with +purple fruit growing over the white and yellow stonework. + +Few Spanish cathedrals can be seen to such advantage as Segovia, its +situation is so unusual and fortunate. In mediæval towns closely packed +within their city walls, there could be but little room or breathing +space either for palace or hovel, and the buildings adjacent to a +cathedral generally nestled close to its sides. The plaza of Segovia is +unusually large compared to the area of the little city. The clearing +away of Santa Clara and San Miguel and all the smaller surrounding +edifices condemned for the Cathedral site, left much room also in front +of the western entrance for a fine broad platform as well as an +unobstructed view from the opposite side of the square. Most of the +flights of granite steps leading to it from the streets below are now +closed by iron gates and overgrown with grass and weeds. The days of the +great processions are past, when the various trades, led by their bands +of musicians, filed up to deliver their offerings towards the +construction, and the staircases are no longer thronged by devout +Segovian citizens anxious to see the daily progress of the work. The +platform is paved with innumerable granite slabs which in the old +Cathedral covered the tombs of the city's illustrious citizens, whose +names may still be easily deciphered. + +Taken as a whole, the façade is bald and void of charm. It is neither +good nor especially faulty, of a certain strength, but without interest +or merit. It is logically subdivided by five pronounced buttresses +marking the nave, side aisles and outer row of chapels. Their relative +heights and the lines of their roofing are clearly defined. To the +north, a rather insignificant turret terminates the façade, while to the +south rises the lofty tower, three hundred and forty-five feet above the +whole mountain of masonry, the most conspicuous landmark in the +landscape of Segovia. It consists of a square base of sides thirty-five +feet wide, broken by six rows of twin arches; the first, the third and +the sixth are open, the last is a belfry. The present dome curves from +an octagonal Renaissance base, the transitional corners being filled +with crocketed pyramids similar to the many crowning buttresses and +piers at all angles of the church below. The dome and lantern are almost +exact smaller counterparts of those crowning the crossing. They were put +up by the same architect, Mogaguren, who certainly could not have been +over-gifted with artistic imagination. The tower had varying +fortunes,--much to the distress of the citizens, it has been twice +struck by lightning. The wooden structure and lead covering were burned +and melted by the fire which followed the first catastrophe, but +fortunately it was soon put out by the rain which saved the Cathedral +and city. After the second thunderbolt, in 1809, the surmounting cross +was replaced by a lightning-rod. + +The nave is entered by the Perdon portal, which, under a Gothic arch, is +subdivided into two elliptical openings. Peculiarly late Gothic railings +here, as elsewhere, crown the masonry and conceal the tiling of the +sloping roofs. + +Rounding the church to the south, we find the view obstructed by the +cloisters and sacristy; only the façade of the transept, ascended from +the lower ground by a flight of steps, remains visible. The southern +doorway is quite denuded, and even its buttresses rise without as much +as a corbel to soften their lines. When one has, however, dodged through +the tortuous, narrow, malodorous streets and come out opposite the apse +and northern flank, the whole bulk of the logical organic body of the +church becomes visible with its larger squat and higher lofty domes +towering into the blue. To the same Renaissance period as the two domes +belongs the classical portal of Pedro Brizuela, leading to the northern +transept. The view from the northeast is particularly fine. Every +portion of the structure is expressed by the exterior lines. One above +the other rise chapels, ambulatory, apse, transepts and lanterns, each +level crowned by its sparkling balustrade. The sky is jagged by the +crocketed spires which terminate the flying buttresses, the piers and +the angles of the wall surface. Here the Latin cross may be seen, and +the sub-divisions of every portion of the interior. There is no +deception nor trickery. It is simple and straightforward. Its artistic +merits may be small, the forest of carved turrets rising all around the +apse, tiresome, but this final impression of Spanish Gothic was +thoroughly sincere. + + + + +VII + +SEVILLE + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE + +The Giralda, from the Orange Tree Court] + + "Wen Gott lieb hat, dem giebt er ein Haus in Sevilla." + + +Seville is ever youthful, for the blood which courses in her veins +absorbs the sunlight. Venice is the city of dreamy love, Naples, of +indolence, Rome, of everlasting age, but Seville keeps an eternal youth. + +What picturesqueness, what color, what passion blend with memories of +Andalusia! + + All sunny land of love! + When I forget you, may I fail + To ... say my prayers! + +And Seville is the queen of Andalusia, of noble birth, proud and +beautiful. Distinctly feminine in her subtle, indefinable charm, like a +woman she changes with her surroundings, and her mutability adds to her +fascination. We never fathom nor quite know her, for she is one being as +she slumbers in the first chalky light of morning, another, in the +resplendent nakedness of noontide, overarched by the indigo firmament, +and yet another, in the happy laughter of evening when her mantle has +turned purple and her throbbing life is more felt than seen. The roses, +hyacinths and crocuses have closed in sleep, but the orange groves, the +acacia, and eucalyptus, jasmine, lemon, and palm trees and hedges of box +fill the air with heavy, aromatic perfume. To the exiled Moors she was +so sweet in all her moods that they said, "God in His justice, having +denied to the Christians a heavenly paradise, has given them in exchange +an earthly one." With the oriental languor of her ancestors, she keeps +the freshness and sparkle of the dewy morn. She is as gay and full of +youthful vitality as her Toledan sister is old and worn and haggard. +While Toledo is sombre and funereal, Seville is alive with the tinkling +of silver fountains, the strumming of guitars and mandolins, and the +songs of her women. She lies rich and splendid on the bosom of the +campagna, fruitfulness and plenty within her embattled walls. "She is a +strange, sweet sorceress, a little wise perhaps, in whom love has +degenerated into desire; but she offers her lovers sleep, and in her +arms you will forget everything but the entrancing life of dreams." + +Andalusia and Seville justly claim an ancient and royal pedigree, which +through all the vicissitudes of centuries has still left its stamp upon +them. Andalusia was the Tarshish of the Bible, whither Jonah rose to +flee. Her commerce is spoken of in Jeremiah, Isaiah, the Psalms, and the +Chronicles: "Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all +kind of riches, with silver, iron, tin, and lead they traded in thy +fairs" (Ezekiel xxvii, 12). + +In passing the Straits of Hercules, Seville and Ceuta alone caught +Odysseus' eye:-- + + Tardy with age + Were I and my companions, when we came + To the Strait pass, where Hercules ordain'd + The bound'ries not to be o'erstepp'd by man. + The walls of Seville to my right I left, + On th' other hand already Ceuta past. + + _Inferno_, xxvi. 106-110. + +The honor of founding the city of Seville seems to be shared by Hercules +and Julius Cæsar. In the popular mind of the Sevillians, as well as +through an unbroken chain of mediæval historians and ballad-makers, +Hercules is called its father. Monuments throughout the city bear +witness to its founders. On one of the gates recently demolished the +inscription ran,-- + + Condidit Alcides, Renovavit Julius urbem. + Restituit Christo Fernandus tertius heros. + +The Latin verses were later paraphrased in the Castilian tongue over the +Gate of Zeres:-- + + Hercules me edifico, + Julio Cesar me cerco, + de meno y torres altes + y el rey santo me ganó, + Con Garci Perez de Vargas. + +"Hercules built me, Julius Cæsar surrounded me with walls and high +towers, the Holy King conquered me by Garcia Perez de Vargas." Statues +of the founder and protector still stand in various parts of the city. + +In the second century B. C., the shipping of Seville made it one of the +most important trade centres of the Mediterranean. Phoenicians and +Greeks stopped here to barter. In 45 B. C., Rome stretched forth her +greedy hand, and Cæsar entered the town at the head of his victorious +legion. Eighty-two years later the Romans formed the whole of southern +Spain into the "Provincia Bætica." With its formation into a Roman +colony, Seville's historical background begins to stand out clearly and +its riches are sung by the ancients. "Fair art thou, Bætis," says +Martial, "with thine olive crown and thy limpid waters, with the fleece +stains of a brilliant gold." The whole province contained what later +became Sevilla, Huelva, Cadiz, Cordova, Jaen, Granada and Almeria. +Seville, or Hispalis, became the capital and was accordingly fortified +with walls and towers, garrisoned and supplied with water from aqueducts +and adorned with Roman works of art. After the spread of Christianity +during the later Emperors, Seville was important enough to be made the +seat of a bishop. + +With the fall of Rome, Hispalis was overrun by hordes of Goths and +Vandals. They held possession of the country until they were conquered +in 711 by the Moors, who, after crossing the strait between Africa and +Europe, gradually spread northward through the Iberian peninsula. The +Goths made Hispalis out of the Roman Hispalia, and the Arabians in their +turn, unable to pronounce the p, formed the name into Ixbella, of which +the Castilians made Seville. + +To the Moors, Andalusia was the Promised Land flowing with milk and +honey. What was lacking, their genius and husbandry soon supplied. The +land which they found uncultivated soon became a garden filled with +exotic flowers and rich fruits, while they adorned its cities with the +noblest monuments of their taste and intelligence. They divided their +territory (el Andalus) into the four kingdoms of Seville, Cordova, Jaen, +and Granada, which still exist as territorial divisions. To-day the +three latter contain only the ruins of a great past. Seville alone +remains in many respects a perfectly Moorish city. Her courts, her +squares, the streets and houses, the great palace and the tower are +essentially Arabian and bear witness to the magnificence of her ancient +masters. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF SEVILLE CATHEDRAL + + A. The Giralda. + B. Royal Chapel. + C. Chapter House. + D. Sacristy. + E. Old Sacristy. + F. Colombina Library. + G. Portal of the Perdon. + H. Courtyard of the Orange Trees. + I. The Sagrario. + J. Portal of the Orange Trees. + K. Choir. + L. Capilla Mayor. + M. Portal of the Lonja (San Cristobal). + N. Portal of the Palos. + O. Portal of the Campanillas. + P. Portal of the Bautismo. + Q. Puerta Mayor. + R. Portal of the Nacimiento. + S. Trascoro. + T. Dependencias de la Hermandad. + U. Portal of the Sagrario. + V. Portal of the Lagarto. + X. Tomb of Fernando Colon.] + +They had lost all the rest of Spain except Granada before Cordova and +Jaen surrendered, and finally Seville fell into the hands of Ferdinand +III of Castile in 1248, and its Christian period began. Three hundred +thousand followers of the detested faith were banished from Seville, and +slowly the power of the Catholic Church began to rise and the +agricultural beauty and industry of the surrounding province to wane. + +The city was divided into separate districts for the different races, +the canals were dammed up, the water-works fell to pieces, the valley +was left untilled, and fruit trees were unpruned and unwatered. Hides +bleached in the sun and webs rotted on the looms, sixty thousand of +which had woven beautiful silk fabrics in the palmy days of the Moors. + +Ferdinand the Holy was a great king, of a saintliness and greatness +still acknowledged by the soldiers of Seville. After eight centuries +they still lower their colors as they march past the great shrine of the +Third Ferdinand, in the church which he purged from Mohammedanism and +dedicated to the worship of the Christians' God and the Holy Virgin. + +After him, Seville became the theatre of momentous deeds and events that +had a far-reaching influence on the history of the country. Into her lap +was poured the riches of the New World; within her halls Queen Isabella +laid the foundation of her united kingdom; from Seville came the +intellectual stimulus that revived the arts and letters of the whole +Peninsula. Here were born and labored Pedro Campaña, Alejo Fernandez, +Luis de Vargas, the several Herreras, Francisco de Zurbaran, Alfonso +Cano, Diego de Silva Velasquez, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and Miguel +Florentino. The riches of the western world made of Seville a second +Florence, where art found ready patrons, and literature, cultivated +protectors. She rivaled the great schools of Italy and the Netherlands, +but out of her secret council chambers came the Institution of the Holy +Office, the scourge that withered the nation. In the latter half of the +sixteenth century, forty-five thousand people were put to death in the +archbishopric of Seville. Finally, under Philip II, Seville and her +great church rose to stupendous wealth and power. + +"When Philip II died, loyal Seville honored the departed king by a +magnificent funeral service in the Cathedral. A tremendous monument was +designed by Oviedo. On Nov. 25th, 1598, the mourning multitude flocked +to the dim Cathedral while the people knelt upon the stones, and the +solemn music floated through the air. There was a disturbance among a +part of the congregation. A man was charged with deriding the imposing +monument and creating disorder. He was a tax-gatherer and ex-soldier of +the city named Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Some of the citizens +took his side, for there was a feud between the civil and the +ecclesiastical authorities in Seville. The brawler was expelled from the +cathedral,--but he had his revenge. He composed a satirical poem upon +the tomb of the King which was read everywhere in the city:-- + + _To the Monument of the King of Seville_ + + I vow to God I quake with surprise, + Could I describe it, I would give a crown, + And who, that gazes on it in the town + But starts aghast to see its wondrous size; + Each part a million cost, I should devise: + What pity 'tis, ere centuries have flown, + Old time will mercilessly cast it down! + Thou rival'st Rome, O Seville, in my eyes! + I bet, the soul of him who's dead and blest, + To dwell within this sumptuous monument, + Has left the seats of sempiternal rest! + A fellow tall, on deeds of valour bent, + My exclamation heard. "Bravo," he cried, + "Sir Soldier, what you say is true, I vow! + And he who says the contrary has lied!" + With that he pulls his hat upon his brow, + Upon his sword-hilt he his hand doth lay, + And frowns--and--nothing does, but walks away!"[16] + +Far more ineffaccable even than the record left by Philip's life upon +the history of Seville and Spain is that of this immortal soldier and +scribbler, who "believed he had found something better to do than +writing comedies." + +The soft, sonorous syllables of Guadalquivir (from the Arabic +Wad-el-Kebir, or The Great River) would picture to the imaginative eye a +river far more poetic than the sluggish stream that loiters across the +wide plain and fruitful valley until it pierces the amber girdle of +crenelated walls and embattled towers which enclose the treasures of +Seville. On its broad bosom have swept the barks and galleys of +Phoenicia and Greece, of Roman, Goth, and Moor. On its shores Columbus +lowered the sails of his caravel and presented Spain with a new world on +Palm Sunday, 1493; Pizarro and Cortez here first embarked their greedy +and daring adventurers; hither Pizarro returned with hoards of gold and +silver treasures from Mexico and Peru, for the Council of the Indies +restricted all the trade of the colonies to the port of Seville. The +valley through which the river descends is sheltered from the cold +tablelands lying northward by the Sierra Moreña chain. Gray olive trees, +waving pastures, and fields of grain cover its slopes. A soft, tempered +wind whispers through the grassy meadows of La Tierra de Maria +Santissima, and the atmosphere is so dry and clear that far away against +the horizon objects stand out in clear silhouette. So vivid are the +colors that the smoky olive groves, the orange and lemon-colored walls, +the fir trees, the chalky white of the stucco, the fleshy, prickly +leaves of the cacti, and the tall standards of the aloes seem +photographed on the brain. + +In a fair and fruitful land lies the city, and her spires pierce a +smokeless, unspotted sky. + +In the heart of the city, set down in the very centre of her life of +song and laughter and childish simplicity, surrounded by crooked streets +and great airy courts, in the widest sunlit square, lies her Cathedral. + +The first impression made by a building is generally not only the most +distinct but the truest. That produced by Seville's Cathedral is its +immensity of scale. + + Toledo la rica, + Salamanca la fuerta, + Leon la bella, + Oviedo la sacra, + Sevilla la grande, + +runs the Spanish saying. The size is overpowering. Each of the four side +aisles is nearly as broad and high as the nave of Westminster Abbey, +while the arcades of Seville's nave have twice the span. To the +impressionable sensitiveness of Théophile Gautier it was like a mountain +scooped out, a valley turned topsy-turvy. Notre Dame de Paris might walk +erect under the frightful height of the middle nave; pillars as large as +towers appear so slender that you catch your breath as you look up at +the far-away, vaulted roof they support. + +Here are the first impressions of two early Spanish writers. Cean +Bermudez finds that, "seen from a certain distance, it resembles a +high-pooped and beflagged ship, rising over the sea with harmonious +grouping of sails, pennons, and banners, and with its mainmast towering +over the mizzenmast, foremast, and bowsprit." Caveda is struck by "the +general effect, which is truly majestic. The open-work parapets which +crown the roofs; the graceful lanterns of the eight winding stairs that +ascend in the corners to the vaults and galleries; the flying buttresses +that spring lightly from aisle to nave, as the jets of a cascade from +cliff to cliff; the slender pinnacles that cap them; the proportions of +the arms of the transept and of the buttresses supporting the side +walls; the large pointed windows to which they belong, rising over each +other, the pointed portals and entrances,--all these combine in an +almost miraculous effect, although they lack the wealth of detail, the +airy grace, and the delicate elegance that characterize the cathedrals +of Leon and Burgos." + +Such are the varying impressions of ancient critics. To the student's +question, "To what period of architecture does the Cathedral of Seville +belong?" we must answer, "To no period, or rather to half a dozen." +Authorities and writers will give completely different information, and +Seville has found more willing and loving chroniclers than any other of +Spain's churches. Gallichan classes it as the "largest Gothic cathedral +in the world," and Caveda calls it "a type of the finest Spanish Gothic +architecture." + +The interior of the main body of the church is pure, severe Gothic, the +sacristy major, highly developed Renaissance; the main portions of the +exterior are what might be termed for want of a better word "Spanish +Renaissance--plateresco"; other details are Moorish, classical, late +florid Gothic, rococo, and so forth. As if to add to the incongruity of +the architectural hodge-podge, it is surrounded by shafts of old Roman +columns as well as Byzantine pillars from the original mosque, sunk deep +into the ground and connected with iron chains. The total impression to +any student of architecture is one of outraged law and order, +composition and unity. Recalling the carefully membered and distinctly +developed plan of the great Gothic churches of France, the expressive +exteriors of the huge Renaissance cathedrals of Italy, the satisfying +perspective of English monastic temples, one feels the hopelessness of +attempting a comparison between this huge, impressive undertaking and +any accepted standards or schools. It is something so entirely different +and apart, a mighty and unbridled effort which cannot be classified nor +grouped with other churches, nor studied by methods of earlier +architectural training. It is full of romance,--a building romantic as +the Cid, a child of architectural fervor or even architectural furor. +Centuries of Spanish history and religion and the various temperaments +of different and inspired races have created it and fostered its +growth. Like many of its sister churches, the artisans that labored on +it were gathered from different lands and their work stretches through +centuries of time and architectural thought. There is the sparkling, +oriental fancy of the Mudejar, the classic training of the Italian, the +brilliant color and technique of the Fleming and Dutchman, the skilled +and masterful chiseling of the German, and the restless pride and +domination of the Spaniard. You find it expressed in every way,--on +canvas, in wood and clay and stone, on plaster and in glass. It is a +museum of art from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries, with +portions still waiting for the work of the twentieth. The artists range +from Juan Sanches de Castro, "the morning star of Andalusia," in 1454, +to Francisco Goya, the last of the great Spanish painters. + +It is colossal, incongruous, mysterious, and elusive. It breathes the +spirit of the middle ages with all their piety and loyalty to church and +crown, and their unparalleled ardor in building religious temples. +Gazing at it, you feel the same religious fervor that flung the arches +of Amiens and Chartres high into the northern air and rounded the dome +of Santa Maria del Fiore under Lombardy's azure vault. + +If you stand in the Calle del Gran Capitan, or better, the Plaza del +Triumfo, best of all, near the gateway of the Patio de las Banderas, +where the Cathedral and the Giralda pile up in front of you, +unquestionably you have before you Spain's mightiest architectural work, +a sight as impressive as the view from the marble pavement of the +Piazzetta by the Adriatic. + +The lofty tower is entirely oriental. The walls of the Cathedral which +rise from a broad paved terrace consist below of a classical screen, +whose surface is broken by a Corinthian order carrying a Renaissance +balustrade and topped by heavy, meaningless stone terminations. Windows +with Italian Renaissance frames pierce the ochre masonry. Above rises a +confusion of buttresses, kettle-shaped domes, and Renaissance lanterns, +simple, massive walls, some portions entirely bare, others overloaded +with delicate Gothic interlacings full of Spanish feeling; flowers and +rosettes, broad blazons and coats-of-arms,--above all, a forest of +Gothic towers, finials, crockets, parapets, and rails peculiarly Spanish +in carving and treatment. There is practically no sky line. The interior +of the nave and aisle vaulting are entirely concealed externally by the +parapets and walls. + +So lacking in sobriety is the first view!--but you are ready to echo the +Spanish saying,-- + + Quien no ha visto Sevilla + No ha visto maravilla.[17] + +or the words of Pope, "_There_ stands a structure of majestic fame!" + +The Spanish Christians in Seville, like those who obtained possession of +other Moorish strongholds, first appropriated the old Arab mosque for +their house of worship. Later, when it no longer sufficed, they and +their fellow-believers elsewhere built the new cathedral on, around, or +adjacent to, the old consecrated walls. Like all other churches from +which Islam had been driven, the great mosque of Seville was dedicated +to Santa Maria de la Sede. The famous Moorish conqueror, Abu Jakub +Jusuf, had laid the foundation stones of his mosque and tower in 1171, +building his walls with the materials left by imperial Rome, and laying +out orange courtyard and walls in a manner befitting his power and the +traditions of his race. It belongs to what architectural writers have +for convenience called the second period of the Spanish Arabs, between +1146 and about 1250, under the Almohaden dynasty. This was the period of +the Moors' greatest constructive energy,--they no longer blindly copied +the ancient architecture of Byzantium, but endeavored to create a bold +and independent art of their own. + +After the capture of Seville in 1248, Ferdinand at once consecrated the +mosque to Christian service, and it was used without alteration until it +began to crumble. Its general plan was probably very much like the one +in Cordova, a great rectangle filled with a forest of columns: its high +walls of brick and clay supported by buttresses and crowned with +battlements enclosed an adjacent courtyard with fountain and rows of +orange trees, abutted by the bell or prayer tower. The courtyard and +tower remain with but slight changes or additions; portions of the +foundation walls, the northeast and west porticos, decorative details +and ornamentation still to be found on the Christian church are all +Moorish. The plan and general structure have been restricted by the +lines of the old Moorish foundations. There are no documents extant that +give a trustworthy account of what portions of the old mosque were +allowed to remain when the Christians finally decided to rebuild, but +the most cursory glance at the outline of the Cathedral shows how +organically it has been bound by what was retained. The mosque must have +been built on as large and magnificent a scale as the one which still +amazes us in Cordova. The peculiar, oblong, quadrilateral form was +probably common to both. + +On the 8th of July, 1401, the Cathedral Chapter issued the challenge to +the Catholic world which to the more practical piety of to-day rings +with a true mediæval fervor. Verily a faith that could remove mountains! +The inspired Chapter proclaimed they could build a church of such size +and beauty that coming ages should call them mad to have undertaken it. +And their own fat pockets were the first to be emptied of half their +stipends. The pennies of the poor, grants from the crown, indulgences +published throughout the kingdom, all went to satisfy the ever-grasping +building fund. + +In 1403 the work of tearing down and commencing afresh on the old +foundations was begun. These measured about some 415 feet in length by +278 feet in width. The old mosque or the present church proper is now +only the central edifice in a rectangle of about 600 by 500 feet. This +is the size of a village, with its courts, its tower, the great library +of the Cathedral Chapter where books were collected from all over the +lettered world by the son of Columbus, the parroquia or parish church, +the endless row of chapels, some larger than ordinary churches, the +sacristy, the chapter house and offices. It became the largest church of +the middle ages, covering 124,000 square feet; Milan covers only 90,000, +Toledo, 75,000, and Saint Paul's in London, 84,000. Among the churches +of all ages, Saint Peter's, with an area of 162,000 square feet, alone +exceeds it in size. + +In 1506, under the archbishops Alfonso Rodriguez and Gonzalo de Rojas, +the building was completed. For a century the work had been carried on +with such reckless haste that inferior building methods had been +employed, which led to subsequent disasters. On December 28, 1511, to +the consternation of the devout workmen, the great central dome fell in +during an earthquake, carrying with it or weakening many of the vaults +and much of the masonry below. After the earthquake, some of the large +piers supporting the great crossing as well as the adjacent ones were +found filled with the most carelessly laid rubble and earth, with no +carrying power nor resistance. About 1520 the building might in the main +be said to be finished. Externally it has never been completed, although +in the nineteenth century the west front was finished and its central +doorway ornamented. An extensive restoration which took place in 1882 +was interrupted by the second earthquake of 1888, during which the dome +again fell in. To-day it is all rebuilt. + +The entrance is at the west end. The plan, as I have said, was governed +by the old basilica-shaped mosque. The transepts do not project beyond +the chapels of the side aisles, and at the east end it differs from most +Spanish churches in having a square termination instead of an apse. Also +along the east wall chapels have been built between the buttresses +similar to those between the north and south sides. The central portions +of the east end open into the great Capilla Real. There are nine +doorways to the church. + +In studying the plan, it is interesting to note what Mr. Ferguson has +indicated, that similarly to what is found in the Indian Jain temples, +the diagonal of the aisle compartments has the same length as the width +of the nave. The original documents and accounts of the church, which +have disappeared, were probably burnt among Philip II's papers destroyed +by the great Madrid fire. + +Scarcely two of the Cathedral's many biographers agree as to its +architects, its historic precedents or what part of the work was +actually inspired by earlier Spanish architecture and national builders. +Naturally Spanish writers attribute workmanship, precedents and builders +all to their own Peninsula, while the different foreign authorities vary +in their estimates. Distinctly Spanish features of construction as well +as ornamentation are found side by side with others which unquestionably +came from masters trained beyond the Pyrenees. In various places +vaulting is found thoroughly German in its complexity and florid detail. +Several authorities point out the resemblances between Milan and +Seville, not that the ornamentation of the frosted and encrusted Italian +misconception can be intelligently compared with the Plateresque +carving, but there is a certain mixture of local and foreign feeling in +both. In Seville French and German feeling seems to be struggling under +Spanish fetters, just as in Lombardy the German seems to be laboring +with Italian comprehension of Gothic, finally abandoning the inorganic +scheme for a lovely, riotous, and marvelous attempt at carving to which +the material no longer placed any limitations. + +The Spanish architect of the middle ages was placed in a novel +situation, and his art had very peculiar and unusual influences bearing +upon it. Gothic methods of construction and ornamentation had slowly +spread over the country with the growing sovereignty of Aragon and +Castile, and in spite of the corresponding decline of the Arab kingdoms, +Moorish art began to work hand in hand, as far as was possible, with the +forms of the Christian invader, although the hostility between the races +hindered any extensive fusion of the two. They began, however, to +influence each other for good or bad and to flourish side by side. The +result might be called architectural volapük. In Seville it is certain +that, whatever the nationality of the original architect and however +incongruous and expressionless the exterior may finally have become, the +interior is less exotic, less unquestionably a French importation, than +in either of the great Gothic churches of Toledo or Burgos. When we +recall the organic completeness, the truthful exterior expression, of +interior lines and construction in the greatest Gothic cathedrals of +France, we turn with sadness to the outer form of so fair a soul as that +of Santa Maria of Seville, the work of the most famous architects of her +age. Some attribute the original plans of the church to Alfonso +Rodriguez, others to Alfonso Martinez, who was Maestro Mayor of the +chapter in 1396, others again to Pedro Garcia; a long list of names +follows: Juan the Norman, Juan de Hoz, Alfonso Ruiz, Ximon, Alfonso +Rodriguez, and Gonzalo de Rojas, Pedro Mellan, Miguel Florentin, Pedro +Lopez, Henrique de Egas, Juan de Alava, Jorge Fernandez Alleman, Juan +Gil de Hontañon and the masters who after the earthquake hurried to +Seville from their buildings in Toledo, Jaen, Vittoria, and other +places. Casanova is the last of her many architects. + +Correctly speaking, there is no façade. The Cathedral runs from west to +east, the western or main entrance portal being pierced by three ogival +doorways, the Puerta Mayor with a modern relief of the Assumption, the +Puerta del Nacimento or de San Miguel to the south, and the Puerta del +Bautizo or de San Juan to the north. Saint Miguel has a relief of the +Nativity of Christ, Saint Juan, one representing Saint John baptizing. +In the moldings surrounding these, are very exquisite little figures of +early sixteenth-century work executed in terra-cotta. They are full of +the best Gothic feeling, splendidly fitted to their spaces, alive with +the expression of the imaginative period of their sculptor, Pedro +Millan. Above and around the door of San Juan is a Gothic tracery of the +most elaborate character. + +One cannot refrain from comparing the sculptural work of these three +doorways. Riccardo Bellver's modern Assumption over the central doorway +is as congealed as the terra-cotta sculptures above and around the side +portals are admirable. They are unquestionably among the most +interesting bits of relief as well as figure sculpture of their kind +produced in Spain during the fifteenth century. Pedro Millan stands out +as a great mediæval master, not only from the consummate skill with +which the drapery is treated but from the living, breathing personality +and attitudes of the men and women around him, which we still gaze at in +the truth of their curious, naïve, fifteenth-century light. + +As the whole western façade was not completed in its present form until +1827, much of its work is as poor as it is modern. + +There are two entrances to the eastern end, richly decorated with fine +terra-cotta statues and reliefs of angels, patriarchs, and Biblical +figures, attributed to Lope Marin. In the northern façade there are +three,--one classical and of very little interest leading to the parish +church; the second is the Puerto de los Naranjos. + +In the Puerta del Lagarto, where the Giralda abuts the Cathedral, there +hangs a poor stuffed crocodile, once sent by a Sultan of Egypt in token +of admiration to Saint Ferdinand. The beast, having died on his way from +the Nile, could never crawl in the basins of the Alcazar gardens, but +found a resting-place under the shelves of the Columbina library. + +On the opposite side of the orange-tree court is the Puerta del Perdon. +The Florentine relief above, representing the crouching traders as they +were driven from the Temple, naturally spoils the effectiveness of the +magnificent Moorish portal below. Its horseshoe curve, with delicate +Moorish interlacing, arabesques, frieze and bronze doors, is a curious +and striking note of a bygone age, leading as it does to the walled and +fragrant courtyard of its builders, and the fountain where they made +their ablutions. Later Renaissance statues of the Annunciation and Saint +Peter and Saint Paul, as well as Florentine pilasters and ornament, +flank the Moorish moldings in an utterly meaningless manner. + +On the south is the gate of San Cristobal, or of the Lonja, finished +only a few years ago. + +In and out of these many entrances the populace stream, to worship, to +whisper, to gossip, to rest, to bargain, to beg, and to make love. The +whole drama of life in its conglomerate population goes on within the +walls of the Cathedral. It is the most frequented thoroughfare, where +the people enter as often with a song on their lips as with a prayer. +The great edifice with all the ceremonial of its religious services is +woven into their life, as is the sound of the guitars and castanets that +echo within its portals and courtyards. The church and her children are +not strangers. The Sevillian does not approach her altars with religious +awe and fear, but with a childish trust; he kneels down before them as +much at home as when rolling his cigarette on the bench of his café. The +Cathedral, like the houses nestling and crumbling around it, opens wide +and hospitable gates that lead to the refreshing shade and comfort +within. + +The western front is practically the only one which presents the +Cathedral unobscured by adjacent buildings climbing up its sides or +struggling between the buttresses,--or which is not concealed by +enclosing screenwork. To the north the walls of the Orange Court block +the view; to the east, the high screen; and to the south, the chapter +house and the Dependencias de la Hermanidad and the sacristy. The mass +of domes with supporting flying buttresses, ramps and finials above it, +all remind one curiously of a transplanted and ecclesiasticized +Chambord. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE + +Gateway of Perdon in the Orange Tree Court] + +As the plan conforms to the conditions of the old rectangular mosque and +has neither projecting transepts nor semicircular chevet, it can +scarcely be called Gothic. It consists of nave and double side +aisles,--the nave 56 feet wide from centre to centre of the columns and +145 feet high, and the inner side aisles 40 wide and about 100 high. +Outside these is another aisle filled with various chapels. + +At the crossing of the nave and transept, we have the typical, small +Spanish octagonal dome,--in this instance covering possibly what was in +the original mosque a central octagonal court. It is a construction +rising some hundred and seventy feet above the level of the eye, +admitting light below its spring into what in the French Gothic edifices +would usually be the gloomiest portions of the building. + +The side aisles differ slightly in width, the two lateral ones being +filled with various chapels. There are nine bays, separated by +thirty-six clustered pillars, some of them perfect towers in their huge +and massive strength. Their detail and outline are excellent, all of the +greatest simplicity and restraint. The delicate engaged shafts which +surround the huge supports of fifteen feet diameter terminate below the +vaulting ribs in delicately interlaced palm-leaf caps. Nothing is +confused or intricate. Sixty-eight compartments spring from the various +piers with a loftiness reminding one of Cologne. The groining differs +very much. The greater portion is admirably plain, of simple +quadripartite design; other parts are fanciful and elaborate, recalling +florid German prototypes. The five central vaults forming the cross +under the dome alone have elaborate fan-vaulting; the geometrical design +is as excellent as its detail. The richness given this central and most +correct portion of the great roofing is all the more effective by +contrast with the plain, unelaborated groins of the surrounding vaults. +The petals of the flower, the very holy of holies, between the choir +and the Capilla Mayor, before the high altar, are what is most beautiful +and enriched. + +The lighting is very unusual, and better than either Leon or Toledo. +Ninety-three windows are filled with the most glorious glass. There are +two clerestories to light the body of the church, one in the walls of +the second side aisle, admitting light above the roofs of the chapels, +the second in the nave. Added to this come the huge lights of the five +rose windows. + +In Seville, as in Toledo and many of the other great Spanish cathedrals, +the general view of the interior is blocked, and the majestic +effectiveness of the columnar rows marred, by the placing of the great +choir in the centre of the edifice. + +But the interior effect is nevertheless one of the most inspiring +produced by the imagination and hands of man. All truly majestic +conceptions are simple and, though we may at times wonder at the secret +of their power, we always find their enduring grandeur due to a hidden +simplicity. This is true of the Parthenon, of the Venus of Milo, and the +Sistine Madonna. Whoever enters the Cathedral of Seville is struck first +of all by its simplicity. The tremendous scale of the interior is +unperceived, owing to the just proportion between all the parts. There +is height as well as width, massiveness and strength, boldness and +light. None of the detail is petty or too elaborate, but simple and +effective, making a harmony in all its parts. Even the furniture carries +out the tremendous boldness and grandeur of the edifice. Bells, choir +books, candles, altar chests, are all on the same grandiose scale. It +has true majesty in its simplicity of direct, honest appeal, and a +proud unconsciousness, because it is free from the artificiality which +is invariably vulgar. The truly beautiful woman needs none of the +devices of art. The shafts and vaults and string courses in Seville's +Cathedral need little ornamentation to bring out their beauty; they are +in fact as effective as the elaborate carving of Salamanca and Segovia. +Seville preaches a great lesson to our twentieth century, of peace, rest +and completeness. It has room for all its children; they may kneel at +eighty-two different shrines and find romance or encouragement or the +consolation they are seeking. Some churches are strangely secular in +their restlessness of feeling, while others breathe an atmosphere full +of poetry, exaltation and the infinite peace of the Gospels. Seville's +religion is for the humble and simple as much as for the grandee. It is +not only the great cathedral church of the archbishop and bishop, the +eleven dignitaries, forty canons, twenty prebendaries, twenty minor +canons, twenty veinteneros, twenty chaplains and the host of a choir, +but the beloved home of the poor, miserable, starving sons and daughters +of Santa Maria de la Sede. + +Although architecturally the injurious effect of placing choir and high +altar in the middle of the church cannot be overstated, from the point +of view of ritual, of closely uniting the officiating body with the +worshipers, it is undoubtedly a far happier arrangement than where the +prayers and psalms proceed from the extreme apsidal termination. In the +former case the religious guidance seems to emanate from the very soul +of the edifice, and to reach all humble worshipers in the remotest nooks +and corners. + +The Spanish nature craves the sensuous and theatrical in religious +rites, and not far-away but intimately, as part and parcel of it. In the +time of the great ecclesiastical power of the bishopric of Seville +20,000 pounds of wax were burned every year, 500 masses were daily +celebrated at the 80 altars, and the wine consumed in the yearly +sacrament amounted to 18,750 litres. Seville's children wished to be +close to the glare and flicker of the wax candles and torches and to +hear distinctly the unintelligible Latin service. Seek the shade of the +cathedral when the July sun is burning outside, or during one of the +nights of Holy Week, when the great Miserere of Eslava is sung, and you +will find it the most thronged spot in all Seville. In the words of +Havelock Ellis: "Profoundly impressive,--around the choir an impassive +mass, in the rest of the church characteristic Spanish groups crouched +at the bases of the great clustered shafts, and chatted and used their +fans familiarly, as if in their own homes, while dogs ran about +unmolested. The vast church lent itself superbly to the music and the +scene. It was a scene stranger than the designs of Martin, as bizarre as +something out of Poe or Baudelaire. In the dim light the huge piers +seemed larger and higher than ever, while the faint altar lights dimly +lit up the iron screen of the Capilla Mayor, as in Rembrandt's +conception of the Temple of Jerusalem. In the scene of enchantment one +felt that Santa Maria of Seville had delivered up the last secret of her +mystery and romance." + +If you enter the church from the west through the main portal, or the +Puerta Mayor, the whole length of the nave is broken by various +structures. On the axis, under the second vault, is the tomb of +Fernando Colon; the fourth and fifth vaults contain the choir; the sixth +comes under the dome; the seventh and eighth take in the Capilla Mayor +and Sacristia Alta; back of the ninth and terminating the eastern end, +rises the great Renaissance royal chapel (Capilla Real). Fernando Colon +deserves to live not only in Seville's history but in the memory of all +Spain, first and foremost for being his father's son (by his mistress +Beatrix Enrigues), and, secondly, for leading a most pious and studious +life and devoting his time and fortune while traversing Europe during +the first half of the sixteenth century, to the purchase of the most +valuable books and manuscripts of the time. These he united into the +famous Columbina Library and presented to the Cathedral Chapter. The +enormous wooden tabernacle erected every Passion Week over the great +Discoverer's son, to reach the very arches of the vaults overhead, is as +hideous as the inscription is touching. Three caravels are inlaid on the +slab, between which runs the legend, "A Castilla y a Leon mundo nuevo +die Colon"[a] (To Castile and Leon Columbus gave a new world), and the +following inscription: "Of what avails it that I have bathed the entire +universe in my sweat, that I have thrice passed through the new world, +discovered by my father, that I have adorned the banks of the gentle +Bati and preferred my simple tastes to riches, in order to gather around +thee the divinities of the Castalian Spring and offer thee the treasures +already gathered by Ptolemy, if thou in passing this stone in Seville, +dost not at least give a greeting to my father and a thought to me." + +Directly back of Fernando Columbus' tomb rises the rear surface or +trascoro of the choir. The choir, which occupies the fourth and fifth +bays, is enclosed by the most elaborate walls, except at the entrance to +the east, where it is screened by the remarkable iron reja. This, as +well as the rejas of the choir, is in design and workmanship a marvelous +example of mediæval craft, quite as fine as the screens of Toledo and +Granada and the best work of the German forgers and guilds. The design, +from 1519, harmonizes splendidly with the ironwork facing it. Its +gilding must have improved as each century has toned it down. Now in the +evening hours when it catches the reflection of some light, the spikes +look like angels' spears rising flame-like out of the mysterious +twilight and guarding the holy places beyond. + +The choir, placed so nearly under the dome, naturally suffered greatly +by its fall. A portion of the 127 stalls has been so well restored that +it is difficult to distinguish the old from the new. "Nufro Sanchez, +sculptor, whom God guarded, made this choir in the year 1475." The +subjects are as usual from the New and Old Testaments, and the character +of the carving constantly betrays Moorish influence. The pillars as well +as the canopies and the figures themselves are possibly entirely Gothic, +but one glance at the gaudily inlaid backs shows Arab workmanship. Along +the outer sides of the choir around the four little stonework niches, +which serve as smaller chapels, the Gothic carving (some of it executed +in transparent alabaster), works more happily than usual in combination +with the later Plateresque or Renaissance, here containing the fine +feeling of the Genoese school. One piece of sculpture stands out from +all the rest, viz., the Virgin, carved by Montañes. Her hands are of +such exquisite girlish delicacy, of such immature and dimpled softness, +that one cannot pass them by without a feeling of delight. + +The organs, which form a part of the choir, have an incredible number of +pipes and stops. According to a remarkable old tale, they were filled +with air by the choir boys, who walked back and forth over tilting +planks placed on the bellows. Whether or no the boys still have this +happy outlet for their ecclesiastic activities, the music means little +to the Spaniard, and their design still less to the architect's eye. + +The Capilla Mayor faces the choir, merely separated from it by the space +lying directly under the dome and forming the intersection of nave and +transepts. As the church services constantly require the simultaneous +use of the choir and the high altar of the Capilla Mayor, a portion of +the intermediate space or "entre los dos Coros" is roped off during +service time for the clergy to pass from one to the other. The Spanish +taste for pomp and magnificence centres in all its extravagance about +the high altar, while a more subdued richness characterizes the +surrounding stone and iron work which encloses the sanctuary on all +sides. Not only on the front, complementing and balancing admirably the +facing reja of the choir, but on the western ends of the sides, immense +ornamental iron screens bar the way. The front one is quite overpowering +in size, rising some seventy-five feet above the altar. The Spaniard was +equal to any undertaking in the days of early Hapsburg splendor under +the pious Reyes Catolicos. With the aid of Sancho Munoz and Diego de +Yorobo, a Dominican Friar, Francesco de Salamanca designed them (1518) +and then superintended the welding, gilding and the final erection in +1523. + +The east end of the Capilla Mayor is formed by the magnificent retablo, +almost four thousand square feet in size. One is immediately struck by +its immense proportions and the infinite amount of carving bestowed on +it. Its great scheme was conceived in 1482 by the Flemish sculptor +Dancart, evidently a man of prolific and versatile imagination. If we +try to compare it with the work of English churches, we might best liken +it to the great altar screens. This and the retablo at Toledo are +probably the richest specimens of mediæval woodwork in existence. +Portions of the execution are somewhat inferior to the conception, and +yet the artists who labored on it with loving skill until the middle of +the following century carried out all their work with a richness and +delicacy which make it not only a representative piece of late Gothic +sculpture but one of the most magnificent specimens of this branch of +Spanish art. Its various portions embrace the whole period of florid +Gothic from its earlier, more restrained expression to the very last +stroke of the art, when wood was mastered and carved into incredible +filigree work as if it had been as soft and pliable as silver leaf. +Everything that could be carved is there, figures, foliage, tracery, +moldings and mere conventionalized ornament. The central portions are of +the earlier fifteenth century, the outer ones, of the late sixteenth, +executed under Master Marco Jorge Fernandez. The wood is principally +larch, with minor portions of chestnut and pine. The whole field is +divided by slender shafts and laboriously carved bands into forty-four +compartments representing in high and low relief various scenes from the +life of Christ and the Virgin Mary. In the centre is Santa Maria de la +Sede, the patron saint of the church, surmounted by a Crucifixion with +Saint John and the Virgin on either side. + +Between the retablo and the rear wall enclosing the rectangle of the +Capilla Mayor, there is a dark space known as the Sacristia Alta, where +is preserved the Tablas Alfonsinas[18] brought from Constantinople to +Paris by Saint Ferdinand's son, Alfonso. + +Seville ranks high among the churches of Spain in the beauty of its +carving. The stone screen that forms the rear of the retablo is filled +with admirable Gothic terra-cotta statues, saints, virgins, bishops, +martyrs and prelates executed with a little of the curious rigidity of +the Dutch School still awaiting its Renaissance emancipation, but with +faces full of holy devotion. The modeling is correct and the treatment +of the drapery excellent. + +Within the enclosure of the Capilla Mayor, there is still to be seen at +certain times of the year, a ceremony which has been performed for +centuries, and which is certainly the most unique religious rite +celebrated in any Christian church. To the Saxon it is most +extraordinary. During the last three days of the Carnival or after the +Feast of Corpus Domini, we may see boys dressed in costumes perform a +dance before the high altar of the Cathedral. Children, so the tale +runs, danced, skipped and shouted for joy when the city of Seville was +finally taken from the Mohammedans, and these childish demonstrations so +touched the hearts of the clergy who entered the city with the +conquering army, that they resolved that succeeding generations of boys +should perpetuate them forever. Of all the festivals and religious +processions culminating in or outside Saint Mary's shrine, surely none +can give her so much pleasure as the sight of these little boys dancing +and singing in her honor. + +This naïf and charming ceremonial is part of the Mozarabic Ritual, the +work of Saint Isidore, a metropolitan of Seville a hundred years before +the arrival of the Saracens. In his early years, when his elder brother +Leander ruled the Gothic Church with stern hand, Isidore had time and +talents to master in his cloistered seclusion so much art and science +that he became the Admirable Crichton of his day. His work on "The +Origin of Things" shows the profundity of his knowledge, his history of +the Goths is beyond doubt his most valuable legacy to us, but what +endeared him above all to his countrymen was the Mozarabic Rite, of +which he composed both breviary and music. The Benedictine monks of +Cluny, those architects and chroniclers, who had been obliged to +sacrifice their Gallican liturgy for the Roman, could not rest satisfied +until they had imposed it on the Peninsula. They were supported in this +truly foreign aggression by Constance of Burgundy, Queen of Alfonso VI, +and by the masterful Gregory VII, himself a Benedictine. And so Saint +Isidore's quaint old hymn with the accompanying melody was banished from +all but one or two favored chapels. Fortunately Cardinal Ximenez became +its enthusiastic and powerful protector. He endowed in the Cathedral of +Toledo a special chapel and had thirteen priests trained for the +service, "Mozarabes sodales." In Ximenez' time a German, Peter +Hagenbach, first printed "missale secundum regulam beati Isidori dictum +Mozarabes," what Saint Isidore called "those fleeting sounds so hard to +note down." His breviary was the first Roman one to be used in Spanish +churches. + +To enumerate the endless rows of chapels with their countless treasures +and chaste or tawdry architecture and decoration would be tiresome and +unprofitable,--with a plan and guide-book, one may pass them in review. +"Sixty-seven of the great sculptors and thirty-eight of the painters +here display to the astonished and incredulous eye the masterpieces of +their hand," says one. Here is almost every painter belonging to the +great Sevillian school of painting of the sixteenth and seventeenth +centuries. They form a veritable museum or a series of small museums, +each chapel being a separate room of masterpieces. But here, as in the +museum, there are good and bad paintings and statues, and only the +excellent are worth attention. They are better worth studying here than +elsewhere, for they have been left in the surroundings for which they +were intended and painted. Spain's great religious artist did not paint +his Madonnas so full of distracting and sensuous loveliness for the +walls of the Prado; their smiles, human and pathetic, were for the +altars and panels of sanctuaries. Here is the light in which they were +studied and for which they were colored; here are the walls and frames +which were intended to surround them; they are in the company they +would choose, and they were painted with the same religious devotion +that inspires the prayers now offered before them. The painter's +inspiration sprang from the fervor of his faith. + +Three of the paintings are lovely above all others. Two are Murillo's, +namely the Angel de la Guarda and the San Antonio of the baptistery; the +third is the Deposition from the Cross, by Pedro de Campana (or more +correctly Kempeneer), hanging in the great sacristy. This is the +painting, Spanish historians will tell you, Murillo loved so well that +whenever he was downhearted he would stand in front of it for hours, and +become lost to all around him, even forgetting his own Madonnas. One day +the sacristan asked him impatiently, why he so often stood there +staring. "I am waiting," Murillo answered, "till those holy men have +taken the Saviour down from the Cross." It hangs well lighted over one +of the altars of the Sacristy. Few faces have ever been painted which +convey depth and intensity of feeling in a more affecting way. The +agonized faces of the women at the foot of the Cross express all an +innocent human heart can feel of compassion, heart-wrung sorrow and +despair. The ecstasy with which Saint Anthony, who is kneeling in +prayer, gazes at the Child Jesus has seldom been surpassed in reality +and power. Entirely lifted beyond the earthly sphere, his features +kindle with ardent piety and divine love. The angels surrounding the +Infant Jesus have a simplicity of expression which never escapes those +who have loved and studied children. The coloring is unique and of a +truly penetrating softness. All the little details of the miserable cell +in which the saint is kneeling are rendered with the vigorous reality +so characteristic of the Spanish school, while in the upper part of the +painting one seems to see even the dust particles floating in the rays +of sunlight. The shadows have a marvelous transparency. + +The Angel de la Guarda, or Guardian Angel, is one of the master's very +best works. The purples and yellows of the angel's vesture have kept +their depth and richness through all the centuries in which the colors +have been drying. + +There might be a guide-book dealing with the paintings of the Cathedral +alone. How differently it is decorated from the great Gothic cathedrals +of the present Anglican Church! In Seville as in Florence, all the fine +arts seemed to flower and come to perfection during the sixteenth +century. Sculpture and painting were employed to embellish architecture, +as in the ancient days of Greece. The sister arts walked once more hand +in hand. The figures in stone and still more in terra-cotta which adorn +the exterior porches and the more decorative portions of the interior +are unusually fine. Many of the bishops, saints and kings have an +unmistakable Renaissance feeling. Take, for instance, such a statue as +the Virgin del Reposo, so dear to the Sevillians,--you feel in all the +handling the period of transition. Such sculptors as Miguel Florentin, +Juan Marin, and Diego de Pesquera must have been influenced by Italy +when they carved the statues which adorn the Cathedral of Seville. + +The contact with Italy and the many Italian workmen gradually induced +faithlessness to the earlier Gothic ideals of the founders and builders +of the church. The great Maestro Mayor of Toledo Cathedral, Henrique de +Egas, was among the first to introduce restraint in Spanish building +after the fanaticism of the later flamboyant. In the time of Ferdinand +and Isabella, a well-known Toledan published a Spanish abridgment of +Vitruvius; this in conjunction with the influence of many foreign +artists led the way to classical building. Granada was soon resurrected +as a Greek-Roman "Centralbau" and even the crossing of Gothic Burgos was +unfortunately restored by Borgoña after classic models. + +The new foreign movement found expression in architecture, in sculpture +and in painting, often with the most extraordinary attempts to employ +the new without discarding the old. Grotesque and fantastic ornaments +crown illogical construction. + +The royal chapel, the chapter house, the sagrario and the great sacristy +are examples of the new-born style. The first two are magnificent +specimens of Spanish Renaissance. Each of them is a fine church in +itself, and they can only be classed as chapels because they bear that +relation and are proportioned to the immense mother church of Seville. + +The walls of the Capilla Real form the eastern termination to the +Cathedral, and the chapel is very properly planned upon the axe of the +church and entered through a splendidly decorated lofty arch. It is +about 81 by 59 feet in plan, and 113 feet high to the lantern crowning +the really fine dome. A round altar at its eastern extremity is closed +off by a typically impressive reja. The architecture is of the +magnificence of Saint Peter's in Rome, and not unlike it in detail. +Eight Corinthian pilasters support the dome, breaking the wall space +into panels and carrying the richest classical cornice surmounted by +fine statues of the Apostles, Evangelists and kings. The chapel takes +its name from being the burial place of the royal house. Along its walls +are the tombs of Saint Ferdinand's consort, of Alfonso the Learned and +his mother, Beatrice of Suabia, and the beautiful Doña Maria de Padilla, +the mistress of Pedro the Cruel. He himself is buried below in the vault +with many other of the royal princes. In the centre of the chapel Saint +Ferdinand lies in full armor with a crown on his head. Three times a +year he is shown to the soldiers of Spain, who march past with sounding +bugles and lowered banners. + +The chapel was planned and built by Martin Ganza during the reign of +Charles V. Shortly after the defeat of the Moors, an earlier royal one +was built upon the same site and added to the old mosque. When the great +new Cathedral was planned, the Chapter begged permission to remove +temporarily the bodies of the royal personages interred in the +chapel,--the holy King Ferdinand, his mother and son. This petition was +granted by Queen Joanna on condition that they would rebuild it on a +more fitting scale at as early a date as possible. The Chapter +preferred, however, to expend all its means and energies on the great +vaulting of the Cathedral rather than on the new royal sepulchre, and +this was not rebuilt until Charles V finally lost patience over the +negligent and disrespectful manner in which the remains of his forbears +were treated and wrote to the Chapter, in 1543, commanding them "to +start the work without any delay whatsoever, and to bring it to +completion as rapidly as possible, and to execute the work as +excellently as befitted its royal guests." That the workmen made no +delay in obeying the royal commands is shown by the fact that the walls +were well up as early as 1566 and finished shortly afterwards. + +None of the Spanish cathedrals have a better type of Plateresque +architecture and decoration than the sacristy, built during the first +half of the seventeenth century. The plan is that of a Greek cross, 70 +by 40 feet, and about 120 feet high. Its dome, spanning the great +central vault, is a distinct feature in any comprehensive exterior view +of the Cathedral. The Sacristy is filled with curious and priceless +relics, treasures, and vestments belonging to the church. As Santa Justa +and Santa Rufina are in a manner the patron saints of Seville, their +picture by Goya hanging here is of interest. Both of them hold vessels +of the character of soup dishes; and their faces, taken from Seville +models, are of decidedly earthly types. + +To the west of the façade as you enter, lies the large sagrario, or +parish church. It is a building entirely by itself, 112 feet long, with +a single nave spanned by a dangerously bold barrel vault. + +Here and there among the chapels you come suddenly on famous subjects by +great masters, names renowned in Spanish history or striking works of +art. Learning and statesmanship are honored in great Mendoza's monument: +the silent mailed effigies of the Guzmans commemorate the thrilling +exploits of Spanish arms. What sympathies are stirred as you stand +uncovered before the tomb of the great and deeply wronged Discoverer! We +hear again the passionate appeals and the vain pleadings of his +undaunted faith. The living head was left to whiten within prison +walls; its effigy is now proudly carried on the four gorgeous shoulders +of the Spanish states; the poor bones, after their weary travels from +Valladolid to the Carthusian monastery of Las Cuevas, from Hispaniola to +Havana, have finally found a resting-place within the very walls where +they were once treated with such contumely,--for here lies the Great +Admiral, Cristoforo Colon. + +You pass paintings by Alfonso Cano, Ribera, Zurbaran, Greco and +Goya,--Murillo's Immaculate Conception, better known than all his other +works; Montañez' exquisite Crucifixion, canvases by Valdes, Herrera, +Boldan and Roelas. There are subjects curious and out of keeping with +our present artistic sentiments, saints walking about with their heads +instead of breviaries under their arms, dresses more fitting for the +ballroom than the wintry scenery amid which they are worn, marriage +ceremonies of the Virgin, Adam and Eve, entirely forgetful of their lost +Eden in the contemplation of the Virgin's halo, keys with quaint old +Arab inscriptions: "May Allah render eternal the dominion of Islam in +this city," saints with removable hair of spun gold and jointed limbs, +others snatched from quiet altar service to plunge into the turmoil of +battle on the saddle bow of reigning kings. Verily a museum of +historical curiosities as well as of the fine arts, satisfying +sensational cravings as well as the finer artistic sense. + +The structure is revealed to us through a light of unearthly sweetness. +None of the Spanish cathedrals are more satisfactorily lighted, for +Seville has neither the brilliant clarity of some of the northern +churches, which robs them of a certain mystery and awe, nor has it the +sinister obscurity of some of the southern, where both structure and +detail are half lost in shadows, as in Barcelona. + +The light from the cimborio and from the two rows of windows as well as +the doors penetrates every chapel with its rainbow hues; it reveals the +whole majestic structure, the lofty spring of the arches, the glittering +ironwork of the screens, the titanic strength and simple caps of the +columns, and breathes celestial life into the army of saints and +martyrs. It gives a soul to it all. The effect produced by the early +morning and late afternoon light is very different. Santa Maria de la +Sede, like all her earthly sisters, has a variety of expressions. At +times she burns with animation, even a remnant of earthly passion may +glow in her holy countenance, and again she is cold, impassive and +nunlike in her gray garb of renunciation. + +According to an Andalusian proverb, the rays of the sun have no evil +power where the voice of prayer is heard. For this reason, only a few of +the highest windows are screened by semi-transparent curtains, and the +light pours in unbroken through most of their brilliant tints--down the +nave in deep blood reds and indigo blues. The greater portion of the +glass is unusually rich in coloring,--perhaps too florid, but typical of +the Flemish School of glass-painting. Ninety-three windows were stained +during the first half of the sixteenth century, for which the church +paid the painters the large sum of 90,000 ducats. The earliest ones are +by Micer and Cristobal Aleman, who in 1538 introduced in Seville real +stained glass. Aleman's, representing the Ascension of Christ, Mary +Magdalen, and the Awakening of Lazarus, the Entry into Jerusalem, the +Descent of the Holy Ghost and the Apostles, all in the transept, +together with those by his brother Arnao de Flanders, are the +best,--better than most Flemish windows of the time in any European +cathedral. True, they are somewhat heavy in outline and the coloring +lacks softness and restraint in tone, but they have great depth, +excellency of drawing and power of expression in faces and figures. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE + +Illustration: AND THE GIRALDA] + +The little chapel, the Capilla de los Doncelles, contains a magnificent +sheet of glass representing the Resurrection of Christ, painted by +Carlos de Bruges, one of the great Flemish artists. A whole school of +foreign painters seem to have gathered round these famous "vidrieros," +many of them working in their shops. Among the best known are Arnao de +Vergara, Micer Enrique Bernardino de Celandra and Vicente Menardo. + + * * * * * + +The Giralda is incomparable, a unique expression of feminine strength. +She is as oriental and mysterious as the Sphinx, or might be likened to +a great sultana in enchanted sleep. Though her majestic head has towered +for centuries beside her Christian sister, they still seem as +irreconcilable as their faiths a thousand years ago. It has been a +strange companionship. The oriental loveliness and splendor of the +Giralda, like that of Seville, are best felt at the twilight hour, when +her jewels sparkle in the last rays of the setting sun. With the waning +light the coloring becomes purple, then indigo, while the silhouette +still stands out in startling clearness and strength against the +spotless blue of the evening sky. You feel as if the whole mountain of +masonry were slowly but surely leaning more and more from its base and +about to bury you in its fall. The vermilion and ochre coloring are like +the petals of the rose. Nowhere is the surface uniform, but passes +gradually from light cream and buff through warmer amber to brilliant +orange and carmine and crimson lake, even to the color of the +pomegranate's heart. The exquisite surface of delicate tinting, mellowed +by the storms and suns of centuries, is everywhere relieved by the +brilliant sparkle, the delicate play of light and shade, of the Moorish +designs. When the low rays of the Andalusian sun illumine the Giralda, +just touched here and there with dots of molten gold like the orange +trees from whose green bed it rises, you see the boldest creation of +Moorish imagination in all its splendor. The great Cathedral itself +becomes a modest nun with rich, but sombre, cape over her shoulders, +beside this dazzling creature glowing with Saracenic fire. + +The Giralda is the greatest of all the monuments of that enlightened +civilization. She is so different from any other tower that comparison +becomes difficult. There is a robustness, an appearance of adequate +solidity and strength which are lacking in the Italian towers of Saint +Mark's, of Pistoja, or of Florence. This holds true even in relation to +other Moorish towers, or such edifices as the Mosque at Cordova, the +Alcazar at Seville, or the pillared halls of Granada; all other Moorish +work seems to have a certain feminine weakness, a timidity and +insecurity, when compared with the tower which dominates Maria +Santissima. The Giralda is your first and last impression of this +corner of the world, for it embodies all the grace and strength that can +be combined in architecture. Old Spanish authorities assert that it was +in the very year when believers throughout Christendom were anxiously +expecting the end of the world that the Moslem infidels began to build +their huge monument. More probably it was started about the year 1185, +as the prayer tower or minaret of the mosque which was then rapidly +progressing. The Spanish historian Gayangos says that it was completed +by Jabar or Gever in 1196, during the reign of the illustrious Almohad +ruler, Abu Jakub Jusef, the same monarch who erected the Mesquita at +Cordova. Other authorities insist that its original purpose was as an +observatory,--but although it may have been used for astronomical +purposes, it was certainly erected as a tower from which the muezzin +could call the faithful to prayer in the Mosque of Seville. While +building it, Gever claims to have invented algebra. + +The original tower has undergone skillful but of course detrimental +changes from the hands of later generations. We have descriptions and +representations of it prior to the changes made in 1500. The main Arab +structure was, like almost all Mohammedan prayer-towers, surmounted by a +smaller tower and capped by a spire. It was about 250 feet high, and on +its summit an iron standard supported, before the earthquake of 1395, +four enormous balls of brass. King Alfonso the Wise, in his "Cronica de +España," describing Seville in the thirteenth century, says that "when +the sun shone upon these balls, they emitted so fierce a light that they +might be seen a day's journey away from the city." When Seville was +taken by Saint Ferdinand in 1248, the tower was standing in the full +glory of its original conception. The thought that it might fall into +the hands of the conquerors so horrified its builders that they were +only prevented from destroying it by Saint Ferdinand's threat that, if a +single brick were removed, not an infidel in Seville should keep his +head. + +The Giralda had already lost the Byzantine crown which it had worn +proudly for five hundred years when, in 1595, it came near total +destruction, and was only saved during the terrible earthquake and storm +which almost destroyed the city by the interposition of its special +protectresses, the potter girls of Triana, Santa Justa and Santa Rufina. +There are pictures which show us these blessed Virgins supporting the +tower while the wind devils with distended cheeks are blowing on its +sides with all their might and main. We are not only grateful to them +for this timely intervention, but very glad it cost them so little +exertion, for we find them shortly afterwards holding the tower in their +hands as lightly as a filigree casket. The architects who restored it +about twenty years ago fortunately refrained from all attempts at +improving or renovating its sunburned, wind-swept surface. + +The Giralda is as strong as it looks. The huge walls have a thickness of +eight feet below, diminishing to seven feet in the upper stories. The +height to the very top of the crowning figure is 308 feet. In the +foundations are bricks, rubble, and huge blocks of earlier Roman and +Visigothic masonry; even Latin inscriptions are found immured. The +Moors, like all other builders, used the materials readiest at hand; +the rejected building stones of one generation become the corner stones +of the next. + +Below the Renaissance addition with which the tower was terminated in +1568, the broad sides of the shaft had been broken by the Arabs in the +simplest and most felicitous manner. The brickwork was treated in three +panels with the corner borders very properly broader and stronger than +the two intermediate ones. The panels, which could not be of a happier +depth, are filled down to eighty feet of the ground with varying Moorish +arabesque patterns; the figured diaper-work on all sides is broken in +the two outer panels by blind cusped arches, and in the central +patterns, by Moorish windows of the "ajuiez" variety. Their double +arches are subdivided by small Byzantine columns; these again are framed +within larger cusped and differently broken horseshoe curves. Small +Renaissance balconies have at a later date been placed below the +windows. The small niches comprising the total Moorish composition +sparkle throughout with life and charm, and, though no two are alike, +they form a harmonious whole. The Arab seemed to have an instinctive +aversion from tedious repetition. He would always vary the design just +enough to satisfy his imagination and creative faculty, but never +sufficiently to disturb the harmony of the general scheme. As with the +windows, so also with the arabesques. They begin at slightly varying +heights on the different sides of the tower, so that the windows may +properly meet the different elevations of the interior stair. Their +patterns are not quite the same, neither on the various sides of the +tower nor at different heights on the same side. The decoration +employed is admirably fitted to a large surface which would have been +weakened by strong cutting or deep relief. Considering what Arab art +achieved within prescribed limits, the student of Christian art may well +deplore that the Koran, in its abhorrence of idol-worship, forbade its +followers in any way to reproduce human or animal forms. Forever +debarred all the wider possibilities of movement and poetry these would +have given them for interior decoration, Moorish art necessarily +stagnated to mere conventionalization of floral and natural subjects. +These are well adapted to exterior mural surfacing. When we look at the +fancifully handled geometric patterns on the Giralda, we can only +rejoice that the frescoes added by the later Renaissance artists in the +upper arches and along some of the lower surfaces have been washed away +by time. They were ineffective; all that remains of Moorish is +magnificent. A small arcade, running the width of each side in its +single panel, terminates the Moorish work. + +It is almost to be regretted that the Renaissance top has been so well +done, for its barbarous exotism is sufficient to condemn it. It has +excellently fulfilled a dastardly purpose. + +The original Moorish termination was taken down by the architect, +Francisco Ruiz, who was commissioned by the Cathedral Chapter in 1568 to +give it a more fitting crown. His design consists of three stages +reaching to a height of about a hundred feet. The first, of the same +width as the shaft below, is pierced by openings "to let out the sweet +sounds of the bells inside." The second stage consists of a double tier +of considerably smaller squares pierced by wide arches. Around the four +sides of its upper frieze runs the inscription so legible that all +Sevillians who know how may read, "Nomen Domini Fortissima Turris" +(Proverbs, xviii, 10). The third stage consists of a double lantern +surmounted by a soaring Seraphim, bearing in one hand the banner of +Constantine and in the other the Roman palm of conquest. The +"Girardello" was cast in gilded bronze by Bartolomé Morel in the year +1568. Intended to symbolize Faith, the name, a diminutive of Giralda, or +weathercock, is most inappropriate. Despite her enormous size and +weight, the faintest zephyr blowing down from the Sierra Moreña sets her +turning on the spire she treads so lightly, whereupon the crowds of +hawks resting on Girardello disperse in noisy scolding. + +Dumas gazed at her in wonder and admiration. "C'est merveilleux," he +said, "de voir tourner dans un rayon de soleil cette figure d'or aux +ailes deployées, qui semble, comme un oiseau céleste fatigué d'une +longue course, avoir choisi pour se reposer un instant le point le plus +proche du ciel." + +The great bells of the tower, all baptized with holy oil, a custom very +frequent in Spain, are dear to the hearts of those whom they daily call +to rest and prayer. As they strike the hours, passers-by look up to see +their great tongues protrude. Their sweet peal is heard in the most +distant quarters of the city, and beyond on the waters of the +Guadalquivir and in the fertile valley through which it flows. The deep +resonant note of Santa Maria is the last sound we hear before falling +asleep. + +Inside you may ascend to the very summit by steps so broad and easy +that two horses abreast may go as far as the platform of the bells. +Below you lies the city with its scattered white buildings that once +housed half a million, and beyond, the valley that enfolded twelve +thousand villages. Though dwindled and changed, time has dealt gently +with Seville. There is gay laughter in her sunny streets and the olive +groves echo with rippling song. Just under your feet throbs the heart of +it all. Though repeatedly struck by lightning, the great Cathedral still +stands, an everlasting symbol of the Church, triumphant and eternal. + + + + +VIII + +GRANADA + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA + +West front] + + Kennst du das Land we die Citronen blühn, + Im dunkeln Land die Goldorangen glühn, + Ein sanfter Wind vom blauen Himmel weht, + Die Myrte still und hoch der Lorbeer steht? + + GOETHE'S _Wilhelm Meister_. + + Thus being entred, they behold arownd + A large and spacious plaine, on every side + Strewed with pleasauns, whose fayre grassy grownd + Mantled with greene, and goodly beautifide + With all the ornaments of Floraes pride. + + _Faerie Queene_, book 2, c. xii. + + +I + +The first stars shone pale in the fields of upper air over walls and +towers wrapt in the mystery of twilight which softened every outline and +cast a kindly veil over the decay of a thousand years. The air was +oppressively sweet with the fragrance exhaled by southern vegetation on +a summer evening. The roses had climbed to the top of the walls, where +they could cool their flushed cheeks on the marble copings of the +battlements. The myrtle and ivy trembled in the evening breeze, and +through the broken casements the aloes whispered to the sweet-breathing +orange trees in the courtyards. The martlet twittered in the branches. +On all sides was heard in cool silvery continuity the gurgle and plash +of streams which, issuing from mountain snows, had wound their loitering +way through fields of violets and forget-me-nots to the "large and +spacious plaine" of the Vega. The fairy palace of the Alhambra, the +Acropolis that once held forty thousand defenders of the faith, crowns +and encircles the hill. From its watch-tower the nightingales pour forth +lovers' songs, plaintive and passionate, heightening the enchantment of +a scene unsurpassed in natural loveliness and the charm of a romantic +past. + +The hillsides undulating from the vermilion ramparts of the Alhambra are +clad with graceful elms, with orange and pomegranate trees bearing deep +red and golden fruit and with the mulberry's glistening olive green. +Here and there are open spaces between the groves; fields of roses and +lilies. The Darro and the Xenil flow by the foot of the hill, and from +their banks for almost thirty miles stretches the Vega. At the base of +the fortress, between the rivers, lies the city of Granada,-- + + The artist's and the poet's theme, + The young man's vision, the old man's dream,-- + Granada, by its winding stream, + The City of the Moor. + +Out on the plain the settlement becomes gradually sparser, the houses +more scattered. White stucco walls are interspersed with plots of green +garden, the ochre houses are smaller shining patches amid the +yellow-flowering fig-cactus and the regularly planted olive groves, +until finally the eye must search for the farmhouse hidden among +vineyards, orchards and waving fields of corn. The gleaming villas and +farmhouses still look as they did to the Moor, like "oriental pearls set +in a cup of emeralds." + +The endless plain, once the fertile bosom of fourteen cities, +innumerable strong castles and high watch-towers, is shut in from the +outside world like a very Garden of Eden, by the mountain walls of the +Alpujarras and Sierra Alhama. Far away on the horizon the barrier is +broken at a single point, the Loja gorge. This was once guarded by +sentinels ever on the watch for the distant gleam of Christian lances to +light the fires that signaled approaching danger to the distant citadel. +Most Spanish cities were densely built within high walls, but Granada +felt so secure in her mountain fortress that her dwellings were strewn +broadcast over the plain. Behind the walls of the Alhambra, on a second +slope wooded with cypress, the brilliant towers of the Generaliffe gleam +against the dark foliage. Beyond, across the whole southern sweep, rises +the chalky, hazy blue of the Sierra Nevada, capped with glittering, +everlasting snow. Gazing up from the valley below, one might fancy it a +white veil thrown back from the lovely features of the landscape. + +Thus lies Granada, a verdant and perfumed valley wrapt in the soft +mystery of its hazy atmosphere,--"Grenade,--plus éclatante que la fleur +et plus savoureuse que le fruit, dont elle porte le nom, semble une +vierge paresseuse qui s'est couchée au soleil depuis le jour de la +création dans un lit de bruyères et de mousse, défendue par une muraille +de cactus et d'aloes,--elle s'endort gaiement aux chansons des oiseaux +et le matin s'éveille souriante au murmure de ses cascatelles."[19] + +More than any other spot on earth, Granada seems haunted by memories of +bygone glory. The wide plains, now inhabited by less than seventy-five +thousand, once swarmed with over half a million souls. The artist feels +poignantly the charm of those long centuries of Arabian Days and Nights +that were forever blotted out by the zeal of the Christian sword. The +ruined temples still attest the thrift and industry, the refinement and +learning of the vanished race; the squalid poverty that has replaced it +is deaf and blind to the records of ancient grandeur, but the traveler +and the historian may still be thrilled by the struggle that destroyed +"the most voluptuous of all retirements" and feel there as nowhere else +the relentless power of the most Catholic Kings, the pathos of the Moor. + +Granada is a very old city, and like Cordova and Seville, it was one of +the principal Moorish centres; in fact after their fall, the industries +and culture which had been theirs went to swell the inheritance of +Granada. Its name has always been associated with the scarlet-blossoming +tree which covers its slopes, whose fruit the Catholic sovereigns +proudly placed in the point of their shield, with stalks and leaves and +shell open-grained. During the Roman occupation, a settlement had been +made on the wooded slopes at the foot of the Sierra Nevada and called +Granatum (pomegranate). The Goths in their turn swept over the peninsula +until, in 711, they were driven out of the valley by the advancing Arab +hordes. These transformed the name given it by the Romans to Karnattah. +Seven hundred and eighty-two years passed before the Crescent set +forever on the Iberian peninsula. Dynasties had succeeded one another in +the various kingdoms formed of larger and smaller portions of southern +and central Spain, but in the north, hardy monarchs had founded more +stable thrones on the ruins of the Gothic Empire, and they were eagerly +watching the advancing decay, the domestic discord of the Mohammedan +power and grasping every opportunity for the aggrandizement of their own +states. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF GRANADA CATHEDRAL + + A. Sagrario. + B. Royal Chapel. + C. Capilla Mayor. + D. Choir. + E. Door of the Perdon. + F. Door of St. Jeronimo. + G. Main Entrance.] + +In the tenth century, the Moorish power was at its zenith. During the +eleventh, Granada had become strong enough to break away from the +caliphate of Cordova. There the Almorvides and Almohades dynasties had +alternated while the Nasrides ruled in the kingdom and city of Granada +until the luckless Boabdil surrendered its keys. + +During the last three centuries of Moorish rule, the northern Cross cast +an ever longer shadow before it. Alfonso of Aragon advanced to within +the walls of the outer forts in 1125, and in the two and a half +centuries following, tribute was exacted by the crown of Castile. The +Moors of Cordova were more hardy and warlike than the Arabs of Granada. +The arts of peace flourished with this latter poetical, artistic and +commercial race, who as time went on became less and less able to defend +themselves against the fanaticism and skill of the Spanish armies. Like +Hannibal's soldiers on the fertile plains of Lombardy, they had become +enervated in the luxury of their beautiful valley. When their imprudent +ruler answered the Castilian envoys who had come to collect the usual +tribute, "that the Kings of Granada who paid tribute were dead, and that +the mint now only coined blades of scimeters and heads of lances," the +hour of Granada's destiny had struck. The smiling valley became for ten +years a field of blood and carnage, after which its devastation was +relentlessly completed by the Holy Office of the Inquisition. + +Ferdinand and Isabella entered the last stronghold of the Moors in the +very year when the history of the civilized world was changing its +course. Its helmsman, Columbus, was received in the Castilian camp +outside the walls of the beleaguered city. On the second of January, +1492, Hernando, Bishop of Avila, raised the Christian Cross beside the +banner of Castile on the ramparts of the highest tower of the Alhambra; +four days later, on the day of the Kings and the festival of the +Epiphany, Ferdinand and Isabella entered the city. + +"The royal procession advanced to the principal mosque, which had been +consecrated as a cathedral. Here the sovereigns offered up prayers and +thanksgivings and the choir of the royal chapel chanted a triumphant +anthem, in which they were joined by the courtiers and cavaliers. +Nothing could exceed the thankfulness to God of the pious King Ferdinand +for having enabled him to eradicate from Spain the empire and name of +that accursed heathen race, and for the elevation of the Cross in that +city where the impious doctrines of Mohamed had so long been +cherished."[20] + +Bells were rung and masses celebrated in gratitude throughout the +Christian world. As far away as Saint Paul's in London town, a special +Te Deum was chanted by order of the good King Henry the Seventh. Spain +had reached the summit of her glory, before which yawned the abyss. + +And now in the name of Christ the Inquisition was established and one of +its chief offices founded; in His name the Jews were driven out, +Christian oaths and covenants broken, and the peaceful Moorish +inhabitants hounded from their hearths. Under Philip III, in 1609, their +last descendants were banished from the realm. + +No scene of chivalry during the middle ages displayed a more brilliant +and bloody pageant than the battlefield of Granada. It was the +culmination of the work of Spain's greatest rulers,--the great crisis in +her history. + + Here gallants held it little thing for ladies' sake to die, + Or for the Prophet's honour, or pride of Soldenry. + For here did Valour flourish and deeds of warlike might + Ennobled lordly palaces in which was our delight.[21] + +Gazing over this famous plain, the Vega, that "Pearl of Price," with its +courtyards now desolate, its gardens parched and well-nigh calcined by +the sun, one recalls Voltaire's words: "Great wrongs are always recent +wounds!" and long years have passed since the iron heel of Austria set +its first impress on the soil. + +James Howell, the English traveler and busybody in the capital at the +time Prince Charles went surreptitiously wooing, writes home in 1623, +after visiting Granada: "Since the expulsion of the Moors, it is also +grown thinner, and not so full of corn; for those Moors would grub up +wheat out of the very tops of the craggy hills, yet they used another +grain for their bread, so that the Spaniard had nought else to do but go +with his ass to the market and buy the corn of the Moors." + +Only once more does Granada's name emerge from the oblivion of +ages,--when the Iron Duke occupied the city during the Peninsular War. +He covered with a kindly hand some of her barrenness, planting English +elms beneath her fortress. + + +II + +In the heart of a crumbling mass of chalky, chrome-colored walls and +vermilion roofs, rises the dome of the Cathedral. Here, as in Seville, +the ground once sanctified to Moslem prayer was cleansed by the +Catholics from the pollution of the Moor, and the Christian edifice was +reared on the foundations of the Mohammedan mosque. As already noted, +one of the first religious acts of the conquerors was the consecration, +in January, 1492, of the ancient mosque, which thereafter was used for +Christian worship under the direction of the wise and tolerant Talavera, +as first Bishop of Granada. The new building was not begun until the +year 1523, an exceedingly late date in cathedral-building,--a time when +the great art was slowly dying down, and, in northern countries, +flickering in its last flamboyancy. + +On March 25, 1525, the corner stone was laid of the new Cathedral of +Santa Maria de la Encarnacion. It was planned on a much more elaborate +scale than the previous mosque, which, however, continued to be +independently used as a Christian church until the middle of the +seventeenth century and was not demolished till the beginning of the +eighteenth, to make room for the new sagrario, or parish church, of +Santa Maria de la O. + +The old mosque was of the usual type of Moslem house of prayer, its +eleven aisles subdivided by a forest of columns and resembling in +general aspect the far greater mosque of Cordova. Prior to the actual +commencement of the new Cathedral, though not to its design, the Royal +Chapel was erected, between the years 1506 and 1517, and when the +Cathedral was built, it became its southern, lateral termination and by +far the most magnificent and interesting portion of the interior. It was +planned and executed by the original designer of the church, and even +after this was finished, the Royal Chapel remained, like the chapel of +Saint Ferdinand of Seville, an independent church with its own Chapter +and clergy and independent services. + +About a dozen master-builders, almost all working under foreign +influence, are known as the architects of the great Spanish cathedrals. +They seem generally to have worked more or less in conjunction with each +other, several being employed on the same building, or called in turn to +advise in one place or superintend in another. Sometimes a whole body of +them reported together, or several of them were jointly consulted by a +cathedral chapter. + +The original conception of the Cathedral of Granada was the work of +Enrique de Egas of Brussels, who, when he was commissioned by the new +Chapter to plan a fitting memorial to the final triumph of Christianity +over Islam in Spain, was among the most celebrated builders of his day. +He had already succeeded his father as Maestro Mayor of the Cathedral of +Toledo when, just before his death, in 1534, he executed the Royal +Chapel of Granada Cathedral, as well as built the hospital of Santa Cruz +in the same city. The Colegio de Santa Cruz at Valladolid was also his +work, and he had been summoned with other leading architects to decide +the best mode of procedure in Seville Cathedral after the disastrous +collapse of its dome. At times he was giving advice in both Saragossa +and Salamanca. Enrique de Egas' designs were accepted in 1523. He had +hardly proceeded further in two years than to lay out the general plan +of the Cathedral, when, either through misunderstanding or some +controversy, he was supplanted in his office by the equally celebrated +Diego de Siloé. Like Egas, his activity was not confined to Granada, but +extended to Seville and Malaga. + +In the year 1561, two years before Siloé's death, the building was +sufficiently completed to be opened for public worship, and consequently +on August 17th of that year it was solemnly consecrated. The foundations +and lower portion of the northern tower were executed about this time by +Siloé's successor, Juan de Maeda. The tower was completed and partially +taken down again during the following twenty years by Ambrosio de Vico. +Then follows the main portion of the exterior work, especially the west +façade (of the first half of the seventeenth century), by the +celebrated, not to say notorious, Alfonso de Cano, and José Granados. +The decoration of the interior, the addition of chapels and the building +of the sagrario were continued through the latter part of the +seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA + +The exterior cornices of the Royal Chapel] + +The building operations thus extended over a period of two hundred and +fifty years. Alfonso de Cano's reputation was of various kinds; the son +of a carpenter and a native of Granada, as soon as his talents were +recognized, he was apprenticed to the great Montañes. To judge from +contemporaneous accounts, he must have been as hot-headed and +quarrelsome as the Florentine goldsmith of similar talents and +versatility. He was always ready to exchange the paint-brush or chisel +for his good sword, and there was scarcely a day during the years of his +connection with the Cathedral in which he was not enjoying a hot +controversy with the Chapter. His favor with the weak monarch and the +powerful ruling Conde-Duc was so great that they had the audacity to +appoint him a prebendary of the Chapter after he had been forced to fly +from justice in Valladolid on a charge of murder, as well as for having +beaten his wife on his return from a meeting of the ecclesiastical body. +The Chapter deprived him of his office as soon as they dared, which was +six years after his appointment. + +Egas' original plan, like the work he actually carried out in the Royal +Chapel, was undoubtedly for a Gothic edifice, as this style was +understood and executed in Spain. From the fact that the original Gothic +intention was abandoned for a Spanish Renaissance church, many +authorities give the date of its commencement as 1529, when Diego de +Siloé's Renaissance work was under way. In the end of the fifteenth and +beginning of the sixteenth centuries, the great turning-point had come. +Italian influences were beginning to predominate over earlier styles and +the last exquisite flames of the Gothic fire were slowly dying out to +give place to the heavy Renaissance structure of ecclesiastical +inspiration. Spaniards who had returned fresh from Italian soil and +tutelage evolved with their ornate sense and characteristic love for +magnificence, the style, or rather decorative treatment, which marks the +first stage of Spanish Renaissance architecture called "Estilo +Plateresco." This is a happy name for it, its derivation being from +"plata," or silver plate, and indicating that architects were attempting +to decorate the huge superficial spaces on their churches with the same +intricacy and sparkle as the silversmiths were hammering on their +ornaments. There was evolved the same lace-like quality, the same +sparkling light and shade. Wonderful results were indeed obtained by the +stone-cutters of the sixteenth century. + +The Cathedral of Granada is not at all remarkable. Its interest is +derived from the city of which it is the chief Christian edifice and the +great bodies which it contains; to students of architecture it is in a +manner a connecting link between the Gothic building of the middle ages +and the modern revival of classical building methods. + +It is the death of the old and the birth of the new; it marks the advent +of stagnant, uninspired formalism in constructive forms. Its sarcophagi +and much of its decoration are both in design and execution most +exquisite and appropriate examples of Renaissance art in Spain. Its easy +victory in decorative forms was owing to the fact that there had +practically been evolved little or no Spanish ornamental design outside +of that produced by the ingenuity and peculiar skill of the Moors. The +influence of Moorish design is long traceable in Christian decoration. +The Spanish nature craves rich adornment in all material. The art of the +great sculptors who, like Berruguete, returned at the beginning of the +new century with inspiration gained in the workshops of the Florentine +Michael Angelo, soon found a host of pupils and followers. Not only in +stone, but in wood, metal, plaster, and on canvas, the new forms were +carried to a gorgeous profusion never dreamt of before. Charles V stands +out amid its glories in as clear relief as in the tumult of the +battlefield. The decline and frigid formality did not set in until the +reign of his unimpassioned and repulsive son. The grandest epoch in +Spain's history thus corresponds to the most inspired period of its +sculpture. The first architects of this period worked on Granada +Cathedral; the work of the greatest sculptor, the Burgundian Vigarny, is +found in inferior form on the retablo of the Royal Chapel. In Spain, +where the climate made small window openings desirable, the churches +offered great wall spaces to the sculptor. The splendid portals, window +frames, turrets and parapets, the capitals and string courses and niches +all became rich fields for Spanish interpretation of the exquisite art +of Lombardy. + +The new art first found tentative expression in decorative forms, then +in more radical and structural changes. The world-empire of which +Ferdinand had dreamed, and which his grandson almost possessed, placed +untold wealth and the art of every kingdom at the disposal of Spain. + +Granada Cathedral has a strange exterior, meaningless except in certain +portions, which are essentially Spanish. To the Granadines it is as +marvelous as Saint Peter's to the Romans. Its view is obstructed on all +sides by a maze of crumbling walls, yellow hovels, and shop fronts +shockingly modern and out of keeping. It is all very, very provincial. +The stream of the world has left it behind and its pageants and glories +had departed centuries ago. Donkeys heavily laden with baskets of market +produce stand--personifications of wronged and unremonstrating +patience--hitched to the iron rails before its main portals. Goats +browse on the grass in its courtyards, and are milked between the +buttresses. Immediately to the south of it lies the old episcopal +palace, where the archbishop preached the sermons criticized by the +ingenuous Gil Blas. + +The main entrance is to the west. This front is the latest portion of +the building with the exception of certain portions of the interior. +Though not as corrupt as some of the surgical decorations in the +trascoro, it is the heaviest and least interesting part of the church. +It bears no relation to the sides of the building, but seems to have +been clapped on like a mask. The central portion is subdivided into +three huge bays, the spring of the arch, which rises from the +intermediate piers, being considerably higher in the centre than those +of the two to the north and south. Diego de Siloé probably designed the +composition, intending that it should be flanked and terminated by great +towers. Three stages, rising to a height of some 185 feet, stand to the +north. Corinthian and Ionic orders superimpose a Doric entablature over +a plain and restrained base. Arches frame more or less meaningless and +unpierced designs between the pilasters and engaged columns of the +orders. The whole is as painfully dry as the transfer of a student's +compass from a page of Vignola. Old cuts and descriptions represent this +northern tower crowned by an octagonal termination with a height of 265 +feet. Despite the apparent massiveness of the substructure, this soon +made the whole so alarmingly insecure that it was pulled down. The +present tower scarcely reaches above the broken lines and flat surfaces +of the roof tiles and, particularly at a distance, has the effect of a +huge buttress. The southern tower was never erected, but in place of it +the front was supported by a makeshift portion of base. The northern +tower is the work of Maeda, the façade principally by Cano, although +much of the sculpture, such as the Incarnation over the central doorway, +and the Annunciation and Assumption over the side portals, are by other +inferior eighteenth-century sculptors. + +Statues, cartouches and ornamental medallions relieve the paneled +surfaces of the stonework, the masonry of which has been laid and +jointed with the utmost conceivable mechanical skill. The whole central +composition fizzles out in a meaningless mass of parapets and variously +carved stone terminations. One feels as if the original designer had +started on such a gigantic scale that he either had to give up finishing +his work proportionately or keep on till it reached the sky,--he wisely +chose the former alternative. + +In Granada, as in most of the Spanish cathedrals, the decoration of the +doorways and portals forms one of the principal features of exterior +interest. Their ornamentation, with that of the parapets crowning the +outer walls of chapels and aisles, is practically all that relieves the +huge surfaces of ochre masonry. The walls themselves indicate in no +manner the interior construction; the windows which pierce them are very +low and narrow and Gothic in outline. The north and south façades,--if +despite their many obstructions they may be spoken of as such,--differ +radically. The northern is to a great extent executed in the same +ponderous magnificence as the western. Two doorways pierce it, the +Puerta de San Jeronimo with mediocre sculpture by Diego de Siloé and his +pupil and successor, Juan de Maeda, and the Puerta del Perdon, leading +into the transept. The decoration of this doorway is as good pure +Renaissance work as was executed in Spain during the first quarter of +the sixteenth century. It consists of a double Corinthian order crowned +by a broken pediment. The shafts of both orders are wreathed. The +pilasters, the moldings of the arch, the archivolt and jambs are all, in +the lower order, most profusely covered with exquisite designs, +admirably fitted to their respective fields, full of imagination and +virility. They are as good as the best corresponding work in Italy. +Above the arch key of the main door, splendidly treated bas-reliefs of +Faith and Justice support from the spandrels an inscription recounting +the defeat of the Moors. The frieze band of both lower and upper orders +is profusely filled with ornament, while small cherubs in excellent +scale replace the conventional volutes of the Corinthian capitals. In +the upper order the niches have unfortunately been left uncompleted. A +bas-relief of God the Father fills the semicircle of the main arch; +Moses and David occupy the lunettes. + +The huge pilasters or buttresses of the church which run up east and +west of the entire composition are decorated with the enormous imperial +shields of Charles V, overshadowing in their vulgar predominance all the +exquisitely proportioned and delicate detail adjacent to them. + +Some of the bays on the southern side of the Cathedral can be better +seen, as a small courtyard separates them from the adjacent building, +the episcopal palace. The others are choked by the Capilla del Pulgar, +the Royal Chapel and the sagrario. + +This side of the church exhibits in its balustrades, its ornamentation +and the crocketed terminations and finials to the exterior buttresses, +what is far more interesting in the Plateresque style of Spain than the +purely borrowed and imitative features of the west and northern fronts. +Here appear in jeweled play of light and shade, in all their imaginative +and exquisite intricacy, those forms of carved string courses which were +developed by the Spanish Renaissance and were essentially Spanish and +national. You feel somewhere back of it the Moorish influence. It +presents all the richness, the magnificence and exuberant fancy which +characterizes the spirit in which its masters worked. The labor it +involved must have been enormous. The splendor of the solid lacework ten +to twelve feet high is thrown out by contrast with the naked walls which +it crowns. + +The Capilla del Pulgar, which blocks the most westerly corner of the +south elevation, was named in honor of Hernan Peres del Pulgar, the site +of whose brave exploit it marks. In 1490, during the last siege of +Granada, he determined on a deed which should outdo all feats of heroism +and defiance ever performed by Moslem warriors. At dead of night, some +authorities say he was on horseback, others that he swam the +subterranean channel of the Darro, he penetrated to the heart of the +enemy's city and fastened with his dagger to the door of their principal +mosque a scroll bearing the words "Ave Maria." Before this insult to +their faith had been discovered, he had regained Ferdinand's camp. + +A double superimposed arcade faces the southern side of the sagrario: +the lower story has been brutally closed and defaced by modern +additions, almost concealing its original carving. The upper story, +however, which forms a balcony, strongly recalls by its fancifully +twisted shafts, elliptical arches and Gothic traceried balustrade, +similar early Renaissance work at Blois, where the Gothic and early +Italian work were so charmingly blended. + +The Royal Chapel is entered through an Italian Renaissance doorway of +good general design and decoration, but the Spanish cornice and +balustrade crowning the outer walls are much more interesting in +details. The principal member consists of a band of crowned and +encircled F's and Y's, the initials of the Catholic Kings. It is broken +over the window by three gigantic coats-of-arms. To the left is +Ferdinand's individual device of a yoke, the "yugo," with the motto +"Tato Mota" (Tanto Monta) tantamount, assumed as a mark of his equality +with the Castilian Queen; to the right Isabella's device of a bundle of +arrows or "flechas," the symbol of union. In the centre is the common +royal shield, proudly adopted after the union of the various kingdoms of +the Peninsula had been cemented. The Eagle of Saint John the Evangelist +and the common crown surmount the arms of Castile and Leon, of Aragon, +Sicily, Navarre, and Jerusalem and the pomegranate of Granada. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA + +The reja enclosing the Royal Chapel and tombs of the Catholic Kings] + +The various roofs of the Cathedral are covered with endless rows of +tiles, which in the furrowed, overlapping irregularity of their surfaces +add to the general play of light and shade. Above them all spreads the +umbrella-shaped dome which crowns the Capilla Mayor. + +At the period when Gothic church-building was disappearing, we find not +a few edifices where the old and new styles are curiously blended. A +Renaissance façade added in later days might encase a practically +complete Gothic interior. In Granada, with the exception of the Royal +Chapel, very little of the interior contained traces of the expiring +style. In the Cathedral proper, it is principally found in a groined +vaulting of the different bays, which is covered with varying and most +elaborate schemes of ornamental Gothic ribs, which seem strangely +incongruous to the architect as he looks up from the classical shafts in +the expectation of finding a corresponding form of building and +decoration in the later vaulting. + +The general plan of the church is more Renaissance than Gothic, +exhibiting rather the form of the "Rundbau" than the "Langbau" of the +Latin cross. Its main feature is likewise the great dome rising above +and lighting the Capilla Mayor. The Spanish cimborio has at last reached +its fullest development in the Renaissance lantern. + +The church is divided into nave and double side aisles, outside of which +is a series of externally abutting chapels. East and west it contains +six bays. The choir blocks up the fifth and sixth bays of the nave, and +in the customary Spanish manner it is separated from the high altar in +the Capilla Mayor by the croisée of the transept. Back of this, forming +the eastern termination, runs an ambulatory. + +The vaulting, one hundred feet high, is carried by a series of gigantic +white piers consisting of four semi-columns of Corinthian order with +their intersecting angles formed by a triple rectangular break. The +vaulting springs from above a full entablature and surmounting +pedestals, the latter running to the height of the arches dividing the +various vaulting compartments. The church is about 385 feet long and 220 +feet wide. + +The choir is uninteresting; the carving of its stalls and organs in +nowise comparing with the "silleria" of Seville or Burgos. The Capilla +Mayor, the principal feature of the interior, is circular in form, and +separated from the nave by a splendid "Arco Toral." The dome, which +rises to a height of 155 feet, is carried by eight Corinthian piers. In +general scheme it is pure Italian Renaissance, of noble and harmonious +proportions and very richly decorated. At the foot of the pilasters +stand colossal statues of the Apostles. Higher up there is a series of +most remarkable paintings by Alfonso Cano and some of his pupils. Cano's +represent seven incidents in the life of the Virgin,--the Annunciation, +Visitation, Nativity, Assumption, etc. Though some of his carvings, and +especially the dignified and noble Virgin in the sacristy, are +admirable, still, to judge from this series, it was as a painter that he +excelled. They show, too, how essentially Spanish he was, like his great +master, Montañez. The careless, lazy quality of his temperament is +sufficiently apparent, but he cannot be denied a place among the great +masters of Spanish painting who immediately preceded the all-eclipsing +glory of Velasquez, Murillo, and Ribera. + +The lights of the dome which rises over the paintings are filled with +very lovely stained glass, representing scenes from the Passion by the +Dutchmen, Teodor de Holanda, and Juan del Campo. On the two sides of the +choir below are colossal heads of Adam and Eve carved by Cano and +kneeling figures of Ferdinand and Isabella. + +There are endless chapels outside the outer aisles, but, in spite of +some good bits of sculpture and painting here and there, one longs to +sweep them out of the way and free the edifice from their encumbrance. + +The interior of the great sagrario is an expressionless jumble of the +later Renaissance decadence,--and it is a shame that no more fitting +architecture surrounds the tomb of the good Talavera, here laid to rest +by his friend Tendilla, the first Alcaide of the Alhambra, with the +inscription over his tomb, "Amicus Amico." + +The general color scheme in the interior of the Cathedral is white and +gold. One feels that it is handsome, even harmonious and magnificent, +but that all the mystery and religious awe that pervaded the great +churches of the previous centuries have vanished forever. + +The Royal Chapel, although the oldest part of the building, should be +considered last of all, as it is by far the most interesting portion and +leaves an impression so vivid as to overshadow all other parts of the +great edifice. It is situated between the sagrario and the Sacristia and +is entered through the southern arm of the transept. The chapel itself +is the very last Gothic efflorescence from which the spirit has fled, +leaving only empty form. It consists of a single big nave flanked by +lower chapels. The ornamentally ribbed vaulting with gilt bosses and +keystones is carried by clustered shafts engaged in its side walls. The +shafts are too thin and the capitals too meagre. A broader and more +generous string course runs, at the height of the capitals, across the +wall surfaces between the upper clerestory and the lower arcades. +Portions of this reveal a strong Moorish influence, as the manner in +which the great Gothic lettering is employed to decorate the band. +Similarly to the invocations to Allah running round the walls of the +Alhambra, we read here that "This chapel was founded by the most +Catholic Don Fernando and Doña Isabel, King and Queen of the Españos[d], +of Naples, of Sicily, and Jerusalem, who conquered this kingdom and +brought it back to the faith, who acquired the Canary Isles and Indies, +as well as the cities of Ican, Tripoli, and Bugia; who crushed heresy, +expelled Moors and Jews from these realms, and reformed religion. The +Queen died Tuesday, November 26, 1504. The King died January 25, 1516. +The building was completed 1517." Enrique de Egas had, at Ferdinand's +order, commenced building two years after Isabella's death. The grandson +enlarged it later, finding it "too small for so much glory." + +The high altar with its retablo and the royal sarcophagi are separated +from the rest of the chapel by the most stupendous and magnificent iron +screen or reja ever executed. Spaniards have here surpassed all their +earlier productions in this their master craft. Not even the screens of +the great choir and altar of Seville or Toledo can compare with it. With +the possible exception of the curious Biblical scenes naively +represented by groups of figures near the apex, which still tell their +story in true Gothic style, it is a burst of Renaissance, or Plateresque +glory. It is not likely that the crafts, with all their mechanical +skill, will ever again produce a work of such artistic perfection. It +represents the labor of an army of skilled artisans,--all the sensitive +feeling in the finger-tips of the Italian goldsmith, the most cunning +art of the German armorer and a combination of restraint and boldness in +the Spanish smith and forger. The difficulty naturally offered by the +material has also restrained the artisan's hand and imagination from +running riot in vulgar elaboration. The design, made by Maestro +Bartolomé of Jaen in 1523, is as excellent as the technique is +astonishing. It may be said that in grandeur it is only surpassed by the +fame of the Queen whose remains lie below. The material is principally +wrought iron, though some of the ornaments are of embossed silver plate +and portions of it gilded as well as colored. Bartolomé's design +consists in general of three superimposed and highly decorated rows of +twisted iron bars with molded caps and bases. Each one must have been a +most massive forging, hammered out of the solid iron while it was red +hot. The vertically aspiring lines of the bars are broken by horizontal +rows of foliage, cherubs' heads and ornamentation, as well as two broad +bands of cornices with exquisitely decorated friezes. Larger pilasters +and columns form its panels, the central ones of which constitute the +doorway and enclose the elaborate arms of Ferdinand and Isabella and +those of their inherited and conquered kingdoms. The screen is crested +by a rich border of pictorial scenes, of flambeaux and foliated +Renaissance scrollwork, above which in the centre is throned the +crucified Saviour adored by the Virgin and Saint John. The crucifix +rises to the height of the very capitals which carry the lofty vaulting. + +Inside the reja, a few steps above the tombs, rises Philip Vigarny's, or +Borgoña's, elaborate reredos. To the Protestant sense this is gaudy and +theatrical, a strikingly garish note in the solemnity and grandeur of +the chapel. To the right and left of its base are, however, most +interesting carvings, among them the kneeling statues of Ferdinand and +Isabella. Behind the former is his victorious banner of Castile. The +figures are vitally interesting as contemporaneous portraits of the +monarchs, aiming to reproduce with fidelity their features and every +detail of their dress. There is also a series of bas-reliefs portraying +incidents in the siege of Granada,--the Cardinal on a prancing charger, +behind him a forest of lances, the lurid, flaming sky throwing out in +sharp silhouette the pierced walls and rent battlements. The Moors, very +much like dogs shrinking from a beating, are being dragged to the +baptismal font;--the gesticulating prelates hold aloft in one hand the +cross and in the other, the sword, for the tunicked figures to make +their choice. The scene has been described by Sir W. Stirling Maxwell, +who tells us "that in one day no less than three thousand persons +received baptism at the hands of the Primate, who sprinkled them with +the hyssop of collective regeneration." + +Again, in another, the cringing Boabdil is presenting the keys of the +city to the "three kings." Isabella is on a white genet, and Mendoza, +like the old pictures of Wolsey, on a trapped mule. Ferdinand is there +in all his magnificence; the knights, the halberdiers and horsemen, all +the details of the dramatic moment, full of the greatest imaginable +historic and antiquarian interest, perpetuated by one who was probably +an eye-witness of the scene. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA + +The tombs of the Catholic Kings, of Philip and of Queen Juana.] + +At the foot of the altar, in the centre of the chapel, stand the tombs +of Ferdinand and Isabella and of Philip and Joan. They are as gorgeous +specimens of sepulchral monuments as the reja is of an ecclesiastical +iron screen. Both sarcophagi are executed in the softest flushed +alabaster; that of Ferdinand and Isabella by the Florentine Dominico +Fancelli; that of their daughter and her son by the Barcelonian +Bartolomé Ordenez, "The Eagle of Relief," who carved his blocks at +Carrara. The tomb of poor crazy Jane, and the unworthy, handsome husband +whom she doted on to the extent of carrying his body with her throughout +the doleful wronged insanity of her later years, is somewhat more +elevated than that of the Catholic Kings, though its general design is +very similar. Philip of Austria sleeps vested with the Order of the +Golden Fleece. + +Isabella's celebrated will begins with her desire that her body may be +taken to Granada and there laid to rest in the Franciscan monastery of +Santa Isabella in the Alhambra, with a simple tomb and inscription: "but +should the King, my lord, prefer a sepulchre in some other place, then +my will is that my body be there transported, and laid where he can be +placed by my side, that the union we have enjoyed in this world, and +which through the mercy of God may be hoped for again when our souls are +in heaven, may be symbolized by our bodies being side by side on earth." +The humble burying-ground designated by Isabella, and where she was +first laid to rest with the simple rites she desired, was, however, no +fitting place for the grandparents of Imperial Charles. Here, in the +Cathedral's principal chapel, he had them laid in the year 1525. + +The sarcophagus consists of three stages, containing the ornamental +motives so characteristic of the best sculpture of the Italian +Renaissance. No other form of statuary brought out their skill and +genius so fully as a sepulchral monument. Medallions, statues, niches, +saints, angels, griffins and garlands are all woven into a magnificent +base to receive the recumbent effigies. Apostles and bas-reliefs of +scenes from the life of Christ surround the base, while winged griffins +break the angles. Above are the four Doctors of the Church, the arms of +the Catholic Kings and the proud and simple epitaph, "Mahometic[=e] +sect[=e] prostratores et heretic[=e] pervicaci[=e] extinctores: +Fernandus Aragonium et Helisabetha Castell[=e], vir et uxor unanimes, +catholici appelati, marmoreo clauduntur tumulo."[22] In tranquil crowned +dignity above lie Ferdinand in his mantle of knighthood, his sword +clasped over his armored breast, and Isabella with the cross of her +country's patron saint. The recumbent figures are extremely fine; the +faces, which are portraits, convey all we know of their prototypes' +characteristics. Ferdinand's proud, pursed lips whisper his selfish +arrogance, his iron will, and the greatness and fulfillment of his +dreams. The hard, masterful jaw confirms the character given him by the +shrewd French cynic as one of the most thorough egotists who ever sat on +a throne, as well as that of his English son-in-law, who knew enough to +call him "the wisest king that ever ruled Spain." + +Beside Ferdinand sleeps his lion-hearted consort. It is her lofty soul +which broods over the sepulchre and heightens the feeling of reverence +already inspired by reja and sarcophagus. She is still the brightest +star that ever rose in the Spanish firmament and shone in clear radiance +above even the lights of Ximenez, of Columbus, or the Great Captain. Her +smile is now as cold and her look as placid as moonlight sleeping on +snow. + +Noble, tender-hearted and true, dauntless, self-sacrificing and +faithful, she rose supreme in every relation of life and the great +crisis of her people's history. "In all her revelations of Queen or +Woman," said Lord Bacon, "she was an honour to her sex, and the corner +stone of the greatness of Spain." + +Standing before her tomb, on the battlefield of her victorious armies, +the clear perspective and calm judgment of four centuries still declare +her "of rare qualities,--sweet gentleness, meekness, saint-like, +wife-like government, the Queen of earthly queens." + + + + +BOOKS CONSULTED + + +DE AMICIS, EDMONDO. _Spain._ + +BAEDEKER, KARL. _Spain (Guidebook)._ + +BERMUDEZ, CEAN. _Descripcion Artistica de la Catedral de Sevilla._ + +BERMUDEZ, CEAN. _Noticias de los Arquitectos y Arquitectura de España._ + +CAVEDA, JOSÉ. _Ensayo Historico sobre los diversos Generos de +Arquitectura._ + +DIDIER. _Année en Espagne._ + +DUMAS, ALEXANDRE, PÈRE. _De Paris à Cadiz._ + +ELLIS, HAVELOCK. _Macmillan's_, May, 1903 (vol. 88). + +FORD, RICHARD. _The Spaniards and their Country._ + +FORD, RICHARD. _Gatherings in Spain._ + +GAUTIER, THÉOPHILE. _Voyage En Espagne._ + +HARE, A. J. C. _Wanderings in Spain._ + +HAY, JOHN. _Castilian Days._ + +HUME, M. A. S. _The Spanish People._ + +HUME AND BURKE. _History of Spain._ + +HUTTON, EDWARD. _The Cities of Spain._ + +HUTTON, EDWARD. _Studies in Lives of the Saints._ + +IRVING, WASHINGTON. _Alhambra._ + +JUNGHAENDEL, MAX. _Die Baukunst Spanien's._ + +LAMPEREZ Y ROMEA, D. VICENTE. _Estudio sobre las Catedrales Españas._ + +LAMPEREZ Y ROMEA, D. VICENTE. _Historia de la Arquitectura Cristiana +Española en la Edad Media._ + +LUND, L. _Spanske tilstande i nutid og fortid._ + +LYNCH, HANNAH. _Toledo, the Story of a Spanish Capital._ + +MEAGHER, JAMES L. _The Great Churches of the World._ + +MOORE, CHARLES HERBERT. _Development and Character of Gothic +Architecture._ + +NORTON, CHARLES ELIOT. _Church-building in the Middle Ages._ + +ORCAJO, DON PEDRO. _Historia de la Catedral de Burgos._ + +PEYRON, JEAN FRANÇOIS. _Essays on Spain._ + +PRESCOTT, W. H. _Ferdinand and Isabella._ + +QUADRADO, D. JOSÉ MA. _España, sus Monumentos y Artes--su Naturaleza e +Historia_. + +RUDY, CHARLES. _The Cathedrals of Northern Spain_. + +ROSE, H. J. _Among the Spanish People_. + +ROSSEEUW DE ST. HILAIRE, E. F. A. _Histoire D'espagne_. + +ST. REYNALD. _La Nouvelle Revue_, 1881, "L'espagne Musulmane." + +SCHMIDT, K. E. _Sevilla_. + +SMITH. _Architecture of Spain_. + +STREET, G. E. _Gothic Architecture in Spain_. + +WORT, TALBOT D. _Brochure Series of Arch. Illustration_, 1903 (vol. 9). + +WYATT, SIR MATHEW DIGBY. _An Architect's Note-book in Spain_. + +(OFFICIAL PUBLICATION). _Los Monumentos Arquitectonicos de España_. + + + + +INDEX + + +Aaron, 54. + +Abel, 110. + +Abu Jakub Jusuf, 203, 231. + +Abraham, 153. + +Acropolis, 240. + +Acuna, Bishop of, 48, 49, 62. + +Adaja, 67. + +Adam, 227, 259. + +Adriatic, 201. + +Africa, 194. + +Aguero, Campo, 184. + +Alava, Juan de, 22, 177, 207. + +Alcides, 193. + +Alcaide, 127, 259. + +Alcantara, Bridge of, 123. + +Alcantara, Order of, 128. + +Alcazar of Avila, 84. + +Alcazar of Segovia, 169, 171, 172, 173. + +Alcazar of Seville, 209, 230. + +Alcazar of Toledo, 123. + +Alcazerias, Toledo, 129. + +Aleman, Christobal, 228. + +Alfaqui Abu Walid, 154. + +Alfonso, architect of Toledo, 135, 141. + +Alfonso I, 68, 127, 243. + +Alfonso III, 37. + +Alfonso IV, 129, 130, 156. + +Alfonso VI, 5, 7, 37, 61, 68, 69, 91, 96, 127, 220. + +Alfonso VII, 155. + +Alfonso VIII, 73, 154. + +Alfonso IX, 5, 6, 74, 96. + +Alfonso X, The Wise, 47, 70, 97, 169, 219, 225, 231. + +Alfonso XI, 36, 155, 171. + +Alfonso, King, 34. + +Alfonso de Cartagena, Bishop, 49, 52, 62. + +Alfonsinas, Tablas, 219. + +Alhambra, 240, 241, 244, 259, 260, 263. + +Alleman, Jorge Fernandez, 207. + +Almanzor, 95. + +Almeria, 194. + +Almohaden, 203, 243. + +Almorvides, 243. + +Alpujarras, 241. + +Alvarez of Toledo, Juan, 44. + +Alvaro, Maestro, 23. + +Amiens, Cathedral of, 25, 43, 93, 94, 124, 131, 163, 201. + +Andalusia, 122, 191, 192, 194, 201. + +Andino, Cristobal, 51. + +Angelo, Michael, 153, 251. + +Angers, Bishop of, 20. + +Angevine School, 40. + +Anna, Sta., 41, 48. + +Antonio, St., 222. + +Apostles, 144, 229. + +Aquitaine, 7, 10, 15. + +Aragon, King of, 48, 127. + +Aragon, Province of, 19, 122, 143, 207, 256. + +Arge, Juan de, 107. + +Arnao de Flanders, 229. + +Astorga, 20. + +Asterio, Bishop of, 61. + +Asturias, 34, 69, 70, 94, 95. + +Augustus, Emperor, 94. + +Avila, Cathedral of, 65-87. + +Aymar, 70. + +Ayuntamiento, Toledo, 129. + +Azeu, Bernard of, 91. + + +Bacon, Lord, 265. + +Badajoz, Juan, 22, 97. + +Bagdad, 127. + +Bætica, Provincia, 193. + +Bætis, 193, 215. + +Baldwin, Maestro, 107. + +Banderas, Seville, Patio de las, 201. + +Bandinelli, Baccio, 153. + +Barcelona, 228. + +Bartolomé of Jaen, 261. + +Basle, Council of, 49, 62. + +Baudelaire, 214. + +Bautizo, Seville, door of, 208. + +Beatrice of Suabia, 53, 223. + +Beauvais, Cathedral of, 93. + +Belgium, 162. + +Bellini, Giovanni, 162. + +Bellver, Riccardo, 208. + +Benavente, Cathedral of, 142. + +Benedict, St., 5. + +Benedictines, 37, 220. + +Benilo, 70. + +Berenzuela, Queen, 92. + +Bermudez, Cean, 44, 45, 69, 134, 199. + +Bernard, Archbishop of Toledo, 7, 130, 154, 156. + +Berroqueña, 138, 141. + +Berruguete, Alfonso, 79, 134, 151, 153, 250. + +Berruguete, Pedro, 79. + +Blanche of France, 47. + +Blas, Gil, 169, 252. + +Blasquez Dean Blasco, 74. + +Blois, 256. + +Boabdil, 243, 262. + +Boldan, 227. + +Bologna, University of, 6. + +Bordeaux, 93. + +Borgoña, 224. + +Borgoña, Juan de, 79, 134. + +Borgoña, Philip, 151, 152, 177, 262. + +Boston, 18. + +Bourges, Cathedral of, 94, 134. + +Brizuela, Pedro, 187. + +Bruges, Carlos de, 229. + +Brunelleschi, 176. + +Brussels, 247. + +Bugia, 260. + +Burgos, Cathedral of, 30-63, 80, 81, 86, 93, 97, 101, 105, 106, 111, +131, 132, 134, 141, 177, 183, 199, 207, 224, 258. + +Burgos, Bishopric of, 122. + +Burgundy, School of, 10, 13. + +Burne-Jones, 50. + + +Cadiz, 194. + +Cæsar, Julius, 193. + +Calderon, 6. + +Caliphs, 4. + +Calix, 157. + +Calatrava, Order of, 128. + +Calixtus III, Pope, 8. + +Campaña, Pedro, 195. + +Campero, Juan, 22. + +Campo, Juan del, 259. + +Canary Isles, 260. + +Cano, Alfonso, 195, 227, 248, 258, 259. + +Cantabria, 70. + +Capulet, 138. + +Capitan, Calle del Gran, 201. + +Carlos de Bruges, 229. + +Carmona, 82. + +Carpentania, 124. + +Casanova, 208. + +Castanela, Juan de, 44, 45. + +Castile, Province of, 6, 19, 30, 33, 34, 68, 72, 74, 92, 95, 122, 127, +135, 136, 143, 159, 171, 172, 178, 207, 215, 219, 243, 244, 256, 264. + +Catalina, Toledo, Puerta de Sta., 145. + +Catarina, Burgos, Chapel of, 41, 60. + +Catharine Plantagenet, Queen, 159. + +Catholic Kings, 20, 128, 143, 172, 217, 242, 256. + +Caveda, 199, 200. + +Cebrian, Pedro, 97. + +Celandra, Enrique Bernardino de, 229. + +Cellini, 152. + +Cervantes, 196. + +Cespedes, Domingo de, 134, 150. + +Ceuta, 192. + +Chambord, 210. + +Champagne, 99. + +Charles V, Emperor, 45, 46, 71, 137, 153, 171, 172, 173, 225, 251, 254, +263. + +Charles, Prince of England, 169, 245. + +Chartres, Cathedral of, 40, 93, 94, 102, 109, 141, 201. + +Chartudi, Martin Ruiz de, 179. + +Chico, Patio, 18, 24, 25. + +Christopher, St., 162. + +Chronicles, 192. + +Churriguera, 28. + +Cid, Campeador, 33, 123, 127, 134, 200. + +Cisneros, Cardinal, 80. + +Cistercians, 40. + +Citeaux, 130. + +Clamores, 167. + +Clara, Sta., 172, 173, 177, 185. + +Clement, St., 102. + +Cluny, 5, 7, 10, 130, 131, 220. + +Cologne, 138, 211. + +Colonia, Diego de, 49. + +Colonia, Francisco de, 57, 60. + +Colonia, Juan de, 49, 60, 62, 101. + +Colonia, Simon de, 49. + +Columbina Library, 209, 215. + +Columbus, 197, 204, 215, 216, 227, 244, 265. + +Compero, Juan de, 178. + +Compostella, St. James of, 157. + +Compostella, Cathedral of, 96. + +Comuneros, 71. + +Comunidades, 127, 173, 182. + +Constable, Burgos, Chapel of, 41, 49, 57, 58. + +Constance, Queen, 130, 154, 156, 220. + +Constantine, 235. + +Constantinople, 219. + +Copin, 134. + +Cordova, Caliphate of, 5, 194, 195, 203, 204, 230, 231, 242, 243, 247. + +Cornelis, 83. + +Coroneria, Burgos, Puerta de la, 47, 56. + +Corpus Christi, Burgos, Chapel of, 41. + +Corpus Domini, Feast of, 219. + +Cortes, 36, 125. + +Cortez, 197. + +Council of the Indies, 197. + +Councils, 126, 157. + +Covarrubias, Alfonso, 22, 134, 177. + +Cristela, St., 86. + +Cristobal, Seville, Gate of St., 209. + +Cruz, Granada, Hospital of Sta., 247. + +Cruz, Valladolid, Colegio de, 247. + +Cruz, Santos, 79. + +Cubillas, Garcia de, 174, 177, 179. + +Cuevas, Monastery of Las, 227. + + +Dado, Chapel of Nuestra Señora del, 114. + +Damascus, 2. + +Dancart, 218. + +Daniel, 112. + +Darro, 240, 255. + +David, 3, 48, 112, 158, 254. + +Davila, Bishop Blasquez, 74. + +Davila, Juan Arias, 171, 177, 184. + +Davila, Sancho, 82. + +Denis, Abbey of St., 40. + +Dominican, 128, 218. + +Dominic, St., 6. + +Donatello, 152. + +Doncelles, Seville, Capilla de los, 229. + +Dueñas, Convent of Las, 30. + +Duke, Iron, 245. + +Durham, 123. + +Dumas, Alexandre, 241. + + +Eden, Garden of, 241. + +Edward I, 33. + +Egas, Annequin de, 135. + +Egas, Anton de, 21, 22, 134. + +Egas, Enrique de, 135, 177, 207, 224, 247, 248, 249, 260. + +Egypt, 209. + +Eleanor of Castile, 33. + +Eleanor Plantagenet, 37. + +Ellis, Havelock, 214. + +Ely, Cathedral of, 148. + +England, 33, 124, 149. + +Enrique, Architect, 54, 60, 97. + +Enrique II, 70. + +Enriquez, Beatrix, 215. + +Erasma, 167. + +Eslava, 214. + +Esteban, Burgos, Church of San, 34. + +Esteban, Salamanca, Church of San, 30, 44. + +Estrella, 72. + +Eugenio IV, 74. + +Eugenio, St., 141. + +Europe, 162, 194, 215. + +Eve, 227, 259. + +Exodus, 153. + +Ezekiel, 192. + + +Fancelli, Dominico, 263. + +Fanez, Alvar, 123. + +Ferdinand I, 34, 95. + +Ferdinand III, St., 37, 48, 53, 61, 70, 92, 131, 193, 195, 203, 209, +219, 224, 225, 231, 232, 249. + +Ferdinand of Aragon, 20, 49, 82, 127, 128, 136, 137, 152, 244, 251, 256, +259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265. + +Ferdinand, Infante, 47. + +Ferguson, 206. + +Fernandez, Alejo, 195. + +Fernandez, Marco Jorge, 218. + +Fernandez, Martin, 60. + +Flanders, 183. + +Florence, 70, 196, 223, 230. + +Fonfria, 167. + +Fonseca, Bishop Don Juan Rodriguez de, 56, 136. + +France, 28, 44, 47, 69, 72, 92, 94, 109, 123, 132, 133, 149, 153, 162, +183, 200, 207. + +Francesco de Salamanca, 218. + +Francis, St., 137. + +Franciscan Monastery, 263. + +Frederic of Germany, 92. + +Friola, St., 114, 167. + +Front of Périgueux, St., 15. + +Frumonio, Bishop, 95. + +Frutos, St., 174. + + +Gallichan's Story of Seville, 197, 199. + +Gallo, Torre del, 15. + +Ganza, Martin, 225. + +Garcia, Alvar, 72. + +Garcia, Pedro, 207. + +Gautier, Théophile, 46, 122, 151, 199. + +Gayangos, 231. + +Generaliffe, 241. + +Germany, 93, 162, 183. + +Gever, 231. + +Ghiberti, 48, 152. + +Gibbon, Grinling, 27. + +Gil de Hontañon, Juan, 22, 23, 28, 174, 175, 176, 177, 179, 207. + +Gil de Hontañon, Rodrigo, 23, 179, 184. + +Giralda, 201, 209, 229, 230, 232, 234, 235. + +Giraldo, Luis, 83. + +Goethe, 239. + +Goliath, 3. + +Gomez, Alvar, 136, 141. + +Gonzales, Bishop, 97. + +Gonzales, Ferdinand, 33, 34. + +Gonzalo, Don, 53. + +Gorda, 142. + +Goya, 162, 201, 226, 227. + +Granada, Cathedral of, 182, 216, 224, 237-265. + +Granada, Province of, 122, 138, 152, 194, 195, 230. + +Granados, José, 248. + +Gray, Thomas, 167. + +Greco, El, 162, 227. + +Gredos, Sierra, 67, 121. + +Greece, 153, 197, 223. + +Gregory the Great, 126. + +Gregory VII, 91, 220. + +Guadalquivir, 197, 235. + +Guadarrama, Sierra de, 34, 67. + +Guarda, Angel de la, 222, 223. + +Guas, Juan, 135. + +Guzman, 226. + + +Hagenbach, Peter, 221. + +Hannibal, 5, 243. + +Hapsburg, 217. + +Hare, 264. + +Havana, 227. + +Hell, Toledo, Gate of, 143. + +Henry of Aragon, 159. + +Henry II, 53, 155, 160, 178. + +Henry III, 155. + +Henry IV, 172. + +Henry VII, 244. + +Henry VIII, 61, 164. + +Hercules, 192, 193. + +Hermanidad, Dependencias de la, 210. + +Hernando, 244. + +Herrera, 195, 227. + +Hispalis, 194. + +Hispania, Citerior, 68. + +Hispaniola, 227. + +Holanda, Teodor de, 259. + +Holando, Alberto, 80. + +Holy Office, 196, 243. + +Houssaye, La, 151. + +Howell, James, 245. + +Hoz, Juan de, 207. + +Huelva, 194. + + +Iago, Burgos, Chapel of St., 60. + +Iberian Peninsula, 136. + +Ildefonso, St., 108, 127, 143, 147, 157, 158. + +Ildefonso, Toledo, Chapel of St., 157. + +Indies, 128, 260. + +Innocent III, 20, 92, 93. + +Inquisition, 128, 243, 244. + +Irving, Washington, 160, 244. + +Isaac, 153. + +Isabella, 20, 62, 82, 127, 128, 131, 136, 137, 138, 152, 154, 195, 224, +244, 256, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264. + +Isabella, Granada, Monastery of Sta., 263. + +Isabella of Portugal, 160. + +Isaiah, 48, 106, 192. + +Isidore, 126, 220, 221. + +Islam, 202, 227, 247. + +Isle-de-France, 99, 102. + +Italy, 72, 93, 153, 196, 200, 223, 254. + +Ixbella, 194. + + +Jacob, 153. + +Jaen, 194, 195, 208, 260. + +Jain Temples, 205. + +James I, 136. + +James, St., 54. + +James, Professor, 87. + +Janera, Cathedral of, 153. + +Jeremiah, 112. + +Jeronimo, Granada, Puerta de, 254. + +Jerusalem, 29, 214, 229, 256. + +Jesse, Tree of, 162. + +John, St., 55, 57, 208, 219, 256, 262. + +John the Baptist, Toledo, Hospital of St., 153. + +John I, 155. + +John II, 159. + +Jonah, 192. + +Joshua, 112. + +Juan, Don, 134. + +Juan, Bishop of Sabina, 171. + +Juan, Toledo, chapel of St., 161. + +Juan, Seville, door of St., 208. + +Juana, Queen, 21, 225, 263. + +Judgment, Last, 126. + +Junta, Santa, 71. + +Justa, Sta., 226, 232. + +Jusquin, Maestro, 101, 110. + + +Karnattah, 242. + +Kempeneer, 222. + +Koran, 234. + + +Lagarto, Seville, door of, 209. + +Lamperez y Romea, Señor D., 9, 40, 76, 108. + +Lara, Bishop Manrique, 96. + +Latin, 126, 187, 193, 232. + +Lazarus, 229. + +Leander, 220. + +Leocadia, Sta., 157, 158. + +Leon, Cathedral of, 26, 36, 39, 43, 80, 81, 82, 86, 90, 117, 132, 134, +142, 177, 198, 199, 212, 256. + +Leon, Kingdom of, 5, 6, 19, 30, 34, 69, 127, 215. + +Lerida, Cathedral of, 133. + +Lerma, Bishop Gonzalvo da, 52. + +Lions, Toledo, gate of, 144, 161. + +Llana, Toledo, gate of, 145. + +Lockhart, 245. + +Loevgild, 94, 126. + +Loja, 241. + +Lombardy, 201, 206, 243, 251. + +London, 204, 244. + +Lonja, Seville, gate of, 209. + +Lopez, Pedro, 207. + +Lorenzana, 136. + +Louis, St., 47, 92. + +Lucas of Holland, 152. + +Luis, Fray, 6. + +Luna, Count Alvaro de, 159. + +Luther, 86. + +Lusitania, 5. + + +Madrid, 96, 128, 173, 206. + +Madrigal, Tostada de, 79. + +Maeda, Juan de, 248, 253, 254. + +Magi, adoration of the, 104. + +Malaga, 248. + +Mancha, La, 93. + +Manrico de Lara, Francisco, 23. + +Mans, Cathedral of Le, 148. + +Mantanzas, D. Juan Ruiz, 156. + +Maria, Burgos, gate of Sta., 60. + +Maria, de la Encarnacion, Sta., Granada, 246. + +Maria, Burgos, Sta. Maria la Mayor, 34, 57, 60. + +Maria, Leon, Sta., 92, 96, 98, 116. + +Maria del Fiore, Sta., 17, 176, 201. + +Maria, de la O., Sta., 246. + +Maria de la Sede, Seville, Sta., 203, 207, 213, 214, 219, 228, 230. + +Mary, Virgin, 104, 130, 157, 158, 167, 171, 173, 174, 179, 195, 217, +219, 220, 227, 258, 262. + +Mary Magdalen, 229. + +Marin, Juan, 223. + +Marin, Lope, 209. + +Marks, St., 12, 15, 230. + +Marmont, 30. + +Martial, 193. + +Martin, 214. + +Maurice, Bishop, 37, 46, 49, 54, 61. + +Maxwell, Sir W. Stirling, 262. + +Medina, Pedro de, 97. + +Mediterranean, 122, 193. + +Meister Wilhelm, 239. + +Mellan, Pedro, 207, 208. + +Menardo, Vicente, 229. + +Mendoza, Doña Mencia de, 50. + +Mendoza, 136, 138, 143, 155, 226, 262. + +Merida, 68. + +Mesquita, 231. + +Mexico, 197. + +Micer, 228. + +Michael, St., 86. + +Miguel, Florentino, 196, 207, 223. + +Miguel, San, 172, 173, 185. + +Miguel, Seville, Door of St., 208. + +Milan, Cathedral of, 138, 204, 206. + +Milo, Venus of, 212. + +Miserere, 214. + +Mohamed, 244. + +Molina, Juan Sanchez de, 60. + +Montagues, 138. + +Montañez, 217, 227, 249, 258. + +Moses, 54, 112, 254. + +Mogaguren, Juan de, 179, 186. + +Munoz, Sancho, 217. + +Murillo, 196, 222, 227, 258. + + +Nacimiento, Seville, doors of, 207. + +Nacimiento, Salamanca, door of, 25. + +Nantes, 93. + +Naples, 191, 260. + +Napoleon, 135. + +Naranjos, Seville, door of the, 209. + +Narbonne, 93, 157. + +Nasrides, 243. + +Navarre, 72, 92, 256. + +Navas de Tolosa, Las, 70, 93, 154. + +Netherlands, 196. + +Nevada, Sierra, 241, 242. + +Ney, 30. + +Nicholas, Church of, Burgos, 34. + +Nicholas Florentino, 14. + +Nile, 209. + +Norman, Juan de, 207. + + +Odysseus, 192. + +Oliquelas, 139. + +Ontoria, 42. + +Orazco, Juan de, 22. + +Ordoñez, Bartolomé, 263. + +Ordoño, King, 95, 113, 114. + +Ouen of Rouen, Cathedral of St., 28. + +Oviedo, 34, 196, 198. + +Oxford, University of, 6. + + +Padella, 127, 225. + +Palazzo del Goberno Civil, Salamanca, 28. + +Pardon, Burgos, Door of, 61. + +Pardon, Granada, Door of, 254. + +Pardon, Segovia, Door of, 185. + +Pardon, Seville, Door of, 209. + +Pardon, Toledo, Door of, 126, 143. + +Paris, 219. + +Paris, University of, 6. + +Paris, Cathedral of, 25, 101, 105, 148, 163, 199. + +Parthenon, 212. + +Pater, Walter, 125. + +Paul, St., 30, 54, 62, 85, 142, 209, 164. + +Paul's, London, St., 204, 244. + +Pedro, Avila, Church of St., 71. + +Pedro, Bishop of Avila, Don, 72. + +Pedro de Aguilar, 155. + +Pedro el Cruel, 127, 225. + +Pedro of Castile, Don, 70. + +Pedro, Infante, Don, 178. + +Pellejeria, Burgos, Door of, 56, 58. + +Peninsular War, 246. + +Perez, 135. + +Perez, Juan, 60. + +Perez de Vargas, Garcia, 193. + +Périgueux, 7. + +Peru, 197. + +Pesquera, Diego de, 223. + +Peter, St., 30, 54, 62, 85, 142, 209, 164. + +Peter's, Rome, St., 205, 224, 251. + +Philip, 48. + +Philip I (of Austria), 263. + +Philip II, 23, 45, 128, 196, 197, 206. + +Philip III, 245. + +Philip of Burgundy, Sculptor, 44, 45, 48. + +Philip, St., 54. + +Phoenicia, 197. + +Phoenicians, 193. + +Piazzetta, Venice, 201. + +Pilayo, Bishop of Oviedo, Don, 69. + +Pituenga, Florin de, 69. + +Pius II, 160. + +Pius III, 23. + +Pistoja, 230. + +Pizarro, 197. + +Plaza del Colegio Viejo, Salamanca, 5. + +Pliny, 128. + +Plutarch, 125. + +Poe, 214. + +Poitou, 137. + +Porcello, Diego, 60. + +Poniente, 28. + +Portugal, 127. + +Prado, 221. + +Presentacion, Burgos, Chapel of, 41, 52. + +Presentacion, Toledo, Puerta de la, 145. + +Psalms, 192. + +Ptolemy, 215. + +Pulgar, Capilla del, 255. + +Pulgar, Herman Perez del, 255. + +Pyrenees, 93, 176, 206. + +Puy, Notre Dame de, 144. + + +Quadrado, 178. + +Quixote, 134. + + +Ramos, Alfonso, 101. + +Ramos, door of, 25, 29. + +Raphael, Angel, 155. + +Raymond, Count of Burgundy, 7, 8, 69, 70, 72, 170. + +Real, Seville, Capilla, 205, 224. + +Reccared, 126. + +Reloi, Toledo, gate of, 145. + +Rembrandt, 214. + +Rios, D. Demetrio de los, 96. + +Reposo, Virgin del, 223. + +Reye Nuevos, Toledo, chapel of, 161. + +Res, Juan, 83. + +Rheims, Cathedral of, 25, 39, 43, 93, 94, 148. + +Ribera, 162, 221, 258. + +Richard, papal legate, 156. + +Richelieu, 136. + +Ridriguez, Canon Juan, 174. + +Rodan, Guillen de, 97. + +Roderick, King, 126. + +Rodrigo, architect of Toledo, 135. + +Rodrigo, Archbishop, 93. + +Rodrigo de Ferrara, 107. + +Rodriguez, Archbishop of Seville, 205. + +Rodriguez, Bishop, 136. + +Rodriguez of Alava, Count Diego, 34. + +Rodriguez, Maestro of Seville, 22, 207. + +Rodriguez, Sculptor, 151. + +Roelas, 227. + +Rojas, Gonzalo de, 205, 207. + +Romano, Casandro, 69. + +Rome, 5, 93, 116, 130, 135, 142, 143, 191, 193, 197, 224. + +Roundheads, 61. + +Rovera, D. Diego de, 174. + +Royal Chapel, Granada, 247, 249, 251, 255, 256, 257, 259. + +Rubens, 162. + +Rufina, Sta., 226, 232. + +Ruiz, Alfonso, 207. + +Ruiz, Bishop Francisco, 80. + +Ruiz, Francisco, 234. + + +Sabina, St., 86. + +Sacchetti, 26. + +Salamanca, city of, 69. + +Salamanca, council of, 45. + +Salamanca, Cathedral of, 3-30, 44, 163, 170, 174, 175, 176, 177, 179, +184, 198, 213, 248. + +Salmantica, 5. + +Salisbury, Cathedral of, 131. + +Salto, Maria del, 178, 179. + +Salvador, Avila, Cathedral of San, 67, 71. + +Sancha, Countess, 114. + +Sanches de Castro, Juan, 201. + +Sanchez, Martin, 135. + +Sanchez, Nufro, 216. + +Sanchez, Bishop Pedro, 69. + +Sanchez, Architect Pedro, 53, 60. + +Sancho the Brave, 155. + +Sancho the Deserted, 155. + +Santander, Diego de, 53. + +Santiago, bishopric of, 122. + +Santiago, Burgos, chapel of, 41. + +Santiago, Leon, chapel of, 99, 107, 115. + +Santiago, order of, 128, 135, 159. + +Santiago, Toledo, chapel of, 147, 157, 159. + +Santo, Andrea del, 153. + +Sarabia, Rodrigo de, 22. + +Sarmental, Puerta del, 54. + +Sarmentos, family of, 54. + +Scriveners, Toledo, gate of, 143. + +Segovia, city of, 67, 69. + +Segovia, Cathedral of, 165-187, 213. + +Segundo, St., 86. + +Segundo, Avila, church of San, 71. + +Sens, Cathedral of, 40. + +Seville, Cathedral of, 24, 44, 96, 97, 138, 158, 182, 183, 189-236, 242, +248, 258, 260. + +Seville, bishopric of, 122. + +Sicily, kingdom of, 19, 143, 256, 260. + +Siena, 70. + +Sierra Alhama, 241. + +Sierra Gredos, 67, 122. + +Sierra de Guadarrama, 34, 67. + +Sierra Moreña, 198, 235. + +Sierra Nevada, 241, 242. + +Siloé, Diego de, 49, 248, 249, 252, 254. + +Silva, Diego da, 195. + +Simon, architect, 97. + +Sistine Madonna, 212. + +Sofia, St., 12. + +Stevenson, R. L., 145. + +Suabia, 53, 225. + + +Tagus, 93, 122. + +Talavera, 246, 259. + +Tarragon, bishopric of, 122. + +Tarragona, Cathedral of, 133. + +Tarshish, 192. + +Tavera, 136, 141. + +Tecla, Sta., 41. + +Tendilla, 259. + +Tenorio, 136, 141, 163. + +Teresa, Sta., 86, 87. + +Theotocopuli, Jorge Manuel, 140. + +Thiebaut, 30. + +Thomas, convent of St., 71. + +Tierra de Maria Santissima, 198. + +Titian, 162. + +Toledo, Cathedral of, 36, 39, 42, 93, 96, 106, 108, 121-164, 170, 177, +182, 192, 198, 204, 207, 212, 216, 218, 223, 247, 260. + +Toledo, council of, 8, 126. + +Toledo, province of, 23, 169. + +Tomé, Narciso, 155. + +Tornero, Juan, 22. + +Torquemada, 171. + +Trajan, 167. + +Triana, 232. + +Trinity, Boston, church of, 18. + +Triolan, San, 104. + +Tripoli, 260. + +Triumfo, Seville, Plaza del, 201. + +Tudela, Cathedral of, 133. + + +Urraca, Doña, 69. + + +Vaccæi, 68. + +Vadajos, Bishop of, 20. + +Vergara, Arnao de, 229. + +Vargas, Luis de, 195. + +Valdes, 227. + +Vallejo, Juan de, 44, 45, 60. + +Valencia, See of, 7, 93, 122. + +Valencia, Alonzo, 97. + +Valladolid, City of, 21, 23, 160, 227, 248, 249. + +Valladolid, Cathedral of, 36, 122. + +Vega, 240, 245. + +Velasco, Don Pedro Fernandez, Count of Haro, 49, 50. + +Velasco, Bishop Antonia de, 52. + +Velasquez, 196, 258. + +Venice, 191. + +Vergara, 134. + +Viadero, 184. + +Vicente, Avila, Church of, 71. + +Vico, Ambrosio de, 248. + +Vigarny, Philip (Borgoña), 151, 153, 251, 262. + +Vignola, 252. + +Villalon, Cathedral of, 143. + +Villalpando, 134, 154. + +Villanueva, 82. + +Villegas, Fernando de, 52. + +Vincente, St., 86. + +Viscaya, 69. + +Visitacion, Burgos, Capilla de, 52. + +Visquio, Jeronimo, 7, 8, 10. + +Vitruvius, 224. + +Vittoria, 208. + +Voltaire, 245. + + +Wamba, 126. + +Wear, 123. + +Wells, Cathedral of, 99. + +Westminster Abbey, 149, 198. + +Wharton, Mrs., 103. + +Williams, Leonard, 183. + +Wolsey, 136, 262. + + +Xenil, 240. + +Ximenez, 136, 154, 156, 221, 261, 265. + +Ximon, 207. + + +Yorobo, Diego de, 218. + + +Zamora, cathedral of, 133. + +Zamora, See of, 7. + +Zaragoza, bishopric, 122, 248. + +Zeres, gate of, 193. + +Zimena Doña, 33. + +Zurbaran, 195, 227. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The precedence of Oxford was established by the decree of Constance +of 1414. + +[2] Ego comes Raimundus una pariter cum uxore mea Orraca filia Adefonsi +regis, placuit nobis ut propter amorem Dei et restaurationem ecclesie S. +Marie Salamantine sedis et propter animas nostras vel de parentum +nostrorum vobis domino Jeronimo pontefici et magistro nostro quatinus +saceremus vobis sicut et facimus cartulam donationis vel ut ita decam +bonifacti. + +[3] Though to the city itself, in which he had been married, he dealt +the death-blow when he moved his Court from Toledo to Valladolid and +established a bishopric at Valladolid (in 1593), which had previously +been subject to Salamanca. + +[4] According to Doctor Döllinger, "a faithless and cruel freebooter." +As a daring and successful "condottiere," he was dear to his +liberty-loving contemporaries, who protested against any encroachments +from Rome or curtailment of their civil rights by native rulers. + +[5] Married to Alfonso III of Castile. + +[6] Cean Bermudez, _Noticias de los Arquitectos y Arquitectura de +España_, vol. i, p. 208. + +[7] Avila santos y cantos. + +[8] Spain is divided into nine archbishoprics. In Castile are those of +Santiago, Burgos, Valladolid, and Toledo; in Aragon, Zaragoza; on the +Mediterranean, Taragon and Valencia; and in Andalusia, Seville and +Granada. + +[9] + + Ye men so noble and so bright, + Who from your elevated height + Do rule Toledo's avarice, + And govern fear and cowardice. + Of costly bed, the Lord of Hosts + Hath made ye to the corner posts. + Leave private interests behind, + Show truth and justice to mankind, + To common good yourselves do bind. + + + +[10] Poitou, _Spain and its People_. + +[11] The work of Jorge Manuel Theotocopuli, son of the great painter. + +[12] + + Bell of Toledo, + Church of Leon, + Clock of Benavente, + Columns of Villalon. + + +[13] He is also the sculptor of the marvelous tomb of Cardinal Janera in +the hospital of St. John the Baptist at Toledo. + +[14] The cost of this reja was 250,000 reales. + +[15] "Transparente," really meaning transparent, allowing the passage of +light. The composition took its name from the little closed glass or +crystal window placed directly back of the altar, and which thus pierced +a portion of the decorated wall surface behind the altar. + +[16] From William Gallichan's _Story of Seville_. + +[17] + + He who has not seen Seville, + Has not seen a marvel. + + +[18] The great astronomical work, performed by that wonder of learning, +Alfonso X of Castile, in concert with Arab and Jewish men of science. + +[19] _Impressions de Voyage_, Alexandre Dumas. + +[20] Washington Irving's _Granada_. + +[21] Lockhart's _Spanish Ballads_. + +[22] Hare's _Queen of Queens_. + + + + + * * * * * + + + +Notes of the transcriber of this etext: + +[a] Probably "A Castilla y a León mundo nuevo dió Colon" . + +[b] Probably Canon Juan Rodriguez. + +[c] Should be Puerta del Reloj. + +[d] Probably means Españas. + + +Changes made: + +colonnettes => colonettes + +Narciso Tome => Narciso Tomé {1} + +Vaccaei => Vaccæi {1 index} + +Perigueux =>Périgueux {1 index} + +Baetica => Bætica {1 index} + +Baetis => Bætis {1 index} + +Dean Blasco Blasques => Dean Blasco Blasquez {1 page 74} + +Guadalquiver => Guadalquivir {2 page 197 & 235} + +Juan Gil de Houtañon => Juan Gil de Hontañon {1} + +Bartolomé of Iaen => Bartolomé of Jaen {1 page 261} + +Pellegeria => Pellejeria {1 plan of Burgos Cathedral} + +Pintuenga => Pituenga {1 page 69} + +Reyos Nuevos => Reyes Nuevos {1 index} + +Reyos Catolicos => Reyes Catolicos {1 page 217} + +Demetrio de los Reos => Demetrio de los Rios + +Repiso, Virgin del => Reposo, Virgin del {1 index} + +Diego de Silhoé => Diego de Siloé {page 48 & index + +Philip Vigarni => Philip Vigarny {page 151, 153, 251, 262 index} + +Villalpondo => Villalpando {page 134 & 154} + +Ximenes => Ximenez {2 page 265 & index} + +Juan de Maedo => Juan de Maeda {1 page 248} + +Gayangoz => Gayangos {1 index} + +Guaz => Guas {1 page 135} + +Maria, de la Incarnacion => Maria, de la Encarnacion {1 index} + +Mugaguren, Juan de => Mogaguren, Juan de {1 index} + +Rez, Juan => Res, Juan {1 index} + +Rojas, Gonsalo de => Rojas, Gonzalo de {1 index} + +Sachetti => Sacchetti {1 index} + +Salamantica => Salmantica {1 index} + +Vaga, Luis de => Vargas, Luis de {page 195 & index} + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN*** + + +******* This file should be named 31966-8.txt or 31966-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/1/9/6/31966 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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(John Allyne) Gade</title> +<style type="text/css"> + p {margin-top:.75em;text-align:justify;margin-bottom:.75em;text-indent:2%;} + +.c {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;font-weight:bold;} + +.dedication {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;margin:15% auto 15% auto;line-height:25px;font-weight:bold;} + +.heading {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;font-weight:bold;margin:5% auto 2% auto;} + +.lgletter {float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:40px;padding-right:12px;} + +.nind {text-indent:0%;} + +.r {text-align:right;margin-right:5%;} + +.sml75 {font-size:75%;} + +.sml80 {font-size:80%;} + + h1,h4 {text-align:center;clear:both;} + + h2,h3 {margin-top:15%;text-align:center;clear:both;} + +.top5 {margin-top:5%;} + +.top15 {margin-top:15%;} + + hr {width:100%;margin:5% auto 5% auto;border:4px double gray;} + + table {margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;border:none;text-align:left;} + + body{margin-left:10%;margin-right:10%;background:#fdfdfd;color:black;font-family:"Times New Roman", serif;font-size:medium;} + + ul {list-style-type:none;text-indent:-1em;} + +li {padding:.2%;} + +li.alpha {margin-top:3%;} + +a:link {background-color:#ffffff;color:blue;text-decoration:none;} + + link {background-color:#ffffff;color:blue;text-decoration:none;} + +a:visited {background-color:#ffffff;color:purple;text-decoration:none;} + +a:hover {background-color:#ffffff;color:#FF0000;text-decoration:underline;} + +.smcap {font-variant:small-caps;} + + img {border:3px double gray;} + +.lacoste {font-weight:bold;font-size:50%;} + +.caption {font-weight:bold;font-size:70%;text-align:center;} + +.image {margin:auto;text-align:center;padding-top:10%;padding-bottom:5%;} + +.imageplan {margin:5% auto 2% auto;text-align:center;} + +.footnotes {border:double 6px gray;margin-top:15%;clear:both;} + +.footnote {width:95%;margin:auto 3% 1% auto;font-size:0.9em;position:relative;} + +.label {position:relative;left:-.5em;top:0;text-align:left;font-size:.8em;} + +.fnanchor {vertical-align:30%;font-size:.8em;} + +.poem {margin-left:25%;white-space:nowrap;text-indent:0%;font-size:85%;} + +.pagenumber {font-style:normal;position:absolute;left:92%;font-size:75%;text-align:right;color:gray;background-color:#ffffff;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0em;} + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} +</style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Cathedrals of Spain, by John A. (John Allyne) +Gade</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Cathedrals of Spain</p> +<p>Author: John A. (John Allyne) Gade</p> +<p>Release Date: April 12, 2010 [eBook #31966]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN***</p> +<h4>E-text prepared by Chuck Greif<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net/c/">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> + from page images generously made available by<br /> + Internet Archive<br /> + (<a href="http://www.archive.org/">http://www.archive.org</a>)</h4> +<table border="0" style="background-color: #ddddff;" cellpadding="10"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/cathedralsofspai00gadeiala"> + http://www.archive.org/details/cathedralsofspai00gadeiala</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> + +<div class="image" style="width: 372px;"> +<a href="images/ill_cover.jpg"> +<img src="images/ill_cover_th.jpg" +style="border:none;" +alt="image of book's cover" +width="372" +height="550" +/></a></div> + +<h3>CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN</h3> + +<div class="image" style="width: 600px;"> +<a name="frontispiece" id="frontispiece"></a> +<a href="images/ill_salamancacathedral.png"> +<img src="images/ill_salamancacathedral_th.png" +alt="NEW CATHEDRAL OF SALAMANCA" +title="NEW CATHEDRAL OF SALAMANCA" +width="600" +height="456" +/></a><br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption">NEW CATHEDRAL OF SALAMANCA</p></div> + +<h1>CATHEDRALS OF<br /> +SPAIN</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2 class="top5">JOHN ALLYNE GADE</h2> + +<p class="c">FULLY ILLUSTRATED</p> + +<div class="image" style="width:100px;"><img src="images/ill_logo.png" +style="border:none;" +alt="logo" +width="100" +height="135" +/></div> + +<p class="c top5"><span class="sml75">BOSTON AND NEW YORK</span><br /> +HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY<br /> +<span class="sml75">The Riverside Press Cambridge<br /> +1911</span></p> + +<p class="c sml75">COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY JOHN A. GADE<br /> +<br /> +ALL RIGHTS RESERVED<br /> +<br /> +<i>Published February 1911</i><br /> +</p> + +<p class="dedication"> +TO<br /> +THE LAST CHÂTELAINE<br /> +OF FROGNER HOVEDGAARD<br /> +<span class="sml80">IN REVERENCE, GRATITUDE<br /> +AND AFFECTION</span></p> + +<table summary="toc" +style="border:6px double gray;padding:3%;"><tr align="center"><td> +<a href="#PREFACE">Preface</a><br /> +<a href="#CONTENTS">Contents</a><br /> +<a href="#ILLUSTRATIONS">Illustrations</a><br /> +<a href="#CATHEDRALS_OF_SPAIN">Cathedrals of Spain</a><br /> +<a href="#BOOKS_CONSULTED">Books Consulted</a><br /> +<a href="#INDEX">Index</a><br /> +<a href="#corrections">Etext transcriber's note</a> +</td></tr> +</table> + +<h3><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE<a name="page_vii" id="page_vii"></a></h3> + +<p class="nind"><span class="lgletter">I</span><span style="margin-left: -.75em;">N</span> the last dozen years many English books on Spain have appeared. They +have dealt with their subject from the point of view of the artist or +the historian, the archæologist, the politician, or the mere sight-seer. +The student of architecture, or the traveler, desiring a more intimate +or serious knowledge of the great cathedrals, has had nothing to consult +since Street published his remarkable book some forty years ago. There +have been artistic impressions, as well as guide-book recitations, by +the score. Some have been excellent, though few have surpassed the older +ones of Dumas, père, and Gautier, or Baedeker's later guide-book. A year +ago appeared the second and last volume of Señor Lamperez y Romea's +"Historia de la Arquitectura Cristiana Española en la Edad Media," a +work so comprehensive and scholarly that it practically stands alone.</p> + +<p>It has seemed to me that certain buildings, and especially cathedrals, +cannot be properly studied quite apart from what surrounds them, or from +their past history. To look comprehendingly up at cathedral vaults and +spires, one must also look beyond them at the city and the people and +times that created them. In some such setting, the study of Avila, +Salamanca the elder and the younger, Burgos, Toledo, Leon, Segovia, +Seville, and Granada is here attempted, in the hope it will not prove +too technical for the ordinary traveler, nor too superficial for the +student of architecture. The cathedrals selected <a name="page_viii" id="page_viii"></a>cover nearly all +periods of Gothic art, as interpreted in Spain, as well as the earlier +Romanesque and succeeding Renaissance, with which the Gothic was +mingled. All the great churches were the work of different epochs and +consequently contain several styles of architecture. The series here +described is very incomplete, but the book would have grown too bulky +had it included Santiago da Compostella with its heavenly portal, and +Barcelona or Gerona, Lerida or Tudela.</p> + +<p>Whether we read a page of Cervantes, or gaze on one of Velasquez's +faces, or wander through one of the grand cathedrals of Spain, we +realize that this great world-empire has never ceased to exist in +matters of art, but still in the twentieth century must rouse our wonder +and admiration. In barren deserts, on parched and lonely plains, amid +hovels crumbling to decay, still stand the monuments of Spain's +greatness. But if nowhere else in the world can one find such glorious +works of art surrounded by such squalor, let us draw from the past the +promise of a revival in Spain of all that constitutes the true greatness +of a nation. In the fourth century, Bishop Hosius of Cordova was, from +every point of view, the first living churchman—Cordova itself became, +under the Ammeyad Caliphs in the tenth century, the most civilized, the +most learned, and the loveliest capital in Europe. Three hundred years +later, Alfonso X of Castile was not only a distinguished linguist and +poet, but the greatest astronomer and lawgiver of his age. When the +Spanish people have once more made education as general as it was under +the accomplished Arabs, and adopted the division of power <a name="page_ix" id="page_ix"></a>insisted on +in a letter from Bishop Hosius to the Emperor Constantius, "Leave +ecclesiastical affairs alone.... We are not allowed to rule the earth," +they will take the rank their character and genius deserve among the +nations. Their cathedrals will then stand in an environment befitting +their grandeur, a society which will help them to transmit to coming +generations the noblest, imperishable hopes of humanity.</p> + +<p class="r smcap sml80">John Allyne Gade.</p> + +<p class="smcap sml80">New York City.</p> + +<h3><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h3> + +<table summary="contents" +cellpadding="5" +cellspacing="3"> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#I">I.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">Salamanca</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_001">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#II">II.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">Burgos</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_031">31</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#III">III.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">Avila</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_065">65</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#IV">IV.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">Leon</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_089">89</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#V">V.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">Toledo</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_119">119</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#VI">VI.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">Segovia</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_165">165</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#VII">VII.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">Seville</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_189">189</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><a href="#VIII">VIII.</a></td><td><span class="smcap">Granada</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_237">237</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><span class="smcap">Books Consulted</span> </td><td align="right"><a href="#page_267">267</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td><span class="smcap">Index</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_269">269</a></td></tr> +</table> + +<h3><a name="ILLUSTRATIONS" id="ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>ILLUSTRATIONS</h3> + +<table summary="illustrations" +cellpadding="3" +cellspacing="2"> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">New Cathedral of Salamanca</span> (<a href="#page_024">page 24</a>)</td><td align="right"><a href="#frontispiece"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedrals of Salamanca</span>: The towers of the old and new buildings</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_003">3</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedrals of Salamanca</span>: Plans</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_006">6</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Threshing Outside the Walls of Salamanca</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_010">10</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Salamanca</span>: The Tower of the Cock</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_016">16</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Salamanca</span>: From the Vega</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_028">28</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Burgos</span>: West front</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_033">33</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Burgos</span>: Plan</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_036">36</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Burgos</span>: View of the nave</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_040">40</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Burgos</span>: Lantern over the crossing</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_046">46</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Burgos</span>: The Golden Staircase</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_050">50</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Burgos</span>: The Chapel of the Constable</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_054">54</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Burgos</span>: The spires above the house-tops</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_058">58</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Avila</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_067">67</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Avila</span>: Plan</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_068">68</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Avila</span>: Exterior of the apse turret</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_072">72</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Avila</span>: From outside the walls</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_080">80</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Avila</span>: Main entrance</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_086">86</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Leon</span>: From the southwest</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_091">91</a></td></tr> + +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Leon</span>: Plan</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_094">94</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Leon</span>: Looking up the nave</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_098">98</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Leon</span>: Rear of apse</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_104">104</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Toledo</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_121">121</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Toledo</span>: Plan</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_124">124</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Toledo</span>: The choir stalls</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_140">140</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Toledo</span>: Chapel of Santiago, tombs of Alvaro de Luna and his spouse</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_158">158</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Segovia</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_167">167</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Segovia</span>: Plan</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_170">170</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Segovia</span>: From the Plaza</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_176">176</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Seville</span>: The Giralda, from the Orange Tree Court</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_191">191</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Seville</span>: Plan</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_194">194</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Seville</span>: Gateway of Perdon in the Orange Tree Court</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_210">210</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Seville and the Giralda</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page_228">228</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Granada</span>: West front</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_239">239</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Granada</span>: Plan</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_242">242</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Granada</span>: The exterior cornices of the Royal Chapel</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_248">248</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Granada</span>: The reja enclosing the Royal Chapel and tombs of the Catholic Kings</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_256">256</a></td></tr> +<tr valign="bottom"><td><span class="smcap">Cathedral of Granada</span>: The tombs of the Catholic Kings, of Philip and of Queen Juana</td><td align="right"><a href="#page_262">262</a></td></tr> +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_001" id="page_001"></a>{Page 1}</span></p> + +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_002" id="page_002"></a>{2}</span></p> + +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_003" id="page_003"></a>{3}</span></p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 342px;"> +<a href="images/ill_salamancatowers.png"> +<img src="images/ill_salamancatowers_th.png" +width="342" +height="550" +alt="CATHEDRALS OF SALAMANCA +The towers of the old and new buildings" +title="CATHEDRALS OF SALAMANCA +The towers of the old and new buildings" +/></a><br /> +<p class="caption">Photo by Author<br /> +CATHEDRALS OF SALAMANCA<br />The towers of the old and new buildings</p> +</div> + +<h2><a name="CATHEDRALS_OF_SPAIN" id="CATHEDRALS_OF_SPAIN"></a>CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN</h2> + +<h3><a name="I" id="I"></a>I<br /> +<br />SALAMANCA</h3> + +<table summary="poetry" +class="sml80"><tr><td> +In quella parte ove surge ad aprire<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Zeffiro dolce le novelle fronde,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Di che si vede Europa rivestire.</span><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 10em;"><i>Paradiso</i>, c. XII, l. 46.</span> +</td></tr></table> + +<p class="heading">I</p> + +<p class="nind"><span class="lgletter">N</span><span style="margin-left: -.75em;">OWHERE</span> else in Spain, and certainly in few places outside her borders, +can one take in the whole architectural development of successive styles +and ages so comprehensively as in Salamanca. Byzantine and Romanesque, +Gothic from its first fire to the last flicker and coldness of the +ashes, and the triumphant domination of the reborn classicism,—all are +massed together here.</p> + +<p>Contrasts are eloquent to belittle or magnify. Here two cathedrals stand +side by side, the older from the days of the Kingdom, a mere chapel in +size compared to the larger and later expression of Imperial Spain. A +David beside a Goliath, simple power by the side of ponderous +self-assurance. Rude in its simplicity, seemingly unconscious of its +great inheritance and the genius it embodies, the old church stands a +monument of early virile effort, in<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_004" id="page_004"></a>{4}</span> strength and poetry akin to the +wind-swept rocks round which still whisper mysterious Oriental legends. +The huge bulk that overshadows it betrays exhausted vigor and a decadent +form. Here is simplicity by complexity, majestic sobriety close to +wanton magnificence, poise by restlessness; each speaks the language of +the age that conceived and brought it forth. Proximity has compelled the +odiousness of comparison, for you can never see the later Cathedral +apart from the old. You are haunted by the salience of their divergency, +the importance of their contrasts, until their meaning becomes so far +clear to you that the solid blocks of the ancient temple seem to +symbolize the Church Militant and Triumphant. That indomitable spirit +did not meet you under the mighty arches of the newer church, but go +into the hushed perfection of those abandoned walls and walk along the +dismantled nave and you will repeat the old epithet coupled with the +city, "Fortis Salamanca!"</p> + +<p>This once famous town lay in a curious setting as seen from the +cock-tower in the month of August. Here and there were rusty, +copper-colored fields, where the plow had just furrowed the surface. +There were vineyards in which the sandy, white mounds were tufted by the +deep emerald of the grape-vines, but the prevailing color was the yellow +straw of harvested fields. These were a busy scene,—laborers were +driving their oxen harnessed to primitive carts and treading out the +grain as in olden times. They made their rounds between the high yellow +cones built up of grain-stalks and filled the hot air with golden dust.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_005" id="page_005"></a>{5}</span></p> + +<p>This is Salamanca of to-day, seemingly robbed of all but her rich +vowels. The whole city, like her two cathedrals, bears traces of the +dynasties that have swept over her. Their footprints are everywhere. +Hannibal's legions passed through Roman Salmantica on their victorious +march to Rome, and the city soon afterwards became a military station in +the province of Lusitania. Plutarch praises the valor of her women. Age +after age generals have built her bridges and the towers and walls that +surround the valley and the three hills, on one of which stands her +supreme mediæval creation.</p> + +<p>From the eighth century Salamanca became an apple of discord between +Moslem bands and the forces of early Castilian kings, Crescent and Cross +constantly supplanting each other on her turrets. Not until the latter +half of the eleventh century, in the days of King Alfonso VI, were the +Moors driven south of Leon, and Salamanca could at last claim to be body +and soul Christian. The safety of the city was finally assured by +Alfonso's conquest of Toledo.</p> + +<p>The university, destined to become so famous, was founded by Alfonso IX +about 1230. Among the Arab rulers in Spain, there were not a few as +eager as their co-believers in eastern Islam to learn all that the +civilized world could teach in art and science. The Caliphate of Cordova +had from the tenth century drawn to its schools and academies +proficients in astronomy, mathematics, and jurisprudence, as well as in +the more graceful arts of music, rhetoric, and poetry. The monks of +Cluny, belonging to the Order of Saint Benedict, then the most +influential in Europe, now became domiciled in Salamanca under<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_006" id="page_006"></a>{6}</span> the +protection of King Alfonso. They contributed the arts of France, +preëminently architecture, and the training of their order as +instructors and veracious compilers of historical annals to the learning +and skill already established by the followers of Mahomet in several +cities of the Spanish Peninsula. Thus the science and arts of the Orient +joined forces with those of the Occident within the strong walls of +Salamanca and founded there an illustrious seat of learning. Only three +universities, Oxford,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> Paris, and Bologna, could boast a greater age, +but Salamanca soon attained such eminence as to rank with these by papal +decree among the "four lamps of the world." In the sixteenth century, +she numbered over seven thousand scholars. Among those destined to +become famous in the world's history were Saint Dominic, Ignatius +Loyola, Fray Luis of Leon, and Calderon.</p> + +<div class="imageplan" style="width: 550px;"> +<a href="images/ill_plansalamanca.png"> +<img src="images/ill_plansalamanca_th.png" +width="550" +height="475" +alt="KEY OF PLANS OF NEW AND OLD CATHEDRALS OF SALAMANCA" title="KEY OF PLANS OF NEW AND OLD CATHEDRALS OF SALAMANCA" /></a> +</div> +<table summary="salamanca plans" +cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" +class="sml75"> +<tr><td colspan="4" align="center">KEY OF PLANS OF NEW AND OLD CATHEDRALS OF SALAMANCA</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="4" align="center"> </td></tr> +<tr><td>A.</td><td>Old Cathedral.</td><td>E.</td><td>Choir.</td></tr> +<tr><td>B.</td><td>New Cathedral. </td><td>F.</td><td>Apse.</td></tr> +<tr><td>C, C. </td><td>Crossing.</td><td>G, G. </td><td>Apsidal Chapels.</td></tr> +<tr><td>D.</td><td>Cloisters.</td><td>H.</td><td>Altar.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>To-day solitude and intellectual stagnation reign in the halls and +courts of this once renowned university. In a few half-empty +lecture-rooms the rustic now receives an elementary education, as he +listens to the cathedral chimes across the sunlit courtyard.</p> + +<p>Within the crumbling crenelations of the ancient battlements twenty-four +once large parishes are more or less abandoned or laid waste with their +convents, monasteries, and palaces.</p> + +<p>The history of Salamanca's ecclesiastical architecture is connected with +the campaigns which were carried on in Castile and Leon at the end of +the eleventh and the beginning of the twelfth centuries. These had +established the dominion of King Alfonso<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_007" id="page_007"></a>{7}</span> VI, and the great influence +of the distinguished immigrant prelates of the French orders. King +Alfonso left Castile to his daughter Urraca, who, with her husband, +Count Raymond of Burgundy, settled in Salamanca. The old city, which had +suffered so long and terribly from the successive fortunes of war and +its quickly shifting masters, was once more to feel the blessings of law +and order. To replace its sad depopulation, Count Raymond allotted the +various portions of the city to newcomers of the most different +nationalities,—Castilians, Gallegos, Mozarabes, Basques, and Gascons. +Among them were naturally pilgrims and monks, who played an important +part in every colonizing enterprise of the day, introducing new ideas, +arts, and craftsmen's skill. After his conquest of Toledo, Alfonso VI +placed on the various episcopal thrones of his new dominion Benedictine +monks of Cluny,—men of unusual ability and energy. The great Bernard, +who had been crowned Archbishop of Toledo, had brought with him many +brethren from the mother house, whose patrimony was architecture. Among +them was a young Frenchman from Périgueux in Aquitaine, Jeronimo +Visquio, whose ability as organizer and builder, up to the time of his +death in 1120, left great results wherever he labored, and most +especially in Salamanca. He was the personification of the Church +Militant of his time,—fighting side by side with the most romantic hero +of Spanish history and legend, confessing him on his death-bed, and +finally consigning him to his tomb. Jeronimo was transferred from the +See of Valencia to that of Zamora, to which Salamanca was subject, and +shortly afterwards<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_008" id="page_008"></a>{8}</span> Salamanca was elevated to episcopal dignity by Pope +Calixtus II, Count Raymond's brother. Even in the days of the Goths, we +find mention of prelates of Salamanca who voiced their ideas in the +Councils of Toledo, and later followed, for such scanty protection as it +offered, the Court of the early Castilian kings. In calling Jeronimo to +Salamanca, Raymond had, however, a very different purpose in mind from +that of attaching to his court an already celebrated churchman. He +understood the vital importance of building up within his city a +powerful episcopal seat with a great church. Grants and other assistance +were at once given the churchman and were in fact continued through +successive reigns until, with indulgences, benefices, and privileges, it +grew to be a feudal power. As late as the fifteenth century, the workmen +of the Cathedral were exempted from tributes and duties by the Spanish +kings.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> During the first years of Jeronimo's activity and the earliest +work on the building, we find curious descriptions of how the Moorish +prisoners were put to work on the walls, even to the number of "five +hundred Moslem carpenters and masons."</p> + +<p>The Cathedral stands upon one of the hills of the old city. The exact +date of its inception, as well as the name of the original architect, is +doubtful, but it is certain that it was begun not long after the year +1100. At Jeronimo's death it could not have been<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_009" id="page_009"></a>{9}</span> far advanced, but the +crossing and the Capilla Mayor could be consecrated and employed for +services in the middle of the century, and the first cloisters were +built soon after. The nave and side aisles followed, their arches being +closed in the middle of the thirteenth century. The lantern was probably +placed over the crossing as late as the year 1200. Following an order +inverse to that pursued by later Gothic architects, the Romanesque +builders finished their work with the eastern end.</p> + +<p>Its building extended over long periods marked by a gain in confidence +and skill and a development of architectural style, so that in its +stones we may read a most interesting story of different epochs, and to +serious students of church-building, the old Cathedral of Salamanca is +possibly the most interesting edifice in Spain. It is magnificent in its +early, virile manhood. The tracing of the many and varied influences is +as fascinating as it is bewildering. Every student and authority on the +subject has a new conception or some definite final conclusion in regard +to its many surprising elements. No student of Spanish architecture has +studied its origin with greater insight or knowledge than Señor Don +Lamperez y Romea in his recent luminous work on Spanish ecclesiastical +architecture.</p> + +<p>To say that the old Cathedral was wholly a French importation would be +unjust; to speak of it as sprung entirely from native precedents and +inspiration would show equal ignorance. No, there were many and subtle +influences affecting its original conception and formation; first of all +and naturally, those derived from Burgundy, now only partially visible, +as<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_010" id="page_010"></a>{10}</span> for instance the vaulting of the nave. These precedents have been +altered or concealed in the evolution of the building. Byzantine +influences follow,—most obvious in the magnificent dome crowning the +crossing. The School of Aquitaine of course made itself felt through +Bishop Jeronimo as well as several of his successors. Great portions are +Gothic, slightly visible in some of the later exterior work, but +throughout in the last interior portions of the great arches and vaults.</p> + +<p>After carefully considering all these influences and going to their +roots, we may conclude that the old Cathedral of Salamanca is both in +plan and structure a Romanesque church of the Burgundian School built on +Spanish soil by French monks from Cluny, who in their new surroundings +were strongly affected by Byzantine and Oriental influences and possibly +by the original Spanish or Moorish development of the dome. At a later +date, under Aquitaine bishops, certain forms of vaulting characteristic +of their region were adopted as well as devices to bring about the +transition between the circular dome and the square base.</p> + +<p>Strange to say it is a Romanesque church erected at the time when what +are regarded as the finest Gothic cathedrals were being built in France. +The Spaniard clung more tenaciously to the older style, which in many +ways adapted itself better to his climate and requirements, while it +easily flowed into native streams of inspiration to form with them a +mighty whole. The church is neither French nor Spanish nor Arab nor +Italian in its various composition, but distinctly Romanesque in +spirit.</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 433px;"> +<a href="images/ill_salamancathreshing.png"> +<img src="images/ill_salamancathreshing_th.png" +width="433" +height="550" +alt="THRESHING OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF SALAMANCA" title="THRESHING OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF SALAMANCA" /></a> +<p class="caption">Photo by Author<br /> +THRESHING OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF SALAMANCA</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_011" id="page_011"></a>{11}</span></p> + +<p>The plan is in general that of the old basilica: a nave with side aisles +of five bays, a crossing prolonged one bay to the south beyond the side +aisle, while to the east the nave and side aisles all terminate in a +semicircular apsidal chapel. A portion of the southern wall of the huge +new Cathedral replaces the northern one of the old church by encroaching +on its side aisle. A flight of eighteen broad stone steps occupies the +northern bay of the old Cathedral's crossing and leads from its +considerably lower pavement up to the level of the new one. To the south +lie the great cloisters. It was a plan which for its time was +undoubtedly as magnificent in scale as it seemed diminutive and +insignificant in the sixteenth century when the new Cathedral was built.</p> + +<p>The massiveness on which the old Romanesque builders depended to obtain +their elevations and support the great weight is most impressive. The +outer walls have in some places a thickness of ten feet and the piers +are much larger in section than those of the new Cathedral which carry +vaults soaring far above the roof of the earlier structure. The choir +had formerly blocked the clear run of the nave; to the good fortune of +the old church and the injury of the new, this was removed to the latter +when it was sufficiently advanced to receive it. Unfortunately, the plan +of the west front was very radically disturbed by the building of the +new Cathedral, the two old towers flanking the entrance being removed +and a narrow passage, which leads into the nave through the immense +later masses of masonry, taking the place of the old entrance. The nave +is 33 feet wide, 190 feet long and 60 feet high; the side aisles are 20 +feet<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_012" id="page_012"></a>{12}</span> broad, 180 feet long and 40 feet high, thus surprisingly high in +proportion to the nave.</p> + +<p>The main piers which subdivide nave and side aisles are most +interesting, as their greater portion belongs to the original structure. +They are faced by semicircular shafts which carry simple, unmolded, +transverse ribs in the central aisle. A small additional columnar +section is seen in the angles of the piers, supporting in an awkward +position, with the assistance of the interposed corbel, molded, diagonal +vaulting ribs. Columns, reaching to about two thirds of the height of +the tall shafts of the nave, carry the arches separating nave from side +aisles. The undecorated base-molds of the total composite piers are all +supported upon a heavy, widely projecting, common drum, a curious +remnant of the earlier single Byzantine pillar of but one body and base.</p> + +<p>The capitals are among the great glories of the edifice. They are +remarkable from every point of view, and among the finest Byzantine +extant, comparable to the best of Saint Mark's or of Sancta Sofia. The +acanthus leaves are carved with all the jewel-like sparkle and crispness +and the play of light and shade of the best period; the life and spring +of a living stem are in them. Their oriental parentage is apparent at a +glance. Much of the carving is alive with all the fancy and imagination +of the day,—beasts and monsters, real and mythical animals, masks and +contorted human figures and devils interlace on the bells and peer out +from the foliage. The execution is quite unrestrained. It has a +divergency which must have had its unconscious origin in the different +antique caps serving again in the early<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_013" id="page_013"></a>{13}</span> Byzantine edifices. The ancient +carvers must have realized the full importance of sculptural relief in +their poorly lighted edifices. Again, the corbels which carry the +diagonal ribs are formed by crude contorted beings and animals, in some +instances bearing figures leaning against the lower surfaces of the +diagonal ribs and intended still further to conceal its faulty spring. +At the intersections of the diagonal ribs are bosses with figures at the +salient points.</p> + +<p>With an astonishment verging on incredulity, we look up at the vaulting +supported by these piers. In place of the great Burgundian barrel vaults +above the nave and semicircular arches between nave and side aisles, +there are pointed Gothic transverse arches and quadripartite vaulting of +low spring and simplest sections, but nevertheless ogival. It is evident +both by the appearance of shafts, as well as by other indications, that +it could not have been the original construction, but rather one reached +at a later day when the new art was supplanting the old, a substitution +for the original Romanesque vaulting; the upper windows and the most +glorious lantern are all constructed in the Romanesque style to which +the Spanish builders clung so long and tenaciously in preference to the +subtle and nervous French Gothic which suited neither their temperament +nor conditions. The church must originally have been carried out in +their more native art, which they better understood.</p> + +<p>The western termination of the church is formed by three semicircular +apses crowned by semicircular vaults. In the central one, closed from +the transept by a simple iron reja, stands the high altar backed<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_014" id="page_014"></a>{14}</span> by a +great Gothic retablo of fifty-five panels and crowned in the vaulting by +a most remarkable painting. In the walls of the niches is a series of +tombs of persons with varying claims to our interest and esteem. Its +original exclusiveness in the reception of royal princes of pure lineage +gave way in the thirteenth century to admit princesses and bastards. +Here lies the Dean of Santiago and Archdeacon of Salamanca, a natural +son of the King of Leon. His mother, owing to her short-comings, got no +farther than the cloister vaults. Some one has extracted from the +archives of the old Cathedral the origin of the ancient mural decoration +above the high altar. On the 15th of December, 1445, the Chapter engaged +the services of Nicholas Florentino, painter, who for a consideration of +75,000 maravedis "of current white Castilian money, which is worth two +old white ones and three new," promised to complete the painting "from +top to bottom." On a rich blue background the Supreme Judge stands in +the centre; to the right, is a regiment of the dead clad in white +raiment, graciously welcomed by angels with trumpets; on the left, the +damned are being hustled into hell by devils. As a well-preserved +example of very ancient Spanish painting, it certainly is of intrinsic +value and interest and recalls the naïve representations of early +Italian artists.</p> + +<p>It is unusually well lighted for a Romanesque church, which is naturally +owing to the dome and not to the various windows or roses. There is no +triforium, but the side walls, transepts, and apses are pierced by +openings of true Romanesque type. The thick masonry has been most +timidly pierced for<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_015" id="page_015"></a>{15}</span> narrow, round-headed slits of light, with splayed +jambs and colonettes engaged to their sides carrying the typically +ornamented archmolds enframing the whole. The stone mullions of the two +remaining roses are equally timid and typical, but have not suffered +like the windows from the encroachment of the new edifice.</p> + +<p>The pavement undulates like that of Saint Mark's. High above the +crossing of nave and transepts rises the tower flooding the church with +light and internally as well as externally expressing one of the +grandest architectural conceptions of the Spanish Peninsula.</p> + +<p>Superlatives can alone describe the Torre del Gallo,—truly a product +and glory of Spanish soil. Many writers have argued its similarity to +the domes of Aquitaine churches, to Saint Front of Périgueux and others, +but it is distinctly different from and far superior to those with which +it has been compared in the magnificently interposed members of the +drum, which shed light into the church through their openings and raise +the cupola high enough to make of it a finely proportioned, crowning +member. The cupola alone, certainly not the general disposition, may be +regarded as a copy of earlier examples.</p> + +<p>The internal and external cores have been admirably managed, the outer +one being much higher to be in correct proportion to the surrounding +masonry which it crowns. The interior transition from the square to the +round base, twenty-eight feet in diameter, is rather clumsily managed. +The successive masonry courses of the angles step out in Byzantine +fashion in front of each other. The four piers of the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_016" id="page_016"></a>{16}</span> crossing, upon +which the pendentives descend, are no larger than the main piers of the +nave. Above the pendentives which stand out, in their undecorated +masonry, the circle is girdled by a carved cyma, above which rises a +double arcade of sixteen arches, each arch flanked by strong and simple +columns with Byzantine caps of barely indicated foliage. Powerful, +intermediate columnar shafts separate the superimposed arcades and carry +on their caps the sixteen ribs that shoot upwards and meet in the great +floral boss at the apex of the inner dome. The lower arcades are +semicircular, the upper, trefoiled, while the intermediate shafts are +broken by two band-courses. All the moldings, and especially the +energetic, muscular ribs, are splendidly simple and vigorous in their +undecorated profiles. The lower arcade is blind, the upper admits light +through timidly slender apertures, with the exception of every fourth +arch, which coincides with an exterior turret.</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 432px;"> +<a href="images/ill_salamancatowerofthecock.png"> +<img src="images/ill_salamancatowerofthecock_th.png" +width="432" +height="550" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF SALAMANCA +The Tower of the Cock" title="CATHEDRAL OF SALAMANCA +The Tower of the Cock" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption"> +CATHEDRAL OF SALAMANCA<br /> +The Tower of the Cock</p> +</div> + +<p>Externally the lantern is even more remarkable than internally. As seen +from within, it is faced alternately by four tympanums and four turrets. +These are broken by long, narrow, round-headed openings, vivified by +ball moldings ornamenting the heavy rounding of their splays. The +tympanums, as well as the windows between them, and the turrets are +flanked by a series of Romanesque columns. Their grouping, the deep +reveals and resulting shadows, the play of light and shade brought out +in the foliage of their various caps, which is but indicated in the +simple manner of the style, and the adjacent moldings, all give a most +archaic impression. The roofing of the turrets, as well as that of the +outer<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_017" id="page_017"></a>{17}</span> dome, suggests a stone coat-of-mail. The flags are laid in +scallops or stepped rows, like the scales of a fish, giving a far +tighter joint than the stone channels covering the roofing of Avila +Cathedral. The outline of the dome is that of a cone with a slightly +modulated curve, perhaps unconsciously affected by a Moorish +delineation. The angles are marked by bold crockets. Above, crowning the +apex, perches the cock, gayly facing whatever part of the heavens the +wind blows from. There is an everlasting triumph in it all, reminding +one not a little of that won at a later date in Santa Maria del Fiore. +Salamanca holds the religious triumph of a militant age; Florence, the +sacred glory of an artistic one. The lofty aspiration, boldly hewn in +the Spanish fortress, is no less admirable than the constructive genius +rounded in Brunelleschi's dome.</p> + +<p>The remainder of the interior is now singularly undecorated and severe. +The entrance has been so much transformed by later additions that, in +place of the original portal and vestibule, there remains only a +vestibule considerably narrower than the nave, compressed on one side by +the huge towers of the new Cathedral, and on the other by later +alterations. The two older towers which contained, one the chimes and +the other the dwelling of the Alcaide, have quite disappeared. The +vestibule has excellent allegorical sculptures and Gothic statuary.</p> + +<p>The northern aisle still has a few mural paintings, but the larger part +of those which once illuminated the bare walls were washed off by a +bigoted prelate in the fifteenth century and the present gray of the +stone, as seen in the dim light, looks cold compared to the rich gold of +the exterior masonry bathed in<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_018" id="page_018"></a>{18}</span> sunshine. The excellence of the vaulting +is such that to-day hardly a fissure or crack is visible. The old +pavement consists of great rectangles marked by red sandstone borders +and bluestone centre slabs, the size of a grave, with central dowels for +lifting and closing. In the southern transept-arm leading to the +cloisters, some of the original windows are still preserved with their +fine columns, archivolts, and carved moldings. The ribs of the vaults +are decorated by zigzag ornamentation, and here a few magnificent old +tombs remain intact in their ancient niches.</p> + +<p>There is, properly speaking, no exterior elevation of the whole +structure. The western front is hidden by the modernization, the north +and south, by the new Cathedral, the cloisters, and squalid, encumbering +walls and chapels. From the "Patio Chico" alone, the old structure can +be seen unobstructed. The curves of the apses bulge out like +full-bellied sails, their great masonry surfaces broken by the small +windows, which are cut with enormous splays and encased and arched by +typical Romanesque features, the windows protected by heavy Moorish +grilles. Engaged shafts run up the sides of the central apse to below a +quatrefoil gallery, originally a shelter for the archers stationed to +defend the building. Two fortress-towers formed the eastern angles north +and south; the one to the north was removed in building the new +Cathedral. A scaled turret, broken by later Gothic pediments, crosses +the one remaining. Above all soars the dome, the inspiration of our +greatest American Romanesque temple, Trinity Church in Boston.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_019" id="page_019"></a>{19}</span></p> + +<p>At the end of the twelfth century the houses of a sacrilegious Salamanca +gentleman were confiscated and given to the Cathedral Chapter, who +forthwith began the cloisters upon their site. They lie to the south and +thus came to be planned and built into the original fabric and with +Romanesque arches and wooden roof. They were practically entirely +rebuilt in the fifteenth century and again restored in the eighteenth. +Curious, elaborate, vaulted chapels—in one of which the Mozarabic rite, +the ancient Gothic ritual prolonged under Moslem rule, is still +occasionally celebrated—adjoin it to the east and south. Recently, old +Byzantine niches and tombs, some of great interest, have been uncovered +in the outer walls.</p> + +<p class="heading">II</p> + +<p>"Most Reverend Father in Christ, Lord Cardinal, our much beloved and +very dear Friend; We the King and the Queen of Castile, of Leon, and of +Aragon, Sicily, etc., send this to salute you, as one whom we love and +esteem highly, and to show we desire God may give life, health, and +honor, even to the extent of your own desire. We inform you that the +City of Salamanca is one of the most notable, populous, and principal +cities of our kingdoms, in which there is a society of scholars, and +where all sciences may be studied, and to which people from all states +continually come. The Cathedral Church of the said city is very small, +dark, and low, to such an extent that the divine services cannot be +celebrated in such a manner as they should be, especially during +feast-days when<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_020" id="page_020"></a>{20}</span> a large concourse of people streams to the Cathedral, +and by the Grace of God, the said city increases and enlarges day by +day. And considering the extreme narrowness of the said Church, the +Administrator and Dean and Chapter have agreed to rebuild it, making it +as large as is necessary and convenient, according to the population of +the said city. This furthermore as the form and the fabric of the said +Church cannot be rebuilt without disfigurement. And in order to build +better and promptly, as the said Church has a very small income, it is +necessary that our most Holy Father concede some indulgences in the form +that the Bishops of Vadajos and Astorga, our agents and emissaries to +your Court, will tell your Reverend Fatherhood, and we request you to +beseech His Holiness to concede the said indulgences. Therefore we +affectionately beg you to undertake the matter in the manner which we +affectionately supplicate, because our Lord will be served, and the +Divine Service increased, and we will receive it from you in peculiar +gratitude. Regarding this, we wrote details to the said bishops. We beg +you to give them credit and favor. Most Reverend Father in Christ, Lord +Cardinal, our very dear and beloved friend, may God our Lord at all +times especially guard and favor your Reverend Fatherhood.</p> + +<p class="r">"<span class="smcap">I, the King, I, the Queen.</span></p> + +<p class="sml80"><span class="smcap">Seville</span>, the 17th day of February, in the ninety-first year."</p> + +<p class="top5">That was the way the Catholic Kings wrote to the Cardinal of Angers to +make plain to him that the plain, dark, small, old Cathedral was no +longer in keeping with their glory or the times, and to begin<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_021" id="page_021"></a>{21}</span> the +movement for a larger edifice. The stern simplicity of the ancient +Church was indeed out of harmony with the brilliance and craving for +lavish display and magnificent proportions which characterize the age of +Ferdinand and Isabella.</p> + +<p>Pope Innocent VIII answered the appeal in the year 1491, granting +permission for the transference of the services to a larger edifice more +fitting the congregation of Salamanca, now at the zenith of its +prosperity and academic renown. In 1508 Ferdinand passed through +Salamanca, and was again sufficiently fired by religious zeal to issue +the following order: "The King to the Master Mayor of the works of the +Church of Seville. Since it has now to be decided how the Church of +Salamanca may be made, in order that its design may be made as it ought, +I consent that you be present there. I charge and command you instantly +to leave all other things, and come to the said City of Salamanca, that, +jointly with the other persons who are there, you may see the site where +the said Church has to be built, and may make a drawing for it, and in +all things may give your judgment how it may be most suited to the +Divine Worship and to the ornature of the said Church; which, having +come to pass, then your salary shall be paid, which I shall receive +return for in this service. Done in Valladolid, the 23d day of November, +1509."</p> + +<p>The famous Master of Toledo, Anton Egas, received a similar summons +(served in his absence on his two maids), but neither architect seems to +have been over-zealous in carrying out the royal commands, for next year +Queen Juana, Ferdinand's daughter,<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_022" id="page_022"></a>{22}</span> growing impatient, writes again: "I +find it now good, as I command you, that immediately that this my letter +shall be made known to you, without making any excuse or delay, you go +to the said City of Salamanca."</p> + +<p>This produced the desired result, for the two delinquent architects +hurried to the city, studied the conditions, and, after considerable +squabbling with each other and the Chapter, many drawings, and a lengthy +report, agreed to disagree. This was too much for the Bishop, and +without further ado he summoned on the 3d of September, 1512, a famous +conclave of all the celebrated architects in Spain to pass on the report +of Egas of Toledo and Rodriguez of Seville and settle the matter. Here +sat besides Egas, Juan Badajos, Juan Gil de Hontañon, Alfonso +Covarrubias, Juan de Orazco, Juan de Alava, Juan Tornero, Rodrigo de +Sarabia and Juan Campero. The matter was thrashed out both as to site +and form and a final report sent in, stating the result of their +deliberations, "and as they were much learned and skilful men, and +experienced in their art, their opinion ought certainly to be acted on." +However, to leave no further doubt, every one of them swore "by God and +Saint Mary, under whose protection the Church is, and upon the sign of +the Cross, upon which they all and each of them put their hands bodily, +that they had spoken the entire truth, which each of them did, saying, +'So I swear, and Amen.'" This settled the business. Three days +afterwards, Juan Gil de Hontañon, the later builder of Segovia and +rebuilder of the dome of Seville, was named Maestro Mayor and Juan +Campero, his apprentice.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_023" id="page_023"></a>{23}</span></p> + +<p>On a stone of the main façade there still stands an inscription +recording the solemn laying of the corner-stone on the 12th of May, +1513. It was dedicated to the Mother and the Saviour. The wisest of the +resolutions passed by this wisest of architectural bodies was the +recommendation to leave the old edifice undisturbed.</p> + +<p>Work was immediately started on the western entrance front and continued +with untiring energy by Juan Gil until his death in 1531. His two sons +assisted him, and they were all constantly guided and aided by a body of +the most eminent Spanish architects who yearly visited the edifice. On +the death of Maestro Alvaro, six years later, Juan's son, Rodrigo Gil, +was selected as Maestro Mayor. He naturally tried to carry out all his +father had planned, building with equal rapidity and no less excellence. +By 1560 the work had been carried as far towards the east as the +crossing. Amid immense popular rejoicing, and with ecclesiastical pomp, +the Holy Sacrament was moved from the old Basilica to the new. "Pio III +papa, Philippe II rege, Francisco Manrico de Lara episcopo, ex vetere ad +hoc templum facta translatio xxv mart. anno a Christo nato <span class="smcap">mdlx</span>." This +of course gave a new impetus to the work, and arch after arch, chapel on +chapel, rapidly grew through the next decades. The bigoted Philip +naturally looked on with favoring eye.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> Twice the work languished, but +was resumed through the waning period<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_024" id="page_024"></a>{24}</span> of the Gothic style. The new +classicism was triumphantly replacing the dying art, and the builders of +Salamanca were sorely perplexed whether or not to make a radical +departure to the newer style. Most fortunately, the conclave called +together at this critical moment remained loyal to the original +conception, and the Renaissance only took possession in ornamentation +and the dome. Not until 1733 was the final "translation" celebrated. +Later, earthquakes and lightning shook down both dome and tower, so that +practically it was not till the nineteenth century that the last mortar +was dry. The building spanned a long and glorious epoch in the city's +history, from a time when her imperial master ruled the world until a +foreign upstart trampled her under foot.</p> + +<p>The plan of the new Cathedral, like that of Seville, is an enormous +rectangle of ten bays, resembling a huge mosque, 378 feet long by 181 +feet wide. It consists of nave and double side aisles without projecting +transept; square chapels fill the outer aisles as well as the bays of +the eastern termination. After much discussion it was decided that the +nave (130 feet high) should be about one third higher than the first +side aisles; the chapels are 54 feet in height.</p> + +<p>The choir blocks the third and fourth bays of the nave, while the +Capilla Mayor occupies the eighth. Over the sixth soars the lantern. The +platform of the Patio Chico separates the sacristy and the old Cathedral +that practically abuts the entire southern front. At the southwestern +angle, the intersection of the two cathedrals is hidden by the gigantic +tower. The northern front is admirably free, the whole structure being +visible on its high granite platform. The<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_025" id="page_025"></a>{25}</span> western front is entered +through the great triple doorway, the central being that of the +Nacimiento; the northern, through the Puerta de las Ramos, the southern, +through the Puerta del Patio Chico.</p> + +<p>Glancing at the plan as a whole, one cannot but deplore that a +conception of such daring proportions with no limitation of time nor +money, having centuries and the wealth of the Indies to draw on, was not +conceived with that most perfect of all Gothic developments, the +semicircular apsidal termination. The Spanish, as well as the customary +English eastern end, can never, from any standpoint of ingenuity or +beauty, be comparable to the amazing conceptions of Rheims or Amiens or +Paris.</p> + +<p>The interior effect is expressed in one word,—"grandiloquence." It is a +true child of the age which conceived it, and the spirit which informed +its erection. If the fabric of the old Cathedral is essentially +Romanesque, with later Gothic ornamentation and constructional features, +the new is entirely Gothic, with Renaissance additions. The spirit and +form are Gothic,—Spanish Gothic,—and one of its last sighs. The fire +was extinct. By display and sculptural fire-works, by bold flaunting of +mechanical mastery, a last trial and glorious failure were made in an +attempt to emulate the marvelous structural logic and simplicity which +had marked the Gothic edifices of an earlier age.</p> + +<p>The blending of the two styles does not jar, but has been effected with +a harmony scarcely to be expected. If one were not hampered with an +architectural education, one could admire it all, instead of criticizing +and wondering why a Renaissance lantern is raised<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_026" id="page_026"></a>{26}</span> upon a Gothic crown, +and why a fine Renaissance balustrade above Gothic band-courses +separates the nave arches from its clerestory, while those of the side +aisles are separated by a Gothic one. The interior fabric itself is +fine: it is more in detail, in the stringiness and multiplicity of +moldings, in the fineness, subdivision, and elaboration of carvings and +ornament that one feels the advancing degeneration. From being frank and +simple, it has become insincere and profuse.</p> + +<p>The Gothic window openings, which had been steadily developing larger +and bolder up to their culmination in the glorious conservatory of Leon, +had again grown smaller and more fitted to the climate. In Salamanca +they are small and high up. Nave and side aisles both carry +clerestories; that of the nave consisting of seventy-two windows in +alternate bays of three windows and two windows with circle above, that +of the side aisle, of one large window subdivided within its own field. +The chapel walls are also pierced by smaller openings. Some have good +though not excellent coloring.</p> + +<p>The form of the Renaissance lantern is not infelicitous, either from the +inside or outside. It was first built by Sacchetti. The double base is +octagonal, with corners strengthened by columns and pilasters and +executed with much artistic skill. Were it not for the vulgar interior +coloring and ornamentation of cherubs, scrolls, and scallop shells, +contorted, disproportionate, and unmeaning, its high, brilliantly +lighting semicircle might be pleasing. Horrible decoration fills the +panels of the octagonal base. The dome itself is almost as gaudily +colored.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_027" id="page_027"></a>{27}</span></p> + +<p>The interior is built of a clear gray stone on which sparing employment +of color in certain places is most effective. Thus in the bosses of the +vaulting ribs throughout, in the capitals of the piers of nave and +transept, in the very elaborate fan-vaulting of the Capilla Mayor, and +in the soffits of nave-clerestory, the blue and gold contrasts finely +with the cold gray surfaces. Renaissance medallions decorate the +spandrels of the nave, but those of the side aisles bear the +coats-of-arms of the Cathedral and the City of Salamanca. A differently +designed fan-vaulting spreads over every chapel. Great rejas enclose +choir and Capilla Mayor from the transept. The rear of the choir is +badly mutilated by a Baroque screen, while the sides and back of the +high altar still consist of the rough blocks which have been waiting for +centuries to be carved. The choir-stalls are very late eighteenth +century, a mass of over-elaborate detail, as fine as Grinling Gibbon's +carving, and if possible even more remarkable in the detail.</p> + +<p>The west and north façades are, for a Spanish cathedral, singularly free +and unencumbered. The west faces the old walls of the university. The +entire composition is overshadowed by the tremendous tower that looms up +for miles around in the country. It is indeed "Salamanca qui érige ses +clochers rutilants sur la nudité inexorable du désert." Though it has +nothing to do with the rest of the composition, it is a happy mixture of +the two styles; the massive base is as high as the roofing of the nave, +blessedly bare and severe beside the restlessness of the adjoining +screen. A clock and a few panels are all that break it. Classical +balconies run round it above and below the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_028" id="page_028"></a>{28}</span> first bell-story, the sides +of which are decorated with a Corinthian order and broken by round +arched openings. A similar order decorates the drum of the cupola, while +Gothic crocketed pyramids break the transition at angles. At the peak of +the lantern, three hundred and sixty feet in the air, soars the +triumphant emblem of the Church of Christ. That man of architectural +infamy, Churriguera, erected it, showing in this instance an +extraordinary restraint.</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 550px;"> +<a href="images/ill_salamancafromthevega.png"> +<img src="images/ill_salamancafromthevega_th.png" +width="550" +height="380" +alt="SALAMANCA +From the Vega" title="SALAMANCA +From the Vega" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption">SALAMANCA<br /> +From the Vega</p> +</div> + +<p>The façade belongs to the first period of the Cathedral, and portions of +it are Juan Gil de Hontañon's work, though the later points to Poniente. +It is interesting to compare it with the last Gothic work in France, +with, for instance, Saint-Ouen at Rouen. The end of the style in the two +countries is totally different—one expiring in a mass of glass and +tracery, the other, in a meaningless jumble of ornamentation, of cusped +and broken and elliptical arches and carving incredible in its delicacy. +One can scarcely believe it to be stone. The Spanish, though not wild in +its extravagance, yet lacks all sense of restraint. The front is +composed of a screenwork of three huge arches, within which three +portals leading to the aisles form the main composition, the whole +crowned by a series of crocketed pinnacles. A plain fortress-like pier, +resembling the remnant of an old bastion, terminates it to the north. +Great buttresses separate the portals. Around them are deep reveals and +archivolt; somewhat recalling French examples in their forms; above them +is an inexhaustible effort in stone. There are myriads of brackets and +canopies, some few having statues. There are enough coats-of-arms to +supply whole nations with heraldic emblems, and<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_029" id="page_029"></a>{29}</span> recessed moldings of +remarkable and exquisite workmanship and crispness of foliage. Some of +the bas-reliefs, as those of the Nativity and Adoration, are very fine. +The Virgin in the pillar separating the doors of the central entrance +gathers the folds of her robe about her with a queenly grace and +dignity.</p> + +<p>The whole doorway on its great scale is a remarkable work of the +transition from Gothic to Renaissance. While the treatment of the +figures has a naturalism already entirely Renaissance, the main bulk of +the ornamental detail is still in its feeling quite Gothic.</p> + +<p>From the steps of the Palazzo del Goberno Civil, the northern front +stretches out before you above the bushy tops of the acacia trees in the +Plaza del Colegio Viejo. The demarcations are strong in the horizontal +courses of the balconies which crown the walls of the nave and +side-aisle chapels,—the two lower quite Gothic. The thrust of the naves +is met by great buttresses flying out over the roofs of the side aisles, +and there, as well as above the buttresses of the chapel walls, +pinnacles rise like the masts in a great shipyard. The whole organism of +the late Spanish Gothic church lies open before you. The long stretch of +the three tiers of walls is broken by the face of the transept, the door +of which is blocked, while the surrounding buttresses and walls are +covered with canopies and brackets, all vacant of statues. In place of +the condemned door, there is one leading into the second bay, the Puerta +de los Ramos or de las Palmas, in feeling very similar to the main doors +of the west. Its semicircular arches support a relief representing +Christ entering Jerusalem. A circular light flanked<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_030" id="page_030"></a>{30}</span> by Peter and Paul +comes above, and the whole is encased in a series of broken arches +filled with the most intricate carving.</p> + +<p>The grand and the grandiloquent Cathedral seem to gaze out over the town +and the vast plain of the old kingdom of Leon and to listen. It is a +golden town, of a dignity one gladly links with the name of Castile. It +is a city—or what is left of it after the firebrands of Thiebaut, of +Ney, and of Marmont—of the sixteenth century, of convents and churches +and huge ecclesiastical establishments. They rise like amber mountains +above the squalid buildings crumbling between them, and stand in grilled +and latticed silence. Las Dueñas lies mute on one side and on the other +San Esteban, where the great discoverer pleaded his cause to deaf ears. +In the evening glow their brown walls gain a depth and warmth of color +like the flush in the dark cheeks of Spanish girls.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_031" id="page_031"></a>{31}</span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_032" id="page_032"></a>{32}</span></p> + +<h3><a name="II" id="II"></a><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_033" id="page_033"></a>{33}</span>II<br /> +<br />BURGOS</h3> + +<div class="image" style="width: 438px;"> +<a href="images/ill_burgoswestfront.png"> +<img src="images/ill_burgoswestfront_th.png" +width="438" +height="550" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS +West front" title="CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS +West front" /></a> +<p class="caption">CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS<br /> +West front</p> +</div> + +<table summary="poetry" +class="sml80"><tr><td> +Whereat he wondred much, and gan enquere<br /> +What stately building durst so high extend<br /> +Her lofty towres unto the starry sphere.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><i>The Faerie Queene</i>, book <span class="smcap">I</span>, c. x, lvi.</span> +</td></tr></table> + +<p class="heading">I</p> + +<p class="nind"><span class="lgletter">T</span><span style="margin-left: -.75em;">HE</span> +best view of the spires of Burgos is from the ruined walls of the +Castillo high above the city. From these crumbling ramparts, pierced and +gouged by a thousand years of assault and finally rent asunder by the +powder of the Napoleonic armies, you look directly down upon the +mistress of the city and the sad and ardent plain. A stubbly growth, +more like cocoa matting than grass, covers the unroofed floor beneath +your feet. From this Castle, Ferdinand Gonzales ruled Castile, and here +the Cid led Doña Zimena, and Edward I of England Eleanor of Castile, to +the altar. The only colors brightening the melancholy hillside are here +and there the brilliant blood-stain of the poppy, the gold of the +dandelion, and the episcopal purple of the thistle. Below and beyond, +stretches a sea of shaded ochre, broken in the foreground by the +corrugations of the many roofs turned by time to the brownish tint of +the encircling hillocks and made to blend in one harmony with its +monochrome bosom. Fillets of silver pierce the horizon, glittering as +they wind nearer between <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_034" id="page_034"></a>{34}</span>over-hanging birches and poplars. The deep, +guttural, roar of the great Cathedral's many voices rises in majestic +and undisputed authority from the valley below, now and again joined by +the weaker trebles of San Esteban and San Nicolas. Regiments of soldiers +march with regular clattering step through holy precincts and up and +down the crooked lanes and squares; barracks and parade-grounds occupy +consecrated soil,—still Santa Maria la Mayor raises her voice to +command obedience and proclaim her undivided dominion over the plains of +drowsy, old Castile.</p> + +<p>From this height, one does not notice the transformation of the Gothic +into seventeenth-century edifices, nor the changes wrought by later +centuries. In the glare of the dazzling sun, the tremulous atmosphere, +and the lazy, curling smoke of the many chimneys, Burgos still seems +Burgos of the Middle Ages, the royal city, mistress of the castles and +sweeping plains, and the Cathedral is her stronghold.</p> + +<p>She is very old,—tradition says, founded by Count Diego Rodriguez of +Alava with the assistance of an Alfonso who ruled in Christian Oviedo +towards the end of the ninth century. For many years his descendants, as +well as the lords of the many castles strewn along the lonely hills +north of the Sierra de Guadarrama, owed allegiance to Leon and the +kingdom of the Asturias. Burgos finally threw off the yoke, and chose +judges for rulers, until one of them, Ferdinand Gonzalez, assumed for +himself and his successors the proud title of "Conde of Castile." Under +his great-grandson, Ferdinand I, Castile and Leon were united in 1037, +thus laying the foundations of the later monarchy. Burgos became a +capital<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_035" id="page_035"></a>{35}</span> city. Against the dark background of mediæval history and +interwoven with many romantic legends, there stands out that greatest of +Spanish heroes, the Cid Campeador. This Rodrigo Diaz was born near +Burgos. The lady Zimena whom he married was daughter of a Count Diego +Rodriguez of Oviedo, probably a descendant of the founder of the city. +In the presence of the knights and nobles of Burgos, the Cid forced +Alfonso VI to swear that he had no part in the murder of King Sancho, +and in the royal city he was then elected King of Castile by the Commons +(1071). Alfonso never forgave the Cid this humiliation, and later exiled +him. To the Burgalese of to-day, he seems as living and real as he was +to mediæval Castilians. Spanish histories and children will tell you of +two things that make Burgos immortal—her Cathedral, and her motherhood +to Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<p>The importance of the city as a Christian centre becomes evident at the +end of the eleventh century (1074), when it receives its own bishop, and +shortly afterwards, fully equipped, convokes a church council to protest +against the supplanting by the Latin of the earlier Mozarabic rite, so +dear to the hearts of the people. The same Alfonso transferred his +capital to the newly conquered Toledo and, contemporaneous with the +great prosperity of Burgos during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, +there was endless jealousy as to precedence, first between Burgos and<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_036" id="page_036"></a>{36}</span> +Toledo and afterwards between these and Valladolid. Burgos reaches the +zenith of her power in the reign of Saint Ferdinand and the first half +of the thirteenth century, though as late as 1349, Alfonso XI, in the +assembled Cortes, still recognizes Burgos's claim as "first city" by +calling on her to give her voice first,—"prima voce et fide," saying +<i>he</i> would then speak for Toledo. Not long after, Valladolid overshadows +them both.</p> + +<p>The greatness of Burgos is that of the old Castilian kingdom; with its +extinction came hers. Her flowering and expansion were contemporaneous +with the most splendid period of Gothic art. Her day was a glorious one, +before bigotry had laid its withering hand upon the arts, and while the +rich imagination and skilled hands of Moorish and Jewish citizens still +ennobled and embellished their capital city.</p> + +<p class="heading">II</p> + +<p>The present Cathedral is singularly picturesque and by far the most +interesting of the three great Gothic Cathedrals of Spain,—Leon, +Toledo, and Burgos. The interest is mainly due to her vigorous organism, +an outcome of more essentially Spanish predilections (as well as a +natural interpretation of the French importations) than we find in +either of the sister churches. Later additions and ornamentation have +naturally concealed and disfigured, but the old body is still there, +admirable, fitting, and sane.</p> + +<div class="imageplan" style="width: 435px;"> +<a href="images/ill_planburgos.png"> +<img src="images/ill_planburgos_th.png" +width="435" +height="550" +alt="KEY OF PLAN OF BURGOS CATHEDRAL" title="KEY OF PLAN OF BURGOS CATHEDRAL" /></a> +</div> + +<table summary="burgos plan" +cellpadding="0" +cellspacing="0" +class="sml75"> +<tr><td colspan="4" align="center">KEY OF PLAN OF BURGOS CATHEDRAL</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="4" align="center"> </td></tr> +<tr><td>A. </td><td>Chapel of Santa Thecla.</td><td>N. Minor Sacristy.</td></tr> +<tr><td>B. </td><td>Chapel of Santa Anna.</td><td>O. Chapel of Saint Henry.</td></tr> +<tr><td>C. </td><td>Chapel of the Holy Birth.</td><td>P. Altar.</td></tr> +<tr><td>D. </td><td>Chapel of the Annunciation.</td><td>Q. Choir.</td></tr> +<tr><td>E. </td><td>Chapel of Saint Gregory.</td><td>R. Chapel of the Presentation of the Virgin.</td></tr> +<tr><td>F. </td><td>Chapel of the Constable.</td><td>S. Choir.</td></tr> +<tr><td>G. </td><td>Chapel of the Parish of St. James. </td><td>T. Golden Staircase.</td></tr> +<tr><td>H. </td><td>Chapel of Saint John.</td><td>U. Door of the Pellegeria.</td></tr> +<tr><td>I.</td><td>Chapel of Saint Catherine.</td><td>X. Door of the Sarmental.</td></tr> +<tr><td>K.</td><td>Chapel of Jean Cuchiller.</td><td>Y. Door of the Perdon.</td></tr> +<tr><td>L.</td><td>Chapter House.</td><td>Z. Door of the Apostles.</td></tr> +<tr><td>M. </td><td colspan="3" align="left">Sacristy.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>Burgos Cathedral is built upon a hillside, her walls hewn out of and +climbing the sides of the mountain, <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_037" id="page_037"></a>{37}</span>making it necessary either from +north or south to approach her through long flights of stairs. What she +loses in freedom and access, she certainly gains in picturesqueness. She +is flesh of the flesh and blood of the blood of the city, scaling its +heights like a great mother and drawing after her the surrounding houses +which nestle to her sides. She would not gain in majesty by standing +free in an open square, nor by receiving the sunlight on all sides. And +so, though many later additions hide much of the early fabric, they +combine with it to form a picturesque whole, a wonderful jewelled +casket, a sparkling diadem set high on the royal brow of the city, such +as possibly no other city of its size in Christendom can boast.</p> + +<p>It was King Alfonso VI who at the end of the eleventh century gave his +palace-ground for the erection of a Cathedral for the new Episcopal See. +We know nothing of its design, nor whether it occupied exactly the same +site as the later building. The early one must, however, have been a +Romanesque Church;—what might not a later Romanesque Cathedral have +been!—for the style had arrived at a point of vitally interesting +promise and national development, when it was forced to recoil before +the foreign invaders, the Benedictines and Cistercians.</p> + +<p>Two great names are linked to the founding of the present Cathedral of +Burgos, Saint Ferdinand and Bishop Maurice. The latter was bishop from +1213 to 1238, and probably an Englishman who came to Burgos in the train +of the English Queen, Eleanor Plantagenet.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> He was sent to Speyer as +ambassador from the Spanish Court to bring back the Princess<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_038" id="page_038"></a>{38}</span> Beatrice +as bride for Saint Ferdinand. Maurice's mission took him through those +parts of Germany and France where the enthusiasm for cathedral-building +was at its height, and he had time to admire and study a forest of +exquisite spires, newly reared, particularly while the young lady given +him in charge was sumptuously entertained by King Philip Augustus. +Naturally he returned to his native city burning with ardor to begin a +similar work there, and probably brought with him master-builders and +skilful artists of long training in Gothic church-building.</p> + +<p>Queen Berengaria and King Ferdinand met the Suabian Princess at the +frontier of Castile. The first ceremony was the conference of the Order +of Knighthood, in the presence of all the "ricos hombres" (ruling men), +the cavaliers of the kingdom with their wives and the burgesses. The +sword was taken from the altar and girded on by the right noble lady +Berengaria. We read that the other arms had been blessed by Bishop +Maurice and were donned by the King with his own hands, no one else +being high enough for the office. Three days later Ferdinand was married +to "dulcissimam Domicellam" in the old Cathedral by the Bishop of Burgos +without protest from the Primate of Castile, Archbishop Rodrigo of +Toledo. This took place in 1219, and two years after King and Bishop +laid the corner-stone of the new edifice.</p> + +<p>The work must have been spurred on by all the religious ardor which +fired the first half of the thirteenth century, for only nine years +later services were held in the eastern end of the building. The good +Bishop was laid to rest in the old choir, where <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_039" id="page_039"></a>{39}</span>he still lies +undisturbed, though to-day it is the Capilla Mayor. By the middle of the +century, the great bulk of the old structure must have been well +advanced. The lower portions of the towers and the eastern termination +are fourteenth-century work; the spires themselves, fifteenth. A +multitude of changes and additions, new chapels and buildings, +gradually, as years went on, transformed the primitive plan from its +first harmony and beauty to a confused mass of aisles, vaults, and +chapels. When we compare the present fabric with the early plan, we see +with what masterly skill and simplicity the original one was conceived.</p> + +<p>All that is left or can be seen of this first structure is splendid. +Though built in the second period of the great northern style, it has +none of the lightness of the French churches which were going up +simultaneously, nor even that of Spanish Leon or Toledo. It has heavy +supporting walls and is of the family of the early French with a +magnificently powerful and efficient system of piers and buttresses. It +is not free from a certain Romanesque feeling in its general lines, its +windows, and in many of its details. Though a splendid type of Gothic +construction, this first church is a convincing proof that the nervous, +subtle, fully developed system was foreign to Spanish taste. The +complicated solutions, the intricate planning, were not in accordance +with their temper nor predilections. Rheims may be said to express the +radical temper of its French builders, Burgos, the conservative Spanish. +In Spain, construction and artistic principles did not go hand in hand +in the glorious manner they were wont to in France. Burgos seems much<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_040" id="page_040"></a>{40}</span> +more emotional than sensitive. Riotous excess and empty display take the +place of restrained and appropriate decoration. The organic dependence +which should exist between sculpture and architecture, so invariably +present in the early French church, is lacking in Burgos. A careful +analysis is interesting. It reveals the fusion of foreign elements, the +severe monastic of the Cistercians and the later sumptuous secular +style, the florid intricacy of the German, the glory of the Romanesque, +the dryness of its revival and the bombast of the Plateresque, all more +or less transformed by what Spaniards could and would do. In its +construction and buttresses, it recalls Sens and Saint-Denis; in its +nave, Chartres; in its vaulting, the Angevine School. The symmetry of +the early plan is fascinating, and Señor Lamperez y Romea's sincere and +beautiful reconstruction must be a faithful reproduction. It makes the +side aisles quite free, the broad transepts to consist of two bays, +while the crossing is carried by piers heavy enough to support an +ordinary vault but not a majestic lantern. Five perfectly formed radial +chapels surround the polygonal ambulatory and are continued towards the +crossing by three rectangular chapels on each side. The vaulting of nave +and transepts is throughout sexpartite; that of the side aisles, +quadripartite. Most of this has, as will be seen, been profoundly +modified.</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 397px;"> +<a href="images/ill_burgosnave.png"> +<img src="images/ill_burgosnave_th.png" +width="397" +height="550" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS +View of the nave" title="CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS +View of the nave" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption"> +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS<br /> +View of the nave</p> +</div> + +<p>The old structure is the kernel of the present church. It consists of a +central nave of six bays up to a strongly marked crossing and three +beyond, terminating in a pentagonal apse. The side aisles are decidedly +lower and continue across the transept<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_041" id="page_041"></a>{41}</span> round the apse. These again are +flanked on the west by the chapel churches of Santa Tecla, Santa Anna, +and the Presentacion, as well as by a number of other smaller, vaulted +compartments. Only two of the radial chapels outside the polygonal +ambulatory remain, the others having been altered or supplanted by the +great Chapels of the Constable, of Santiago, Santa Catarina, Corpus +Christi, and the Cloisters. The western front is entered by a triple +doorway corresponding to nave and side aisles; the southern transept, by +an incline 40 feet wide, broken by 28 steps. On reaching the door of the +northern transept, one finds the ground risen outside the church some 26 +feet above the level of the inner pavement, and instead of descending by +the interior staircase, one wanders far to the northeast, there to +descend to a portal in the north of the eastern transept. The whole +church is about 300 feet long, and in general 83 feet wide, the +transepts, 194 feet.</p> + +<p>The piers under the crossing, as well as those of the first bay inside +the western entrance, are much larger than the others, in order to +support the additional weight of crossing and towers, and the piers, +abutting aisle and transept walls, are also unusually strong. The +interior pillars are of massive cylindrical plan, of well-developed +French Gothic type, solid, but kept from any appearance of heaviness by +their form and by eight engaged columns. The ornamented bases are high +and of characteristic Gothic moldings. The finely carved capitals carry +square abaci in the side aisles and circular ones in the nave. Both +abaci and bases have been placed at right angles to the arches they +support. The three engaged pier columns<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_042" id="page_042"></a>{42}</span> facing the nave carry the +transverse and diagonal groining ribs, while the wall ribs are met by +shafts on each side of the clerestory windows.</p> + +<p>The four main supports at the angles of the crossing are rather towers +than piers. In the original structure, they were probably counterparts +of those supporting the inner angles of the tower between nave and side +aisles, with a fully developed system of shafts for the support of the +various groining ribs. With the collapse of the old crossing and the +consequent erection of an even bulkier and far more weighty +superstructure, tremendous circular supports upon octagonal bases were +substituted. They are thoroughly Plateresque in feeling, 50 feet in +circumference and delicately fluted and ribbed as they descend, with +Renaissance ornaments on the pedestals and similar statues under Gothic +canopies, evidently inserted in their faces as a compromise to the +surrounding earlier style.</p> + +<p>Glancing up at the superstructure and vaulting, there is a great +consciousness of light and joy,—a feeling that it would have been +well-nigh perfect, if the choir and its rejas could only have remained +in their old proper place east of the crossing, instead of sadly +congesting a nave magnificent in length and size. The brightness is due, +partly to the stone itself, almost white when first quarried from +Ontoria, and partly to the uncolored glass in the greater portion of the +clerestory. Here and there the masonry has the mellow tones of +meerschaum, shaded with pinkish and lava-gray tints, but the effect is +rather that of ancient marble than of limestone. The interior, compared +to Toledo, is a bride beside a nun.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_043" id="page_043"></a>{43}</span> Granting the loss of original +simplicity and a rather distressing mixture of two styles, the +combination has been handled with a skill and genius peculiarly Spanish +and therefore picturesque. The austerity of the French prototype has +been replaced by joyousness and regal splendor. If we examine carefully +the older portions of the interior structure and carving as well as the +traces of parts that have disappeared, we feel how very French it is, +and undoubtedly erected without assistance from Moorish hands. The +vaulting is like some of the French, very rounded, especially in the +side aisles. It is all plain excepting under the dome and the vaults +immediately abutting, where additional ribs were evidently added at a +later time. The vaulting ribs of the main arches start unusually low +down, almost on a level with the top of the triforium windows, giving +the church relatively a much lower effect than Leon or the French Rheims +or Amiens.</p> + +<p>Both triforium and clerestory are very fine, especially in the nave, +where, although they have undergone alterations, these are less radical +than in the Capilla Mayor. The triforium, which is early +thirteenth-century work, is strikingly singular. Its narrow gallery is +covered by a continuous barrel vault parallel to the nave. Six slender +columns divide its seven arches, while above them are trefoil and +quatrefoil penetrations contained within a segmental arch, broken by +carved heads. The fine old shafts, separating the trefoiled or +quatrefoiled arcade, are hidden by crocketed pinnacles and a traceried +balcony. The triforium east of the crossing has only four arches, with +much later traceried work above. The<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_044" id="page_044"></a>{44}</span> charming old simplicity is of +course lost wherever gaudy carving has been added, but the oldest +portions belong decidedly to the early Gothic work of northern France. +Above rises the clerestory in its early vigor, with comparatively small +windows, consisting of two arches and a rose.</p> + +<p>Probably the crossing had originally a vault somewhat more elaborate +than the others, or, possibly, even a small lantern. To emphasize the +crossing, both internally and externally, was always a peculiar delight +to Spanish builders. This characteristic was admirably adapted to +Romanesque churches and in the Gothic was still felt to be essential, +but Burgos shared the fate of Seville and the new Cathedral of +Salamanca. The old writer, Cean Bermudez, relates that "the same +disaster befell the crossing of Burgos that had happened to Seville,—it +collapsed entirely in the middle of the night on the 3d of March, 1539. +At that time the Bishop was the Cardinal D. Fray Juan Alvarez de Toledo, +famous for the many edifices which he erected and among them S. Esteban +of Salamanca. Owing to the zeal of the Prelate and the Chapter and the +piety of the generous Burgalese, the rebuilding began the same year. +They called upon Maestro Felipe, who was assisted in the planning and +construction by Juan de Vallejo and Juan de Castanela, architects of the +Cathedral. Felipe died at Toledo, after completing the bas-reliefs of +the choir stalls. The Chapter honored his memory in a worthy manner, for +they placed in the same choir under the altar of the Descent from the +Cross this epitaph: 'Philippus Burgundio statuarius, qui ut manu +sanctorum effigies, ita mores animo exprimebat:<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_045" id="page_045"></a>{45}</span> subsellis chori +struendis itentus, opere pene absoluto, immoritur.'"<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> + +<p>In place of the old dome rose one of the most marvelous and richest +structures in Spain, a crowning glory to the heavenly shrine. It is at +once a mountain of patience and a burst of Spanish pomp and pride. It is +the labor of giants, daringly executed and lavishly decorated. "The work +of angels," said Philip II. Nothing less could have called forth such an +exclamation from those acrimonious lips and jaded eyes. The men who +designed and erected it were the best known in Spain. There was Philip, +the Burgundian sculptor with exquisite and indefatigable chisel, who had +come to Spain in the train of the Emperor. Vallejo, one of the famous +council that sat at Salamanca, had with Castanela erected the triumphal +arch which appeased Charles's wrath kindled against the citizens of +Burgos, and is even to-day, after the Cathedral, the city's most +familiar landmark. In the year 1567, twenty-eight years after the +falling of the first lantern, the new one towered completed in its +place. It was a magnificent attempt at a blending, or rather a +reconciliation, of the Renaissance and the Gothic. There is the +character of one and the form of the other. Gothic trefoil arches and +traceries are carried by classical columns. Renaissance balustrades and +panels intermingle with crockets and bosses, and Florentine panels and +statues with Gothic canopies. They are so interwoven that the careful +student of architecture feels himself in a nightmare of styles and +different centuries. It was of course an undertaking doomed to failure.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_046" id="page_046"></a>{46}</span></p> + +<p>The outline is octagonal. Above the pendentives, forming the transition +of the octagon, comes a double frieze of armorial bearings (those of +Burgos and Charles V) and inscriptions, and a double clerestory, +separated and supported by classical balustraded passages; the window +splays and heads are a complete mass of carving and decorations. The +vaulting itself contains within its bold ribs and segments an infinite +variety of stars, as if one should see the panes of heaven covered with +frosty patterns of a clear winter morning.</p> + +<p>Théophile Gautier's description of it is interesting as an expression of +the effect it produced on a man of artistic emotions rather than trained +architectural feeling: "En levant la tête," he says, "on aperçoit une +espèce de dôme formé par l'intérieur de la tour,—c'est un groupe de +sculpture, d'arabesques, de statues, de colonettes, de nervures, de +lancettes, de pendentifs, a vous donner le vertige. On regarderait deux +ans qu'on n'aurait pas tout vu. C'est touffu comme un chou, fenestré +comme une truelle à poisson; c'est gigantesque comme une pyramide et +délicat comme une boucle d'oreille de femme, et l'on ne peut comprendre +qu'un semblable filigrane puisse se soutenir en l'air depuis des +siècles."</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 425px;"> +<a href="images/ill_burgoslanternovercrossing.png"> +<img src="images/ill_burgoslanternovercrossing_th.png" +width="425" +height="550" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS +Lantern over crossing" title="CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS +Lantern over crossing" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption"> +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS<br /> +Lantern over crossing</p> +</div> + +<p>The work immediately around and underneath this gigantic effort is +really the earliest part of the church, for, as was usual, the portion +indispensable for services was begun first. The transepts, the abutting +vaults, the southern and possibly the northern entrance fronts, +undoubtedly all belong to the work carried so rapidly forward by Bishop +Maurice's contagious enthusiasm. The work of the transepts is very +<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_047" id="page_047"></a>{47}</span>similar to that in the nave, but, in the former, one obtains really a +much finer view of the receding bays north and south than in the nave +with its choir obstruction. The huge rose of the south transept, placed +directly under the arch of the vaulting, is a splendid specimen of a +Gothic wheel. Its tracery is composed of a series of colonettes +radiating from centre to circumference, every two of which form, as it +were, a separate window tracery of central mullion, two arches and upper +rose. The other windows of the transepts are, barring their later +alterations, typically thirteenth-century Gothic, high and narrow with +colonettes in their jambs. While the glazing of the great southern rose +is a perfect burst of glory, that of the northern transept arm is later +and very mediocre.</p> + +<p>There is a little chapel opening to the east out of the northern +transept arm which is full of interest from the fact that it belongs to +the original, early thirteenth-century structure. Probably there was a +corresponding one in the southern arm, with groining equally remarkable. +The northern transept arm is filled by the great Renaissance "golden +staircase" leading to the Puerta de la Coroneria, now always closed. It +must have been a magnificent spectacle to see the purple and scarlet +robes of priest and prelate sweep down the divided arms of the stair +uniting in the broad flight at the bottom. Such an occasion was the +marriage in 1268 of the Infante Ferdinand, son of Alfonso the Wise, to +Blanche of France, a niece of Saint Louis. The learned monarch ever had +a lavish hand, and he spared no expense to dazzle his distinguished +guests, among whom were the King of<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_048" id="page_048"></a>{48}</span> Aragon and Philip, heir to the +French throne. Ferdinand was first armed chevalier by his father, and +the marriage was then celebrated in the Cathedral of Burgos with greater +pomp and magnificence than had ever before been seen in Spain.</p> + +<p>The gilt metal railing is as exquisite in workmanship as in design, +carried out by Diego de Siloé, who was the architect of the Cathedral in +the beginning of the sixteenth century. There is also a lovely door in +the eastern wall of the southern transept, now leading to the great +cloisters. The portal itself is early work of the fourteenth century, +with the Baptism of Christ in the tympanum, the Annunciation and David +and Isaiah in the panels, all of early energy and vitality, as full of +feeling as simplicity. And the extraordinary detail of the wooden doors +themselves, executed a century and a half later by order of the +quizzical-looking old Bishop of Acuna, now peacefully sleeping in the +chapel of Santa Anna, is as beautiful an example of wood-carving as we +have left us from this period. If Ghiberti's door was the front gate of +paradise, this was certainly worthy to be a back gate, and well worth +entering, should the front be found closed.</p> + +<p>The choir occupies at present as much as one half the length of nave +from crossing to western front, or the length of three bays. With its +massive Corinthian colonnade, masonry enclosure and rejas rising to the +height of the triforium, it is a veritable church within a church. The +stalls, mostly Philip of Burgundy's work from about the year 1500, +surround the old tomb of the Cathedral's noble founder. As usual, the +carvings are elaborate scenes from Bible history<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_049" id="page_049"></a>{49}</span> and saintly +lore,—over the upper stalls, principally from the old Testament, and +above the lower, from the New.</p> + +<p>A very remarkable family of German architects have left their indelible +stamp upon Burgos Cathedral. In 1435 a prominent Hebrew of the tribe of +Levi died as Bishop of the See, and was succeeded by his son, Alfonso de +Cartagena. Alfonso not only followed in his father's footsteps, but +became one of the most renowned churchmen in Spain during the early +years of Ferdinand of Aragon. And he looks it too, as he lies to-day +near the entrance to his old palace, in fine Flemish lace, mitre covered +with pearls, and sparkling, jewelled crozier. As Chancellor of Spain, +Alfonso was sent to the Council of Basle, and thereafter, like his +predecessor Maurice, he returned to Burgos, bringing with him visions of +church-building such as he had never dreamed of before and the architect +Juan de Colonia.</p> + +<p>The Plateresque style was rapidly developing towards the effulgence so +in harmony with Spanish taste. Interwoven and fused with the work Juan +was familiar with from his native country, he and his sons, Simon and +Diego, encouraged and royally assisted by Alfonso and his successor, D. +Luis of Acuna, set about to erect some of the most striking and +wonderful portions of Burgos Cathedral,—the towers of the façade, the +first lantern and the Chapel of the Constable.</p> + +<p>The Chapel of Don Pedro Fernandez de Velasco, Count of Haro and +Constable of Castile, was not erected with pious intent, but to the +immortal fame of the <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_050" id="page_050"></a>{50}</span>Constable and his wife. In the centre of the +chapel-church on a low base lie the Count and Countess. The white +Carrara of the figures is strangely vivid against the dark marble on +which they rest, and all is colored by the sunlight striking down +through the stained glass. It is very regal. The Constable is clad in +full Florentine armor, his hands clasping his sword and his mantle about +his shoulders. The carving of the flesh and the veining, and especially +the strong knuckles of the hands, are astonishing. The fat cushions of +the forefinger and thumb seem to swell and the muscles to contract in +their grip on the cross of the hilt. The robe of his spouse, Doña Mencia +de Mendoza, is richly studded with pearls, her hand clasps a rosary, +while, on the folds of her skirt, her little dog lies peacefully curled +up.</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 550px;"> +<a href="images/ill_burgosstaircase.png"> +<img src="images/ill_burgosstaircase_th.png" +width="550" +height="405" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS +The Golden Staircase" title="CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS +The Golden Staircase" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption"> +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS<br /> +The Golden Staircase</p> +</div> + +<p>The plan of the chapel is an irregular hexagon. It should have been +octagonal, but the western sides have not been carried through and end +in a broad-armed vestibule, which by rights should be the radial chapel +upon the extreme eastern axis of the whole church. Above the vaulting +early German pendentives are inserted in the three faulty and five true +angles in order to bring the plan into the octagonal vaulting form. The +builder seems almost to have made himself difficulties that he might +solve them by a tour-de-force. A huge star-fish closes the vault. The +recumbent statues face an altar. The remaining sides are subdivided by +typically Plateresque band-courses and immense coats-of-arms of the Haro +and Mendoza families. The upper surfacing is broken by a clerestory with +exquisite, old stained glass. It is melancholy to see tombs of such +splendid execution crushed by meaningless, empty display, out of all +<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_051" id="page_051"></a>{51}</span>scale, vulgar, gesticulating, and theatrical, especially so when one +notices with what extraordinary mechanical skill much of the detail has +been carved. It thrusts itself on your notice even up to the vaulting +ribs, which the architect, not satisfied to have meet, actually crossed +before they descend upon the capitals below.</p> + +<p>The reja closing the chapel off from the apse is among the finest of the +Renaissance, the masterpiece of Cristobal Andino, wrought in the year +1523. Curiously enough, the supporters of the shield above might have +been modeled by Burne-Jones instead of the mediæval smith.</p> + +<p>The interior could not always have been as light and cheerful as at +present, for probably all the windows were more or less filled with +stained glass from the workshops of the many "vidrieros" for which +Burgos was so renowned that even other cathedral cities awarded her the +contracts for their glazing. The foreign masters of Burgos were +accustomed to see their arches and sculpture mellowed and illumined by +rainbow lights from above, and surely here too it was of primary +importance.</p> + +<p>After the horrible powder explosion of 1813, when the French soldiers +blew up the old fortress, making the whole city tremble and totter, the +agonized servants of the church found the marble pavements strewn with +the glorious sixteenth-century crystals that had been shattered above. +They were religiously collected and, where possible, reinserted in new +fields.</p> + +<p>Chapels stud the ground around the old edifice. The Cloisters, a couple +of chapels north of the chevet<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_052" id="page_052"></a>{52}</span> and small portions here and there, rose +with the transepts and the original thirteenth-century structure, but +all the others were erected by the piety or pride of later ages or have +been transformed by succeeding generations. Their vaulting illustrates +every period of French and German Gothic as well as Plateresque art, +while their names are taken from a favorite saint or biblical episode or +the illustrious founders. The fifteenth century was especially sedulous, +building chapels as a rich covering for the splendid Renaissance tombs +of its spiritual and temporal lords. They are carved with the admirable +skill and genius emanating once more from Italy. The Castilian Constable +and his spouse, Bishop Alfonso de Cartagena (in the Capilla de la +Visitacion), Bishop Antonia de Velasco, the eminent historian-archbishop +(in the Sacristia Nueva), are splendid marbles of the classic revival. +They must all have been portraits: for instance Bishop Gonzalvo de +Lerma, who sleeps peacefully in the Chapel of the Presentacion; his fat, +pursed lips and baggy eyelids are firmly closed, and his soft, double +chin reposes in two neat folds upon the jeweled surplice. So, too, +Fernando de Villegas, who lies in the north transept and whose scholarly +face still seems to shine with the inner light which prompted him to +give his people the great Florentine's Divine Comedy.</p> + +<p>The poetry and romance that cling to these illustrious dead are equally +present as you pass through the lovely Gothic portal into the cloisters +which fill the southeastern angle of the church and stand by the figures +of the great Burgalese that lie back of the old Gothic railings in many +niches of the arcades. To<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_053" id="page_053"></a>{53}</span> judge from the inscriptions they would, if +they could speak, be able to tell us of every phase in their city's +religious and political struggles, from the age of Henry II down to the +decay of Burgos. Saints, bishops, princes, warriors, and architects lie +beneath the beautiful, double-storied arcade. Here lies Pedro Sanchez, +the architect, Don Gonzalo of Burgos, and Diego de Santander, and here +stand the effigies of Saint Ferdinand and Beatrice of Suabia. The very +first church had a cloister to the west of the transept, now altered +into chapels. For some reason, early in the fourteenth century, the +present cloister was built east of the south transept and with as lovely +Gothic arches as are to be found in Spain. We read of great church and +state processions, marching under its vaults in 1324, so then it must +have been practically completed. Later on the second story was added, +much richer and more ornate than the lower. The oldest masonry, with its +delicate tracery of four arches and three trefoiled roses to each +arcade, seems to have been virtually eaten away by time. New leaves and +moldings are being set to-day to replace the old. The pure white, native +stone, so easy to carve into spirited crockets and vigorous strings +similar to the old, stands out beside the sooty, time-worn blocks, as +the fresh sweetness of a child's cheek laid against the weather-beaten +furrows of the grand-parent. A careful scrutiny of all the details shows +in what a virile age this work was executed. The groining ribs are of +fine outline, the key blocks are starred, the foliage is spirited both +in capitals and in the cusps of the many arches, the details are +carefully molded and distributed, and the early statues in the internal<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_054" id="page_054"></a>{54}</span> +angles and in places against the groining ribs are of rich treatment, +strong feeling, and in attitude equal to some of the best French Gothic +of the same period. The door that leads out of the cloisters into the +old sacristy with the Descent from the Cross in its tympanum is truly a +beautiful piece of this Gothic work.</p> + +<p>While these cloisters lie to the east, the broad terraces leading to the +glorious, southern transept entrance are flanked to the west by the +Archbishop's Palace, whose bare sides, gaudy Renaissance doorway and +monstrous episcopal arms, repeated at various stages, hide the entire +southwestern angle of the church.</p> + +<p>Between the cloisters and the Archbishop's Palace at the end of the +broad terraces, rises the masonry facing the southern transept arm. It +belongs, together with that of the northern, to the oldest portions of +the early fabric erected while Maurice was bishop and a certain +"Enrique" architect, and shows admirable thirteenth-century work. The +Sarmentos family, great in the annals of this century, owned the ground +immediately surrounding this transept arm. As a reward for their +concession of it to the church, the southern portal was baptized the +"Puerta del Sarmental," and they were honored with burial ground within +the church's holy precincts. It cannot be much changed, but stands +to-day in its original loveliness.</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 408px;"> +<a href="images/ill_burgoschapel.png"> +<img src="images/ill_burgoschapel_th.png" +width="408" +height="550" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS +The Chapel of the Constable" title="CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS +The Chapel of the Constable" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by A. Vadillo</p> +<p class="caption">CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS<br /> +The Chapel of the Constable</p> +</div> + +<p>A statue of the benign-looking founder of the church stands between the +two doors, which on the outer sides are flanked by Moses, Aaron, Saint +Peter and Saint Paul, and the two saints so beloved by Spaniards, Saint +James and Saint Philip. The archivolts <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_055" id="page_055"></a>{55}</span>surrounding the tympanum are +filled by a heavenly host of angels, all busied with celestial +occupations, playing instruments, swinging censers, carrying candelabra, +or flapping their wings. Both statues and moldings are of character and +outline similar to French work of this best period, nevertheless of a +certain distinctly Spanish feeling. The literary company of the tympanum +is full of movement and simple charm. In the lowest plane are the twelve +Apostles, all, with the exception of two who are conversing, occupied +with expounding the Gospels; in the centre is Christ, reading to four +Evangelists who surround him as lion, bull, eagle and angel; finally, +highest up, two monks writing with feverish haste in wide-open folios, +while an angel lightens their labor with the perfume from a swinging +censer.</p> + +<p>It is sculpture, rich in effect, faithful in detail and of strong +expression, admirably placed in relation to the masonry it ornaments. It +has none of the whimsical irrelevancy to surroundings characterizing so +much of the work to follow, nor its hasty execution. It is not +meaningless carving added indefinitely and senselessly repeated, but +every bit of it embellishes the position it occupies. Above the portal +the stonework is broken and crowned by an exquisite, early rose window +and the later, disproportionately high parapet of angels and +free-standing quatrefoiled arches and ramps.</p> + +<p>The northern doorway, almost as rich in names as in sculpture, is as +fine as the southern, so far below it on the hillside. It is called the +Doorway of the Apostles from the twelve still splendidly preserved +statues, six of which flank it on each side. It is also named the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_056" id="page_056"></a>{56}</span> Door +of the Coroneria, but to the Burgalese it is known simply as the Puerta +Alta, or the "high door." The door proper with its frame is a later +makeshift for the original, thirteenth-century one. On a base-course in +the form of an arcade with almost all its columns likewise gone, stand +in monumental size the Twelve Apostles. The drapery is handled +differently on each figure, but with equal excellence; the faces, so +full of expression and character, stand out against great halos and +represent the apostles of all ages. Similar in treatment to the southern +door, the archivolts here are filled with a series of fine statues. +There are angels in the two inner arches and in the outer, and the naked +figures of the just are rising from their sepulchres in the most +astonishing attitudes. The tympanum is also practically a counterpart of +the southern one, only here in its centre the predominating figure of +the Saviour is set between the Virgin and Saint John.</p> + +<p>As the Puerta Alta is so high above the church pavement, and ingress +would in daily use have proved difficult, the great door of the +Pellejeria was cut in the northeastern arm of the transept at the end of +the furriers' street, and down a series of moss-grown, cobblestone +planes the Burgalese could gain entrance to their church from this side. +The great framework of architecture which encases it is so astonishingly +different from the work above and around it that one can scarcely +believe it possible that they belong to one and the same building. It is +a tremendous piece of Plateresque carving, as exquisite as it is out of +place, erected through the munificence of the Archbishop Don Juan +Rodriguez<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_057" id="page_057"></a>{57}</span> de Fonseca in 1514 by the architect Francisco de Colonia. It +might have stood in Florence, and most of it might have been set against +a Tuscan church at the height of the Renaissance. There is everywhere an +overabundance of luxurious detail and rich carving. Between the +entablatures and columns stand favorite saints. The Virgin and Child are +adored by a very well-fed, fat-jowled bishop and musical angels. In one +of the panels the sword is about to descend on the neck of the kneeling +Saint John. In another, some unfortunate person has been squeezed into a +hot cauldron too small for his naked body, while bellows are applied to +the fagots underneath it and hot tar is poured on his head. While the +whole work is thoroughly Renaissance, there is here and there a curious +Gothic feeling to it, from which the carvers, surrounded and inspired by +so much of the earlier art, seem to have been unable to free themselves. +This appears in the figure ornamentation in the archivolts around the +circular-headed opening, the angel heads that cut it as it were into +cusps and the treatment and feeling of some of the figures in the larger +panels.</p> + +<p>The exterior of Santa Maria is very remarkable. It is a wonderful +history of late Gothic and early Renaissance carving. The only clearing +whence any freedom of view and perspective may be had is to the west, in +front of the late fifteenth-century spires, but wherever one stands, +whether in the narrow alleys to the southeast, or above, or below in the +sloping city, the three great masses that rise above the cathedral roof, +of spires, cimborio, and the Constable's Lantern, dominate majestically +all around them.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_058" id="page_058"></a>{58}</span> If one stands at the northeast, above the terraces +that descend to the Pellejeria door, each of the three successive series +of spires that rise one above the other far to the westward might be the +steeple of its own mighty church. The two nearest are composed of an +infinite number of finely crocketed turrets, tied together by a sober, +Renaissance bulk; that furthest off shoots its twin spires in Gothic +nervousness airily and unchecked into the sky, showing the blue of the +heavens through its flimsy fabric. Between them, tying the huge bulk +together, stretch the buttresses, the sinews and muscles of the +organism, far less marked and apparent, however, than is ordinarily the +case. At various stages above and around, crowning and banding towers, +chapels, apse, naves, and transepts, run the many balconies. They are +Renaissance in form, but also Gothic in detail and feeling. Like the +masts of a great harbor, an innumerable forest of carved and stony +trunks rise from every angle, buttress, turret, and pier. In among them, +facing their carved trunks and crowning their tops, peeping out from the +myriads of stony branches, stands a heavenly legion of saints and +martyrs. Crowned and celestial kings and angels people this petrified +forest of such picturesque and exuberant beauty.</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 550px;"> +<a href="images/ill_burgoscity.png"> +<img src="images/ill_burgoscity_th.png" +width="550" +height="371" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS +The spires above the house-tops" title="CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS +The spires above the house-tops" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by A. Vadillo</p> +<p class="caption">CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS<br /> +The spires above the house-tops</p> +</div> + +<p>The general mass that rises above the roofs, now flat and covered with +reddish ochre tiles, is, whatever may be the defects of its detail, +almost unique in its lavish richness. The spires rest upon the +house-tops of Burgos like the jeweled points of a monarch's crown. The +detail is so profuse that it well-nigh defies analysis. It seems as if +the four corners of the earth must for generations have been ransacked +to <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_059" id="page_059"></a>{59}</span>find a sufficient number of carvers for the sculpture. The closer one +examines it, the more astonishing is the infinite labor. Rich, crocketed +cornices support the numerous, crowning balconies. Figure on figure +stands against the many sides of the four great turrets that brace the +angles of the cimborio, against the eight turrets that meet its octagon, +on the corners of spires, under the parapets crowning the transepts, +under the canopied angles of the Constable's Lantern, on balconies, over +railings, and on balustrades. Crockets cover the walls like feathers on +the breast of a bird. It surely is the temple of the Lord of Hosts, the +number of whose angels is legion. It is confused, bewildering, over-done +and spectacular, lacking in character and sobriety, sculptural +fire-works if you will, a curious mixture of the passing and the coming +styles, but nevertheless it is wonderful, and the age that produced it, +one of energy and vitality. Curiously enough, the transepts have no +flying, but mere heavy, simple buttresses to meet their thrusts. The +ornamentation of the lower wall surfaces is in contrast to the +superstructure, barren or meaningless. On the plain masonry of the lower +walls of the Constable's Chapel stretch gigantic coats-of-arms. Knights +support their heads as well as the arms of the nobles interred within. +Life-sized roaring lions stand valiantly beside their wheels like +immortally faithful mariners. Above, an exquisitely carved, German +Gothic balustrade acts as a base for the double clerestory. The angle +pinnacles are surrounded by the Fathers of the Church and crowned by +angels holding aloft the symbol of the Cross. The gargoyles look like +peacefully slumbering cows with unchewed cuds protruding<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_060" id="page_060"></a>{60}</span> from their +stony jaws. Tufts of grass and flowers have sprung from the seeds borne +there by the winds of centuries.</p> + +<p>Outside the Chapel of Sant Iago are more huge heraldic devices: knights +in full armor and lions lifting by razor-strops, as if in some test of +strength, great wheels encircling crosses. Above them, gargoyles leer +demoniacally over the heads of devout cherubim. In the little street of +Diego Porcello, named for the great noble who still protects his city +from the gate of Santa Maria, nothing can be seen of the great church +but bare walls separated from the adjacent houses by a dozen feet of +dirty cobblestones. Ribs of the original chapels that once flanked the +eastern end, behind the present chapels of Sant Iago and Santa Catarina, +have been broken off flat against the exterior walls, and the cusps of +the lower arches have been closed.</p> + +<p>Thus the fabric has been added to, altered, mutilated or embellished by +foreign masters as well as Spanish hands. Who they all were, when and +why they wrought, is not easy to discover. Enrique, Juan Perez, Pedro +Sanchez, Juan Sanchez de Molina, Martin Fernandez, Juan and Francisco de +Colonia and Juan de Vallejo, all did their part in the attempt to make +Santa Maria of Burgos the loveliest church of Spain.</p> + +<p>The mighty western façade rises in a confined square where acacia trees +lift their fresh, luxuriant heads above the dust. The symmetry of the +towers, the general proportions of the mass, the subdivisions and +relationship of the stories, the conception as a whole, clearly show +that it belongs to an age of triumph<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_061" id="page_061"></a>{61}</span> and genius, in spite of the +disfigurements of later vandals, as well as essentially foreign masters. +It is of queenly presence, a queen in her wedding robes with jewels all +over her raiment, the costliest of Spanish lace veiling her form and +descending from her head, covered with its costly diadem.</p> + +<p>North and south the towers are very similar and practically of equal +height, giving a happily balanced and uniform general appearance. The +lowest stage, containing the three doorways leading respectively into +north aisle, nave, and south aisle, has been horribly denuded and +disfigured by the barbarous eighteenth century, which boasted so much +and created so little. It removed the glorious, early portico, leaving +only bare blocks of masonry shorn of sculpture. No greater wrong could +have been done the church. In the tympanum above the southern door, the +vandals mercifully left a Coronation of the Virgin, and in the northern +one, the Conception, while in the piers, between these and the central +opening, four solitary statues of the two kings, Alfonso VI and Saint +Ferdinand, and the two bishops, Maurice and Asterio, are all that remain +of the early glories. The central door is called the Doorway of Pardon.</p> + +<p>One can understand the bigotry of Henry V and the Roundheads, which +in both cases wrought frightful havoc in art, but it is truly +incomprehensible that mere artistic conceit in the eighteenth century +could compass such destruction. The second tier of the screen facing the +nave, below a large pointed arch, is broken by a magnificent rose. Above +this are two finely traceried and subdivided arches with eight statues +set in between the lowest shafts.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_062" id="page_062"></a>{62}</span> The central body is crowned by an +open-work balustrade forming the uppermost link between the towers. The +Virgin with Child reigns in the centre between the carved inscription, +"Pulchra es et decora." Three rows of pure, ogival arches, delicate, and +attenuated, break the square sides of the towers above the entrance +portals; blind arches, spires and statues ornament the angles. +Throughout, the splays and jambs are filled with glittering balls of +stone. Inscriptions similar in design to that finishing the screen which +hides the roof lines crown the platform of the towers below the base of +the spires.</p> + +<p>The towers remained without steeples for over two hundred years until +the good Bishop Alfonso de Cartagena, returning to his city in 1442 from +the Council of Basle, brought with him the German, Juan de Colonia. +Bishop Alfonso was not to see their completion, for he died fourteen +years later, but his successor, Don Luis de Acuna, immediately ordered +the work continued and saw the figures of Saint Peter and Saint Paul +placed on the uppermost spires, three hundred feet above the heads of +the worshipping multitude.</p> + +<p>The spires themselves, essentially German in character, are far from +beautiful, perforated on all sides by Gothic tracery of multitudinous +designs, too weak to stand without the assistance of iron tie rods, the +angles filled with an infinite number of coarse, bold crockets breaking +the outlines as they converge into the blue.</p> + +<p>When prosperity came again to Burgos, as to many other Spanish cities, +it was owing to the wise enactments of Isabella the Catholic. The +concordat of 1851<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_063" id="page_063"></a>{63}</span> enumerated nine archbishoprics in Spain, among which +Burgos stands second on the list.</p> + +<p>Such is Burgos, serenely beautiful, rich and exultant, the apotheosis of +the Spanish Renaissance as well as studded with exquisitely beautiful +Gothic work. She is mighty and magnificent, speaking perhaps rather to +the senses than the heart, but in a language which can never be +forgotten. Although various epochs created her, radically different in +their means and methods, still there is a certain intangible unity in +her gorgeous expression and a unique picturesqueness in her dazzling +presence.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_064" id="page_064"></a>{64}</span> +<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_065" id="page_065"></a>{65}</span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_066" id="page_066"></a>{66}</span></p> + +<h3><a name="III" id="III"></a>III<br /> +<br />AVILA</h3> + +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_067" id="page_067"></a>{67}</span></p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 393px;"> +<a href="images/ill_avilacathedral.png"> +<img src="images/ill_avilacathedral_th.png" +width="393" +height="550" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF AVILA" title="CATHEDRAL OF AVILA" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption"> +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA</p> +</div> + +<table summary="poetry" +class="sml80"><tr><td> +I lift mine eyes, and all the windows blaze<br /> +With forms of saints and holy men who died,<br /> +Here martyred and hereafter glorified;<br /> +And the great Rose upon its leaves displays<br /> +Christ's Triumph, and the angelic roundelays<br /> +With splendor upon splendor multiplied.<br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 14em;"><i>Longfellow.</i></span> +</td></tr></table> + +<p class="nind"><span class="lgletter">T</span><span style="margin-left: -.75em;">HE</span> +Cathedral of San Salvador is the strongest link in the chain that +encircles the city of Avila,—"cuidad de Castilla la vieja." Avila lies +on a ridge in the corner of a great, undulating plain, clothed with +fields of grain, bleached light yellow at harvest, occasional groups of +ilex and straggling pine and dusty olives scrambling up and down the +slopes. Beyond is the hazy grayish-green of stubble and dwarfed +woodland, with blue peaks closing the horizon. To the south rises the +Sierra Gredos, and eastwards, in the direction of Segovia, the Sierra de +Guadarrama. The narrow, murky Adaja that loiters through the upland +plain is quite insufficient to water the thirsty land. Thistles and +scrub oak dot the rocky fields. Here and there migratory flocks of sheep +nibble their way across the unsavory stubble, while the dogs longingly +turn their heads after whistling quails and the passing hunter.</p> + +<p>The crenelated, ochre walls and bastions that, like a string of amber +beads, have girdled the little city<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_068" id="page_068"></a>{68}</span> since its early days, remain +practically unbroken, despite the furious sieges she has sustained and +the battles in which her lords were engaged for ten centuries. As many +as eighty-six towers crown, and no less than ten gateways pierce, the +walls which follow the rise or fall of the ground on which the city has +been compactly and narrowly constructed for safest defense. It must look +to-day almost exactly as it did to the approaching armies of the Middle +Ages, except that the men-at-arms are gone. The defenses are so high +that what is inside is practically hidden from view and all that can be +seen of the city so rich in saints and stones<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> are the loftiest spires +of her churches.</p> + +<p>To the Romans, Avela, to the Moors, Abila, the ancient city, powerfully +garrisoned, lay in the territory of the Vaccæi and belonged to the +province of Hispania Citerior. During three later centuries, from time +to time she became Abila, and one of the strongest outposts of Mussulman +defense against the raids of Christian bands from the north. Under both +Goths and Saracens, Avila belonged to the province of Merida. At a very +early date she boasted an episcopal seat, mentioned in church councils +convoked during the seventh century, but, during temporary ascendencies +of the Crescent, she vanishes from ecclesiastical history. For a while +Alfonso I held the city against the Moors, but not until the reign of +Alfonso VI did she permanently become "Avila del rey," and the +quarterings of her arms, "a king appearing at the window of a tower," +were left unchallenged on her walls.</p> + +<div class="imageplan" style="width: 550px;"> +<a href="images/ill_planavila.png"> +<img src="images/ill_planavila_th.png" +width="550" +height="451" +alt="KEY OF PLAN OF AVILA CATHEDRAL" title="KEY OF PLAN OF AVILA CATHEDRAL" /></a> +</div> + +<table summary="avila plan" +cellspacing="0" +cellpadding="0" +class="sml75"> +<tr><td colspan="4" align="center">KEY OF PLAN OF AVILA CATHEDRAL</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="4" align="center"> </td></tr> +<tr><td>A. </td><td>Capilla Mayor. </td><td>D. </td><td>Towers.</td></tr> +<tr><td>B.</td><td>Crossing.</td><td>E.</td><td>Main Entrance.</td></tr> +<tr><td>C.</td><td>Cloisters.</td><td>F.</td><td>Northern Portal.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>By the eleventh century the cities of Old Castile <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_069" id="page_069"></a>{69}</span>were ruined and +depopulated by the ravages of war. Even the walls of Avila were +well-nigh demolished, when Count Raymond laid them out anew and with the +blessing of Bishop Pedro Sanchez they rose again in the few years +between 1090 and the turning of the century. The material lay ready to +hand in the huge granite boulders sown broadcast on the bleak hills +around Avila, and from these the walls were rebuilt, fourteen feet thick +with towers forty feet high. The old Spanish writer Cean Bermudez +describes this epoch of Avila's history.</p> + +<p>"When," he says, "Don Alfonso VI won Toledo, he had in continuous wars +depopulated Segovia, Avila and Salamanca of their Moorish inhabitants. +He gave his son-in-law, the Count Don Raymond of the house of Burgundy, +married to the Princess Doña Urraca, the charge to repeople them. Avila +had been so utterly destroyed that the soil was covered with stones and +the materials of its ruined houses. To rebuild and repopulate it, the +Count brought illustrious knights, soldiers, architects, officials and +gentlemen from Leon, the Asturias, Vizcaya and France, and from other +places. They began to construct the walls in 1090, 800 men working from +the very beginning, and among them were many masters who came from Leon +and Vizcaya. All obeyed Casandro Romano and Florin de Pituenga, Masters +of Geometry, as they are called in the history of this population, which +is attributed to the Bishop of Oviedo, D. Pilayo, who lived at that time +and who treats of these things."</p> + +<p>During these perilous years, Count Raymond wisely lodged his masons in +different quarters of the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_070" id="page_070"></a>{70}</span> city, grouping them according to the locality +they came from, whether from Cantabria, the Asturias, or the territory +of Burgos.</p> + +<p>A nobility, as quarrelsome as it was powerful, must have answered Count +Raymond's call for new citizens, for during centuries to come, the +streets, like those of mediæval Siena and Florence, constantly ran with +the blood of opposing factions. Warring families dared walk only certain +streets after nightfall, and battles were carried on between the +different castles and in the streets as between cities and on +battlefields. In the quarrels between royal brothers and cousins, Avila +played a very prominent part. The nurse and protectress of their tender +years, and the guardian of their childhood through successive reigns of +Castilian kings, she became a very vital factor in the fortunes of +kings, prelates, and nobles. In feuds like those of Don Pedro and his +brother Enrique II, she was a turbulent centre. Great figures in Spanish +history ruled from her episcopal throne, especially during the +thirteenth century. There was Pedro, a militant bishop and one of the +most valiant on the glorious battlefield of Las Navas; Benilo, lover of +and beloved by Saint Ferdinand; and Aymar, the loyal champion of Alfonso +the Wise through dark as well as sunny hours.</p> + +<p>The Jews and the Moriscoes here, as wherever else their industrious +fingers and ingenious minds were at work, did much more than their share +towards the prosperity and development of the city. The Jews especially +became firmly established in their useful vocations, filling the king's +coffers so abundantly that the third of their tribute, which he granted +to<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_071" id="page_071"></a>{71}</span> the Bishop, was not appreciably felt, except in times of armament +and war. With the fanatical expulsion of first one, and then the other, +race, the city's prosperity departed. Their place was filled by the +bloodhounds of the Inquisition, who held their very first, terrible +tribunal in the Convent of Saint Thomas, blighting the city and +surrounding country with a new and terrible curse. The great rebellion +under the Emperor Charles burst from the smouldering wrath of Avila's +indignant citizens, and in 1520 she became, for a short time, the seat +of the "Junta Santa" of the Comuneros.</p> + +<p>It is still easy to discern what a tremendous amount of building must +have gone on within the narrow city limits during the early part of its +second erection. The streets are still full of bits of Romanesque +architecture, palaces, arcades, houses, balconies, towers and windows +and one of the finest groups of Romanesque churches in Spain. Of lesser +sinew and greater age than San Salvador, they are now breathing their +last. San Vicente is almost doomed, while San Pedro and San Segundo are +fast falling.</p> + +<p>But San Salvador remains still unshaken in her strength,—a fortress +within a cathedral, a splendid mailed arm with its closed fist of iron +reaching through the outer bastions and threatening the plains. It is a +bold cry of Christian defiance to enemies without. If ever there was an +embodiment in architecture of the church militant, it is in the +Cathedral of Avila. Approaching it by San Pedro, you look in vain for +the church, for the great spire that loomed up from the distant hills +and was pointed out as the holy edifice. In its place and for the +eastern apse,<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_072" id="page_072"></a>{72}</span> you see only a huge gray bastion, strong and secure, +crowned at all points by battlements and galleries for sentinels and +fighting men,—inaccessible, grim, and warlike. A fitting abode for the +men who rather rode a horse than read a sermon and preferred the +breastplate to the cassock, a splendid epitome of that period of Spanish +history when the Church fought instead of prying into men's souls. It +well represents the unification of the religious and military offices +devolving on the Church of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in +Castile,—a bellicose house rather than one of prayer.</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 550px;"> +<a href="images/ill_avilaturret.png"> +<img src="images/ill_avilaturret_th.png" +width="550" +height="381" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF AVILA +Exterior of the apse turret" title="CATHEDRAL OF AVILA +Exterior of the apse turret" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption"> +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA<br /> +Exterior of the apse turret</p> +</div> + +<p>All the old documents and histories of the Church state that the great +Cathedral was started as soon as the city walls were well under way in +1091 and was completed after sixteen years of hard work. Alvar Garcia +from Estrella in Navarre is recorded as the principal original +architect, Don Pedro as the Bishop, and Count Raymond as spurring on the +1900 men at work, while the pilgrims and faithful were soliciting alms +and subscriptions through Italy, France, and the Christian portions of +the Spanish Peninsula.</p> + +<p>Of the earliest church very little remains, possibly only the outer +walls of the great bastion that encloses the eastern termination of the +present edifice. This is much larger than the other towers of defense, +and, judging from the excellent character of its masonry, which is +totally different from the coarse rubble of the remaining city walls and +towers, it must have been built into them at a later date, as well as +with much greater care and skill. Many hypotheses have been suggested, +as to why the apse of the original church was thus built as a portion of +the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_073" id="page_073"></a>{73}</span> walls of defense. All seem doubtful. It was possibly that the +altar might come directly above the resting-place of some venerated +saint, or perhaps to economize time and construction by placing the apse +in a most vulnerable point of attack where lofty and impregnable masonry +was requisite.</p> + +<p>The church grew towards the west and the main entrance,—the transepts +themselves, and all work west of them, with the advent of the new style. +We thus obtain in Avila, owing to the very early commencement of its +apse, a curious and vitally interesting conglomeration of the Romanesque +and Gothic. Practically, however, all important portions of the +structure were completed in the more vigorous periods of the Gothic +style with the resulting felicitous effect.</p> + +<p>The building of the apse or the chevet westward must, to judge from its +style, have advanced very slowly during the first hundred years, for its +general character is rather that of the end of the twelfth and beginning +of the thirteenth centuries (the reign of Alfonso VIII) than of the pure +Romanesque work which was still executed in Castile at the beginning of +the twelfth century. A great portion of the early Gothic work is, apart +from its artistic merit, historically interesting, as showing the first +tentative, and often groping, steps of the masters who wished to employ +the new forms of the north, but followed slowly and with a hesitation +that betrayed their inexperience. Arches were spanned and windows +broken, later to be braced and blocked up in time to avert a +catastrophe. The transepts belong to the earliest part of the fourteenth +century. We have their definite dates from records,—the northern<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_074" id="page_074"></a>{74}</span> arm +rose where previously had stood a little chapel and was given by the +Chapter to Dean Blasco Blasquez as an honorable burial place for himself +and his family, while Bishop Blasquez Davila, the tutor of Alfonso IX +and principal notary of Castile, raised the southern arm immediately +afterwards. He occupied the See for almost fifty years, and must have +seen the nave and side aisles and the older portions, including the +northwestern tower, all pretty well constructed. This tower with its +unfinished sister and portions of the west front are curiously enough +late Romanesque work, and must thus have been started before the nave +and side aisles had reached them in their western progress. The original +cloisters belonged to the fourteenth century, as also the northern +portal. Chapels, furnishings, pulpits, trascoro, choir stalls, glazing, +all belong to later times, as well as the sixteenth-century mutilations +of the front and the various exterior Renaissance excrescences.</p> + +<p>It is interesting to infer that the main part of the fabric must +virtually have been completed in 1432, when Pope Eugenio IV published a +bull in favor of the work. Here he only speaks of the funds requisite +for its "preservation and repair." We may judge from such wording the +condition of the structure as a whole.</p> + +<p>The most extraordinary portion of the building is unquestionably its +"fighting turret" and eastern end. This apse is almost unique in Spanish +architectural history and deeply absorbing as an extensive piece of +Romanesque work, not quite free from Moorish traces and already +employing in its vaulting Gothic expedients. It may be called "barbaric<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_075" id="page_075"></a>{75}</span> +Gothic" or "decadent Romanesque," but, whatever it is termed, it will be +vitally interesting and fascinating to the student of architectural +history.</p> + +<p>Externally the mighty stone tower indicates none of its interior +disposition of chapels or vaulting. The black, weather-stained granite +of its bare walls is alternately broken by slightly projecting pilasters +and slender, columnar shafts. They are crowned by a corbel table and a +high, embattled parapet, that yielded protection to the soldiers +occupying the platform immediately behind, which communicated with the +passage around the city walls. This is again backed by a second wall +similarly crowned. The narrowest slits of windows from the centres of +the radiating, apsidal chapels break the lower surfaces, while double +flying buttresses meet, at the level of the triforium and above the +clerestory windows, the thrusts of the upper walls.</p> + +<p>The plan is most curious, and on account of its irregularity as well as +certain inconsistencies, it is difficult to guess how far it was +originally conceived in its present form, or what alterations were made +in the earlier centuries. Some changes must have been made in its +vaulting. The chevet or Capilla Mayor, which at first very properly +contained the choir, is surrounded by a double ambulatory, outside of +which the thick walls are pierced by nine apsidal chapels. It is +probable that these were originally constructed by the engineers to +lighten the enormous bulk of the outer masonry. They are not quite +semicircles in plan, and are vaulted in various simple ways. Where ribs +occur, they meet in the key of the arch separating chapel from +ambulatory. The piers round the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_076" id="page_076"></a>{76}</span> apse itself are alternately +monocylindrical and composite; the intermediate ones, subdividing +unequally the "girola," are lofty, slender columns, while those of the +exterior are polygonal in plan, with shafts against their faces. Some of +the caps are of the best Romanesque types, and composed of animals, +birds, and leaves, while others, possibly substituted for the original +ones, have a plain bell with the ornamentation crudely applied in color.</p> + +<p>The Capilla Mayor has both triforium and clerestory of exquisite early +work. Dog-tooth moldings ornament the archivolts. Mohammedan influence +had asserted itself in the triforium, which is divided by slender shafts +into two windows terminating in horseshoe arches, while the clerestory +consists of broad, round, arched openings.</p> + +<p>The construction and balance of the apse thrusts were doubtless +originally of a somewhat different nature from what we find at present, +as may easily be observed from the materials, the function and positions +of the double flying buttresses. They may have been added as late as +three centuries after the original fabric. Lamperez y Romea's +observations in regard to this are most interesting:—</p> + +<p>"We must observe in the two present orders of windows, that the lower +was never built for lights and its construction with double columns +forming a hollow space proves it a triforium. That it was actually so is +further abundantly proved by several circumstances: first, by a parapet +or wall which still exists below the actual roof and which follows the +exterior polygonal line of the girola, as well as by some +semi-Romanesque traceries which end in the wall of the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_077" id="page_077"></a>{77}</span> Capilla Mayor, +and finally, by a continuous row of supports existing in the thickness +of the same wall below a gutter, separating the two orders of windows. +These features, as well as the general arrangement of the openings, +demonstrate that there was a triforium of Romanesque character, +occupying the whole width of the girola, which furthermore was covered +by a barrel vault. Above this came the great platform or projecting +balcony, corresponding to the second defensive circuit. Military +necessity explains this triforium; without it, there would be no need of +a system of continuous counterthrusts to that of the vaults of the +crossing. If we concede the existence of this triforium, various obscure +points become clear."</p> + +<p>The Capilla Mayor has four bays prior to reaching the pentagonal +termination. The vaulting of the most easterly bay connects with that of +the pentagon, thus leaving three remaining bays to vault; two form a +sexpartite vault, and the third, nearest the transept, a quadripartite. +All the intersections are met by bosses formed by gilded and spreading +coats-of-arms. The ribs do not all carry properly down, two out of the +six being merely met by the keystones of the arches between Capilla +Mayor and ambulatory. The masonry of the vaulting is of a reddish stone, +while that of the transepts and nave is yellow, laid in broad, white +joints.</p> + +<p>In various portions of the double ambulatory passage as well as some of +the chapels, the fine, deep green and gold and blue Romanesque coloring +may still be seen, giving a rich impression of the old barbaric splendor +and gem-like richness so befitting the clothing of the style. Other +portions, now bare, must<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_078" id="page_078"></a>{78}</span> surely all have been colored. The delicate, +slender shafts, subdividing unequally the ambulatory, have really no +carrying office, but were probably introduced to lessen the difficulty +of vaulting the irregular compartments of such unequal sides. Gothic art +was still in its infancy, and the splendid grasp of the vaulting +difficulties and masterly solution of its problems exemplified in so +many later ambulatories, had not as yet been reached. Here we have about +the first fumbling attempt. The maestro is still fighting in the dark +with unequal thrusts, sides and arches of different widths, and a desire +to meet them all with something higher and lighter than the old +continuous barrel vault. A step forward in the earnest effort toward +higher development, such as we find here, deserves admiration. The +profiles of the ribs are simple, undecorated and vigorous, as were all +the earliest ones; in the chapels, or rather the exedras in the outer +walls, the ribs do not meet in a common boss or keystone, its advantages +not as yet being known to the builders. A good portion of the old +roof-covering of the Cathedral, not only over the eastern end, but +pretty generally throughout, has either been altered, or else the +present covering conceals the original.</p> + +<p>Thus it is easy to detect from the outside, if one stands at the +northwestern angle of the church and looks down the northern face, that +the upper masonry has been carried up by some three feet of brickwork, +evidently of later addition, on top of which comes the present covering +of terra-cotta tiles. The old roof-covering here of stone tiles, as also +above the apse, rested directly on the inside vaults, naturally +damaging<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_079" id="page_079"></a>{79}</span> them by its weight, and not giving full protection against the +weather. The French slopes had in some instances been slavishly copied, +but the steep roofs requisite in northern cathedrals were soon after +abandoned, being unnecessary in the Spanish climate. Over the apse of +Avila, there may still be found early thirteenth-century roofing, +consisting of large stone flags laid in rows with intermediary grooves +and channels, very much according to ancient established Roman and +Byzantine traditions. Independent superstructure above the vault proper, +to carry the outside covering, had not been introduced when this roofing +was laid.</p> + +<p>In its early days many a noted prelate and honored churchman was laid to +rest within the holy precinct of the choir in front of the high altar or +in the rough old sepulchres of the surrounding chapels. With the moving +of the choir, and probably also a change in the church ceremonies, came +a rearrangement of the apse and the Capilla Mayor's relation to the new +rites.</p> + +<p>The retablo back of the high altar, consisting of Plateresque ornament, +belongs for the most part to the Renaissance. The Evangelists and church +fathers are by Pedro Berruguete (not as great as his son, the sculptor +Alfonso), Juan de Borgoña and Santos Cruz. In the centre, facing the +ambulatory behind, is a fine Renaissance tomb of the renowned Bishop +Alfonso Tostada de Madrigal. He is kneeling in full episcopal robes, +deeply absorbed either in writing or possibly reading the Scriptures. +The workmanship on mitre and robe is as fine as the similar remarkable +work in Burgos, while the enclosing rail is a<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_080" id="page_080"></a>{80}</span> splendid example of the +blending of Gothic and Renaissance.</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 550px;"> +<a href="images/ill_avilacity.png"> +<img src="images/ill_avilacity_th.png" +width="550" +height="388" +alt="AVILA +From outside the walls" title="AVILA +From outside the walls" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption"> +AVILA<br /> +From outside the walls</p> +</div> + +<p>The glass in the apse windows is exceptionally rich and magnificently +brilliant in its coloring. It was executed by Alberto Holando, one of +the great Dutch glaziers of Burgos, who was given the entire contract in +1520 by Bishop Francisco Ruiz, a nephew of the great Cardinal Cisneros.</p> + +<p>Such, in short, are the characteristics of the chevet of the Cathedral +of Avila, constructed in an age when its builders must have worked in a +spirit of hardy vigor with the trowel in one hand and the sword in the +other. As we see it to-day, it imparts a feeling of mystery, and its +oriental splendor is enhanced by the dim, religious light.</p> + +<p>In entering the crossing, we step into the fullness of the Gothic +triumph. The vaults have been thrown into the sky to the height of 130 +feet. It is early Gothic work, with its many errors and consequent +retracing of steps made in ignorance. The great arches that span the +crossing north and south had taken too bold a leap and subsequently +required the support of cross arches. The western windows and the great +roses at the end of the transepts, with early heavy traceries, proved +too daring and stone had to be substituted for glass in their apertures; +the long row of nave windows have likewise been filled with masonry. +Despite these and many similar penalties for rashness, the work is as +dignified as it is admirable. Of course the proportions are all small in +comparison with such later great Gothic churches as Leon and Burgos, the +nave and transepts here being merely 28 to 30 feet wide, the aisles only +24 feet wide. Avila<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_081" id="page_081"></a>{81}</span> is but an awkward young peasant girl if compared +with the queenly presence of her younger sisters. Nevertheless Avila is +in true Spanish peasant costume, while Leon and Burgos are tricked out +in borrowed finery. The nave is short and narrow, but that gives an +impression of greater height, and the obscurity left by the forced +substitution of stone for glass in the window spaces adds to the +solemnity. The nave consists of five bays, the aisle on each side of it +rising to about half its height. The golden groining is quadripartite, +the ribs meeting in great colored bosses and pendents, added at periods +of less simple taste. In the crossing alone, intermediary ribs have been +added in the vaulting.</p> + +<p>The walls of the transept underneath the great blind wheels to the north +and south are broken by splendid windows, each with elaborate tracery +(as also the eastern and western walls), heavy and strong, but finely +designed. The glazing is glorious, light, warm, and intense. The walls +of the nave, set back above the lowest arcade some eighteen inches, have +triforium and clerestory, and above this again, they are filled quite up +to the vaulting with elaborate tracery, possibly once foolhardily +conceived to carry glass. Each bay has six arches in both triforium and +clerestory, all of simple and early apertures. The glazing of the +clerestory is white, excepting in one of the bays. In this single +instance, a simple, geometric pattern of buff and blue stripes is of +wonderfully harmonious and lovely color effect.</p> + +<p>The shafts that separate nave from side aisles are still quite +Romanesque in feeling,—of polygonal core faced by four columns and +eight ribs. The capitals<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_082" id="page_082"></a>{82}</span> are very simple with no carving, but merely a +gilded representation of leafage, while the base molds carry around all +breaks of the pier. It may be coarse and crude in feeling and execution, +certainly very far from the exquisite finish of Leon, nevertheless the +infancy of an architectural style, like a child's, has the peculiar +interest of what it holds in promise. Like Leon, the side aisles have +double roofing, allowing the light to penetrate to the nave arcade and +forming a double gallery running round the church.</p> + +<p>Many of the bishops who were buried in the choir in its old location +were, on its removal to the bay immediately west of the crossing, also +moved and placed in the various chapels. The sepulchre of Bishop Sancho +Davila is very fine. Like his predecessors, he was a fighting man. His +epitaph reads as follows:—</p> + +<p>"Here lies the noble cavalier Sancho Davila, Captain of the King Don +Fernando and the Queen Doña Isabel, our sovereigns, and their alcaide of +the castles of Carmona, son of Sancho Sanches, Lord of San Roman and of +Villanueva, who died fighting like a good cavalier against the Moors in +the capture of Alhama, which was taken by his valor on the 28th of +February in the year 1490."</p> + +<p>The pulpits on each side of the crossing, attached to the great piers, +are, curiously enough, of iron, exquisitely wrought and gilded. The one +on the side of the epistle is Gothic and the other Renaissance, the body +of each of them bearing the arms of the Cathedral, the Agnus Dei, and +the ever-present lions and castles. The rejas, closing off choir and +Capilla Mayor in the customary manner, are heavy and ungainly. On the +other hand, the trascoro, that often<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_083" id="page_083"></a>{83}</span> sadly blocks up the sweep of the +nave, is unusually low and comparatively inconspicuous. It contains +reliefs of the life of Christ, from the first half of the sixteenth +century, by Juan Res and Luis Giraldo. The choir itself is so compact +that it only occupies one bay. The chapter evidently was a modest one. +The stalls are of elaborate Renaissance workmanship. The verger now in +charge, with the voice of a hoarse crow, reads you the name of the +carver as the Dutchman "Cornelis 1536."</p> + +<p>Strange to say, there are no doors leading, as they logically should, +into the centre of the arms of the transept. Through some perversity, +altars have taken their place, while the northern and southern entrances +have been pushed westward, opening into the first bays of the side +aisles. The southern door leads to a vestibule, the sacristy with fine +Gothic vaulting disfigured by later painting, a fine fifteenth-century +chapel and the cloisters. None of this can be seen from the front, as it +is hidden by adjoining houses and a bare, pilastered wall crowned by a +carved Renaissance balustrade. The galleries of the present cloisters +are later Gothic work with Plateresque decorations and arches walled up.</p> + +<p>Avila Cathedral is, as it were, a part and parcel of the history of +Castile during the reigns of her early kings, the turbulent times when +self-preservation was the only thought, any union of provinces far in +the future, and a Spanish kingdom undreamed of. She was a great church +in a small kingdom, in the empire she became insignificant. Much of her +history is unknown, but in the days of her power, she was certainly +associated with all great events in old Castile.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_084" id="page_084"></a>{84}</span> Her influence grew +with her emoluments and the ever-increasing body of ecclesiastical +functionaries. In times of war, she became a fortress, and her bishop +was no longer master of his house. The Captain-General took command of +the bastions, as of those of the Alcazar, and soldiers took the place of +priests in the galleries. She was the key to the city, and on her flat +roofs the opposing armies closed in the final struggle for victory.</p> + +<p>The Cathedral has, in fact, only an eastern and a northern elevation, +the exterior to the west and south being hidden by the huge tower and +the confused mass of chapels and choir which extend to the walls and +houses.</p> + +<p>The western entrance front is noble and dignified in its austere +severity; probably as old as the clerestory of the nave, it is a grim +sentinel from the first part of the fourteenth century. With the +exception of the entrance, it speaks the Romanesque language, although +its windows and some of its decoration are pointed. It is magnificent +and impressive, very Spanish, and almost unique in the Peninsula. Four +mighty buttresses subdivide the composition; between these is the +entrance, and to the north and south are the towers which terminate the +aisles.</p> + +<p>The southern tower has never been finished. The northern is full of +inspiration. It is broken at two stages by double windows, the upper +ones of the belfry being crowned by pediments and surmounted by rich, +sunk tracery. The piers terminate in hexagonal pinnacles, while the +tower, as well as the rest of the front, is finished with a battlement. +The later blocking up of this, as well as the superimposed roofing,<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_085" id="page_085"></a>{85}</span> is +very evident and disturbing. All the angles of buttresses, of windows, +arches, splays, and pyramids,—those also crowning the bulky piers that +meet the flying buttresses,—are characteristically and uniquely +decorated with an ornamentation of balls. It softens the hard lines, +splashing the surface with infinite series of small, sharp shadows and +making it sparkle with life and light. The angles recall the blunt, blue +teeth of a saw.</p> + +<p>The main entrance, as well as the first two bays of the naves underneath +the towers, must originally have been of different construction from the +present one. Inside the church, these bays are blocked off from nave and +side aisles by walls, on top of which they communicate with each other +as also with the eastern apse by galleries, probably all necessary for +the defense of troops in the early days. Possibly a narthex terminated +the nave back of the original entrance portal underneath the present +vaulted compartment.</p> + +<p>The main entrance door is indeed a strange apparition. In its whiteness +between the sombre tints of the martial towers, it rises like a spectre +in the winding-sheets of a later age. It is distressingly out of place +and time in its dark framework.</p> + +<p>"But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, +but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor, and some to dishonor."</p> + +<p>The semicircular door is crowned by a profusely subdivided, Gothic +archivolt and guarded by two scaly giants or wild men that look, with +their raised clubs, as if they would beat the life out of any one who +should try to enter the holy cavern. Saints Peter<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_086" id="page_086"></a>{86}</span> and Paul float on +clouds in the spandrels. Above rises a sixteenth-century composition of +masks and canopied niches. The Saviour naturally occupies the centre, +flanked by the various saints that in times of peril protected the +church of Avila: Saints Vincente, Sabina and Cristela, Saint Segundo and +Santa Teresa. In the attic in front of a tremendous traceried cusp, with +openings blocked by masonry, the ornamentation runs completely riot. +Saint Michael, standing on top of a dejected and doubled-up dragon, +looks down on figures that are crosses between respectable caryatides +and disreputable mermaids. It is certainly as immaterial as unknown, +when and by whom was perpetrated this degenerate sculpture now +shamelessly disfiguring a noble casing. The strong, early towers seem in +their turn doubly powerful and eloquent in their simplicity and one +wishes the old Romanesque portal were restored and the great traceries +above it glazed to flood the nave with western sunlight.</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 411px;"> +<a href="images/ill_avilaentrance.png"> +<img src="images/ill_avilaentrance_th.png" +width="411" +height="550" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF AVILA +Main entrance" title="CATHEDRAL OF AVILA +Main entrance" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption"> +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA<br /> +Main entrance</p> +</div> + +<p>The northeastern angle is blocked by poor Renaissance masonry, the +exterior of the chapels here being faced by a Corinthian order and +broken by circular lights.</p> + +<p>The northern portal is as fine as that of the main entrance is paltry. +The head of the door, as well as the great arch which spans the recess +into which the entire composition is set, is, curiously enough, +three-centred, similar to some of the elliptical ones at Burgos and +Leon. A lion, securely chained to the church wall for the protection of +worshipers, guards each side of the entrance. Under the five arches +stand the twelve Apostles, time-worn, weather-beaten and mutilated, but +splendid bits of late thirteenth-century <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_087" id="page_087"></a>{87}</span>carving. For they must be as +early as that. The archivolts are simply crowded with small figures of +angels, of saints, and of the unmistakably lost. In the tympanum the +Saviour occupies the centre, and around Him is the same early, naïve +representation of figures from the Apocalypse, angels, and the crowned +Virgin.</p> + +<p>Two years before Luther, a true exponent of Teutonic genius, had nailed +his theses to the door of a cathedral in central Germany, there was born +in the heart of Spain as dauntless and genuine a representative of her +country's genius. Each passed through great storm and stress of the +spirit, and finally entered into that closer communion with God, from +which the soul emerges miraculously strengthened. Do not these bleak +hills, this stern but lovely Cathedral, rising <i>per aspera ad astra</i>, +typify the strong soul of Santa Teresa? A great psychologist of our day +finds the woman in her admirable literary style. Prof. James further +accepts Saint Teresa's own defense of her visions: "By their fruits ye +shall know them." These were practical, brave, cheerful, aspiring, like +this Castilian sanctuary, intolerant of dissenters, sheltering and +caring for many, and leading them upward to the City which is unseen, +eternal in the heavens.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_088" id="page_088"></a>{88}</span> +<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_089" id="page_089"></a>{89}</span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_090" id="page_090"></a>{90}</span></p> + +<h3><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV<br /> +<br />LEON</h3> +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_091" id="page_091"></a>{91}</span></p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 397px;"> +<a href="images/ill_leonsouthwest.png"> +<img src="images/ill_leonsouthwest_th.png" +width="397" +height="550" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF LEON +From the southwest" title="CATHEDRAL OF LEON +From the southwest" /></a> +<p class="caption">CATHEDRAL OF LEON<br /> +From the southwest</p> +</div> + +<table summary="poetry" +class="sml80"><tr><td> +Look where the flood of western glory falls<br /> +Through the great sunflower disk of blazing panes<br /> +In ruby, saffron, azure, emerald stains.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><i>Holmes.</i></span> +</td></tr></table> + +<p class="nind"><span class="lgletter">I</span><span style="margin-left: -.75em;">N</span> the year 1008 the ancient church of Leon witnessed a ceremony +memorable for more reasons than one. It was conducted throughout +according to Gothic customs, King, Queen, nobility and ecclesiastics all +being present, and it was the first council held in Spain since the Arab +conquest whose acts have come down to us. The object was twofold: to +hold a joyous festival in celebration of the rebuilding of the city +walls, which had been broken down some years before by a Moslem army, +and to draw up a charter for a free people, governing themselves, for +Spain has the proud distinction of granting municipal charters one or +two hundred years before the other countries of Europe. For three +centuries of Gothic rule, the kings of Leon, Castile and other provinces +had successfully resisted every attempt at encroachment from the Holy +See and, in session with the clergy, elected their own bishops, until in +1085 Alfonso VI of Castile takes the fatal step of sending Bernard +d'Azeu to receive the pallium and investiture as Bishop of Toledo from +the hands of Gregory VII. From this time forth, kings are crowned,<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_092" id="page_092"></a>{92}</span> +queens repudiated, and even the hallowed Gothic or Mozarabic ritual is +set aside for that of Rome by order of popes.</p> + +<p>In 1135 Santa Maria of Leon is the scene of a gorgeous pageant. An +Alfonso, becoming master of half Spain and quarter of France, thinks he +might be called Emperor as well as some others, and within the Cathedral +walls he receives the new title in the presence of countless +ecclesiastics and "all his vassals, great and small." The monarch's robe +was of marvelous work, and a crown of pure gold set with precious stones +was placed on his head, while the King of Navarre held his right hand +and the Bishop of Leon his left. Feastings and donations followed, but, +what was of vastly more importance, the new Emperor confirmed the +charters granted to various cities by his grandfather.</p> + +<p>Again a great ceremony fills the old church. Ferdinand, later known as +the Saint, is baptized there in 1199. A year or two later, Innocent III +declares void the marriage of his father and mother, who were cousins, +and an interdict shrouds the land in darkness. Several years pass during +which the Pope turns a deaf ear to the entreaties of a devoted husband, +the King of Leon, to their children's claim, the intercession of Spanish +prelates, and the prayers of two nations who had good cause to rejoice +in the union of Leon and Castile. Then a victim of the yoke, which Spain +had voluntarily put on while Frederic of Germany and even Saint Louis of +France were defending their rights against the aggressions of the Holy +See, the good Queen Berenzuela, sadly took her way back to her father's +home, to the King of Castile.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_093" id="page_093"></a>{93}</span></p> + +<p>His prerogative once established, Innocent III looked well after his +obedient subjects. When Spain was threatened by the most formidable of +all Moorish invasions, he published to all Christendom a bull of crusade +against the Saracens, and sent across the Pyrenees the forces which had +been gathering in France for war in Palestine. Rodrigo, Archbishop of +Toledo, preached the holy war and led his troops, in which he was joined +by the bishops of Bordeaux, Nantes, and Narbonne at the head of their +militia. Germany and Italy sent their quota of knights and soldiers of +fortune, and this concourse of Christian warriors, speaking innumerable +tongues, poured through mountain defiles and ever southward till they +met in lofty Toledo and camped on the banks of the Tagus. Marches, +skirmishes, and long-drawn-out sieges prelude the great day. The hot +Spanish summer sets in, the foreigners, growing languid in the arid +stretches of La Mancha, and disappointed at the slender booty meted out +to them, desert the native army, march northwards and again cross the +Pyrenees to return to their homes. It was thus left to the Spaniards, +led by three kings and their warlike prelates, to defeat a Moslem army +of half a million and gain the glorious victory of Las Navas de Tolosa +on the sixteenth of August, 1212.</p> + +<p>With Rome's firm grasp on the Spanish Peninsula came temples no less +beautiful than those the great Mother Church was planting in every +portion of her dominion north of the Pyrenees,—Leon, Burgos, Toledo and +Valencia rose in proud challenge to Amiens, Rheims, Beauvais and +Chartres.</p> + +<p>Leon may be called French,—yes, unquestionably<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_094" id="page_094"></a>{94}</span> so, but that is no +detraction or denial of her native "gentileza." She may be the very +embodiment of French planning, her general dimensions like those of +Bourges; her portals certainly recall those of Chartres, and the +planning of her apsidal chapels, her bases, arches, and groining ribs, +remind one of Amiens and Rheims; but nevertheless this exotic flower +blooms as gloriously in a Spanish desert as those that sprang up amid +the vineyards or in the Garden of France.</p> + +<div class="imageplan" style="width: 550px;"> +<a href="images/ill_planleon.png"> +<img src="images/ill_planleon_th.png" +width="550" +height="509" +alt="KEY OF PLAN OF LEON CATHEDRAL" title="KEY OF PLAN OF LEON CATHEDRAL" /></a> +</div> + +<table summary="leon plan" +cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" +class="sml75"> +<tr><td colspan="4" align="center">KEY OF PLAN OF LEON CATHEDRAL</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="4" align="center"> </td></tr> +<tr><td>A. </td><td>Capilla Mayor.</td><td>E. </td><td>Trascoro.</td></tr> +<tr><td>B.</td><td>Choir.</td><td>F.</td><td>Towers.</td></tr> +<tr><td>C.</td><td>Crossing.</td><td>G.</td><td>Cloisters.</td></tr> +<tr><td>D.</td><td colspan="3" align="left">Tombs.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>Leon is almost as old as the history of Spain. In the first century +after Christ, the seventh Roman legion, on the order of Augustus, +pitched their tents where the city now stands, built their customary +rectangular enclosure with its strong walls and towers, happily seconded +by the nature of the surrounding country. From here the wild hordes of +the Asturias could be kept in check. The city was narrowly built in the +fork of two rivers, on ground allowing neither easy approach nor +expansion, so that the growth has, even up to the twentieth century, +been within the ancient walls, and the streets and squares are in +consequence narrow and cramped. On many of the blocks of those old walls +may still be seen carved in the clear Roman lettering, "Legio septima +gemina, pia, felix." The name of Leon is merely a corruption first used +by the Goths of the Roman "Legio." Roman dominion survived the empire +for many years, being first swept away when the Gothic hordes in the +middle of the sixth century descended from the north under the +conqueror, Loevgild. Its Christian bishopric was possibly the first in +Spain, founded in the darkness of the third century, since which time +the little city<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_095" id="page_095"></a>{95}</span> can boast an unbroken succession of Leonese bishops, +although a number, during the turbulent decades of foreign rule, may not +actually have been "in residence." The Moslem followed the Goth, and +ruled while the nascent Christian kingdom of the Asturias was slowly +gaining strength for independence and the foundation of an episcopal +seat. In the middle of the eighth century, the Christians wrested it +from the Moors. On the site of the old Roman baths, built in three long +chambers, King Ordoño II erected his palace (he was reconstructing for +defense and glory the walls and edifices of the city) and in 916 +presented it with considerable ground and several adjacent houses to +Bishop Frumonio, that he might commence the building of the Cathedral on +the advantageous palace site in the heart of the city. Terrible Moorish +invasions occurred soon after, involving considerable damage to the +growing Byzantine basilica. In 996 the Moors swept the city with fire +and sword, and again, three years later, it fell entirely into the hands +of the great conqueror Almanzor, who remained in possession only just +the same time, for we may read in the old monkish manuscripts that in +1002 from the Christian pulpits of Castile and Leon the proclamation was +made: "Almanzor is dead, and buried in Hell."</p> + +<p>Leon could boast of being the first mediæval city of Europe to obtain +self-government and a charter of her own, and she became the scene of +important councils during the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth +centuries. In the eleventh century, under the great Ferdinand I, who +united Castile and Leon, work on the basilica was pushed rapidly +forward. French<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_096" id="page_096"></a>{96}</span> influence was predominant in the early building +operations, for Alfonso VI of Castile, who assumed the title of Emperor +of Spain, had two French wives, each of whom brought with her a batch of +zealous and skillful church-building prelates.</p> + +<p>The church was finally consecrated in 1149. About twenty-five years ago, +the Spanish architect, D. Demetrio de los Rios, in charge of the work of +restoration on the present Cathedral, discovered the walls and +foundations of the ancient basilica and was able to determine accurately +its relation to the later Gothic church. The exact date when this was +begun is uncertain,—many writers give 1199. Beyond a doubt the +foundations were laid out during the reign of Alfonso IX, early in the +thirteenth century, when Manrique de Lara was Bishop of the See of Leon +and French Gothic construction was at the height of its glory. It is +thus a thirteenth-century church, belonging principally to the latter +part, built with the feverish energy, popular enthusiasm, and +unparalleled genius for building which characterizes that period and +stamps it as uniquely glorious to later constructive ages. Though +smaller than most of the immense churches which afterwards rose under +Spanish skies, Leon remained in many respects unsurpassed and unmatched.</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Sevilla en grandeza, Toledo en riqueza,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Compostella en fortaleza, está en sutileza</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Santa Maria de Regla."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>In the middle of the thirteenth century, after the consecration of the +new church, a famous council of all the bishops of the realm was held in +the little town of Madrid, and there the faithful were exhorted, and<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_097" id="page_097"></a>{97}</span> +the lukewarm admonished with threats, to contribute by every means to +the successful erection of Leon's Cathedral. Indulgences, well worth +consideration, were granted to contributors, at the head of whom for a +liberal sum stood the king, Alfonso X.</p> + +<p>But Leon, capital of the ancient kingdom, was doomed before long to feel +the bitterness of abandonment. The Castilian kings followed the retreat +southward of the Moorish armies, and the history of the capital of Leon, +which, during the thirteenth century, had been the history of the little +kingdom, soon became confined within the limits of her cathedral walls. +Burgos, a mighty rival, soon overshadowed her. The time came when the +Bishop of Leon was merely a suffragan of the Archbishop of Burgos, and +her kings had moved their court south to Seville. The city of Leon was +lost in the union of the two kingdoms.</p> + +<p>The fortunes of the Cathedral have been varied and her reverses great. +Her architects risked a great deal and the disasters entailed were +proportionate. Though belonging preëminently in style to the glorious +thirteenth century, her building continued almost uninterruptedly +throughout the fourteenth. We have in succession Maestro Enrique, Pedro +Cebrian, Simon, Guillen de Rodan, Alonzo Valencia, Pedro de Medina, and +Juan de Badajoz, working on her walls and towers with a magnificent +recklessness which was shortly to meet its punishment. Although Bishop +Gonzalez in 1303 declared the work, "thanks be to God, completed," it +was but started. The south façade was completed in the sixteenth +century, but as early as 1630 the light fabric began to tremble,<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_098" id="page_098"></a>{98}</span> then +the vaulting of the crossing collapsed and was replaced by a more +magnificent dome. Many years of mutilations and disasters succeeded. The +south front was entirely taken down and rebuilt, the vaulting of aisles +fell, great portions of the main western façade, and ornamentation here +and there was disfigured or destroyed by the later alterations in +overconfident and decadent times, until, in the middle of the eighteenth +century, very considerable portions of the original rash and exquisite +fabric were practically ruined. There came, however, an awakening to the +outrages which had been committed, and from the middle of the nineteenth +century to the present day, the work of putting back the stones in their +original forms and places has steadily advanced to the honor of Leon and +glory of Spain, until Santa Maria de Regla at last stands once more in +the full pristine lightness of her original beauty.</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 413px;"> +<a href="images/ill_leonnave.png"> +<img src="images/ill_leonnave_th.png" +width="413" +height="550" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF LEON +Looking up the nave" title="CATHEDRAL OF LEON +Looking up the nave" /></a> +<p class="caption">CATHEDRAL OF LEON<br /> +Looking up the nave</p> +</div> + +<p>The plan of Leon is exceedingly fine, surpassed alone among Spanish +churches by that of Toledo. Three doorways lead through the magnificent +western portal into the nave and side aisles of the Church. These +consist of five bays up to the point where the huge arms of the transept +spread by the width of an additional bay. In proportion to the foot of +the cross, these arms are broader than in any other Spanish cathedral. +They are four bays in length, the one under the central lantern being +twice the width of the others, thus making the total width of the +transepts equal to the distance from the western entrance to their +intersection. The choir occupies the fifth and sixth bays of the nave. +To the south, the transept is entered by a triple portal very similar in +scale and<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_099" id="page_099"></a>{99}</span> richness to the western. The eastern termination of the +church is formed by a choir of three and an ambulatory of five bays +running back of the altar and trascoro, and five pentagonal apsidal +chapels. The sacristy juts out in the extreme southwestern angle. The +northern arm of the huge transepts is separated from the extensive +cloisters by a row of chapels or vestibules which to the east also lead +to the great Chapel of Santiago. All along its eastern lines the church +with its dependencies projects beyond the city walls, one of its massive +towers standing as a mighty bulwark of defense in the extreme +northeastern angle.</p> + +<p>It is a plan that must delight not only the architect, but any casual +observer, in its almost perfect symmetry and in the relationship of its +various parts to each other. It belonged to the primitive period of +French Gothic, though carried out in later days when its vigor was +waning. It has not been cramped nor distorted by initial limitation of +space or conditions, nor injured by later deviations from the original +conception. It is worthy of the great masters who planned once for all +the loveliest and most expressive house for the worship of God. Erected +on the plains of Leon, it was conceived in the inspired provinces of +Champagne and the Isle de France.</p> + +<p>It has a total length of some 308 feet and a width of nave and aisles of +83. The height to the centre of nave groining is 100 feet. The western +front has two towers, which, curiously enough, as in Wells Cathedral, +flank the side aisles, thus necessitating in elevation a union with the +upper portions of the façade by means of flying buttresses.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_100" id="page_100"></a>{100}</span></p> + +<p>There is a fine view of the exterior of the church from across the +square facing the southwestern angle. A row of acacia plumes and a +meaningless, eighteenth-century iron fence conceal the marble paving +round the base, but this foreground sinks to insignificance against the +soaring masses of stone towers and turrets, buttresses and pediments, +stretching north and east. Both façades have been considerably restored, +the later Renaissance and Baroque atrocities having been swept away in a +more refined and sensitive age, when the portions of masonry which fell, +owing to the flimsiness of the fabric, were rebuilt. The result has, +however, been that great portions, as for instance in the western front +and the entire central body above the portals, jar, with the chalky +whiteness of their surfaces by the side of the time-worn masonry. They +lack the exquisite harmony of tints, where wind and sun and water have +swept and splashed the masonry for centuries.</p> + +<p>The two towers that flank the western front in so disjointed a manner +are of different heights and ages. Both have a heavy, lumbering quality +entirely out of keeping with the aerial lightness of the remainder of +the church. It is not quite coarseness, but rather a stiff-necked, +pompous gravity. Their moldings lack vigor and sparkle. The play of +fancy and sensitive decorative treatment are wanting. The northern tower +is the older and has an upper portion penetrated by a double row of +round and early pointed windows. An unbroken octagonal spire crowns it, +the angles of the intersection being filled by turrets, as uninteresting +as Prussian sentry-boxes. The southern tower, though lighter and more +ornamented, has, like its<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_101" id="page_101"></a>{101}</span> sister, extremely bald lower surfaces, the +four angles in both cases being merely broken by projecting buttresses. +The lowest story was completed in the fourteenth century. It was added +to in successive centuries by Maestro Jusquin and Alfonso Ramos, but its +great open-work spire, of decided German form, probably much influenced +by Colonia's spires at Burgos, was first raised in the fifteenth +century.</p> + +<p>It is a complete monotonous lacework of stone, not nearly as spirited as +similar, earlier, French work. The spire is separated from the bald base +by a two-storied belfry, with two superimposed openings on each surface. +Gothic inscriptions decorate the masonry and the huge black letters +spell out "Deus Homo—Ave Maria, Gratia plena."</p> + +<p>At the base, between these huge, grave sentinels, stands the magnificent +old portico with the modern facing of the main body of the church above +it. This screen of later days, built after the removal of a hideously +out-of-keeping Renaissance front, is contained within two buttresses +which meet the great flying ones. In fact, looking down the stone gorge +between these buttresses and the towers, one sees a mass of pushing and +propping flying buttresses springing in double rows above the roof of +the side aisles towards the clerestories of the nave. The screen itself +contains, immediately above the portico, an arcade of four subdivided +arches, corresponding to the triforium, and above it a gorgeous rose +window. It is the best type of late thirteenth or early +fourteenth-century wheel of radial system, very similar in design to the +western wheel of Notre Dame de Paris and the great western one of +Burgos. Springing<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_102" id="page_102"></a>{102}</span> suddenly into being in all its developed perfection, +it can only be regarded as a direct importation from the Isle de France. +The ribs of the outer circle are twice as many as those of the inner, +thus dividing the glass surfaces into approximately equal breadth of +fields. This and the rose of the southern transept are similar, and both +are copies of the original one still extant in the north transept. A +fine cornice and open-work gallery surmount the composition, flanked by +crocketed turrets and crowned in the centre by a pediment injurious in +effect and of Italian Renaissance inspiration. The gable field is broken +by a smaller wheel, and in an ogival niche are statues of the +Annunciation.</p> + +<p>The portico is the most truly splendid part of the Cathedral. Erected at +the end of the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth century, much +of its Gothic sculpture is unsurpassed in Spain. A perfect museum of art +and a history in magnificent carving. The composition as a whole recalls +again unquestionably Chartres. It consists of three recessed arches +hooding with deep splays the three doorways which lead into nave and +side aisles. Between the major arches are two smaller, extremely pointed +ones, the most northerly of which encases an ancient columnar shaft +decorated with the arms of Leon and bearing the inscription, "locus +appellationis." Beneath it court was long held and justice administered +by the rulers of Leon during the Middle Ages.</p> + +<p>The arches of the porches are supported by piers, completely broken and +surrounded by columnar shafts and niches carrying statues on their +corbels. These piers stand out free from the jambs of the doors<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_103" id="page_103"></a>{103}</span> and +wall surfaces behind, and thus form an open gallery between the two. +Around and over all is an astounding and lavish profusion of +sculpture,—no less than forty statues. The jambs and splays, the +shafts, the archivolts, the moldings and tympanums are covered with +carving, varied and singularly interesting in the diversity of its +period and character. Part of it is late Byzantine with the traditions +of the twelfth century, while much is from the very best vigorous Gothic +chisels, and yet some, later Gothic. Certain borders, leafage, and vine +branches are Byzantine, and so also are some of the statues, "retaining +the shapeless proportions and the immobility and parched frown of the +Byzantine School, so perfectly dead in its expression, offering, +however, by its garb and by its contours not a little to the study of +this art, and so constituting a precious museum." Again, other statues +have the mild and venerable aspect of the second period of Gothic work. +The oldest are round the most northerly of the three doorways. Every +walk of life is represented. There is a gallery of costumes; and most +varying emotions are depicted in the countenances of the kings and +queens, monks and virgins, prelates, saints, angels, and bishops. +Separating the two leaves of the main doorway, stands Our White Lady. +But if the statues are interesting, the sculpture of the archivolts and +the personages and scenes carved on the fields of the tympanums far +surpass them.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wharton says somewhere, "All northern art is anecdotic,—it is an +ancient ethnological fact that the Goth has always told his story that +way." Nothing could be more "anecdotic" than this sculpture.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_104" id="page_104"></a>{104}</span> The +northern tympanum gives scenes from the Life of Christ, the Visitation, +the Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi, and the Flight into Egypt. In +the southern, are events from the life of the Virgin Mary; but the +central one, and the archivolts surrounding it, contain the most +spirited bits. The scene is the Last Judgment, with Christ as the +central figure. Servants of the Church of various degrees are standing +on one side with expressions of beatitude nowise clouded by the fate of +the miserable reprobates on the other. In the archivolts angels ascend +with instruments and spreading wings, embracing monks or gathering +orphans into their bosoms, while the lost with horrid grimaces are +descending to their inevitable doom. Not even the great Florentine could +depict more realistically the feelings of such as had sinned grievously +in this world.</p> + +<p>The long southern side of the church has for its governing feature the +wide transept termination, which in its triple portal, triforium arcade, +and rose is practically a repetition of the west. The central body is +all restored. The original, magnificent old statues and carving have, +however, been set back in the new casings around and above the main +entrance. An old Leonese bishop, San Triolan, occupies in the central +door the same position as "Our White Lady" to the west, while the +Saviour between the Four Evangelists is enthroned in the tympanum.</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 403px;"> +<a href="images/ill_leonapse.png"> +<img src="images/ill_leonapse_th.png" +width="403" +height="550" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF LEON +Rear of apse" title="CATHEDRAL OF LEON +Rear of apse" /></a> +<p class="caption">CATHEDRAL OF LEON<br /> +Rear of apse</p> +</div> + +<p>One obtains a most interesting study in construction by standing behind +the great polygonal apse, whence one may see the double rows of flying +buttresses pushing with the whole might of the solid piers behind them +against the narrow strips of <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_105" id="page_105"></a>{105}</span>masonry at the angles of the choir. From +every buttress rise elegantly carved and crocketed finials. Marshalled +against the cobalt of the skies, they body forth an array of shining +lances borne by a heavenly host. The balconies, forming the cresting to +the excessively high clerestory, are entirely Renaissance in feeling, +and lack in their horizontal lines the upward spring of the church +below. Almost all of this eastern end, breaking through the city walls, +is, with the possible exception of the roof, part of the fine old +structure, in contrast to the adjoining Plateresque sacristy.</p> + +<p>It is generally from the outside of French cathedrals that one receives +the most vivid impressions. Though the mind may be overcome by a feeling +of superhuman effort on entering the portals of Notre Dame de Paris, yet +the emotion produced by the first sight of the queenly, celestial +edifice from the opposite side of the broad square is the more powerful +and eloquent. Not so in Spain,—and this in spite of the location of the +choirs. It is not until you enter a Spanish church that its power and +beauty are felt.</p> + +<p>The audacious construction of Leon, which one wonders at from the square +outside, becomes well-nigh incredible when seen from the nave. How is it +possible that glass can support such a weight of stone? If Burgos was +bold, this is insane. It looks as unstable as a house of cards, ready +for a collapse at the first gentle breeze. Can fields of glass sustain +three hundred feet of thrusts and such weights of stone? It is a +culmination of the daring of Spanish Gothic. In France there was this +difference,—while the fields of glass continued to grow larger and +larger, the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_106" id="page_106"></a>{106}</span> walls to diminish, and the piers to become slenderer, the +aid of a more perfectly developed system of counterthrusts to the +vaulting was called in. In Spain we reach the maximum of elimination in +the masonry of the side walls at the end of the thirteenth century, and +in the Cathedral of Leon, whereas later Gothic work, as in portions of +Burgos and Toledo, shows a sense of the futile exaggeration towards +which they were drifting, as well as the impracticability of so much +glass from a climatic point of view.</p> + +<p>Internally, Leon is the lightest and most cheerful church in Spain. The +great doorways of the western and southern fronts, as well as that to +the north leading into the cloisters, are thrown wide open, as if to add +to the joyousness of the temple. Every portion of it is flooded with +sweet sunlight and freshness. It is the church of cleanliness, of light +and fresh air, and above all, of glorious color. The glaziers might have +said with Isaiah, "And I will make thy windows of agates and thy gates +of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones." The entire walls +are a continuous series of divine rainbows.</p> + +<p>The side walls of the aisles for a height of some fourteen feet to the +bottom of their vaulting ribs, the triforium, commencing but a foot +above the arches which separate nave from side aisles, and immediately +above the triforium, forty feet of clerestory,—all is glass, emerald, +turquoise, and peacock, amber, straw, scarlet, and crimson, encased in a +most delicate, strangely reckless, and bold-traceried framework of +stained ivory. Indeed, the jeweled portals of Heaven are wide open when +the sun throws all the colors from above across the otherwise colorless +fields of the pavement.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_107" id="page_107"></a>{107}</span> "The color of love's blood within them glows." +There is glazing of many centuries and all styles. In some of the +triforium windows are bits of glass, which, after the destruction or +falling of the old windows, were carefully collected, put together, and +used again in the reglazing. Some of it is of the earliest in Spain, +probably set by French, Flemish, or German artisans who had immigrated +to practise their art and set up their factories on Spanish soil +adjacent to the stone-carvers' and masons' sheds under the rising walls +of the great churches. Like all skilled artisans of their age, the +secret of their trade, the proper fusing of the silica with the +alkalies, was carefully guarded and handed down from father to son or +master to apprentice. They were chemists, glaziers, artists, colorists, +and glass manufacturers, all in one. The heritage was passed on in those +days, when the great key of science which opens all portals had not yet +become common property. Some of the oldest glass is merely a crude +mosaic inlay of small bits and must date back to early thirteenth +century. Coloring glass by partial fusion was then first practised and +soon followed by the introduction of figures and themes in the glass, +and the acquisition of a lovely, homogeneous opalescence in place of the +purely geometrical patterns. Scriptural scenes or figures painted, as +the Spanish say, "en caballete," became more and more general. The best +of the Leon windows are from the fifteenth century, when the glaziers' +shops in the city worked under the direction of Juan de Arge, Maestro +Baldwin, and Rodrigo de Ferraras, and its master colorists were at work +glazing the windows of the Capilla Mayor, the Capilla de Santiago, and a +portion of those of the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_108" id="page_108"></a>{108}</span> north transept. "Ces vitreaux hauts en couleur, +qui faisaient hésiter l'œil émerveillé de nos pères entre la rose du +grand portail et les ogives de l'abside." The glazing has gone on +through centuries; even to-day the glaziers at Leon are busy in their +shops, making the sheets of sunset glow for their own and other Spanish +cathedrals.</p> + +<p>In some of the side aisles, they have, alas, during recent decades +placed some horrible "grisaille" and geometrically patterned +windows,—in frightful contrast to the delightful thirteenth-century +legends of Saint Clement and Saint Ildefonso, or that most absorbing +record of civic life depicted in the northern aisle. In studying the +windows of Leon, Lamperez y Romea's observations on Spanish glazing are +of interest: "In the fourteenth century the rules of glazing in Spain +were changed. Legends had fallen into disuse and the masters had learned +that, in the windows of the high nave, small medallions could not be +properly appreciated. They were then replaced by large figures, isolated +or in groups, but always one by one in the spaces determined by the +tracery. The coloring remained strong and vivid. The study of nature, +which had so greatly developed in painting and in sculpture, altered the +drawing little by little, the figures became more modeled and lifelike, +and were carried out with more detail. At the same time the coloring +changed by the use of neutral tints, violet, brown, light blues, rose, +etc. Many of the old windows are of this style. And so are the majority +of the windows of Avila, Leon, and Toledo, as it lasted in Spain +throughout the fifteenth century, and others which preserve the +composition of great figures and<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_109" id="page_109"></a>{109}</span> strong coloring, although there may be +noticed in the drawings greater naturalism and modeling."</p> + +<p>These rules differed slightly from those followed in France, where, with +the exception of certain churches in the east, the windows of the +thirteenth century were richer in decoration, more luscious in coloring +and more harmonious in their tones than those of the fourteenth. There +is little in this later century that can compare with the +thirteenth-century series of Chartres figures.</p> + +<p>The Leonese windows are perhaps loveliest late in the afternoon, when +the saints and churchmen seem to be entering the church through their +black-traceried portals, and, clad in heavenly raiment, about to descend +to the pavement,—</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As softly green,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As softly seen,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Through purest crystal gleaming,</span><br /> +</p> + +<p class="nind">there to people the aisles and keep vigil at the altars of God to the +coming of another day.</p> + +<p>There are, fortunately, scarcely any other colors or decorations,—or +altars off side aisles,—that might divert the attention from the +richness of glass. The various vaulting has the jointing of its +stonework strongly marked, but, with the exception of the slightly +gilded bosses, no color is applied. The glory of the glass is thus +enhanced. Owing to the great portions of masonry which have been +rebuilt, this varies in its tints, but the old was, and has remained, of +such an exquisitely delicate creamy color that the new interposed +stonework merely looks like a lighter, fresher shade of the old. The +restoration has been executed with rare skill and artistic feeling.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_110" id="page_110"></a>{110}</span></p> + +<p>In studying the inner organism and structure of the edifice, one soon +sees how recklessly the original fabric was constructed and in how many +places it had to be rebuilt, strengthened and propped,—indeed, +immediately after its completion. Here, as was the general custom in the +greater early Gothic cathedrals, the building began with the choir and +Capilla Mayor, to be followed by the transepts, the portions of the +edifice essential to the service. The choir was probably temporarily +roofed over and the nave and side aisles followed. The exterior façades, +portals, and upper stories of the towers were carried out last of all by +the aid of indulgences, contributions, alms and concessions.</p> + +<p>In old manuscripts and documents which record the very first work on the +cathedrals we find the one in charge called "Maestro,"—or <i>magister +operis</i>, <i>magister ecclesiae</i>, <i>magister fabricae</i>, but not till the +sixteenth century does the appellation "arquitecto" appear. His pay +seems to have varied, both in amount and in form of +emolument,—sometimes it was good hard cash, often a very poor or +dubious remuneration, handed out consequently with a more lavish hand; +sometimes grants, and again royal favor. Generally the architect entered +into a stipulated agreement with the Cathedral Chapter, both as to his +time and services, before he began his work. We find Master Jusquin +(1450-69) receiving from the Chapter of Leon not only a daily salary but +also annual donations of bushels of wheat, pairs of gloves, lodgings, +poultry, other supplies, and the use of certain workmen.</p> + +<p>Leon's unquestionable French parentage is, if possible,<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_111" id="page_111"></a>{111}</span> even more +obvious in the interior than in the exterior. The piers between nave and +side aisles are cylindrical in plan, having in their lowest section on +their front surface three columns grouped together that continue +straight up through triforium and clerestory and carry the transverse +and diagonal ribs of the nave. They have further one column on each side +of the axis east and west and, strange to say, only one toward the side +aisles, which thus lack continuous supports for their diagonal ribs. The +outer walls of the side aisles are formed by a blind arcade of five +arches, surmounted by a projecting balcony or corridor and a clerestory +subdivided by its tracery into four arches and three cusped circles. The +nave triforium consists of a double arcade with a gallery running +between (one of the very rare examples in Spain). Each bay has in the +triforium four open and two closed arches, surmounted by two +quatrefoils. The clerestory rises above, divided by marvelously slender +shafts into six compartments and three cusped circles in the apex of the +arch. Here shine, in dazzling raiment and with ecstatic expressions, the +saints and martyrs ordered in the fifteenth century from Burgos for the +sum of 20,000 maravedis.</p> + +<p>Throughout all the glazed wall surfaces we find evidence of the anxiety +that overtook their reckless projectors. All but the upper cusps of the +windows of the side aisles have been filled in by masonry, painted with +saints and evangelists in place of the translucent ones originally +placed here. The lower portions of the triforium lights have been +blocked up and also the two outer arches of the clerestory. The light, +clustered piers and slender, double flying<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_112" id="page_112"></a>{112}</span> buttresses could not +accomplish the gigantic task of supporting the great height above. Nor +could the ingenious strengthening of the stone walls (consisting of +ashlar inside and out, facing intermediate rubble) by iron clamps supply +the requisite firmness.</p> + +<p>It seems doubly unfortunate that the choir stalls should occupy the +position they do here, when there is such liberal space in the three +bays east of the crossing in front of the altar. The stone of their +exterior backing is cold and gray beside the ochre warmth of the +surrounding piers. The classic Plateresque statues and bas-reliefs, as +well as the exquisitely carved, Florentine decoration, seems strangely +out of place under the Gothic loveliness above. The trascoro itself is +warmer in color, but of the extravagant later period. Its pilasters, +spandrels, and band-courses are filled with elaborate and fine +Florentine ornamentation, while the niches themselves, with high reliefs +representing the Annunciation, the Nativity, and the Adoration of the +Magi, are not quite free from a certain Gothic feeling. Above, great +statues of Church Fathers weigh heavily on the delicate work and smaller +scale below.</p> + +<p>The carving of the double tier of walnut choir stalls is at once +restrained and rich. Beautiful Gothic tracery surmounts in both tiers +the figures that fill the panels above the seats. Below are characters +from the Old Testament,—Daniel, Jeremiah, Abel, David busily playing +his harp, Joshua "Dux Isri," Moses with splendid big horns and tablets, +Tobias with his little fish slit up the belly. Above stand firmly +full-length figures of the Apostles and saints. With the exception of +some of the work near the entrance,<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_113" id="page_113"></a>{113}</span> which is practically Renaissance in +feeling, all this carving is late Gothic from the last part of the +fifteenth century and executed by the masters Fadrique, John of Malines, +and Rodrigo Aleman. Two of the stalls, more elevated and pronounced than +the rest, are for the hereditary canons of the Cathedral, the King of +Leon and the Marquis of Astorga. Excellent as they are, these stalls are +not nearly so rich in design nor beautiful in execution as the Italian +Renaissance choir stalls, in the Convent of San Marcos directly outside +the city walls, carved some decades later by the Magister Guillielmo +Dosel.</p> + +<p>The crossing is splendidly broad, the transepts appearing, as one +glances north and south, as much the main arms of the cross as do the +nave and choir. The southern arm is quite new, having been completely +rebuilt by D. Juan Madrazo and D. Demetrio Amador de los Rios. The +glazing of its window and the arabesques cannot be compared to those of +the original fabric in the northern arm. The four piers of the crossing, +though slender and graceful, carry full, logical complements of shafts +for the support of the various vaulting ribs, intersecting at their +apexes.</p> + +<p>The retablo above the high altar is in its simplicity as refreshing as +the light and sunniness of the church. In place of the customary gaudy +carving, it merely consists of a series of painted fifteenth-century +tablets set in Gothic frames. Simple rejas close the western bays and a +florid Gothic trasaltar, the eastern termination. Directly back of the +altar lies a noble and dignified figure, the founder of the church, King +Ordoño II. At his feet is a little dog, looking for all<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_114" id="page_114"></a>{114}</span> the world like +a sucking pig in a butcher's window. And above him is an ancient and +most curious Byzantine relief of the Crucifixion. The lions and castles +of his kingdom surround the old king. The greater portion of the carving +must belong to the oldest in the church.</p> + +<p>In looking at the vaulting and considering the difficulty of planning +the "girola" or ambulatory, one realizes that such construction could +only be the outcome of many years of study, experiment and inspiration. +Perfection means long previous schooling and experience. The apsidal +chapels that radiate from it have glass differing in excellence. Here +and there frescoes of the thirteenth century line these earliest walls. +It is surprising in how many different places old sepulchres are to be +found, all more or less similar in their general design and belonging to +the period of transition from the Byzantine to the Gothic, yet each +denoting the building period of the place where it stands. Some of the +subjects of the carving are most curious: a hog playing the bagpipes, +the devil in the garb of a father confessor, tempting a penitent; or +again, a woman suckling an ass. Saint Froila lies on one side of the +altar. Not only his sanctity but even his authenticity were disputed by +various disbelievers in the city, prior to his being brought to this +final resting-place. The matter was decided by placing the body in +question on an ass's back, whereupon the sagacious animal took his holy +burden to the spot where it deserved burial.</p> + +<p>In the Capilla de Nuestra Señora del Dado, or "of the die," stands a +Virgin with the face of the Christ child ever bleeding, it is said, +since the time when an<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_115" id="page_115"></a>{115}</span> unlucky gambler in a fit of despair threw his +dice against the Babe.</p> + +<p>Directly opposite Ordoño's tomb lies the Countess Sancha, who, in a +burst of religious enthusiasm, decided to leave her considerable worldly +goods to the Church instead of to her nephew. This was more than he +could stand, and he murdered her. Below her figure he is represented, +receiving his just reward in being torn to pieces by wild horses.</p> + +<p>To the north, a florid Gothic portal leads on a higher level to the +Chapel of Santiago. This has been, and is still being, restored. Its +three vaults are differently arched, the ribs not being carried down +against the side walls to the floor, but met by broad corbels supported +by curious figures. The stonework is cold and gray in comparison to the +church proper.</p> + +<p>Separating the northern entrance from the cloisters is a row of chapels, +leading one into the other and crowded with tombs and sculpture. There +are few more complete cloisters in Spain. Large and elaborate, they are +a curious mixture of the old Gothic and the Renaissance restorations of +the sixteenth century. Ancient Gothic tombs, their archivolts crowded +with angels, pierce the interior walls, while the vaults themselves are +most elaborately groined, the arches and vaulting being later filled +with Renaissance bosses and rosettes. In the sunny courtyard are piled +up the Renaissance turrets and sculptures that once usurped on the +façades the places of the older Gothic ornamentation. The northern +portal itself is practically hidden by the chapels and cloisters. It is +fine Gothic work. A Virgin and Child form a mullion in its centre, while +very worldly-looking women parade<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_116" id="page_116"></a>{116}</span> in its archivolts. Everywhere are the +arms of the United Kingdoms. A great portion of the ancient tapestry +blue and Veronese red coloring is still preserved, throwing out the old +Gothic figures in their true tints.</p> + +<p>This aerial tabernacle, so rich and yet so simple, lies in the heart of +a city so fabulously old that the Cathedral itself belongs rather to its +later days. The old houses and streets have a dryness and close smell +like that in the ancient sepulchres of parched countries. Monuments and +walls and turrets of Rome crumble around the houses and vaults of +Byzantium. The naïve frescoes and carvings of the eighth and ninth +centuries seem to look down with childlike wonder and amazement on the +pedestrians now crowding the patterned pavements, or pressing against +the shady sides of the time-worn arches.</p> + +<p>The worshipers who tread the narrow lanes leading to and from the altar +have changed, but little else. The square, mediæval castles with their +angular towers still command the approach of the main thoroughfares. The +crabbed old watchman with lantern and stick under his cape treads his +doddering gait across the courtyards through the night hours, crying +after the peal of the bell above, "Las doce han dado y sereno," "Las +trece han dado y aleviendo," "Las quince han dado y nublano," just as in +the middle ages, so that the good peasant may know time and weather and +merely turn in his bed, if neither crops nor creatures need care.</p> + +<p>Santa Maria de Regla too stands to-day as she stood in the middle ages, +a monument to the care and affection of her children. She has the same +spirituality,<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_117" id="page_117"></a>{117}</span> harmony of proportions, slenderness, and purity of lines, +and she looks down and blesses us to-day with the same serenity and +queenly grace which she wore in the fourteenth century. She is the +finest Gothic cathedral in Spain.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_118" id="page_118"></a>{118}</span> +<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_119" id="page_119"></a>{119}</span></p> + +<h3><a name="V" id="V"></a>V<br /> +<br />TOLEDO</h3> + +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_120" id="page_120"></a>{120}</span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_121" id="page_121"></a>{121}</span></p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 414px;"> +<a href="images/ill_toledo.png"> +<img src="images/ill_toledo_th.png" +width="414" +height="550" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO" title="CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption"> +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO</p> +</div> + +<table summary="poetry" +class="sml80"><tr><td>I withdrew at once with the Morisco into the cloisters of the +Cathedral.—<i>Don Quixote.</i></td></tr></table> + +<p class="heading">I</p> + +<p class="nind"><span class="lgletter">T</span><span style="margin-left: -.75em;">HE</span> +peace of death is over Toledo, unbroken by any invasion of modern +thought or new architecture since her last deep sighs mingled with the +distant echoes of the middle ages. But she still wears the mantle of her +imperial glory. She sleeps in the fierce, beating sunlight of the +twentieth century like the enchanted princess of fairy tales, +undisturbed by, and unconscious of, the world around her.</p> + +<p>The atmosphere is transparent; the sky spreads from lapis-lazuli to a +cobalt field back of the snow-capped, turquoise Sierra de Gredo +mountains, while a clear streak of lemon color throws out the sharp +silhouette of the battlements and towers.</p> + +<p>There is sadness and desolation in the decay, a pathetically forlorn and +tragical widowhood, strangely affecting to the senses.</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A blackened ruin, lonely and forsaken,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Already wrapt in winding-sheets of sand;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">So lies Toledo till the dead awaken,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A royal spoil of Time's resistless hand.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Toledo! The name rings with history, romance and legend. Enthralling +images of the past rise before one and vanish like the ghosts of +Macbeth. Capital<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_122" id="page_122"></a>{122}</span> of Goth, of Moslem, and of Christian; mightiest of +hierarchical seats,<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> city of monarch and priest, she has worn a double +diadem. Gautier says, "Jamais reine antique, pas même Cléopatre, qui +buvait des perles, jamais courtisane Vénitienne du temps de Titien n'eut +un écrin plus étincelant, un trousseau plus riche que Notre Dame de +Tolède." But the flame of life which once burned warm and bright is now +extinct and all her glory has vanished. Neglected churches, convents, +palaces, and ruins lie huddled together, a stern and solemn vision of +the past, waiting with the silence of the tomb, broken only by the +continual tolling of her hoarse bells.</p> + +<p>The city has a superb situation. Once seen, it is forever impressed upon +the memory. The hills on which it stands rise abruptly from the +surrounding campagna, which bakes brown and barren and crisp under the +scorching rays of the sun, and stretches away to the distant mountains, +vast and uninterrupted in its solitude and dreariness. It is "pobre de +solemnidad,"—solemnly poor, as runs the touching phrase in Spanish. +There is no joy and freshness of vegetation, no glistening of wet +leaves, no scent of flowers. You read thirst in the plains, hunger in +the soil-denuded hills. All is naked and bare, without a softening line +or gentler shadow, lying fallow in spring, unwatered in drought, and +ungarnered at harvest time.</p> + +<p>The Tagus rushes round the city in the shape of a<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_123" id="page_123"></a>{123}</span> horseshoe, confining +and protecting it as the Wear does the towers of Durham. It boils and +eddies 'twixt its narrow, rocky confines, hurrying from the gloomy +shadows to the sunshine below, through which it slowly sweeps, murky and +coffee-colored, to the horizon, no life between its flat banks, no +commerce to mark it as a highway.</p> + +<p>You pass over the high-arched Alcantara Bridge, which the Campeador and +his kinsman, Alvar Fanez, crossed with twelve hundred horsemen at their +back, to demand justice from their sovereign. A broad terrace crawls +like a serpent up the steep incline to the city gates. A forest of +soaring steeples rises above you, topped by the square bulk of the +Alcazar.</p> + +<p>The city smells sleepy. The narrow streets, or rather alleys, of the +town wind tortuously around the stucco façades, with no apparent +starting-point or destination, as confused as a skein of worsted after a +kitten has played with it. Thus were they laid out by the wise Arabs, to +afford shade at all hours of the day. At every corner, one runs into +some detail of historical or artistic interest,—history and +architecture here wander hand in hand.</p> + +<p>Huge, wooden doors, closely studded with scallop nails as big as a man's +fist, proud escutcheons of noble races lost to all save Spain's history; +charming glimpses of interior courtyards and gardens glittering fresh in +their emerald coloring, and sweet with the scent of orange blossoms; +Gothic crenelations, Renaissance ironwork and railing, and Moorish +capitals and ornamentation, all pell-mell, the styles of six centuries +often appearing in the same building. More than a hundred churches and +chapels and forty<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_124" id="page_124"></a>{124}</span> monasteries crumble side by side within the small +radius of the city. Half of its area was once covered by religious +buildings or mortmain property.</p> + +<p class="heading">II</p> + +<p>The church, be it a grand cathedral or the humble steeple of some little +hamlet, is always the connecting link between past and present. It has +been the highest artistic expression of the people, and it remains an +eloquent witness to continuity and tradition. It is what makes later +ages most forcibly "remember," for it seeks to embody and satisfy the +greatest need of the human heart.</p> + +<div class="imageplan" style="width: 489px;"> +<a href="images/ill_plantoledo.png"> +<img src="images/ill_plantoledo_th.png" +width="489" +height="550" +alt="KEY OF PLAN OF TOLEDO CATHEDRAL" title="KEY OF PLAN OF TOLEDO CATHEDRAL" /></a> +</div> + +<table summary="toledo plan" +cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" +class="sml75"> +<tr><td colspan="4" align="center">KEY OF PLAN OF TOLEDO CATHEDRAL</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="4" align="center"> </td></tr> +<tr><td>A. </td><td>Chapel of Saint Blase.</td><td>M. </td><td>Capilla Mayor.</td></tr> +<tr><td>B.</td><td>Chapel of the Parish of Saint Peter.</td><td>N.</td><td>Chapel of the Tower or of the Dean.</td></tr> +<tr><td>C.</td><td>Octagon.</td><td>O.</td><td>Mozarabic Chapel.</td></tr> +<tr><td>D.</td><td>Chapel of the Virgin of the Sanctuary.</td><td>P.</td><td>Choir.</td></tr> +<tr><td>E.</td><td>Large Sacristy.</td><td>Q.</td><td>Portal of the Lions.</td></tr> +<tr><td>F.</td><td>Court of the Hall of Accounts.</td><td>R.</td><td>Portal of the Olive, or Gate of La Llana.</td></tr> +<tr><td>G.</td><td>Chapel of the New Kings.</td><td>S.</td><td>Portal of the Choir.</td></tr> +<tr><td>H.</td><td>Chapel of the Master of Santiago, D. Alvaro de Luna. </td><td>T.</td><td>Portal of the Little Bread.</td></tr> +<tr><td>I.</td><td>Chapel of Saint Ildefonso.</td><td>V.</td><td>Portal of the Visitation.</td></tr> +<tr><td>K.</td><td>Chapter House.</td><td>W.</td><td>Portal of the Tower or Gate of Hell.</td></tr> +<tr><td>L.</td><td>Chapel of the Old Kings or of the Holy Cross.</td><td>X.</td><td>Portal of the Scriveners or of Judgment.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>The history of a great cathedral church of Spain is so closely connected +with the civil life of its city that one cannot be thoroughly studied +without some familiarity with the other. Spanish cathedrals differ in +this respect from their great English and French sisters. In England, +cathedrals were built and owned by the clergy, they belonged to the +priests, they were surrounded and hedged in from the outside world by +their extensive lawns and cloisters, refectories, chapter houses, +bishops' palaces, and numerous monastic buildings. They were shut off +from the rest of the world by high walls. In France, the cathedrals were +the centre of civic life; their organs were the heart-throbs of the +people; their bells were notes of warning. The very houses of the +artisans climbed up to their sides and nestled for protection between +the buttresses of the great Mother Church. Notre Dame d'Amiens, for +instance, was the church of a commune, <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_125" id="page_125"></a>{125}</span>what Walter Pater calls a +"people's church." They belonged to the people more than to the clergy. +They were a civil rather than an ecclesiastical growth, essentially the +layman's glory.</p> + +<p>In Spain, the church belonged to both. Municipal and ecclesiastical +history were one and the same, going hand in hand in bloody strife or +peaceful union,—the city was the body, the cathedral its animating +soul. The cathedrals were meant, not for prayer alone, but to live +in,—they were for festivals, meetings, thanksgivings, for surging, +excited crowds. The church was an <i>imperium in imperio</i>. It was the +rallying place in all great undertakings or excitements. Here the Cortes +often met, the great church conclaves assembled, the mystical Autos or +sacred plays were performed, in them soldiers gathered, prepared for +battle, edicts were published, sovereigns were first proclaimed, and +allegiance was sworn; kings were christened, anointed, and buried. The +troubled murmurings of the lower classes were here first voiced. They +were the art galleries; here were displayed their finest paintings, +statues and tapestries; they were even museums of natural history, and +exhibited the finest examples of their wood-carving and glass-work, and +the iron and silversmith's arts. It is thus easy to see that the +political history of Toledo becomes vital in connection with its +Cathedral church.</p> + +<p>The history of Toledo dates back to Roman days,—we find Pliny referring +to the city as the metropolis of Carpentania. She was among the first +cities of Spain to embrace Christianity. All the barbarians, with the +exception of the Franks, were Arians, but the last Gothic ruler in Spain +to withstand the Roman<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_126" id="page_126"></a>{126}</span> faith was Leovgild, who reigned in the last half +of the sixth century. He was also their first able administrator, the +first who consistently strove to bring order out of the chaos of warring +tribes and conflicting authorities. Contemporaries describe his palace +at Toledo, his throne and apparel, and his council chamber, as of truly +royal magnificence. It was reserved to his son Reccared to change the +history of Spain by publicly announcing his conversion to the Roman +faith before a council of Roman and Arian bishops held in Toledo in 587, +at the same time inviting them to exchange their views fearlessly and, +as many as would, to follow him. The Goths were never difficult to +convert, and many of the bishops and of the lords who were present +embraced the Catholic faith, to which a majority of the people already +belonged. Gregory the Great, hearing of the success of Reccared's gentle +and liberal proselytism, wrote to him: "What shall I do at the Last +Judgment when I arrive with empty hands, and your Excellency followed by +a flock of faithful souls, converted by persuasion?" He summoned a third +council at Toledo in 589, and in concert with nearly seventy bishops, +regulated the rites and discipline of the Church, at the same time +excluding the Jews from all employments. In royal Toledo Reccared was +anointed with holy oil, and he substituted the Latin for the Gothic +tongue in divine service, where Isidore was the first to use it. In +daily life Latin soon replaced Gothic. King Wamba built the great walls +round the city, and King Roderick held his glorious tournament inside +them.</p> + +<p>Greater than any fame of Gothic monarch was that of the Church Councils +which met here to determine<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_127" id="page_127"></a>{127}</span> the course of early dogma and shape the +destinies of the larger part of Christendom.</p> + +<p>The most salient figure during the rule of the Gothic kings was Saint +Ildefonso, who quite overshadows his royal contemporaries. In 711 the +Moors conquered the city, which then became a dependency of the Caliphs +of Damascus and Bagdad until a Moorish prince shook off the foreign +yoke. Independent Arab princes ruled, with Toledo as capital of their +empire, until Alfonso VI, King of Castile and Leon, in 1085, finally +conquered it for himself and his successors.</p> + +<p>During the reigns of the early Castilian kings, we find names connected +with the city's history which became famous all over Spain. The Cid was +the city's first Alcaide. Alfonso el Batallador and Pedro el Cruel stand +out in sombre relief, and Toledo was the cradle of the dramatic +Comunidades' rising, and the scene of the noble death of their patriotic +leader Padella. The streets ran with blood, and the walls spoke of +glorious resistance before the Flemish emperor had crushed the liberties +of the people.</p> + +<p>We have a description of the brilliant pageant of Ferdinand and +Isabella's entry after defeating the king of Portugal. "The Prince of +Aragon was in full armour on his war horse and Isabella riding a +beautiful mule, splendidly caparisoned, the bridle being held by two +noble pages. Followed by their gorgeous retinue they rode slowly towards +the Cathedral, while the highest dignitaries of the Church, the +archbishop, himself a mitred king, the canons, and the clergy, in their +pontifical garments, preceded by the Cross, came forth from the Puerta +del Perdon<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_128" id="page_128"></a>{128}</span> to receive them. On each side of the arch above the doorway +were two angels, and in the centre a young maiden richly clothed, with a +golden crown on her head, to represent the image of 'La Bendita Madre de +Dios, nuestra Señora.' When Ferdinand and Isabella and all the company +had gathered around, the angels began to sing. The following day the +trophies of war were presented to the Cathedral."</p> + +<p>During the period immediately following the reign of the Catholic Kings, +Toledo reached her highest prosperity. She numbered as many as 200,000 +inhabitants;—to-day she has only 20,000. Glorious processions swept +through her streets, the proud knights of the military orders of +Alcantara, Calatrava, and Santiago, black-robed Dominican inquisitors, +executioners, royal chaplains and major-domos, the Councils of the +Indies, Castilian grandees, Roman princes and cardinals, brawling +Flemish and Burgundian nobles, German landsknechts, and great Catholic +ambassadors.</p> + +<p>Toledo received her death-blow when Philip II, unable to brook the +haughty claims of the Toledan archbishops, and feeling his power second +to theirs, finally, in 1560, moved the capital of his realm to Madrid. +Toledo's annals grew dark. So merciless was the Tribunal of the +Inquisition that under its vigilant eye 3327 processes were disposed of +in little more than a year. So Toledo fell from her former greatness.</p> + +<p>The site of the Cathedral in the very heart of the city is by no means +dominant. The church lies so low that even the spire is inconspicuous in +the landscape. On three sides adjacent buildings completely<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_129" id="page_129"></a>{129}</span> bar all +view or approach. The only free perspective is on the fourth side, from +the steps of the Ayuntamiento across the square.</p> + +<p>The inscription above the door of the city hall, with its trenchant +advice to the magistrates, is well worth notice:—</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nobles discretos varones,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Qui gobernais a Toledo</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">En aquatos escalones</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Codicia, temor y miedo.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Por los comunes provechos</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Deschad los particulares</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Puez vos hezo Dios pilares</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">De tan requisimos lechos</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Estat vermes y derechos.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></span><br /> +</p> + +<p>In the streets, the <i>alcazerias</i> which wind around the sides of the +Cathedral, the rich silk guild traded. Here were shipped the goods that +freighted vessels sailing for the American colonies.</p> + +<p>During the Visigothic reign in Toledo, the Cathedral site was occupied +by a Christian temple. It was transformed by the Moors after their +occupancy of the city into their principal mosque; there they were still +permitted to carry on their worship, according to the terms of the +treaty made on their surrender of the city to King Alfonso IV in 1085. A +year afterwards<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_130" id="page_130"></a>{130}</span> King Alfonso went off on a campaign, leaving the +capital in charge of his French queen, Constance, and the Archbishop +Bernard, recently sent to Toledo at the King's request by the Abbot of +Cluny. No sooner was King Alfonso outside the city walls than the +regents turned the Moors out of the church. The Archbishop arrived with +a throng of Christian citizens, battered down the main entrance, threw +the Moslem objects of worship into the gutters, and set in their place +the Cross and the Virgin Mary. When the news of this outrage reached the +ears of the King, he returned in wrath to Toledo, swearing he would burn +both wife and prelate who had dared to break the oath he had so solemnly +sworn. The Moslems, sagely fearing later vengeance would be wreaked upon +them should they permit matters to take their course, besought the +returning sovereign to restrain his wrath while they released him from +his oath,—"Whereat he had great joy, and, riding on into the city, the +matter ended peacefully."</p> + +<p>The appearance of this fanatic Cluny monk is of the greatest importance +as heralding a new influence in the development and history of Spanish +ecclesiastical architecture. His coming marks the introduction of a +foreign style of building and a revolution in the previous national +methods, known as "obra de los Godos," or work of the Goths. Further, +with the gradual arrival of French ecclesiastics from Cluny and Citeaux, +came also a greater interference from Rome in the management of the +Spanish Church, and a radical limitation of the former power of the +Peninsula's arrogant prelates. Owing to the new influence, the Italian +mass-book was soon presented in<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_131" id="page_131"></a>{131}</span> place of the ancient Gothic ritual and +breviary. The foreign churchmen likewise aided in uniting sovereign, +clergy, and nobility in common cause against the Saracen infidels now so +firmly ensconced in the Peninsula. Spanish art had previously felt only +national influences; now, through the door opened by the monks, it +received potent foreign elements.</p> + +<p>Spain had been far too much occupied with internal strife and political +dissension to have had breathing spell or opportunity for the +development of the fine arts and the building of churches. The passion +for building which the French monks brought with them awoke entirely +dormant qualities in the Spaniard, which in the early Romanesque, but +especially in the Gothic edifices, produced beautiful, but essentially +exotic fruits. First in the days of the Renaissance the architecture +showed features which might be termed original and national. With the +Cluniacs came not only French artisans but Flemish, German, and Italian, +all taking a hand in, and lending their influences to the great works of +the new art.</p> + +<p>Nothing remains of the old Moorish-Christian house of worship. It was +torn down by order of Saint Ferdinand (he had laid the foundation stone +of Burgos as early as 1221), who laid the corner stone of the present +edifice with great ceremony, assisted by the Archbishop, in the month of +August, 1227 (seven years prior to the commencement of Salisbury and +Amiens). The building was practically completed in 1493, during the +reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the most illustrious epoch of Spanish +history. Additions and alterations injurious to the harmony and symmetry +of the building were made till the end of the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_132" id="page_132"></a>{132}</span> seventeenth century, and +again continued during the eighteenth. It thus represents the +architectural inspiration and decadence of nearly six hundred years.</p> + +<p>In style it belongs to the group of three great churches, Burgos, Toledo +and Leon, which were based upon the constructional principles and +decorative features termed Gothic. In some respects these churches +embodied to a highly developed extent the organic principles of the +style, in others, they fell far short of a clear comprehension of them. +None of them had the beauty or the purity of the greatest of their +French sisters. Burgos may be said to be most consistently Gothic in all +its details, but neither Toledo nor Leon was free from the influence of +Moorish art, which was indeed developing and flowering under Moslem rule +in the south of the Peninsula, at the time when Gothic churches were +lifting their spires into the blue of northern skies under the guidance +and inspiration of the French masters. In many respects the Gothic could +not express itself similarly in Spain and France,—climatic conditions +differed, and, consequently, the architecture which was to suit their +needs. In France, Gothic building tended towards a steadily increasing +elimination of all wall surfaces. The weight and thrusts, previously +carried by walls, were met by a more and more skillfully developed +framework of piers and flying buttresses. Such a development was not +practical for Spain nor was it understood. The widely developed fields +for glass would have admitted the heat of the sun too freely, whereas +the broad surfaces of wall-masonry gave coolness and shade. Nor were the +sharply sloping<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_133" id="page_133"></a>{133}</span> roofs for the easy shedding of snow necessary in Spain. +In French and English Gothic churches, the light, pointed spire is the +ornamental feature of the composition, whereas in the Spanish, with a +few exceptions, the towers become heavy and square.</p> + +<p>None of the three Cathedrals in question impresses us as the outcome of +Spanish architectural growth, but seems rather a direct importation. +They have the main features of a style with which their architects were +familiar and in which they had long since taken the initial steps. They +are working with a practically developed system, whose infancy and early +growth had been followed elsewhere.</p> + +<p>While in the twelfth, and the early portion of the thirteenth century, +Frenchmen were gradually evolving the new system of ecclesiastical +architecture, the Spaniards, destined to surpass them, were to all +purposes still producing nothing but Romanesque buildings, borrowing +certain ornamental or constructional features of the new style, but in +so slight and illogical a degree, that their style remained based upon +its old principles. They employed the pointed arch between arcades and +vaulting, and unlike the French, threw a dome or cimborio over the +intersection of nave and transepts. In some instances we find a regular +French quadripartite vault at the crossing, but such changes are not +sufficient to term the cathedrals of the period (Tudela, Tarragona, +Zamora, and Lerida) Gothic. They remain historically, rather than +artistically, interesting. With the second quarter of the thirteenth +century, comes the change.</p> + +<p>In style Toledo corresponds most closely to the early Gothic of the +north of France. Its plan reminds<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_134" id="page_134"></a>{134}</span> one forcibly of Bourges, though it is +far more ambitious in size. Owing to the long period of its building, it +bears late Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque features, while traces of +Moorish influence are not wanting.</p> + +<p>The Cathedral of Toledo was built in an imaginative, creative and +passionate age,—an age when the ordinary mason was a master builder as +well as sculptor, stimulated by local affection, pride and piety. The +results of his work were tremendous,—his finished product was a +storehouse of art. Artists of all nations had a hand in the work. +Bermudez mentions 149 names of those who embellished the Cathedral +during six centuries. Here worked Borgoña, Berruguete, Cespedes, and +Villalpando, Copin, Vergara Egas, and Covarrubias. It is rather +difficult to analyze their genius. They were not naturally artists, as +were the French and Italians; they did not create as easily, but were +rather stimulated by a more naïve craving for vast dimensions. With this +we find interwoven in places the sparkling, jewel-like intricacy and +play of light and shade so natural to the Moorish artisan, and the +sombre, overpowering solemnity of the warlike Spanish cavalier.</p> + +<p>It is necessary for a people at all times to find expression for its +æsthetic life. Architecture, like literature, reflects the sentiments +and tendencies of a nation's mind. As truly as Don Quixote, Don Juan, or +the Cid express them, so do the stories told by Toledo, Leon, or Burgos. +They reproduce the passions, the dreams, the imagination, and the +absurdities of the age which created them.</p> + +<p>Toledo's first architect, who superintended the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_135" id="page_135"></a>{135}</span> work for more than half +a century, was named Perez (d. 1285). He was followed by Rodrigo, +Alfonso, Alvar Gomez, Annequin de Egas, Martin Sanchez, Juan Guas, and +Enrique de Egas. Hand in hand with the architects, worked the high +priests.</p> + +<p>The Archbishop of Toledo is the Primate of Spain. Mighty prelates have +sat on that throne, and the chapter was once one of the most celebrated +in the world. The Primate of Toledo has the Pope as well as the King of +Spain for honorary canons, and his church takes precedence of all others +in the land. The offices attached to his person are numerous. As late as +the time of Napoleon's conquest of the city, fourteen dignitaries, +twenty-seven canons, and fifty prebends, besides a host of chaplains and +subaltern priests, followed in the train of the Metropolitan. At the +close of the fifteenth century, his revenues exceeded 80,000 ducats +(about $720,000), while the gross amount of those of the subordinate +beneficiaries of his church rose to 180,000. This amount, or 12,000,000 +reals, had not decreased at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In +the middle ages he was followed by more horse and foot than either the +Grand Master of Santiago or the Constable of Castile. When he threw his +influence into the balance, the pretender to the throne was often +victorious. He held jurisdiction over fifteen large and populous towns +besides numbers of inferior places.</p> + +<p>Many who occupied the episcopal throne of Toledo ruled Spain, not only +by virtue of the prestige their high office gave them, but through +extraordinary genius and remarkable attainments. They were great alike +in war and in peace. Many of them combined<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_136" id="page_136"></a>{136}</span> broadness of view and real +learning with purity of morals. They founded universities and libraries, +framed useful laws, stimulated noble impulses, corrected abuses, and +promoted reforms. Popes called them to Rome to ask their advice in +affairs of the Church. Bright in the history of Spain shine the names of +such prelates as Rodriguez, Tenorio, Fonseca, Ximenez, Mendoza, Tavera, +and Lorenzana.</p> + +<p>From the tenth to the sixteenth centuries Castile was far less bigoted +than other European nations, for, of all the daughters of the Mother +Church, Spain was the most independent. Her kings and her primate were +naturally her champions, ever ready and defiant. King James I even went +so far as to cut out the tongue of a too meddlesome bishop. From early +Gothic days to the time when Ferdinand began to dream of Spain as a +power beyond the Iberian Peninsula, no kingdom in Europe was less +disposed to brook the interference of the Pope. Ferdinand and Isabella +thwarted him in insisting upon their right to appoint their own +candidates for the high offices of the Spanish church, and the Pope was +obliged to give way.</p> + +<p>The figure we constantly encounter in the thrilling tilts between Rome +and Spanish prelates is the Archbishop of Toledo. Like Richelieu and +Wolsey, Ximenez and Mendoza towered above their time, and their great +spirits still seem present within their church. Ximenez, better known in +English as Cardinal Cisneros, rose to his high office much against his +will from the obscurity of a humble monk. The peremptory orders of the +Pope were necessary to make him leave his cell and become successively<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_137" id="page_137"></a>{137}</span> +Archbishop of Toledo, Grand Chancellor of Castile, Inquisitor General, +Cardinal, Confessor to Queen Isabella, Minister of Ferdinand the +Catholic, and Regent of the Kingdom of Charles V. He was "an austere +priest, a profound politician, a powerful intellect, a will of iron, and +an inflexible and unconquerable soul; one of the greatest figures in +modern history; one of the loftiest types of the Spanish character. +Notwithstanding the greatness thrust upon him, he preserved the austere +practices of the simple monk. Under a robe of silk and purple, he wore +the hard shirt and frock of St. Francis. In his apartments, embellished +with costly hangings, he slept on the floor, with only a log of wood for +his pillow. Ferdinand owed to him that he preserved Castile, and Charles +V, that he became King of Spain. He did not boast when, pointing to the +Cordon of St. Francis, he explained, 'It is with this I bridle the pride +of the aristocracy of Castile.'"<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p> + +<p>History may accuse him of the unpardonable expulsion of the Moriscos, +and the retention of the Inquisition as well as its introduction into +the New World,—but what he did was done from the strength of his +convictions and according to what, in the light of his age, seemed the +best for his country and his Church. He was perhaps even greater as a +Spaniard than as a churchman. His conceptions were all grand, and he was +as versatile as he was great. Victor in the greatest of all Spanish +toils, he executed the polyglot version of the Scriptures, the most +stupendous literary achievement of his age. Fitting his greatness is the +simplicity of his epitaph:—<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_138" id="page_138"></a>{138}</span></p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Condideram musis Franciscus grande lyceum,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Condor in exiguo nunc ego sarcophago.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Praetextam junxi sacco, galeamque galero,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Frater, Dux, Praesul, Cardineusque pater.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Quin virtute mea junctum est diadema cucullo,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Cum mihi regnanti paruit Hesperia.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>The figure of Cardinal Mendoza stands out clear and strong in the final +struggle with Granada. It was he who first planted the Cross where the +Crescent had waved for six centuries, and he was the first to counsel +Isabella to assist the great discoverer. His keen intellect made him +lend a ready ear and friendly hand to the rapid development of the +science of his time and the fast-spreading taste for literature.</p> + +<p>And so the line of Toledo's illustrious bishops continues,—leaders of +the church militant, like the Montagues and Capulets, they fought from +the mere habit of fighting, but they seldom stained their swords in an +unworthy cause.</p> + +<p class="heading">III</p> + +<p>There is a great discrepancy between the interior and the exterior of +the Cathedral. The former is as grand as the latter is insignificant and +unworthy. The scale is tremendous. Only Milan and Seville cover a +greater area, if the Cathedral is considered in connection with its +cloisters. Cologne comes next to it in size. It runs from west to east, +with nave and double side aisles, ending in a semicircular apse with a +double ambulatory. As is characteristic of Spanish churches, it is +astonishingly wide for its length,—<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_139" id="page_139"></a>{139}</span>being 204 feet wide and 404 feet +long. The nave is 98 feet high and 44 feet wide, while the outer aisles +are respectively 26 and 32 feet across.</p> + +<p>The exterior, with the exception of the ornamental portions of the +portals and a few carvings, is all built of a Berroqueña granite. The +interior is of a kind of mouse-colored limestone taken from the quarries +of Oliquelas near Toledo. Like many limestones, it is soft when first +quarried, but hardens with time and exposure.</p> + +<p>The impression of the exterior is strangely disappointing. Imposing and +massive, but irregular, squat, and encumbered by surrounding edifices +clinging to its masonry. An indifferent husk, encasing a noble interior. +Only one tower is completed, and no two portions of the decoration are +symmetrical. The exterior has no governing scheme, no "idée maîtresse," +no individual style, and is the outgrowth of no definite period. +Successive generations of peace or war have enriched or destroyed its +masonry. You stop with an exclamation of admiration in front of certain +details of the exterior; before others, you only feel astonishment. The +want of order and unity in the execution of its various portions and +elevations is distressing.</p> + +<p>Order and harmony may be preserved, even where an edifice is carried on +by successive ages, each of which imparts to its work the stamp of its +own developing skill and imagination. Very few of the great cathedrals +were begun and completed in one style. Most of the great French churches +show traces of the earlier Norman or Romanesque; most of the English +Gothic, traces of the Norman or of the <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_140" id="page_140"></a>{140}</span>different periods of English +Gothic architecture; but one dominating scheme has been followed by the +consecutive architects. The lack of such a governing and restraining +principle is felt in the exterior of Toledo. Further than this, although +successive wars and religious fanaticism have with their destructive +fury injured so many of the beautiful statues and exquisite carvings and +much of the stained glass of the French and English religious +establishments, still the architecture itself has in the main been left +undisturbed. In Toledo, there is hardly a portion of the early structure +and decoration of the lower, visible part of the Cathedral which has not +been altered or torn down by the various architects of the last three +centuries.</p> + +<p>As an obvious result, the portions of the exterior which are interesting +are individual features, and not a unified scheme; and they are +interesting historically, rather than in relation to or in dependence +upon one another.</p> + +<p>The west front, which is the principal façade, the various doorways and +completed tower form the most interesting portions of the exterior.</p> + +<p>The west front is flanked by two projecting towers, dissimilar in +design. To the south is the uncompleted one, containing the Mozarabic +chapel,<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> roofed by an octagonal cupola and surmounted by a lantern, +strangely betraying in exterior form its Byzantine ancestry.</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 550px;"> +<a href="images/ill_choirtoledo.png"> +<img src="images/ill_choirtoledo_th.png" +width="550" +height="399" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO +The choir stalls" title="CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO +The choir stalls" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption"> +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO<br /> +The choir stalls</p> +</div> + +<p>To the north rises the spire which commands the city and the Cathedral +of Toledo. It was begun in 1380 and completed in sixty years,—no long +time when we take into account its size and detail and the <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_141" id="page_141"></a>{141}</span>carefulness +of its construction. Rodrigo Alfonso and Alvar Gomez were the +architects, and the Cardinals Pedro Tenorio and Tavera directed the +work. Although it lacks the soaring grace of the towers of Burgos, it +possesses quiet strength and a majestic dignity, and the transitions +between its various stories have been executed with a skill scarcely +less than that shown in the older tower of Chartres. It is in fact full +of a character of its own. Divided into three parts, it rises to a +height of some three hundred feet and terminates in a huge cross. The +principal building material is the hard but easily carved Berroqueña +granite, with certain portions finished in marble and slate. The lower +part, which is square, has its faces pierced by interlacing Gothic +arches, windows of different shapes, ornamental coats-of-arms and marble +medallions. It is crowned by a railing and, at the corners where the +transition to the hexagon occurs, by stone pyramids. The central part is +hexagonal in plan and ornamented by arches and crocketed finials. Above +it rises the slate spire terminating under the cross in a conical +pyramid, added after a fire in the year 1662. The spire is curiously and +uniquely encircled by three collars of pointed iron spikes, intended to +symbolize the crowns of thorns.</p> + +<p>The great bells of the Cathedral peal from this tower, among them the +huge San Eugenio, better known, though, by the name "Campana gorda," or +the Big-bellied Bell, weighing 1543 arobes (about 17 tons) and put up +the same day it was cast in the year 1753. Its fame is shown by the old +lines, which enumerate the wonders of Spain as the—<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_142" id="page_142"></a>{142}</span></p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Campana la de Toledo,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Iglesia la de Leon,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Reloj el de Benavente,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Rollos los de Villalon.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Fifteen shoemakers could sit under it and draw out their cobbler's +thread without touching each other. A legend relates that "the sound of +it reached, when first it was rung, even to heaven. Saint Peter fancied +that the tones came from his own church in Rome, but on ascertaining +that this was not the case, and that Toledo possessed the largest of all +bells, he got angry and flung down one of his keys upon it, thus causing +a crack in the bell which is still to be seen."</p> + +<p>Not only does the hoarse croak of Gorda's voice remind the tardy +worshiper of the approaching hour of prayer, but it tells each and all +of the "barrio" where the fire is raging. Though the prudent Toledan may +not know the art of signing his name or reading his Pater Noster, full +well he knows, whenever Gorda speaks, whether the danger is at his own +door or at his neighbor's.</p> + +<p>The lower portion of the façade between the towers is composed of a fine +triple portal dating from 1418 to 1450, which, despite later changes, is +still an excellent piece of Gothic work. It contains over seventy +statues. Above, the façade is composed of an ornamental screen +inexpressive of the structure and the internal arrangement of the +edifice. A railing separated the "lonja," or enclosure immediately in +front<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_143" id="page_143"></a>{143}</span> of the entrances, from the street outside. The central entrance +is the Gate of Pardon; to the north is the Gate of the Tower, also +called the Gate of Hell; to the south is the Gate of the Scriveners or +of Judgment. The middle door is the largest and most important. For +centuries the steps leading to it have been climbed and descended by the +pregnant women of Toledo, to insure an easy parturition.</p> + +<p>The doors themselves are covered with most interesting bronze work, +showing how far the Spaniards had in later centuries developed the art +of their skillful Saracenic predecessors. The arch of the Gate of Pardon +is exquisitely formed and its moldings and recesses are profusely +decorated with finely chiseled figures and ornaments. Each of the three +doors is surmounted by a relief, that over the Pardon representing the +Virgin presenting the chasuble to Saint Ildefonso, who is kneeling at +her feet.</p> + +<p>The Scriveners' Gate derives its name from having been the door of entry +for the scriveners when they came to the Cathedral to take their oath, +but, though they had a gate for their own particular use, they did not +seem to enjoy an especially good reputation. According to an old verse, +their pen and paper would drop from their hands to dance an independent +fandango long before their souls ever entered the Kingdom of Heaven.</p> + +<p>Above the door is an inscription commemorative of the great exploits of +the Catholic Sovereigns and Cardinal Mendoza and of the expulsion of the +Jews from the Kingdoms of Castile, Aragon and Sicily.</p> + +<p>The principal feature above the doors is a classical gable which extends +the whole width of the façade, its<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_144" id="page_144"></a>{144}</span> field filled with colossal pieces of +sculpture representing the Last Supper. Our Lord and the Apostles are +seated, each in his own niche. It recalls the carving over the northeast +entrance of Notre Dame du Puy. Nothing could be more ineffective and out +of place than to crown this portion of the Gothic building with a Greek +gable end. Finally, above the gable, with a curious pair of arches built +out in front of it, comes a circular rose almost thirty feet in +diameter, of early fourteenth-century work, this again being surmounted +by late eighteenth-century Baroque additions.</p> + +<p>There are two doorways on the south side. The Gate of the Lions, which +forms the southern termination to the transept, is of course named from +the lions standing over the enclosing rail directly in front of it, each +supporting its shield. Here you have a bit of the finest work of the +exterior, a most exquisite specimen of the Gothic work of the fifteenth +century. Its detail and finish are remarkable, and few pieces of Spanish +sculpture of its time surpass it in elegance and grace. The larger +figures are most interesting, varying greatly in execution and +character. Those of the inner arches are stiff and still struggling for +freedom from tradition, but of admirably carved drapery,—while the +bishops in the niches to the right and left have faces radiating +kindness and patriarchal benignity, faces we meet and bless in our own +walks of life to-day. The bronze Renaissance doors are as fine as their +setting,—splendid examples of the metal stamping of the sixteenth +century, and the wooden carving on their inner surfaces is equally fine. +The bronze knocker might easily have come from the workshop of the great +Florentine goldsmith.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_145" id="page_145"></a>{145}</span></p> + +<p>The Gate of La Llana, west of the Gate of the Lions, is as ludicrous in +its eighteenth-century dress as the gable of the west façade.</p> + +<p>On the north side of the church we find three gates; in the centre, +forming the northern entrance to the transept, the Puerta del Reloi<a name="FNanchor_C_25" id="FNanchor_C_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_25" class="fnanchor">[c]</a>, +and east and west of it, the Puerta de Santa Catalina, and the Puerta de +la Presentacion.</p> + +<p class="heading">IV</p> + +<p>You leave the outside with a feeling of distress at having viewed a +patchwork of architectural composition, feebly decorating and badly +expressing a noble and mighty frame. You enter into a light of celestial +softness and purity. It seems an old and faded light. As soon as you +regain vision in the cool, refreshing twilight, you experience the +long-deferred exultation. You are amid those that pray,—the poor and +sorrowing, those that would be strengthened. Here voices sink to a +reverent whisper, for curiosity is hushed into awe. "I could never +fathom how a man dares to lift up his voice to preach in a +cathedral,—what has he to say that will not be an anti-climax?" says +Robert Louis Stevenson, and you are struck by the force of his remark +when you compare the droning voice coming from one corner of the +building with the glorious expression of man's faith rising above and +around you. The quiet majesty and silent eloquence of the one +accentuates the feebleness of the other.</p> + +<p>For the interior is as simple and restrained and the planning as logical +and lucid as the exterior is<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_146" id="page_146"></a>{146}</span> blameworthy and unreasonable. Here is +rhythm and harmony. The constructive problems have been ingeniously +mastered, and the carved and decorated portions subordinated to the +gigantic scheme of the great monument. The sculptures are limited to +their respective fields. Structural and artistic principles go hand in +hand. Eloquently the carvings speak the language of the time,—they +become a pictorial Bible, open for the poor man to read, who has no +knowledge of crabbed, monastic letters. They are the language of true +religion, the religion that may change but can never die.</p> + +<p>The plan is unquestionably the <i>grand</i> feature of the Cathedral; the +beauty and scale of it challenge comparison with those of all other +churches in Christendom. The vaulting and its development, the +concentration of the thrust upon the piers and far-leaping flying +buttresses are unquestionably on such a scale and of such character as +to place it among the mightiest, if not the most pure and well-developed +Gothic edifices. It is like a giant that knows not the strength of his +limbs nor the possibilities in his mighty frame.</p> + +<p>You do not feel the great height of the nave, owing to the immensity of +all dimensions and the great circumference of the supporting piers. The +nave and the double side aisles on each side are all of seven bays. The +transept does not project beyond the outer aisles. The plan proper has +thus, at a rough glance, the appearance of a basilica and seems to lack +the side arms of the Gothic cross. The choir consists of one bay, and +the chevet formed by an apse to the choir of five bays. Both aisles +continue around the chevet. Outside these again, and between the +buttresses of the main<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_147" id="page_147"></a>{147}</span> outer walls, lie the different chapels, the +great cloister and the different compartments and dependencies belonging +to church and chapel,—a tremendous development, accumulation, +growth,—a city in itself. The cloisters, as well as almost all the +chapels, were added after the virtual completion of the Cathedral +proper.</p> + +<p>The chevet is the keynote of the plan, and the solution of the problem, +how to vault the different compartments lying between the three +concentric circular terminations beyond the choir. Their vaulting shows +constructive skill and ingenuity of the highest order. The architects +solved the problem with a simplicity and grandeur which places their +genius on a level with that of the greatest of French builders. There +are no previous examples of Spanish churches where similar problems have +been dealt with tentatively. We are thus forced to acknowledge that the +schooling for, and consequent mastery of, the problem, must have been +gained on French soil. The central apse is surrounded by four piers, the +two aisles are separated by eight, and the outer wall is marked by +sixteen points of support. The bays in both aisles are vaulted +alternately by triangular and virtually rectangular compartments. The +vista from west to east is perfectly preserved, and the distance from +centre to centre of every second pair of outer piers is as nearly as +possible the same as that of the inner row. The outer wall of the +aisles, except where the two great chapels of Santiago and San Ildefonso +are introduced, was pierced alternately by small, square chapels +opposite the triangular, vaulting compartments and circular chapels +opposite the others.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_148" id="page_148"></a>{148}</span></p> + +<p>In the cathedrals of Notre Dame de Paris, Saint Remi of Rheims, and in +Le Mans, we find intermediate triangular vaulting compartments +introduced, but they are either employed with inferior skill or in a +different form. In none of these cathedrals do they call for such +unstinted admiration as those of the architect of Toledo. They just fall +short of the happiest solution. In Saint Remi, for instance, we have +intermediate trapezoids instead of rectangles, the inner chord being +longer than the exterior.</p> + +<p>The seventy-two well-molded, simple, quadripartite vaults of the whole +edifice (rising in the choir to about one hundred, and, in the inner and +outer aisles, to sixty and thirty-five feet) are supported by +eighty-eight piers. The capitals of the engaged shafts, composed of +plain foliage, point the same way as the run of the ribs above them. +Simple, strong moldings compose the square bases. The great piers of the +transept are trefoiled in section. The outer walls of the main body of +the church are pierced by arches leading into uninteresting, rectangular +chapels, some of them decorated with elaborate vaulting. In the outer +wall of the intermediate aisle is a triforium, formed by an arcade of +cusped arches, and above this, quite close to the point of the vault, a +rose window in each bay. The clerestory, filling the space above the +great arches on each side of the nave, is subdivided into a double row +of lancet-pointed windows, surmounted by a rosette coming directly under +the spring of the vault.</p> + +<p>The treatment of the crossing of transept and nave is in Toledo, as in +all Spanish churches, emphatic and peculiar. The old central lantern of +the cruciform<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_149" id="page_149"></a>{149}</span> church was retained and developed in their Gothic as well +as in their Renaissance edifices, and was permitted illogically to break +the Gothic roof line. The lantern of Ely is the nearest reminder we have +of it in English or French Gothic. In Spain the "cimborio" became an +important feature and made the croisée beneath it the lightest portion +of the edifice. It shed light to the east and west of it, into the high +altar and the choir.</p> + +<p>The position of the choir is striking and distressing. Its rectangular +body completely fills the sixth and seventh bays of the nave, +interrupting its continuity and spoiling the sweep and grandeur of the +edifice at its most important point. It sticks like a bone in the +throat. Any complete view of the interior becomes impossible, and its +impressive majesty is belittled. One constantly finds the choir of +Spanish cathedrals in this position, which deprives them of the fine +perspective found in northern edifices. In Westminster Abbey, strangely +enough, the choir is similarly placed, and there, as here, it is as if +the hands were tied and the breath stifled, where action should be +freest.</p> + +<p>This peculiar position of the choir was owing to the admission of the +laity to the transept in front of the altar. In earlier days the choir +was adjacent to and facing the altar, the singers and readers being +there enclosed by a low and unimportant rail. The short, eastern apses +of the Spanish cathedrals and the undeveloped and insufficient room for +the clergy immediately surrounding the altar almost necessitated this +divorce of the choir. In France and England the happier and more logical +alternative was resorted to,<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_150" id="page_150"></a>{150}</span> of providing sufficient space east of the +intersection of the transept for all the clergy.</p> + +<p>The rectangular choir of Toledo is closed at the east by a magnificent +iron screen; at the west, by a wall called the "Trascoro," acting as a +background to the archbishop's seat. A doorway once pierced its centre +but was blocked up for the placing of the throne.</p> + +<p>If the position of the choir is unfortunate, its details are among the +most remarkable and glorious of their time and country. The only +entrance is through the great iron parclose or reja at the east. This, +as well as the corresponding grille work directly opposite, closing off +the bay in front of the high altar, are wonderful specimens of the +iron-worker's craft, splendid masterpieces of an art which has never +been excelled since the days of its mediæval guilds. The master Domingo +de Cespedes erected the grille in the year 1548. The framework seems to +be connected by means of tenons and mortices, while the scrolls are +welded together. The larger moldings are formed of sheet iron, bent to +the shape required and flush-riveted to their light frames. Neither the +general design nor the details (both Renaissance in feeling) are +especially meritorious, but the thorough mastery of the material is most +astonishing. The stubborn iron has been wrought and formed with as much +ease and boldness as if it had been soft limestone or plaster. It is +characteristic of the age that the craftsman has not limited himself to +one material. Certain portions of the smaller ornaments are of silver +and copper. Originally their shining surfaces, as well as the gilding of +the great portion of the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_151" id="page_151"></a>{151}</span> principal iron bars, must have touched the +whole with life and color. It was all covered with black paint in the +time of the Napoleonic wars to escape the greedy hands of La Houssaye's +victorious mob, and the gates still retain the sable coat that protected +them.</p> + +<p>Even a more glorious example of Spanish craftsmanship is found in the +choir stalls which surround us to the north and south and west as soon +as we enter. Here we are face to face with the finest flowering of +Spanish mediæval art. Théophile Gautier, generalizing upon the whole +composition, says: "L'art gothique, sur les confins de la Renaissance, +n'a rien produit de plus parfait ni de mieux dessiné." The whole +treatment of the work is essentially Spanish.</p> + +<p>The stalls, the "silleria," are arranged in two tiers, the upper reached +by little flights of five steps and covered by a richly carved, marble +canopy, supported by slender Corinthian columns of red jasper and +alabaster. All the stalls are of walnut, fifty in the lower row, seventy +in the upper, exclusive of the archbishop's seat. The right side of the +altar, that is, the right side of the celebrant looking from the altar, +is called the side of the Gospel,—the left, the side of the Epistle. +The great carvings, differing in the upper and lower stalls in period +and execution, are the work of three artists. The carvings of the lower +row were executed by Rodriguez in 1495, those of the upper, on the +Gospel side, by Alonso Berruguete, and those on the side of the Epistle, +by Philip Vigarny (also called Borgoña), both of the latter about fifty +years later (in 1543).</p> + +<p>The reading desk of the upper stalls forms the back of the lower and +affords the field for their sculptural<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_152" id="page_152"></a>{152}</span> decoration. The subjects are the +Conquest of Granada and the Campaigns of Ferdinand and Isabella. We are +shown in the childish and picturesque manner in which the age tells its +story, the various incidents of the war, all its situations and groups, +its curious costumes, arms, shields, and bucklers, and even the names of +the fortresses inscribed on their masonry. We can recognize the Catholic +monarchs and the great prelate entering the fallen city amid the +grief-stricken infidels.</p> + +<p>The spirit of the work is distinctly that of the period which has gone +before, without any intimations of that to come. It has the character of +the German Gothic, recalling Lucas of Holland and his school. If it has +a grace and beauty of its own, there is also a childish grotesqueness +without any of the self-assured mastery, so soon to spread its Italian +light. The imagination and composition are there, but not the +execution,—the mind, but not the hand.</p> + +<p>The carvings of the upper stalls were executed by their masters in +generous rivalry and in a spirit that shows a decided classic influence.</p> + +<p>Many curious accounts of the time describe the excitement which +prevailed during their execution and the various favor they found in the +eyes of different critics. Looking at them, one's thoughts revert to +that glorious dawn in which Cellini and Ghiberti and Donatello labored. +The inscription says of the two artists, "Signatum marmorea tum ligna +caelavere hinc Philippus Burgundio, ex adverso Berruguetus Hispanus: +certaverunt tum artificum ingenia; certabunt semper spectatorum +judicia."</p> + +<p>Berruguete's work (on the Gospel side) shows <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_153" id="page_153"></a>{153}</span>distinct traces of Michael +Angelo's influence and his study in Italian ateliers with Andrea del +Sarto and Baccio Bandinelli.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> The nervous vigor of the Italian giant +and the purity of style which looked back at Greece and Rome, are +apparent.</p> + +<p>The subjects of Vigarny's work, as also of Berruguete's, are taken from +the Old Testament. They have a more subtle charm, more grace and +freedom. Some of them show strength and an unerring hand, others, +delicacy and exquisite subtleness. Where the Maestro Mayor of Charles V +is powerful and energetic, Vigarny is imaginative and rich.</p> + +<p>Comparing the upper and lower rows of panels, we must see what +remarkable steps had been taken in so short a time by the sculptors. A +lightness of execution, a victorious self-reliance, seems to follow +close on the steps of tentative, even if conscientious, effort. The +carving, the bold relief of the chiseling, have a vividness and +intensity of expression, surpassing some of the best work of Italy and +France.</p> + +<p>The niches in the marble canopy above the upper row of stalls are filled +with figures standing almost in full relief, and representing the +genealogy of Christ.</p> + +<p>The outer walls of the choir are also completely covered with sculpture. +It is thoroughly Gothic in character, crude, and fumbling for +expression, consisting of arcades with niches above containing +alto-relievo illustrations of Old Testament scenes and characters. You +recognize the Garden of Eden, Abraham with agonized face, Isaac, Jacob, +passages from Exodus, and other familiar scenes. Many of the panels<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_154" id="page_154"></a>{154}</span> +depict further the small, everyday occurrences and incidents so loved by +mediæval artists, and so full of earnest, religious feeling. Crowning it +all, amid the pinnacles, are a whole flock of angels, quite prepared for +Ascension Day. It is all very similar to the early fourteenth-century +work in French cathedrals.</p> + +<p>The bay in front of the high altar, forming with it the Capilla Mayor, +and the choir are closed from the transept by a huge reja as fine as the +one facing it, and the work of the Spaniard Francesco Villalpando +(1548).<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<p>The Capilla Mayor originally consisted of the one bay to the east of the +transept, the adjacent terminating portion of the nave being the chapel +containing the tombs of the kings. The great Cardinal Ximenez received +Isabella's permission to remove the dividing wall in case he could +accomplish the task without disturbing any of the monarchs' coffins. The +walls all round, both internally and externally, are completely covered +with sculpture. Many of the figures are faithful portraits; many of the +groups tell an interesting story. On the Gospel side there are two +carvings, one over the other, the upper representing Don Alfonso VIII, +and the lower, the shepherd who guided the monarch and his army to the +renowned plains of Las Navas de Tolosa, where the battle was fought +which proved so glorious to Christian arms. One likewise sees the statue +of the Moor, Alfaqui Abu Walid, who threw himself in the path of King +Alfonso and prevailed upon him to forgive Queen Constance and Bishop +Bernard for the expulsion of the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_155" id="page_155"></a>{155}</span> Moors from their mosque, contrary to +the king's solemn oath.</p> + +<p>All around us lie the early rulers of the House of Castile, Alfonso VII, +Sancho the Deserted, and Sancho the Brave, the Prince Don Pedro de +Aguilar, son of Alfonso XI, and the great Cardinal Mendoza. Below in the +vault lie, by the sides of their consorts, Henry II, John I, and Henry +III.</p> + +<p>At the end of the chapel, acting as a background to the altar, you find +a composition constantly met in and characteristic of Spanish +cathedrals. The huge "retablo" is nothing but a meaningless, gaudy and +sensational series of carved and decorated niches. It is carved in +larchwood and merely reveals a love of the cheap and tawdry display of +the decadent florid period of Gothic.</p> + +<p>Back of the retablo and the high altar, you are startled by the most +horrible and vulgar composition of the church. Nothing but the mind of +an idiot could have conceived the "transparente."<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> It has neither +order nor reason. The whole mass runs riot. Angels and saints float up +and down its surface amid doughy clouds. The angel Raphael +counterbalances the weight of his kicking feet by a large goldfish which +he is frantically clutching. It is a piece of uncontrolled, imbecile +decoration, perpetrated to the everlasting shame of Narciso Tomé in the +first half of the eighteenth century.</p> + +<p>Nothing except the choir and Capilla Mayor disturb<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_156" id="page_156"></a>{156}</span> the simplicity of +the aisles and the great body of the church. All other monuments or +compositions are found in the numerous rooms and chapels leading from +the outer aisles or situated between the lower arches of the outside +walls. There are many of them, some important, others trivial. The +Mozarabic chapel, in the southwest corner of the cathedral, is the one +place in the world where you may still every morning hear the quaint old +Visigothic or Mozarabic ritual recited. The chapel was constructed under +Cardinal Ximenez in 1512 for the double purpose of commemorating the +tolerance of the Moors, who during their dominion left to the Christians +certain churches in which to continue their own worship, and also to +perpetuate the use of the old Gothic ritual. It is most curious, almost +barbaric: "The canons behind, in a sombre flat monotone, chant responses +to the officiating priest at the altar. The sound combines the +enervating effect of the hum of wings, whirr of looms, wooden thud of +pedals, the boom and rush of immense wings circling round and round." It +is strange to hear this echo a thousand years old of a magnanimous act +in so intolerant an age.</p> + +<p>In the eleventh century King Alfonso, at the insistence of Bernard and +Constance, and the papal legate Richard, decided to abolish the use of +the old Gothic ritual and to introduce the Gregorian rite. The Toledans +threatened revolt rather than abandon their old form of worship. The +King knew no other method of decision than to leave the question to two +champions. In single combat the Knight of the Gothic Missal, Don Juan +Ruiz de Mantanzas, killed his adversary while he himself remained +unhurt. At<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_157" id="page_157"></a>{157}</span> a second trial, where two bulls were entrusted with the +perplexing difficulty, the Gothic bull came off victor. Councils were +held and the Pope still persevered in his determination to abolish the +old Spanish service book. Outside the walls of the city, in front of the +King and churchmen and amid the entire populace of Toledo, a great fire +was built, and the two mass-books were thrown into it. When the flames +had died down, only the Gothic mass-book was found unscathed. Only after +many years, when traditions had gradually altered and even much of the +text had become meaningless to the clergy, did the Roman service book +become universally introduced into Toledan houses of worship.</p> + +<p>Two other chapels are of especial interest: those of Saint Ildefonso and +Santiago. Saint Ildefonso, who became metropolitan in 658, is second +only in honor to Saint James of Compostella; he was unquestionably the +most favored of Toledo's long line of bishops.</p> + +<p>Three natives of Narbonne had dared to question the perpetual virginity +of Our Lady. Saint Ildefonso gallantly took up her defense and proved it +beyond doubt or questioning in his treatise "De Virginitate Perpetua +Sanctae Mariae adversus tres Infideles." It was a crushing vindication +and a discourse of much reason and scriptural light. Shortly afterwards +the Bishop, together with the King and court, went to the Church of +Saint Leocadia to give public thanks. As soon as the multitude had had +sufficient time to kneel at the saint's tomb, a group of angels appeared +amid a cloud and surrounded by sweet scents. Next the sepulchre opened +of its own accord. Calix relates, "Thirty men could not have moved the +stone which<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_158" id="page_158"></a>{158}</span> slid slowly from the mouth of the tomb. Immediately Saint +Leocadia arose, after lying there three hundred years, and holding out +her arm, she shook hands with Saint Ildefonso, speaking in this voice, +'Oh, Ildefonso, through thee doth the honor of My Lady flourish.' All +the spectators were silent, being struck with the novelty and the +greatness of the miracle. Only Saint Ildefonso, with Heaven's aid, +replied to her. Now the virgin Saint looked as if she wished to return +into the tomb and she turned around for that purpose, when the King +begged of Saint Ildefonso that he would not let her go until she left +some relic of her behind, for a memorial of the miracle and for the +consolation of the city. And as Saint Ildefonso wished to cut a part of +the white veil which covered the head of St. Leocadia, the King lent him +a knife for that purpose, and this must have been a poniard or a dagger, +though others say it was a sword. With this the saint cut a large piece +of the blessed veil, and while he was giving it to the King, at the same +time returning the knife, the saint shut herself up entirely and covered +herself in the tomb with the huge stone."</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 408px;"> +<a href="images/ill_toledo_santiago.png"> +<img src="images/ill_toledo_santiago_th.png" +width="408" +height="550" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO +Chapel of Santiago, tombs of D. Alvaro de Luna and his spouse" title="CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO +Chapel of Santiago, tombs of D. Alvaro de Luna and his spouse" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption"> +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO<br /> +Chapel of Santiago, tombs of D. Alvaro de Luna and his spouse</p> +</div> + +<p>But even this was not a sufficient expression of gratitude to satisfy +Saint Mary, for next week she herself came down to enjoy matins with +Saint Ildefonso in the Cathedral. She sat in his throne and listened to +his discourse with both pleasure and edification. A celestial host +dispensed music in the choir, music of heaven, hymns, David's psalms and +chants, such as never had been heard before, either in Seville or in +Toledo. To cap it all, the Virgin made her favorite a splendid present +of a chasuble worked by the angels with which she invested him with her +own hands <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_159" id="page_159"></a>{159}</span>before she said good-bye. You may still kiss your fingers +after having touched the sacred slab upon which the Virgin stood and +above which run the words of the Psalmist: "Adorabimus in loco ubi +steterunt pedes ejus." The chapel is, similarly to the screens around +the choir, of fourteenth-century work.</p> + +<p>The Chapel of Santiago was erected by Count Alvaro de Luna, for more +than thirty years the real sovereign of Castile. It is most elaborately +decorated throughout with rich Gothic work, interwoven with sparkling +filigree of Saracenic character. The tombs of the Lunas are of interest +because of the great Count. His own is not the original one. The first +mausoleum which he erected to himself was so constructed that the +recumbent effigy or automaton could, when mass was said, slowly rise, +clad in full armor, and remain kneeling until the service was ended, +when it would slowly resume its former posture. This was destroyed at +the instigation of Alvaro's old enemy, Henry of Aragon, who remained +unreconciled even after the death of his old minister. At each corner of +Alvaro's tomb kneels a knight of Santiago, at his feet a page holds his +helmet, his own hands are crossed devoutly over the sword on his breast, +and the mantle of his order is folded about his shoulders. His face +wears an expression of sadness.</p> + +<p>Alvaro began his career as a page in the service of Queen Catharine +(Plantagenet). He ended it as Master of Santiago, Constable of Castile, +and Prime Minister of John II, whom he completely ruled for thirty-five +years. He lived in royal state, became all-powerful and arrogant. His +diplomacy effected<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_160" id="page_160"></a>{160}</span> the marriage of Henry II and Isabella of Portugal, +but he later incurred the enmity of Isabella, was accused of high +treason, found guilty, and executed in the square of Valladolid. Pius II +said of him, "He was a very lofty mind, as great in war as he was in +peace, and his soul breathed none but noble thoughts."</p> + +<p>And thus we may continue all around the Cathedral, past the successive +chapels, vestries, sanctuaries and treasuries,—the architecture and +sculpture of each connected with great events and telling its own story +of dark tragedy or lighter romance.</p> + +<p>In one, the Spanish banners used to be consecrated before leading the +hosts against the Moors; in another, Spain now keeps her priceless +treasures under the locks of seven keys hanging from the girdles of an +equal number of canons. There are silver and gold and pearl and precious +jewels sufficient to set on foot every stagnant Spanish industry. The +8500 pearls of the Virgin's cape might alone feed a province for no +short time. They are buried in the dark. Outside in the light, the +children of Spain are starving and without means of obtaining food. At +one's elbow the whine of the beggar is continually heard, till one +recalls Washington Irving's words: "The more proudly a mansion has been +tenanted in the days of its prosperity, the humbler are its inhabitants +in the days of her decline, and the palace of the king commonly ends in +being the resting-place of the beggar."</p> + +<p>Here and there, in the interior as in the exterior, we find, mixed with +or decorating the Gothic, Moorish and Renaissance details and the later +extravagances which followed the decline of the Gothic. Even where the +carvers are expressing themselves<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_161" id="page_161"></a>{161}</span> in Gothic or Renaissance details, we +frequently observe an extreme richness, a love of chiaroscuro, of +sparkling jewel-like light and shade, and intricately woven +ornamentation which betrays the influence of the Arab. We see the +Morisco, a kind of fusion of French and Moorish, in many places. The +triforium of the choir is decidedly Moorish in its design, although it +is Gothic in all its details and has carvings of heads and of the +ordinary dog-tooth enrichment instead of merely conventionalized leaf +and figure ornament. It consists of a trefoil arcade. In the spandrels +between its arches are circles with heads and, above these, triangular +openings pierced through the wall. The moldings of all the openings +interpenetrate, and the whole arcade has the air of intricate ingenuity +so usual in Moorish work. Again, in the triforium of the inner aisle we +find Moorish influence,—the cusping of the arcade is not enclosed +within an arch but takes a distinct horseshoe outline, the lowest cusp +near the cap spreading inward at the base. We see Moorish tiles, we find +Moorish cupolas as in the Mozarabic chapel, and Moorish doorways, as the +exquisite one leading into the Sala Capitular,—here and there and +everywhere, we suddenly come upon details betraying the Arab intimacy.</p> + +<p>The children of the Renaissance also embellished in their new manner, +not only in the magnificent carvings of the choir but in a variety of +places, for instance, the doors themselves contained within the Moorish +molds leading to the Sala just mentioned, the entire chapel of St. Juan, +the Capilla de Reyes Nuevos, portions of the Puerta del Berruguete, and +the bronze doors of the Gate of the Lions.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_162" id="page_162"></a>{162}</span></p> + +<p>Again, on the capitals and bases of many of the piers, with the +exception of those of the central nave, Byzantine influence may be seen.</p> + +<p>So each age, according to its best ken, dealt with the Cathedral. In +among the varying styles of architectural decoration, the sister arts +embellish the stone surfaces or are hung upon them. There are paintings +by Titian, Giovanni Bellini, and Rubens, by El Greco, Goya, and Ribera; +Italian and Flemish tapestries, and frescoes too. Probably the greater +portion of the main walls were covered with them, for here and there +traces are still to be seen and a tree of Jesse remains in the tympanum +of the south transept, and near it an enormous painting of Saint +Christopher.</p> + +<p>While the "Tresorio" may have been the treasure-house of the clergy, the +church itself was that of the people. Here was their art museum, here +were their galleries. The decorations became the primers from which they +learnt their lessons. Here they would meet in the afternoon hour as the +light fell aslant sapphire and ruby, through the clerestory openings. It +would light up their treasures with strange, unearthly glory and form +aureoles and haloes of rainbow splendor over the heads of their beloved +saints. Cool amethyst and emerald and warmer amber and gold touched the +darkest corners, and a gold and purple glory illuminated the high altar.</p> + +<p>Some of the earlier glass is as fine as any to be found in Europe. The +depth and intensity of the colors are remarkable. Probably none of it +was Spanish, but all was imported from France, Belgium, or Germany. The +glass in the rose of the north transept and in the eastern windows of +the transept<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_163" id="page_163"></a>{163}</span> clerestory can hold its own beside that of the cathedrals +of Paris and Amiens. The subject scheme of the rose in the north +transept is truly noble. The earliest glass is that in the nave (a +little later than 1400), and this is Flemish. The windows of the aisles +are at least a century later. Their composition is simple and broad, the +coloring rich and deep, and the interior dusk of the church enhances the +value of the sunlight filtering through the glass.</p> + +<p>Better than to descend into the immense crypt below the Cathedral, with +its eighty-eight massive piers corresponding to those above, is it to +stray into the broken sunlight of the green and fragrant cloister +arcade.</p> + +<p>Bishop Tenorio procured the site for the church from the Jews, who here, +right under the walls of the Christian church, held their market. A +fresco adjoining the gate explains by what means. It represents on a +ladder a fiendish-looking Jew who has cut the heart out of a beautiful, +crucified child and is holding the dripping dagger in his hand. This +fresco stirred up the fury of the Christian populace to the point of +burning the Jewish market, houses and shops, which then were annexed by +the Bishop. The fine, two-story Gothic arcade of the cloisters encloses +a sun-splashed garden filled with fragrant flowers. Around the walls of +the lower arcade are a series of very mediocre frescoes. The +architecture itself is not nearly as interesting as that of the +cloisters of Salamanca. It ought particularly to be so in this portion +of the church, for here is the very climate and place for the courtyard +life of the Spaniard.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_164" id="page_164"></a>{164}</span></p> + +<p class="heading">V</p> + +<p>So lies the Cathedral, crumbling in the sunlight of the twentieth +century. Beautiful, but strange and irreconcilable to all that is around +her, she alone, the Mother Church, stands unshaken, lonely and +melancholy, but grand and solemn in the midst of the paltry and tawdry +happenings of to-day. She has served giants, and now sees but a race of +dwarfs; princes have prostrated themselves at her altars, where now only +beggars kneel. Her walls whisper loneliness, desertion, widowed +resignation.</p> + +<p class="sml80"><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—In connection with the remarks on <a href="#page_160">page 160</a>, a Catholic +friend has pointed out how rarely, when Peter has been robbed, +ostensibly to pay Paul, Paul (otherwise the Poor) has derived any +benefit from it. It is willingly conceded that Henry VIII bestowed +much of the wealth derived from the dissolution of the religious +houses on his own favorites, and recent disclosures in France show +as scandalous a diversion of some of the funds similarly obtained.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_165" id="page_165"></a>{165}</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_166" id="page_166"></a>{166}</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_167" id="page_167"></a>{167}</span></p> + +<h3><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI<br /> +<br />SEGOVIA</h3> + +<div class="image" style="width: 550px;"> +<a href="images/ill_segovia_1.png"> +<img src="images/ill_segovia_1_th.png" +width="550" +height="413" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA" title="CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption"> +CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA</p> +</div> + +<table summary="poetry" +class="sml80"><tr><td> +Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault,<br /> +The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 16em;"><i>Gray.</i></span> +</td></tr></table> + +<p class="nind"><span class="lgletter">O</span><span style="margin-left: -.75em;">NCE</span> +upon a time, long, long ago, in the days of the Iberians, there was +a city and its name was Segovia. It is now so old that all of it, with +the exception of the great heap of masonry which crowns its summit, has +practically crumbled into a mountain of ruins. The pile still stands, +dominating the plain and facing the setting sun, triumphant over time +and decay,—the Cathedral of Saint Mary and Saint Froila. Though Mary +was the holier of the two patrons, owing to whose protection the church +stands to-day so well preserved, still Froila was in certain respects no +less remarkable. The Segovians of his day saw him split open a rock with +his jackknife and prove to the Moslems then ruling his city, beyond all +doubt, the validity of his Christian faith.</p> + +<p>But long before saints and cathedrals, the Romans, recognizing the +tenacious and commanding position as a military stronghold of the rock +of Segovia, which rises precipitously from the two valleys watered by +the Erasma and Clamores, pitched their camp upon its crest, renaming it +Segobriga. The city was fortified, and under Trajan the truly +magnificent aqueduct was built, either by the Romans or the devil, to +supply the city with the waters of the Fonfria mountains.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_168" id="page_168"></a>{168}</span> A beautiful +Segovian had at this early time grown weary of carrying her jugs up the +steep hills from the waters below and promised the devil she would marry +him, if he only would in a night's time once and for all bring into the +city the fresh waters of the eastern mountains. She was worth the labor, +and the suitor accepted the contract. Fortunately the Church found the +arcade incomplete, the devil having forgotten a single stone, and the +maid was honorably released from her part of a bargain, the execution of +which had profited her city so greatly. Segovia still carries on her +shield this "Puente del diabolo," with the head of a Roman peering above +it.</p> + +<p>The strong position of the city made it an envied possession to whatever +conqueror held the surrounding country. It lay on the borderland, +constantly disputed with varying fortune by Christian and Moslem. Under +the dominion of the early Castilian kings, and even under the triumphant +Moors, the youthful church prospered and grew, for in the government of +their Christian subjects, the Mohammedans here, as elsewhere, showed +themselves temperate and full of common sense. The invaders had, indeed, +everywhere been welcomed by the numerous Jews settled in Spanish cities, +who under the new rulers exchanged persecution for civil and religious +liberty. Prompt surrender and the payment of a small annual tax were the +only conditions made, to confirm the conquered, of whatever race or +religion, in the possession of all their worldly goods, perfect freedom +of worship and continued government by their own laws under their own +judges.</p> + +<p>In the eleventh century, Segovia was included in<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_169" id="page_169"></a>{169}</span> the great Amirate of +Toledo, but the Castilian kings grew stronger, till in 1085 they were +able to recapture Toledo. The singularly picturesque contours of the +city are due to the various races which fortified her. Iberians were +probably the first to strengthen their hill from outside attack,—the +Romans followed, building upon the foundations of the old walls, and +Christian and Moslem completed the work, until the little city was +compactly girdled by strong masonry, broken by some three to four score +fighting towers and but few gates of entrance. Alfonso the Wise was one +of the great Segovian rulers and builders. He strengthened her bastions, +added a good deal to the walls of her illustrious fortress, and in 1108 +gave the city her first charter. A few years later Segovia was elevated +to a bishopric.</p> + +<p>Long before the earliest cathedral church, the Alcazar was the most +conspicuous feature in the landscape, and it still holds the second +place. Erected on the steep rocks at the extreme eastern end of the +almond-shaped hill, it stands like a chieftain at the head of his +warriors, always ready for battle, and first to meet any onslaught. +Several Alfonsos, as well as Sanchos, labored upon it during the +perilous twelfth century. Here the kings took up their abode in the +happy days when Segovia was capital of the kingdom, and even in later +times it sheltered such illustrious travelers as the unfortunate Prince +Charles of England, and Gil Blas, when out of suits with fortune.</p> + +<p>The first Cathedral was erected on the broad platform east of the +Alcazar, directly under the shadow of its protecting walls. The +ever-reappearing Count<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_170" id="page_170"></a>{170}</span> Raymond of Burgundy was commissioned by his +father-in-law, the King, to repopulate Segovia after the Moorish +devastations, and he rebuilt its walls, as he was doing for the +recaptured cities of Salamanca and Avila. The battlements were repaired, +and northerners from many provinces occupied the houses that had been +deserted.</p> + +<div class="imageplan" style="width: 482px;"> +<a href="images/ill_plansegovia.png"> +<img src="images/ill_plansegovia_th.png" +width="482" +height="550" +alt="KEY OF PLAN OF SEGOVIA CATHEDRAL" title="KEY OF PLAN OF SEGOVIA CATHEDRAL" /></a> +</div> + +<table summary="segovia plan" +cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" +class="sml75"> +<tr><td colspan="4" align="center">KEY OF PLAN OF SEGOVIA CATHEDRAL</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="4" align="center"> </td></tr> +<tr><td>A.</td><td>Capilla Mayor.</td><td>D.</td><td>Sacristy.</td></tr> +<tr><td>B.</td><td>Choir.</td><td>E.</td><td>Cloisters.</td></tr> +<tr><td>C.</td><td>Crossing.</td><td>F.</td><td>Tower.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>To judge from the ruins as well as from well-preserved edifices, +Romanesque days must have been full of great architectural activity. One +is constantly reminded of Toledo in climbing up and down the narrow +streets, where one must often turn aside or find progress barred by +Romanesque and Gothic courtyards or smelly culs-de-sac. Everywhere are +Romanesque portals and arches, palaces and the apses and circular +chapels of the age, bulging beyond the sidewalks into the cobblestones +of the street. They seem indeed venerable. Some of the old palaces +present a curious all-over design executed in Moorish manner and with +Moorish feeling. It is carved into the sidewalk, showing in relief a +geometrical, circular pattern, each circle filled with a quantity of +small Gothic lancets, surely difficult both to design and to execute. +Some of the old parish churches stand with their deep splays, +round-headed arches and windows and broad, recessed portals almost as +perfectly preserved as a thousand years ago. The Romanesque style died +late and hard. Even in the thirteenth century, the city could boast +thirty such parish churches. To-day they seem fairly prayer-worn. Beyond +their towers stretch the plains in every direction, seamed by stone +walls and dotted with gray rocks. Olive and poplar groves cluster round +<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_171" id="page_171"></a>{171}</span>the small hillocks, rising here and there like camels' backs.</p> + +<p>As long as the welfare and development of the city depended on strong +natural fortifications, Segovia remained intact. To the twelfth and +thirteenth centuries belongs her glory. Her power passed with the middle +ages and their chivalry, and in the sixteenth century she was a dead +city.</p> + +<p>Villages, convents and churches lie scattered over the plain, the houses +crowded together for protection against the blazing, scorching, pitiless +sun. Standing by itself is the ancient and severe church, where many a +knight-templar kept his last vigil before turning his back on the plains +of Castile, and apart sleeps the monastery where Torquemada was once +prior. They all crumble golden brown against the horizon.</p> + +<p>Many a bloody fray or revolution upset the city during the middle ages. +The minority of Alfonso XI witnessed one of the worst. The revolt which +broke out in so many of the Spanish cities against the Emperor Charles +V, proved most fatal to the Cathedral of Segovia.</p> + +<p>The first Romanesque Cathedral had been built in honor of St. Mary, +under the walls of the Alcazar, during the first half of the twelfth +century. It was consecrated in 1228 by the papal legate, Juan, Bishop of +Sabina. Some two hundred and fifty years later, a new and magnificent +Gothic cloister was added to it by Bishop Juan Arias Davila, and +likewise a new episcopal palace more fitting times of greater luxury and +magnificence. This palace, despite the coming translation of the +Cathedral itself, remained the abode of the bishops for the three +following centuries.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_172" id="page_172"></a>{172}</span> In the new cloisters a banquet of reconciliation +was celebrated in 1474 by Henry IV and the Catholic Kings. It was held +on the very spot whence Isabella had started in state on a journey +proving so eventful in the history not only of Castile but of the entire +Peninsula and countries beyond. Three years after the furious struggle +which took place around the entrance of the Alcazar, Charles V issued +the following proclamation:—</p> + +<p>"The King: To the Aldermen, Justices, Councillors, Knights, Men-at-arms, +Officials, and good Burghers of the city of Segovia. The reverend Father +in Christ, Bishop of the church of this city, has told me how he and the +Chapter of his church believe that it would be well to move the +Cathedral church to the plaza of the city on the site of Santa Clara, +and that the parish of San Miguel of the plaza should be incorporated in +the Cathedral church; and this, because when the said Cathedral church +is placed in a situation where the divine services may be more +advantageously held, our Saviour will be better served and the people +will receive much benefit and the city become much ennobled; it appears +to me good that this plan should be carried out, desiring the good and +ennoblement and welfare of the said city because of the loyalty and +services I have always found in it, therefore I command and request that +you unite with the said Bishop or his representative and the Chapter of +said church and all talk freely together about this and see what will be +best for the good of the said city, and at the same time consider the +assistance that the said city could itself render, and after discussion, +forward me the results of your<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_173" id="page_173"></a>{173}</span> combined judgment, in order that I +better may see and decide what will be for the best service of Our Lord, +Ourselves, and the welfare of the city. Dated in Madrid, the 2d day of +October, in the year 1510.—I, the King."</p> + +<p>While the discussion of the feasibility and expense of commencing an +entirely new cathedral upon a new site nearer the heart of the city was +at its height, the revolt of the Comunidades broke out, in 1520, and +swept away in its burning and pillaging course the Romanesque edifice. +This stood at the entrance to the fortress, where the fight naturally +raged hottest. Only a very few of the most sacred images, relics and +bones were carried to safety within the walls of the Alcazar before the +old pile had been practically destroyed. Segovia was without a Cathedral +church.</p> + +<p>In the centre of the city, on the very crest of the hill, lay the only +clearing within the walls. Here at one end of the plaza was the site of +the convent mentioned by Emperor Charles, which had long sheltered the +nuns of Santa Clara. They had abandoned it for other quarters, and the +adjacent convent of San Miguel had become unpopular and was dwindling +into insignificance. Both could thus in this most free and commanding +location give way to a new and larger cathedral, distant from what would +always prove the rallying point of civic strife. Following the mighty +wave of revolt which had swept the city, came a great receding wave of +religious enthusiasm to atone in holy fervor for the impious act +recently committed. Citizen and noble alike proposed to build an edifice +which would be much more to the glory of Saint Mary than the shrine +which they had<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_174" id="page_174"></a>{174}</span> so recently pulled down. Lords gave whole villages; +women, their jewels; and the citizens, the sweat of their brows. We find +in the archives of the Cathedral the following entry by the Canon Juan +Ridriguez<a name="FNanchor_B_24" id="FNanchor_B_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_24" class="fnanchor">[b]</a>:</p> + +<p>"On June 8th, 1522, ... by the consent and resolution of the Lord Bishop +D. Diego de Rovera and of the Dean and Chapter of the said church, it +was agreed to commence the new work of the said church to the glory of +God and in honor of the Virgin Mary and the glorious San Frutos and all +saints, taking for master of the said work Juan Gil de Hontañon, and for +his clerk of the works Garcia de Cubillas. Thursday, the 8th of June, +1552, the Bishop ordered a general procession with the Dean and Chapter, +clergy and all the religious orders."</p> + +<p>The corner stone was laid and the masonry started at the western end +under the most renowned architect of the age. Juan Gil had already +worked on the old Segovian Cathedral, but had achieved his great fame on +the new Cathedral of Salamanca, started ten years previously, whose +walls were rising with astounding rapidity. His clerk was almost equally +skilled, always working in perfect harmony with his master and carrying +out his designs without jealousy during the "maestro's" many illnesses +and journeys to and from Salamanca. Garcia lived to work on the church +until 1562, and the old archives still hold many drawings from his +skillful hand.</p> + +<p>The two late Gothic Cathedrals are so similar in many points that they +are immediately recognizable as the conception of the same brain. +Segovia is, however, infinitely superior, not only in the magnificent +development of the eastern end with its semicircular<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_175" id="page_175"></a>{175}</span> apse, ambulatory, +and radiating apsidal chapels, as compared with the square termination +of Salamanca, but, throughout, in the restrained quality of its detail +and the refinement of its ornamentation. How far the abrupt and +uninteresting apsidal termination of Salamanca was Juan Gil's fault, it +is difficult to say, for we find records of its having been imposed upon +him by the Chapter as well as of his having drawn a circular apse. +Fortunately, the Segovian churchmen had the common sense to leave their +architect alone in most artistic matters and allow him to make the head +of the church either "octagonal, hexagonal, or of square form." Where +Salamanca has been coarsened by the new style, Segovia seems inspired by +its fidelity to the old.</p> + +<p>The similarity of the two churches is visible throughout. The general +interior arrangements are much alike. The stone of the two interiors is +of nearly the same color, and the formation and details of the great +piers are strikingly similar. There is the same thin, reed-like descent +of shafts from upper ribs, the same, almost inconspicuous, small leaves +for caps, and, in both, the bases terminate at different heights above +the huge common drum, which is some three feet high. Externally, there +are analogous buttresses, crestings, pinnacles and parapets, and a +concealment of roof structure, but there is none of the vanity of +Salamanca in the sister church of Segovia. The last great Gothic church +of Spain, though deficient in many ways, was not lacking in unity nor +sincerity. The flame went out in a magnificent blaze.</p> + +<p>Such faithfulness and love as possessed Juan Gil for his old Gothic +masters seems well-nigh incredible.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_176" id="page_176"></a>{176}</span> He designed, and during his +activity there of nine years, raised the greater portions of Segovia in +an age when Gothic building was practically extinct, when Brunelleschi +was building Santa Maria del Fiore, and the classic revival was in full +march. Segovia and Spaniards were as tardy in forswearing their Gothic +allegiance as they had been their Romanesque. Not until the beginning of +the sixteenth century does the reborn classicism victoriously cross the +Pyrenees, and then only in minor domestic buildings. The last +manifestations of Gothic church-building in Spain were neither weak nor +decadent, but virile, impressive and logical. Segovia Cathedral may be +said to be the last great monument in Spain, not only of Gothic, but of +ecclesiastical art. Thereafter came the deluge of decadence or +petrification. What must not the power of the Church, as well as the +religious enthusiasm of the populace, have been during this +extraordinary sixteenth century! It is almost incredible that this tiny +city, in a weak little kingdom, and so few miles from Salamanca, had the +spirit for an undertaking of the size of this Cathedral church, so soon +after Salamanca had entered on her architectural enterprise. Either of +the two seems beyond the united power of the kingdom.</p> + +<p>Even more remarkable than the starting of Segovia in the Gothic style at +so late a date, was the fact that the architects succeeding Juan Gil, +who were naturally tempted to embody their own ideas and to employ the +new style then in vogue, should nevertheless have faithfully adhered to +the original conception and completed in Gothic style all constructive +and ornamental details everywhere except in the final closing <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_177" id="page_177"></a>{177}</span>of the +dome and a few minor exterior features. Naturally the Gothic of the +sixteenth century was not that of the thirteenth,—not that of Leon or +Toledo, nor even of Burgos,—it had been modified and lost in spirit, +but still its origin was undeniable.</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 550px;"> +<a href="images/ill_segovia_2.png"> +<img src="images/ill_segovia_2_th.png" +width="550" +height="411" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA. +From the Plaza." title="CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA. +From the Plaza." /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption"> +CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA.<br /> +From the Plaza.</p> +</div> + +<p>In 1525 Segovia was fairly started. House after house that impeded the +progress of the work was destroyed, until up to a hundred of them had +been razed. Santa Clara was kept for the services until the very last +moment, when a sufficient portion of the new building was ready for +their proper celebration.</p> + +<p>It was unusual to start with the western end, the apse and its +surrounding arches being the portion necessary for services. In Segovia, +however, as well as in the new Salamancan Cathedral, the great western +front was the earliest to rise. Gil did not live to finish it, but it is +evident that, as long as he directed, the work drew the attention of the +entire artistic fraternity of the Peninsula. We find constant mention in +old documents of the visits and the praise of illustrious architects, +among them Alfonso de Covarrubias, Juan de Alava, Enrique de Egas, and +Felipe de Borgoña. Gil's clerk-of-the-works, Cubillas, succeeded him as +"maestro," and under him the western front with its tower, the +cloisters, and the nave and aisles as far as the crossing, were +virtually completed by 1558. Aside from the manual labor, "it had taken +more than forty-eight collections of maravedis" to bring it to this +point. The magnificent old cloisters erected by Bishop Davila beside the +old Cathedral in 1470, had been spared the fury of the mob, and in 1524 +they were moved stone by stone to the southern flank of the new +Cathedral. This would have been a remarkable<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_178" id="page_178"></a>{178}</span> feat of masonry in our +age, and, for the sixteenth century, it was astonishing. Not a stone was +chipped nor a piece of carving broken. Juan de Compero took the whole +fabric apart and put it together again, as a child does a box of wooden +blocks.</p> + +<p>The 15th of August, 1558, when the first services were held in the +Cathedral, was the greatest day in Segovia's history. Quadrado, probably +quoting from old accounts, tells us, "The divine services were then held +in the new Temple. People came to the festival from all over Spain, and +music, from all Castile. At twilight on August 14th, 1558, the tower was +illuminated with fire-works, the great aqueduct, with two thousand +colored lights, and the reflection of the city's lights alarmed the +country-side for forty leagues round. The following day, the Assumption +of Our Lady, there was an astonishing procession, in which all the +parishes took part and the community offered prizes for the best +display. The procession went out by the gate of Saint Juan, and, after +going all around the city, returned to the plaza, where the sacrament +was being borne out of Santa Clara. There was a bull-fight, +pole-climbing, a poetical competition and comedies. The generosity of +the donations corresponded to the pomp of the occasion. Ten days +afterwards the bones were taken from the old church and reinterred in +the new one, among which were those of the Infante Don Pedro, Maria del +Salto, and different prelates."</p> + +<p>The bones of the two former were laid to rest under the arches of the +cloister. Don Pedro was a little son of King Henry II who had been +playing on one of the iron balconies in front of the Alcazar windows, +and, while his nurse's back was turned, pitched headlong<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_179" id="page_179"></a>{179}</span> over the +precipice into eternity and the poplar trees three hundred feet below. +The nurse, who knew full well it would be a question of only a few hours +before she followed her princely charge, anticipated her fate and jumped +after him. Maria del Salto ("of the leap") was a beautiful Jewess who, +having been taken in sin, was forced to jump from another of Segovia's +steep promontories. Bethinking herself of the Virgin Mary as a last +resource, she invoked her assistance while in mid-air, and the blessed +saint immediately responded, causing the Jewess to alight gently and +unharmed. It was naturally a great pious satisfaction to the Segovians +to carry to the new edifice such cherished bones.</p> + +<p>With services in the church, the building was well under way. Juan Gil's +son, Rodrigo Gil, had worked on Salamanca as well as very ably assisted +Cubillas. Upon the latter's death, in 1560, Rodrigo became maestro +mayor. Three years later, when the corner stone of the apse was laid, +the Chapter seems to have seriously discussed the advisability of +finally deviating from the original Gothic plans and building a +Renaissance head. It was, however, left to Rodrigo, who loyally adhered +to his father's original designs, and when he died in 1577, there was +fortunately but little left to do. Indeed, most of what followed in +construction, repair or decoration was rather to the detriment than +embellishment of the church. It was consecrated in 1580. Chapels were +added to the trasaltar by Rodrigo's successor, Martin Ruiz de Chartudi; +the lantern above the crossing was raised by Juan de Mogaguren in 1615; +five years later, the northern porch was erected and Renaissance +features invaded<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_180" id="page_180"></a>{180}</span> the edifice. Like most Spanish churches, it has been +constantly worked upon and never completed.</p> + +<p>The plan is admirable,—at once dignified and harmonious, and the +semicircular Romanesque termination is striking. The total length is +some 340 feet, its entire width, some 156; the nave is 43 and the side +aisles are 32 feet wide. It is thus logical, symmetrical, and fully +developed in all its members. Beyond the side aisles stretches a row of +chapels separated from each other by transverse walls. As the transepts, +which are of the same width as the nave, do not project beyond the +chapels of its outer aisles, the Latin cross disappears in plan. The +nave, aisles and chapels consist of five bays up to the crossing crowned +by the great dome. Beyond this comes the vault of the Capilla Mayor and +the semicircular apse surrounded by a seven-bayed ambulatory, or +"girola," and an equal number of radiating pentagonal chapels. The +chevet is clear in arrangement and noble in expression. Entrances lead +logically into the nave and side aisles of the western front and into +the centres of the northern and southern transepts, while cloisters +which abut to the south are entered through the fifth chapel. When +Segovia was built, Spaniards were thoroughly reconciled to the idea of +placing the choir west of the crossing and the Capilla Mayor east, and +consequently the latter was designed no larger than was requisite for +its offices, and a space was frankly screened off between it and the +choir for the use of the officiating clergy. The third and fourth bays +of the nave contained the choir.</p> + +<p>As one enters the church, there is a consciousness of joy and order. The +stone surfaces are just sufficiently<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_181" id="page_181"></a>{181}</span> warmed and mellowed by the +glorious light from above. The piers are very massive and semicircular +in plan; the foliage at their heads underneath the vaulting is so +delicate and unpronounced that it scarcely counts as capitals. The walls +of the chapels in the outer aisles, as well as round the ambulatory, are +penetrated by narrow, round-headed windows, as timid and attenuated as +those of an early Romanesque edifice; the walls of the inner aisle, by +triple, lancet windows; and the clerestory of the nave, by triple, +round-headed ones. Under them, in the apse, is a second row of +round-headed blind windows. None of them have any tracery whatever. The +glass is of great brilliancy of coloring and exceptional beauty, but the +designs are as poor as the glazing is glorious. In the smaller windows, +the subjects represent events in the Old Testament; in the larger, +scenes from the New. Around the apse much of the old, stained glass has +been shamefully replaced by white, so as to admit more light into this +portion of the building.</p> + +<p>There is no triforium, but a finely carved late Gothic balcony runs +around the nave and transepts below the clerestory. In the transepts, +this is surmounted by a second one underneath the small roses which +penetrate their upper wall surfaces. Both nave and side aisles are +lofty, the vaulting rising in the former to a height of about 100 feet +and, in the latter, to 80 feet, while the cupola soars 330 feet above. +The vaulting itself is most elaborate and developed. While the early +Gothic edifices have only the requisite functional transverse, diagonal +and wall ribs, we now find every vault covered with intermediate ones of +most intricate designs. Especially over the Capilla<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_182" id="page_182"></a>{182}</span> Mayor in its +ambulatory chapels and around the lantern, this ornamentation becomes +profuse,—everywhere ribs are met by bosses and roses. The general +effect of the endless cutting up of the vaults into numberless +compartments by the complicated system of lierne ribs is one of +restlessness. One misses the logical simplicity of the thirteenth and +fourteenth centuries and is reminded of the decadent surfacing of late +German work and the ogee, lierne ribs of some of the late English, in +which the true ridges can no longer be distinguished from the false.</p> + +<p>Looking up into the dome over the crossing, we see that the pendentives +do not rise directly above the four arches, but spring some fifteen feet +higher up above a Gothic balustrade which is surmounted by elliptical +arches pierced by circular windows. The dome, disembarrassed of the ribs +which still cling to some of its predecessors, is finely shaped,—a +thorough Renaissance piece of work. Light streams down through the +bull's eye under the lantern.</p> + +<p>There is considerable difference in the design as well as workmanship of +the many rejas. Tremendous iron rails, surely not as fine as those of +Seville, Granada, or Toledo, but still very remarkable, close the three +sides of the Capilla Mayor and the front of the choir. The emblematical +lilies of the Cathedral rise in rows one beside the other, as one sees +them in a florist's Easter windows. Rejas close off similarly all the +outer chapels from the side aisles.</p> + +<p>Among the very few portions of the old Cathedral which remained intact +after the fury of the Comunidades, were the choir stalls and an +exquisite door. The former were placed in the new choir and the latter<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_183" id="page_183"></a>{183}</span> +became an entrance to the transplanted cloisters. It was indeed +fortunate that these stalls were spared, for they are among the most +exquisite in Spain and excelled by few in either France or Germany.</p> + +<p>Wood-carving had long been a favorite art in Spain, one in which the +Spaniards learned to excel under the skillful tutelage of the great +masters from Germany and Flanders. The foreign carvers settled +principally in Burgos, where there grew up around them apprentices eager +to fill the churches with statues, retablos, choir stalls, and organ +screens executed in wood. The art of carving became highly honored. An +early ordinance of Seville referring to wood-carving, masonry and +building, esteems it "a noble art and self-contained, that increaseth +the nobleness of the King and of his kingdom, that pacifieth the people +and spreadeth love among mankind conducing to much good." In the +numerous panels of cathedral choir stalls, there was a wonderful +opportunity for relief work and the play of the fertile imagination and +childlike expressiveness of the middle ages. Curious freaks of fancy, +their extraordinary conceptions of Biblical scenes, the events and +personages of their own day, could all be portrayed and even carved with +wonderful skill. Leonard Williams, in his "Art and Crafts of Older +Spain," tells us that "the silleria consists of two tiers, the <i>sellia</i> +or upper seats with high backs and a canopy, intended for the canons, +and the lower seats or <i>sub-sellia</i> of simpler pattern with lower backs, +intended for the <i>beneficados</i>. At the head of all is placed the throne, +larger than the other stalls, and covered in many cases by a canopy +surmounted by a tall spire."<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_184" id="page_184"></a>{184}</span></p> + +<p>Few of the many Gothic stalls are finer than those of Segovia. The +contrast with the work above them, as well as with that which backs onto +them, is doubly distressing. The tremendous organs above are a mass of +gilding and restless Baroque ornamentation, while their rear is covered +by multicolored strips of stone which would have looked vulgar and gaudy +around a Punch and Judy show and here enframe the four Evangelists. The +chapels and high altar are uninteresting, decorated in later days in +offensive taste. Apart from these furnishings, which play but a small +part, it is rare and satisfying to survey an interior in which there has +been so much decorative restraint, in which the constructive and +architectural lines dominate the merely ornamental ones, and where +harmony, severity and excellent proportions go hand in hand. Were it not +for the cupola and a few minor details, there would be added to these +merits, unity of style.</p> + +<p>The cloisters are rich and flamboyant, but nevertheless more restrained +than those of Salamanca. They are elaborately subdivided, carved and +festooned, and, in the bosses of the arches, they carry the arms of +their original builder, Bishop Arias Davila. Just inside their entrance +lie three of the old architects, Rodrigo Gil de Hontañon, Campo Aguero, +and Viadero. The old well in the centre is covered with a grapevine, and +nothing could be lovelier than the deep emerald leaves dotted with +purple fruit growing over the white and yellow stonework.</p> + +<p>Few Spanish cathedrals can be seen to such advantage as Segovia, its +situation is so unusual and fortunate. In mediæval towns closely packed +within their city walls, there could be but little room or<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_185" id="page_185"></a>{185}</span> breathing +space either for palace or hovel, and the buildings adjacent to a +cathedral generally nestled close to its sides. The plaza of Segovia is +unusually large compared to the area of the little city. The clearing +away of Santa Clara and San Miguel and all the smaller surrounding +edifices condemned for the Cathedral site, left much room also in front +of the western entrance for a fine broad platform as well as an +unobstructed view from the opposite side of the square. Most of the +flights of granite steps leading to it from the streets below are now +closed by iron gates and overgrown with grass and weeds. The days of the +great processions are past, when the various trades, led by their bands +of musicians, filed up to deliver their offerings towards the +construction, and the staircases are no longer thronged by devout +Segovian citizens anxious to see the daily progress of the work. The +platform is paved with innumerable granite slabs which in the old +Cathedral covered the tombs of the city's illustrious citizens, whose +names may still be easily deciphered.</p> + +<p>Taken as a whole, the façade is bald and void of charm. It is neither +good nor especially faulty, of a certain strength, but without interest +or merit. It is logically subdivided by five pronounced buttresses +marking the nave, side aisles and outer row of chapels. Their relative +heights and the lines of their roofing are clearly defined. To the +north, a rather insignificant turret terminates the façade, while to the +south rises the lofty tower, three hundred and forty-five feet above the +whole mountain of masonry, the most conspicuous landmark in the +landscape of Segovia. It consists of a square base of sides thirty<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_186" id="page_186"></a>{186}</span>-five +feet wide, broken by six rows of twin arches; the first, the third and +the sixth are open, the last is a belfry. The present dome curves from +an octagonal Renaissance base, the transitional corners being filled +with crocketed pyramids similar to the many crowning buttresses and +piers at all angles of the church below. The dome and lantern are almost +exact smaller counterparts of those crowning the crossing. They were put +up by the same architect, Mogaguren, who certainly could not have been +over-gifted with artistic imagination. The tower had varying +fortunes,—much to the distress of the citizens, it has been twice +struck by lightning. The wooden structure and lead covering were burned +and melted by the fire which followed the first catastrophe, but +fortunately it was soon put out by the rain which saved the Cathedral +and city. After the second thunderbolt, in 1809, the surmounting cross +was replaced by a lightning-rod.</p> + +<p>The nave is entered by the Perdon portal, which, under a Gothic arch, is +subdivided into two elliptical openings. Peculiarly late Gothic railings +here, as elsewhere, crown the masonry and conceal the tiling of the +sloping roofs.</p> + +<p>Rounding the church to the south, we find the view obstructed by the +cloisters and sacristy; only the façade of the transept, ascended from +the lower ground by a flight of steps, remains visible. The southern +doorway is quite denuded, and even its buttresses rise without as much +as a corbel to soften their lines. When one has, however, dodged through +the tortuous, narrow, malodorous streets and come out opposite the apse +and northern flank, the whole bulk<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_187" id="page_187"></a>{187}</span> of the logical organic body of the +church becomes visible with its larger squat and higher lofty domes +towering into the blue. To the same Renaissance period as the two domes +belongs the classical portal of Pedro Brizuela, leading to the northern +transept. The view from the northeast is particularly fine. Every +portion of the structure is expressed by the exterior lines. One above +the other rise chapels, ambulatory, apse, transepts and lanterns, each +level crowned by its sparkling balustrade. The sky is jagged by the +crocketed spires which terminate the flying buttresses, the piers and +the angles of the wall surface. Here the Latin cross may be seen, and +the sub-divisions of every portion of the interior. There is no +deception nor trickery. It is simple and straightforward. Its artistic +merits may be small, the forest of carved turrets rising all around the +apse, tiresome, but this final impression of Spanish Gothic was +thoroughly sincere.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_188" id="page_188"></a>{188}</span> +<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_189" id="page_189"></a>{189}</span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_190" id="page_190"></a>{190}</span></p> + +<h3><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>VII<br /> +<br />SEVILLE</h3> + +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_191" id="page_191"></a>{191}</span></p> +<div class="image" style="width: 421px;"> +<a href="images/ill_giraldaseville.png"> +<img src="images/ill_giraldaseville_th.png" +width="421" +height="550" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE +The Giralda, from the Orange Tree Court" title="CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE +The Giralda, from the Orange Tree Court" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption"> +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE<br /> +The Giralda, from the Orange Tree Court</p> +</div> + +<table summary="poetry" +class="sml80"><tr><td> +"Wen Gott lieb hat, dem giebt er ein Haus in Sevilla."</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="nind"><span class="lgletter">S</span><span style="margin-left: -.75em;">EVILLE</span> +is ever youthful, for the blood which courses in her veins +absorbs the sunlight. Venice is the city of dreamy love, Naples, of +indolence, Rome, of everlasting age, but Seville keeps an eternal youth.</p> + +<p>What picturesqueness, what color, what passion blend with memories of +Andalusia!</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All sunny land of love!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When I forget you, may I fail</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To . . . say my prayers!</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>And Seville is the queen of Andalusia, of noble birth, proud and +beautiful. Distinctly feminine in her subtle, indefinable charm, like a +woman she changes with her surroundings, and her mutability adds to her +fascination. We never fathom nor quite know her, for she is one being as +she slumbers in the first chalky light of morning, another, in the +resplendent nakedness of noontide, overarched by the indigo firmament, +and yet another, in the happy laughter of evening when her mantle has +turned purple and her throbbing life is more felt than seen. The roses, +hyacinths and crocuses have closed in sleep, but the orange groves, the +acacia, and eucalyptus, jasmine, lemon, and palm trees and hedges of box +fill the air with heavy, aromatic perfume. To the exiled Moors she was +so<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_192" id="page_192"></a>{192}</span> sweet in all her moods that they said, "God in His justice, having +denied to the Christians a heavenly paradise, has given them in exchange +an earthly one." With the oriental languor of her ancestors, she keeps +the freshness and sparkle of the dewy morn. She is as gay and full of +youthful vitality as her Toledan sister is old and worn and haggard. +While Toledo is sombre and funereal, Seville is alive with the tinkling +of silver fountains, the strumming of guitars and mandolins, and the +songs of her women. She lies rich and splendid on the bosom of the +campagna, fruitfulness and plenty within her embattled walls. "She is a +strange, sweet sorceress, a little wise perhaps, in whom love has +degenerated into desire; but she offers her lovers sleep, and in her +arms you will forget everything but the entrancing life of dreams."</p> + +<p>Andalusia and Seville justly claim an ancient and royal pedigree, which +through all the vicissitudes of centuries has still left its stamp upon +them. Andalusia was the Tarshish of the Bible, whither Jonah rose to +flee. Her commerce is spoken of in Jeremiah, Isaiah, the Psalms, and the +Chronicles: "Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all +kind of riches, with silver, iron, tin, and lead they traded in thy +fairs" (Ezekiel xxvii, 12).</p> + +<p>In passing the Straits of Hercules, Seville and Ceuta alone caught +Odysseus' eye:—</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Tardy with age</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Were I and my companions, when we came</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To the Strait pass, where Hercules ordain'd</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The bound'ries not to be o'erstepp'd by man.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The walls of Seville to my right I left,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On th' other hand already Ceuta past.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><i>Inferno</i>, xxvi. 106-110.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_193" id="page_193"></a>{193}</span></p> + +<p>The honor of founding the city of Seville seems to be shared by Hercules +and Julius Cæsar. In the popular mind of the Sevillians, as well as +through an unbroken chain of mediæval historians and ballad-makers, +Hercules is called its father. Monuments throughout the city bear +witness to its founders. On one of the gates recently demolished the +inscription ran,—</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Condidit Alcides, Renovavit Julius urbem.<br /> +Restituit Christo Fernandus tertius heros.</p> + +<p>The Latin verses were later paraphrased in the Castilian tongue over the +Gate of Zeres:—</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hercules me edifico,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Julio Cesar me cerco,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">de meno y torres altes</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">y el rey santo me ganó,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Con Garci Perez de Vargas.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Hercules built me, Julius Cæsar surrounded me with walls and high +towers, the Holy King conquered me by Garcia Perez de Vargas." Statues +of the founder and protector still stand in various parts of the city.</p> + +<p>In the second century <span class="smcap">B. C.</span>, the shipping of Seville made it one of the +most important trade centres of the Mediterranean. Phœnicians and +Greeks stopped here to barter. In 45 <span class="smcap">B. C.</span>, Rome stretched forth her +greedy hand, and Cæsar entered the town at the head of his victorious +legion. Eighty-two years later the Romans formed the whole of southern +Spain into the "Provincia Bætica." With its formation into a Roman +colony, Seville's historical background begins to stand out clearly and +its riches are sung by the ancients. "Fair art thou, Bætis," says +Martial, "with thine olive crown and thy limpid waters, with the fleece +stains of a brilliant gold." The whole province<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_194" id="page_194"></a>{194}</span> contained what later +became Sevilla, Huelva, Cadiz, Cordova, Jaen, Granada and Almeria. +Seville, or Hispalis, became the capital and was accordingly fortified +with walls and towers, garrisoned and supplied with water from aqueducts +and adorned with Roman works of art. After the spread of Christianity +during the later Emperors, Seville was important enough to be made the +seat of a bishop.</p> + +<p>With the fall of Rome, Hispalis was overrun by hordes of Goths and +Vandals. They held possession of the country until they were conquered +in 711 by the Moors, who, after crossing the strait between Africa and +Europe, gradually spread northward through the Iberian peninsula. The +Goths made Hispalis out of the Roman Hispalia, and the Arabians in their +turn, unable to pronounce the p, formed the name into Ixbella, of which +the Castilians made Seville.</p> + +<p>To the Moors, Andalusia was the Promised Land flowing with milk and +honey. What was lacking, their genius and husbandry soon supplied. The +land which they found uncultivated soon became a garden filled with +exotic flowers and rich fruits, while they adorned its cities with the +noblest monuments of their taste and intelligence. They divided their +territory (el Andalus) into the four kingdoms of Seville, Cordova, Jaen, +and Granada, which still exist as territorial divisions. To-day the +three latter contain only the ruins of a great past. Seville alone +remains in many respects a perfectly Moorish city. Her courts, her +squares, the streets and houses, the great palace and the tower are +essentially Arabian and bear witness to the magnificence of her ancient +masters.</p> + +<div class="imageplan" style="width: 550px;"> +<a href="images/ill_planseville.png"> +<img src="images/ill_planseville_th.png" +width="550" +height="463" +alt="KEY OF PLAN OF SEVILLE CATHEDRAL" +title="KEY OF PLAN OF SEVILLE CATHEDRAL" +/></a> +</div> + +<table summary="seville plan" +cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" +class="sml75"> +<tr><td colspan="6" align="center">KEY OF PLAN OF SEVILLE CATHEDRAL</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="6" align="center"> </td></tr> +<tr><td>A. </td><td>The Giralda.</td><td>I. </td><td>The Sagrario.</td><td>Q. </td><td>Puerta Mayor.</td></tr> +<tr><td>B.</td><td>Royal Chapel.</td><td>J.</td><td>Portal of the Orange Trees.</td><td>R.</td><td>Portal of the Nacimiento.</td></tr> +<tr><td>C.</td><td>Chapter House.</td><td>K.</td><td>Choir.</td><td>S.</td><td>Trascoro.</td></tr> +<tr><td>D.</td><td>Sacristy.</td><td>L.</td><td>Capilla Mayor.</td><td>T.</td><td>Dependencias de la Hermandad.</td></tr> +<tr><td>E.</td><td>Old Sacristy.</td><td>M.</td><td>Portal of the Lonja (San Cristobal). </td><td>U.</td><td>Portal of the Sagrario.</td></tr> +<tr><td>F.</td><td>Colombina Library.</td><td>N.</td><td>Portal of the Palos.</td><td>V.</td><td>Portal of the Lagarto.</td></tr> +<tr><td>G.</td><td>Portal of the Perdon.</td><td>O.</td><td>Portal of the Campanillas.</td><td>X.</td><td>Tomb of Fernando Colon.</td></tr> +<tr><td>H.</td><td>Courtyard of the Orange Trees. </td><td>P.</td><td>Portal of the Bautismo.</td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_195" id="page_195"></a>{195}</span>They had lost all the rest of Spain except Granada before Cordova and +Jaen surrendered, and finally Seville fell into the hands of Ferdinand +III of Castile in 1248, and its Christian period began. Three hundred +thousand followers of the detested faith were banished from Seville, and +slowly the power of the Catholic Church began to rise and the +agricultural beauty and industry of the surrounding province to wane.</p> + +<p>The city was divided into separate districts for the different races, +the canals were dammed up, the water-works fell to pieces, the valley +was left untilled, and fruit trees were unpruned and unwatered. Hides +bleached in the sun and webs rotted on the looms, sixty thousand of +which had woven beautiful silk fabrics in the palmy days of the Moors.</p> + +<p>Ferdinand the Holy was a great king, of a saintliness and greatness +still acknowledged by the soldiers of Seville. After eight centuries +they still lower their colors as they march past the great shrine of the +Third Ferdinand, in the church which he purged from Mohammedanism and +dedicated to the worship of the Christians' God and the Holy Virgin.</p> + +<p>After him, Seville became the theatre of momentous deeds and events that +had a far-reaching influence on the history of the country. Into her lap +was poured the riches of the New World; within her halls Queen Isabella +laid the foundation of her united kingdom; from Seville came the +intellectual stimulus that revived the arts and letters of the whole +Peninsula. Here were born and labored Pedro Campaña, Alejo Fernandez, +Luis de Vargas, the several Herreras, Francisco de Zurbaran, Alfonso +Cano, Diego de Silva <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_196" id="page_196">{196}</a></span>Velasquez, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and Miguel +Florentino. The riches of the western world made of Seville a second +Florence, where art found ready patrons, and literature, cultivated +protectors. She rivaled the great schools of Italy and the Netherlands, +but out of her secret council chambers came the Institution of the Holy +Office, the scourge that withered the nation. In the latter half of the +sixteenth century, forty-five thousand people were put to death in the +archbishopric of Seville. Finally, under Philip II, Seville and her +great church rose to stupendous wealth and power.</p> + +<p>"When Philip II died, loyal Seville honored the departed king by a +magnificent funeral service in the Cathedral. A tremendous monument was +designed by Oviedo. On Nov. 25th, 1598, the mourning multitude flocked +to the dim Cathedral while the people knelt upon the stones, and the +solemn music floated through the air. There was a disturbance among a +part of the congregation. A man was charged with deriding the imposing +monument and creating disorder. He was a tax-gatherer and ex-soldier of +the city named Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Some of the citizens +took his side, for there was a feud between the civil and the +ecclesiastical authorities in Seville. The brawler was expelled from the +cathedral,—but he had his revenge. He composed a satirical poem upon +the tomb of the King which was read everywhere in the city:—</p> + +<p class="poem"> +To the Monument of the King of Seville<br /><br /> + +I vow to God I quake with surprise,<br /> +Could I describe it, I would give a crown,<br /> +And who, that gazes on it in the town<br /><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_197" id="page_197">{197}</a></span> +But starts aghast to see its wondrous size;<br /> +Each part a million cost, I should devise:<br /> +What pity 'tis, ere centuries have flown,<br /> +Old time will mercilessly cast it down!<br /> +Thou rival'st Rome, O Seville, in my eyes!<br /> +I bet, the soul of him who's dead and blest,<br /> +To dwell within this sumptuous monument,<br /> +Has left the seats of sempiternal rest!<br /> +A fellow tall, on deeds of valour bent,<br /> +My exclamation heard. "Bravo," he cried,<br /> +"Sir Soldier, what you say is true, I vow!<br /> +And he who says the contrary has lied!"<br /> +With that he pulls his hat upon his brow,<br /> +Upon his sword-hilt he his hand doth lay,<br /> +And frowns—and—nothing does, but walks away!"<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> + +<p>Far more ineffaccable even than the record left by Philip's life upon +the history of Seville and Spain is that of this immortal soldier and +scribbler, who "believed he had found something better to do than +writing comedies."</p> + +<p>The soft, sonorous syllables of Guadalquivir (from the Arabic +Wad-el-Kebir, or The Great River) would picture to the imaginative eye a +river far more poetic than the sluggish stream that loiters across the +wide plain and fruitful valley until it pierces the amber girdle of +crenelated walls and embattled towers which enclose the treasures of +Seville. On its broad bosom have swept the barks and galleys of +Phœnicia and Greece, of Roman, Goth, and Moor. On its shores Columbus +lowered the sails of his caravel and presented Spain with a new world on +Palm Sunday, 1493; Pizarro and Cortez here first embarked their greedy +and daring adventurers; hither Pizarro returned with hoards of gold and +silver treasures from Mexico and Peru, for the Council of the Indies +restricted<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_198" id="page_198"></a>{198}</span> all the trade of the colonies to the port of Seville. The +valley through which the river descends is sheltered from the cold +tablelands lying northward by the Sierra Moreña chain. Gray olive trees, +waving pastures, and fields of grain cover its slopes. A soft, tempered +wind whispers through the grassy meadows of La Tierra de Maria +Santissima, and the atmosphere is so dry and clear that far away against +the horizon objects stand out in clear silhouette. So vivid are the +colors that the smoky olive groves, the orange and lemon-colored walls, +the fir trees, the chalky white of the stucco, the fleshy, prickly +leaves of the cacti, and the tall standards of the aloes seem +photographed on the brain.</p> + +<p>In a fair and fruitful land lies the city, and her spires pierce a +smokeless, unspotted sky.</p> + +<p>In the heart of the city, set down in the very centre of her life of +song and laughter and childish simplicity, surrounded by crooked streets +and great airy courts, in the widest sunlit square, lies her Cathedral.</p> + +<p>The first impression made by a building is generally not only the most +distinct but the truest. That produced by Seville's Cathedral is its +immensity of scale.</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Toledo la rica,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Salamanca la fuerta,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Leon la bella,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oviedo la sacra,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sevilla la grande,</span><br /> +</p> + +<p class="nind">runs the Spanish saying. The size is overpowering. Each of the four side +aisles is nearly as broad and high as the nave of Westminster Abbey, +while the arcades of Seville's nave have twice the span. To the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_199" id="page_199"></a>{199}</span> +impressionable sensitiveness of Théophile Gautier it was like a mountain +scooped out, a valley turned topsy-turvy. Notre Dame de Paris might walk +erect under the frightful height of the middle nave; pillars as large as +towers appear so slender that you catch your breath as you look up at +the far-away, vaulted roof they support.</p> + +<p>Here are the first impressions of two early Spanish writers. Cean +Bermudez finds that, "seen from a certain distance, it resembles a +high-pooped and beflagged ship, rising over the sea with harmonious +grouping of sails, pennons, and banners, and with its mainmast towering +over the mizzenmast, foremast, and bowsprit." Caveda is struck by "the +general effect, which is truly majestic. The open-work parapets which +crown the roofs; the graceful lanterns of the eight winding stairs that +ascend in the corners to the vaults and galleries; the flying buttresses +that spring lightly from aisle to nave, as the jets of a cascade from +cliff to cliff; the slender pinnacles that cap them; the proportions of +the arms of the transept and of the buttresses supporting the side +walls; the large pointed windows to which they belong, rising over each +other, the pointed portals and entrances,—all these combine in an +almost miraculous effect, although they lack the wealth of detail, the +airy grace, and the delicate elegance that characterize the cathedrals +of Leon and Burgos."</p> + +<p>Such are the varying impressions of ancient critics. To the student's +question, "To what period of architecture does the Cathedral of Seville +belong?" we must answer, "To no period, or rather to half a dozen." +Authorities and writers will give completely<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_200" id="page_200"></a>{200}</span> different information, and +Seville has found more willing and loving chroniclers than any other of +Spain's churches. Gallichan classes it as the "largest Gothic cathedral +in the world," and Caveda calls it "a type of the finest Spanish Gothic +architecture."</p> + +<p>The interior of the main body of the church is pure, severe Gothic, the +sacristy major, highly developed Renaissance; the main portions of the +exterior are what might be termed for want of a better word "Spanish +Renaissance—plateresco"; other details are Moorish, classical, late +florid Gothic, rococo, and so forth. As if to add to the incongruity of +the architectural hodge-podge, it is surrounded by shafts of old Roman +columns as well as Byzantine pillars from the original mosque, sunk deep +into the ground and connected with iron chains. The total impression to +any student of architecture is one of outraged law and order, +composition and unity. Recalling the carefully membered and distinctly +developed plan of the great Gothic churches of France, the expressive +exteriors of the huge Renaissance cathedrals of Italy, the satisfying +perspective of English monastic temples, one feels the hopelessness of +attempting a comparison between this huge, impressive undertaking and +any accepted standards or schools. It is something so entirely different +and apart, a mighty and unbridled effort which cannot be classified nor +grouped with other churches, nor studied by methods of earlier +architectural training. It is full of romance,—a building romantic as +the Cid, a child of architectural fervor or even architectural furor. +Centuries of Spanish history and religion and the various temperaments +of different and inspired races<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_201" id="page_201"></a>{201}</span> have created it and fostered its +growth. Like many of its sister churches, the artisans that labored on +it were gathered from different lands and their work stretches through +centuries of time and architectural thought. There is the sparkling, +oriental fancy of the Mudejar, the classic training of the Italian, the +brilliant color and technique of the Fleming and Dutchman, the skilled +and masterful chiseling of the German, and the restless pride and +domination of the Spaniard. You find it expressed in every way,—on +canvas, in wood and clay and stone, on plaster and in glass. It is a +museum of art from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries, with +portions still waiting for the work of the twentieth. The artists range +from Juan Sanches de Castro, "the morning star of Andalusia," in 1454, +to Francisco Goya, the last of the great Spanish painters.</p> + +<p>It is colossal, incongruous, mysterious, and elusive. It breathes the +spirit of the middle ages with all their piety and loyalty to church and +crown, and their unparalleled ardor in building religious temples. +Gazing at it, you feel the same religious fervor that flung the arches +of Amiens and Chartres high into the northern air and rounded the dome +of Santa Maria del Fiore under Lombardy's azure vault.</p> + +<p>If you stand in the Calle del Gran Capitan, or better, the Plaza del +Triumfo, best of all, near the gateway of the Patio de las Banderas, +where the Cathedral and the Giralda pile up in front of you, +unquestionably you have before you Spain's mightiest architectural work, +a sight as impressive as the view from the marble pavement of the +Piazzetta by the Adriatic.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_202" id="page_202"></a>{202}</span></p> + +<p>The lofty tower is entirely oriental. The walls of the Cathedral which +rise from a broad paved terrace consist below of a classical screen, +whose surface is broken by a Corinthian order carrying a Renaissance +balustrade and topped by heavy, meaningless stone terminations. Windows +with Italian Renaissance frames pierce the ochre masonry. Above rises a +confusion of buttresses, kettle-shaped domes, and Renaissance lanterns, +simple, massive walls, some portions entirely bare, others overloaded +with delicate Gothic interlacings full of Spanish feeling; flowers and +rosettes, broad blazons and coats-of-arms,—above all, a forest of +Gothic towers, finials, crockets, parapets, and rails peculiarly Spanish +in carving and treatment. There is practically no sky line. The interior +of the nave and aisle vaulting are entirely concealed externally by the +parapets and walls.</p> + +<p>So lacking in sobriety is the first view!—but you are ready to echo the +Spanish saying,—</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Quien no ha visto Sevilla</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No ha visto maravilla.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></span><br /> +</p> + +<p class="nind">or the words of Pope, "<i>There</i> stands a structure of majestic fame!"</p> + +<p>The Spanish Christians in Seville, like those who obtained possession of +other Moorish strongholds, first appropriated the old Arab mosque for +their house of worship. Later, when it no longer sufficed, they and +their fellow-believers elsewhere built the new cathedral on, around, or +adjacent to, the old consecrated walls. Like all other churches from +which Islam had been driven, the great mosque of Seville<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_203" id="page_203"></a>{203}</span> was dedicated +to Santa Maria de la Sede. The famous Moorish conqueror, Abu Jakub +Jusuf, had laid the foundation stones of his mosque and tower in 1171, +building his walls with the materials left by imperial Rome, and laying +out orange courtyard and walls in a manner befitting his power and the +traditions of his race. It belongs to what architectural writers have +for convenience called the second period of the Spanish Arabs, between +1146 and about 1250, under the Almohaden dynasty. This was the period of +the Moors' greatest constructive energy,—they no longer blindly copied +the ancient architecture of Byzantium, but endeavored to create a bold +and independent art of their own.</p> + +<p>After the capture of Seville in 1248, Ferdinand at once consecrated the +mosque to Christian service, and it was used without alteration until it +began to crumble. Its general plan was probably very much like the one +in Cordova, a great rectangle filled with a forest of columns: its high +walls of brick and clay supported by buttresses and crowned with +battlements enclosed an adjacent courtyard with fountain and rows of +orange trees, abutted by the bell or prayer tower. The courtyard and +tower remain with but slight changes or additions; portions of the +foundation walls, the northeast and west porticos, decorative details +and ornamentation still to be found on the Christian church are all +Moorish. The plan and general structure have been restricted by the +lines of the old Moorish foundations. There are no documents extant that +give a trustworthy account of what portions of the old mosque were +allowed to remain when the Christians finally decided to rebuild, but +the most<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_204" id="page_204"></a>{204}</span> cursory glance at the outline of the Cathedral shows how +organically it has been bound by what was retained. The mosque must have +been built on as large and magnificent a scale as the one which still +amazes us in Cordova. The peculiar, oblong, quadrilateral form was +probably common to both.</p> + +<p>On the 8th of July, 1401, the Cathedral Chapter issued the challenge to +the Catholic world which to the more practical piety of to-day rings +with a true mediæval fervor. Verily a faith that could remove mountains! +The inspired Chapter proclaimed they could build a church of such size +and beauty that coming ages should call them mad to have undertaken it. +And their own fat pockets were the first to be emptied of half their +stipends. The pennies of the poor, grants from the crown, indulgences +published throughout the kingdom, all went to satisfy the ever-grasping +building fund.</p> + +<p>In 1403 the work of tearing down and commencing afresh on the old +foundations was begun. These measured about some 415 feet in length by +278 feet in width. The old mosque or the present church proper is now +only the central edifice in a rectangle of about 600 by 500 feet. This +is the size of a village, with its courts, its tower, the great library +of the Cathedral Chapter where books were collected from all over the +lettered world by the son of Columbus, the parroquia or parish church, +the endless row of chapels, some larger than ordinary churches, the +sacristy, the chapter house and offices. It became the largest church of +the middle ages, covering 124,000 square feet; Milan covers only 90,000, +Toledo, 75,000, and Saint Paul's in London, 84,000. Among the churches +of all ages,<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_205" id="page_205"></a>{205}</span> Saint Peter's, with an area of 162,000 square feet, alone +exceeds it in size.</p> + +<p>In 1506, under the archbishops Alfonso Rodriguez and Gonzalo de Rojas, +the building was completed. For a century the work had been carried on +with such reckless haste that inferior building methods had been +employed, which led to subsequent disasters. On December 28, 1511, to +the consternation of the devout workmen, the great central dome fell in +during an earthquake, carrying with it or weakening many of the vaults +and much of the masonry below. After the earthquake, some of the large +piers supporting the great crossing as well as the adjacent ones were +found filled with the most carelessly laid rubble and earth, with no +carrying power nor resistance. About 1520 the building might in the main +be said to be finished. Externally it has never been completed, although +in the nineteenth century the west front was finished and its central +doorway ornamented. An extensive restoration which took place in 1882 +was interrupted by the second earthquake of 1888, during which the dome +again fell in. To-day it is all rebuilt.</p> + +<p>The entrance is at the west end. The plan, as I have said, was governed +by the old basilica-shaped mosque. The transepts do not project beyond +the chapels of the side aisles, and at the east end it differs from most +Spanish churches in having a square termination instead of an apse. Also +along the east wall chapels have been built between the buttresses +similar to those between the north and south sides. The central portions +of the east end open into the great Capilla Real. There are nine +doorways to the church.</p> + +<p>In studying the plan, it is interesting to note what<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_206" id="page_206"></a>{206}</span> Mr. Ferguson has +indicated, that similarly to what is found in the Indian Jain temples, +the diagonal of the aisle compartments has the same length as the width +of the nave. The original documents and accounts of the church, which +have disappeared, were probably burnt among Philip II's papers destroyed +by the great Madrid fire.</p> + +<p>Scarcely two of the Cathedral's many biographers agree as to its +architects, its historic precedents or what part of the work was +actually inspired by earlier Spanish architecture and national builders. +Naturally Spanish writers attribute workmanship, precedents and builders +all to their own Peninsula, while the different foreign authorities vary +in their estimates. Distinctly Spanish features of construction as well +as ornamentation are found side by side with others which unquestionably +came from masters trained beyond the Pyrenees. In various places +vaulting is found thoroughly German in its complexity and florid detail. +Several authorities point out the resemblances between Milan and +Seville, not that the ornamentation of the frosted and encrusted Italian +misconception can be intelligently compared with the Plateresque +carving, but there is a certain mixture of local and foreign feeling in +both. In Seville French and German feeling seems to be struggling under +Spanish fetters, just as in Lombardy the German seems to be laboring +with Italian comprehension of Gothic, finally abandoning the inorganic +scheme for a lovely, riotous, and marvelous attempt at carving to which +the material no longer placed any limitations.</p> + +<p>The Spanish architect of the middle ages was<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_207" id="page_207"></a>{207}</span> placed in a novel +situation, and his art had very peculiar and unusual influences bearing +upon it. Gothic methods of construction and ornamentation had slowly +spread over the country with the growing sovereignty of Aragon and +Castile, and in spite of the corresponding decline of the Arab kingdoms, +Moorish art began to work hand in hand, as far as was possible, with the +forms of the Christian invader, although the hostility between the races +hindered any extensive fusion of the two. They began, however, to +influence each other for good or bad and to flourish side by side. The +result might be called architectural volapük. In Seville it is certain +that, whatever the nationality of the original architect and however +incongruous and expressionless the exterior may finally have become, the +interior is less exotic, less unquestionably a French importation, than +in either of the great Gothic churches of Toledo or Burgos. When we +recall the organic completeness, the truthful exterior expression, of +interior lines and construction in the greatest Gothic cathedrals of +France, we turn with sadness to the outer form of so fair a soul as that +of Santa Maria of Seville, the work of the most famous architects of her +age. Some attribute the original plans of the church to Alfonso +Rodriguez, others to Alfonso Martinez, who was Maestro Mayor of the +chapter in 1396, others again to Pedro Garcia; a long list of names +follows: Juan the Norman, Juan de Hoz, Alfonso Ruiz, Ximon, Alfonso +Rodriguez, and Gonzalo de Rojas, Pedro Mellan, Miguel Florentin, Pedro +Lopez, Henrique de Egas, Juan de Alava, Jorge Fernandez Alleman, Juan +Gil de Hontañon and the masters who after the earthquake hurried to +Seville from their buildings in Toledo,<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_208" id="page_208"></a>{208}</span> Jaen, Vittoria, and other +places. Casanova is the last of her many architects.</p> + +<p>Correctly speaking, there is no façade. The Cathedral runs from west to +east, the western or main entrance portal being pierced by three ogival +doorways, the Puerta Mayor with a modern relief of the Assumption, the +Puerta del Nacimento or de San Miguel to the south, and the Puerta del +Bautizo or de San Juan to the north. Saint Miguel has a relief of the +Nativity of Christ, Saint Juan, one representing Saint John baptizing. +In the moldings surrounding these, are very exquisite little figures of +early sixteenth-century work executed in terra-cotta. They are full of +the best Gothic feeling, splendidly fitted to their spaces, alive with +the expression of the imaginative period of their sculptor, Pedro +Millan. Above and around the door of San Juan is a Gothic tracery of the +most elaborate character.</p> + +<p>One cannot refrain from comparing the sculptural work of these three +doorways. Riccardo Bellver's modern Assumption over the central doorway +is as congealed as the terra-cotta sculptures above and around the side +portals are admirable. They are unquestionably among the most +interesting bits of relief as well as figure sculpture of their kind +produced in Spain during the fifteenth century. Pedro Millan stands out +as a great mediæval master, not only from the consummate skill with +which the drapery is treated but from the living, breathing personality +and attitudes of the men and women around him, which we still gaze at in +the truth of their curious, naïve, fifteenth-century light.</p> + +<p>As the whole western façade was not completed in<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_209" id="page_209"></a>{209}</span> its present form until +1827, much of its work is as poor as it is modern.</p> + +<p>There are two entrances to the eastern end, richly decorated with fine +terra-cotta statues and reliefs of angels, patriarchs, and Biblical +figures, attributed to Lope Marin. In the northern façade there are +three,—one classical and of very little interest leading to the parish +church; the second is the Puerto de los Naranjos.</p> + +<p>In the Puerta del Lagarto, where the Giralda abuts the Cathedral, there +hangs a poor stuffed crocodile, once sent by a Sultan of Egypt in token +of admiration to Saint Ferdinand. The beast, having died on his way from +the Nile, could never crawl in the basins of the Alcazar gardens, but +found a resting-place under the shelves of the Columbina library.</p> + +<p>On the opposite side of the orange-tree court is the Puerta del Perdon. +The Florentine relief above, representing the crouching traders as they +were driven from the Temple, naturally spoils the effectiveness of the +magnificent Moorish portal below. Its horseshoe curve, with delicate +Moorish interlacing, arabesques, frieze and bronze doors, is a curious +and striking note of a bygone age, leading as it does to the walled and +fragrant courtyard of its builders, and the fountain where they made +their ablutions. Later Renaissance statues of the Annunciation and Saint +Peter and Saint Paul, as well as Florentine pilasters and ornament, +flank the Moorish moldings in an utterly meaningless manner.</p> + +<p>On the south is the gate of San Cristobal, or of the Lonja, finished +only a few years ago.</p> + +<p>In and out of these many entrances the populace<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_210" id="page_210"></a>{210}</span> stream, to worship, to +whisper, to gossip, to rest, to bargain, to beg, and to make love. The +whole drama of life in its conglomerate population goes on within the +walls of the Cathedral. It is the most frequented thoroughfare, where +the people enter as often with a song on their lips as with a prayer. +The great edifice with all the ceremonial of its religious services is +woven into their life, as is the sound of the guitars and castanets that +echo within its portals and courtyards. The church and her children are +not strangers. The Sevillian does not approach her altars with religious +awe and fear, but with a childish trust; he kneels down before them as +much at home as when rolling his cigarette on the bench of his café. The +Cathedral, like the houses nestling and crumbling around it, opens wide +and hospitable gates that lead to the refreshing shade and comfort +within.</p> + +<p>The western front is practically the only one which presents the +Cathedral unobscured by adjacent buildings climbing up its sides or +struggling between the buttresses,—or which is not concealed by +enclosing screenwork. To the north the walls of the Orange Court block +the view; to the east, the high screen; and to the south, the chapter +house and the Dependencias de la Hermanidad and the sacristy. The mass +of domes with supporting flying buttresses, ramps and finials above it, +all remind one curiously of a transplanted and ecclesiasticized +Chambord.</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 384px;"> +<a href="images/ill_gatewayseville.png"> +<img src="images/ill_gatewayseville_th.png" +width="384" +height="550" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE +Gateway of Perdon in the Orange Tree Court" title="CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE +Gateway of Perdon in the Orange Tree Court" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption"> +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE<br /> +Gateway of Perdon in the Orange Tree Court</p> +</div> + +<p>As the plan conforms to the conditions of the old rectangular mosque and +has neither projecting transepts nor semicircular chevet, it can +scarcely be called Gothic. It consists of nave and double side +aisles,—the nave 56 feet wide from centre to centre <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_211" id="page_211"></a>{211}</span>of the columns and +145 feet high, and the inner side aisles 40 wide and about 100 high. +Outside these is another aisle filled with various chapels.</p> + +<p>At the crossing of the nave and transept, we have the typical, small +Spanish octagonal dome,—in this instance covering possibly what was in +the original mosque a central octagonal court. It is a construction +rising some hundred and seventy feet above the level of the eye, +admitting light below its spring into what in the French Gothic edifices +would usually be the gloomiest portions of the building.</p> + +<p>The side aisles differ slightly in width, the two lateral ones being +filled with various chapels. There are nine bays, separated by +thirty-six clustered pillars, some of them perfect towers in their huge +and massive strength. Their detail and outline are excellent, all of the +greatest simplicity and restraint. The delicate engaged shafts which +surround the huge supports of fifteen feet diameter terminate below the +vaulting ribs in delicately interlaced palm-leaf caps. Nothing is +confused or intricate. Sixty-eight compartments spring from the various +piers with a loftiness reminding one of Cologne. The groining differs +very much. The greater portion is admirably plain, of simple +quadripartite design; other parts are fanciful and elaborate, recalling +florid German prototypes. The five central vaults forming the cross +under the dome alone have elaborate fan-vaulting; the geometrical design +is as excellent as its detail. The richness given this central and most +correct portion of the great roofing is all the more effective by +contrast with the plain, unelaborated groins of the surrounding vaults. +The petals of the flower, the very holy of<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_212" id="page_212"></a>{212}</span> holies, between the choir +and the Capilla Mayor, before the high altar, are what is most beautiful +and enriched.</p> + +<p>The lighting is very unusual, and better than either Leon or Toledo. +Ninety-three windows are filled with the most glorious glass. There are +two clerestories to light the body of the church, one in the walls of +the second side aisle, admitting light above the roofs of the chapels, +the second in the nave. Added to this come the huge lights of the five +rose windows.</p> + +<p>In Seville, as in Toledo and many of the other great Spanish cathedrals, +the general view of the interior is blocked, and the majestic +effectiveness of the columnar rows marred, by the placing of the great +choir in the centre of the edifice.</p> + +<p>But the interior effect is nevertheless one of the most inspiring +produced by the imagination and hands of man. All truly majestic +conceptions are simple and, though we may at times wonder at the secret +of their power, we always find their enduring grandeur due to a hidden +simplicity. This is true of the Parthenon, of the Venus of Milo, and the +Sistine Madonna. Whoever enters the Cathedral of Seville is struck first +of all by its simplicity. The tremendous scale of the interior is +unperceived, owing to the just proportion between all the parts. There +is height as well as width, massiveness and strength, boldness and +light. None of the detail is petty or too elaborate, but simple and +effective, making a harmony in all its parts. Even the furniture carries +out the tremendous boldness and grandeur of the edifice. Bells, choir +books, candles, altar chests, are all on the same grandiose scale. It +has true majesty in its simplicity<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_213" id="page_213"></a>{213}</span> of direct, honest appeal, and a +proud unconsciousness, because it is free from the artificiality which +is invariably vulgar. The truly beautiful woman needs none of the +devices of art. The shafts and vaults and string courses in Seville's +Cathedral need little ornamentation to bring out their beauty; they are +in fact as effective as the elaborate carving of Salamanca and Segovia. +Seville preaches a great lesson to our twentieth century, of peace, rest +and completeness. It has room for all its children; they may kneel at +eighty-two different shrines and find romance or encouragement or the +consolation they are seeking. Some churches are strangely secular in +their restlessness of feeling, while others breathe an atmosphere full +of poetry, exaltation and the infinite peace of the Gospels. Seville's +religion is for the humble and simple as much as for the grandee. It is +not only the great cathedral church of the archbishop and bishop, the +eleven dignitaries, forty canons, twenty prebendaries, twenty minor +canons, twenty veinteneros, twenty chaplains and the host of a choir, +but the beloved home of the poor, miserable, starving sons and daughters +of Santa Maria de la Sede.</p> + +<p>Although architecturally the injurious effect of placing choir and high +altar in the middle of the church cannot be overstated, from the point +of view of ritual, of closely uniting the officiating body with the +worshipers, it is undoubtedly a far happier arrangement than where the +prayers and psalms proceed from the extreme apsidal termination. In the +former case the religious guidance seems to emanate from the very soul +of the edifice, and to reach all humble worshipers in the remotest nooks +and corners.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_214" id="page_214"></a>{214}</span></p> + +<p>The Spanish nature craves the sensuous and theatrical in religious +rites, and not far-away but intimately, as part and parcel of it. In the +time of the great ecclesiastical power of the bishopric of Seville +20,000 pounds of wax were burned every year, 500 masses were daily +celebrated at the 80 altars, and the wine consumed in the yearly +sacrament amounted to 18,750 litres. Seville's children wished to be +close to the glare and flicker of the wax candles and torches and to +hear distinctly the unintelligible Latin service. Seek the shade of the +cathedral when the July sun is burning outside, or during one of the +nights of Holy Week, when the great Miserere of Eslava is sung, and you +will find it the most thronged spot in all Seville. In the words of +Havelock Ellis: "Profoundly impressive,—around the choir an impassive +mass, in the rest of the church characteristic Spanish groups crouched +at the bases of the great clustered shafts, and chatted and used their +fans familiarly, as if in their own homes, while dogs ran about +unmolested. The vast church lent itself superbly to the music and the +scene. It was a scene stranger than the designs of Martin, as bizarre as +something out of Poe or Baudelaire. In the dim light the huge piers +seemed larger and higher than ever, while the faint altar lights dimly +lit up the iron screen of the Capilla Mayor, as in Rembrandt's +conception of the Temple of Jerusalem. In the scene of enchantment one +felt that Santa Maria of Seville had delivered up the last secret of her +mystery and romance."</p> + +<p>If you enter the church from the west through the main portal, or the +Puerta Mayor, the whole length of the nave is broken by various +structures. On the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_215" id="page_215"></a>{215}</span> axis, under the second vault, is the tomb of +Fernando Colon; the fourth and fifth vaults contain the choir; the sixth +comes under the dome; the seventh and eighth take in the Capilla Mayor +and Sacristia Alta; back of the ninth and terminating the eastern end, +rises the great Renaissance royal chapel (Capilla Real). Fernando Colon +deserves to live not only in Seville's history but in the memory of all +Spain, first and foremost for being his father's son (by his mistress +Beatrix Enrigues), and, secondly, for leading a most pious and studious +life and devoting his time and fortune while traversing Europe during +the first half of the sixteenth century, to the purchase of the most +valuable books and manuscripts of the time. These he united into the +famous Columbina Library and presented to the Cathedral Chapter. The +enormous wooden tabernacle erected every Passion Week over the great +Discoverer's son, to reach the very arches of the vaults overhead, is as +hideous as the inscription is touching. Three caravels are inlaid on the +slab, between which runs the legend, "A Castilla y a Leon mundo nuevo +die Colon"<a name="FNanchor_A_23" id="FNanchor_A_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_23" class="fnanchor">[a]</a> (To Castile and Leon Columbus gave a new world), and the +following inscription: "Of what avails it that I have bathed the entire +universe in my sweat, that I have thrice passed through the new world, +discovered by my father, that I have adorned the banks of the gentle +Bati and preferred my simple tastes to riches, in order to gather around +thee the divinities of the Castalian Spring and offer thee the treasures +already gathered by Ptolemy, if thou in passing this stone in Seville, +dost not at least give a greeting to my father and a thought to me."<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_216" id="page_216"></a>{216}</span></p> + +<p>Directly back of Fernando Columbus' tomb rises the rear surface or +trascoro of the choir. The choir, which occupies the fourth and fifth +bays, is enclosed by the most elaborate walls, except at the entrance to +the east, where it is screened by the remarkable iron reja. This, as +well as the rejas of the choir, is in design and workmanship a marvelous +example of mediæval craft, quite as fine as the screens of Toledo and +Granada and the best work of the German forgers and guilds. The design, +from 1519, harmonizes splendidly with the ironwork facing it. Its +gilding must have improved as each century has toned it down. Now in the +evening hours when it catches the reflection of some light, the spikes +look like angels' spears rising flame-like out of the mysterious +twilight and guarding the holy places beyond.</p> + +<p>The choir, placed so nearly under the dome, naturally suffered greatly +by its fall. A portion of the 127 stalls has been so well restored that +it is difficult to distinguish the old from the new. "Nufro Sanchez, +sculptor, whom God guarded, made this choir in the year 1475." The +subjects are as usual from the New and Old Testaments, and the character +of the carving constantly betrays Moorish influence. The pillars as well +as the canopies and the figures themselves are possibly entirely Gothic, +but one glance at the gaudily inlaid backs shows Arab workmanship. Along +the outer sides of the choir around the four little stonework niches, +which serve as smaller chapels, the Gothic carving (some of it executed +in transparent alabaster), works more happily than usual in combination +with the later Plateresque or Renaissance, here containing the fine +feeling of the Genoese school.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_217" id="page_217"></a>{217}</span> One piece of sculpture stands out from +all the rest, viz., the Virgin, carved by Montañes. Her hands are of +such exquisite girlish delicacy, of such immature and dimpled softness, +that one cannot pass them by without a feeling of delight.</p> + +<p>The organs, which form a part of the choir, have an incredible number of +pipes and stops. According to a remarkable old tale, they were filled +with air by the choir boys, who walked back and forth over tilting +planks placed on the bellows. Whether or no the boys still have this +happy outlet for their ecclesiastic activities, the music means little +to the Spaniard, and their design still less to the architect's eye.</p> + +<p>The Capilla Mayor faces the choir, merely separated from it by the space +lying directly under the dome and forming the intersection of nave and +transepts. As the church services constantly require the simultaneous +use of the choir and the high altar of the Capilla Mayor, a portion of +the intermediate space or "entre los dos Coros" is roped off during +service time for the clergy to pass from one to the other. The Spanish +taste for pomp and magnificence centres in all its extravagance about +the high altar, while a more subdued richness characterizes the +surrounding stone and iron work which encloses the sanctuary on all +sides. Not only on the front, complementing and balancing admirably the +facing reja of the choir, but on the western ends of the sides, immense +ornamental iron screens bar the way. The front one is quite overpowering +in size, rising some seventy-five feet above the altar. The Spaniard was +equal to any undertaking in the days of early Hapsburg splendor under +the pious Reyes Catolicos. With the aid of Sancho Munoz and<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_218" id="page_218"></a>{218}</span> Diego de +Yorobo, a Dominican Friar, Francesco de Salamanca designed them (1518) +and then superintended the welding, gilding and the final erection in +1523.</p> + +<p>The east end of the Capilla Mayor is formed by the magnificent retablo, +almost four thousand square feet in size. One is immediately struck by +its immense proportions and the infinite amount of carving bestowed on +it. Its great scheme was conceived in 1482 by the Flemish sculptor +Dancart, evidently a man of prolific and versatile imagination. If we +try to compare it with the work of English churches, we might best liken +it to the great altar screens. This and the retablo at Toledo are +probably the richest specimens of mediæval woodwork in existence. +Portions of the execution are somewhat inferior to the conception, and +yet the artists who labored on it with loving skill until the middle of +the following century carried out all their work with a richness and +delicacy which make it not only a representative piece of late Gothic +sculpture but one of the most magnificent specimens of this branch of +Spanish art. Its various portions embrace the whole period of florid +Gothic from its earlier, more restrained expression to the very last +stroke of the art, when wood was mastered and carved into incredible +filigree work as if it had been as soft and pliable as silver leaf. +Everything that could be carved is there, figures, foliage, tracery, +moldings and mere conventionalized ornament. The central portions are of +the earlier fifteenth century, the outer ones, of the late sixteenth, +executed under Master Marco Jorge Fernandez. The wood is principally +larch, with minor portions of chestnut and pine. The whole field is<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_219" id="page_219"></a>{219}</span> +divided by slender shafts and laboriously carved bands into forty-four +compartments representing in high and low relief various scenes from the +life of Christ and the Virgin Mary. In the centre is Santa Maria de la +Sede, the patron saint of the church, surmounted by a Crucifixion with +Saint John and the Virgin on either side.</p> + +<p>Between the retablo and the rear wall enclosing the rectangle of the +Capilla Mayor, there is a dark space known as the Sacristia Alta, where +is preserved the Tablas Alfonsinas<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> brought from Constantinople to +Paris by Saint Ferdinand's son, Alfonso.</p> + +<p>Seville ranks high among the churches of Spain in the beauty of its +carving. The stone screen that forms the rear of the retablo is filled +with admirable Gothic terra-cotta statues, saints, virgins, bishops, +martyrs and prelates executed with a little of the curious rigidity of +the Dutch School still awaiting its Renaissance emancipation, but with +faces full of holy devotion. The modeling is correct and the treatment +of the drapery excellent.</p> + +<p>Within the enclosure of the Capilla Mayor, there is still to be seen at +certain times of the year, a ceremony which has been performed for +centuries, and which is certainly the most unique religious rite +celebrated in any Christian church. To the Saxon it is most +extraordinary. During the last three days of the Carnival or after the +Feast of Corpus Domini, we may see boys dressed in costumes perform a +dance before the high altar of the Cathedral. Children, so the tale<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_220" id="page_220"></a>{220}</span> +runs, danced, skipped and shouted for joy when the city of Seville was +finally taken from the Mohammedans, and these childish demonstrations so +touched the hearts of the clergy who entered the city with the +conquering army, that they resolved that succeeding generations of boys +should perpetuate them forever. Of all the festivals and religious +processions culminating in or outside Saint Mary's shrine, surely none +can give her so much pleasure as the sight of these little boys dancing +and singing in her honor.</p> + +<p>This naïf and charming ceremonial is part of the Mozarabic Ritual, the +work of Saint Isidore, a metropolitan of Seville a hundred years before +the arrival of the Saracens. In his early years, when his elder brother +Leander ruled the Gothic Church with stern hand, Isidore had time and +talents to master in his cloistered seclusion so much art and science +that he became the Admirable Crichton of his day. His work on "The +Origin of Things" shows the profundity of his knowledge, his history of +the Goths is beyond doubt his most valuable legacy to us, but what +endeared him above all to his countrymen was the Mozarabic Rite, of +which he composed both breviary and music. The Benedictine monks of +Cluny, those architects and chroniclers, who had been obliged to +sacrifice their Gallican liturgy for the Roman, could not rest satisfied +until they had imposed it on the Peninsula. They were supported in this +truly foreign aggression by Constance of Burgundy, Queen of Alfonso VI, +and by the masterful Gregory VII, himself a Benedictine. And so Saint +Isidore's quaint old hymn with the accompanying melody was banished from +all but one or two favored chapels. Fortunately<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_221" id="page_221"></a>{221}</span> Cardinal Ximenez became +its enthusiastic and powerful protector. He endowed in the Cathedral of +Toledo a special chapel and had thirteen priests trained for the +service, "Mozarabes sodales." In Ximenez' time a German, Peter +Hagenbach, first printed "missale secundum regulam beati Isidori dictum +Mozarabes," what Saint Isidore called "those fleeting sounds so hard to +note down." His breviary was the first Roman one to be used in Spanish +churches.</p> + +<p>To enumerate the endless rows of chapels with their countless treasures +and chaste or tawdry architecture and decoration would be tiresome and +unprofitable,—with a plan and guide-book, one may pass them in review. +"Sixty-seven of the great sculptors and thirty-eight of the painters +here display to the astonished and incredulous eye the masterpieces of +their hand," says one. Here is almost every painter belonging to the +great Sevillian school of painting of the sixteenth and seventeenth +centuries. They form a veritable museum or a series of small museums, +each chapel being a separate room of masterpieces. But here, as in the +museum, there are good and bad paintings and statues, and only the +excellent are worth attention. They are better worth studying here than +elsewhere, for they have been left in the surroundings for which they +were intended and painted. Spain's great religious artist did not paint +his Madonnas so full of distracting and sensuous loveliness for the +walls of the Prado; their smiles, human and pathetic, were for the +altars and panels of sanctuaries. Here is the light in which they were +studied and for which they were colored; here are the walls and frames +which were intended to surround them; they<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_222" id="page_222"></a>{222}</span> are in the company they +would choose, and they were painted with the same religious devotion +that inspires the prayers now offered before them. The painter's +inspiration sprang from the fervor of his faith.</p> + +<p>Three of the paintings are lovely above all others. Two are Murillo's, +namely the Angel de la Guarda and the San Antonio of the baptistery; the +third is the Deposition from the Cross, by Pedro de Campana (or more +correctly Kempeneer), hanging in the great sacristy. This is the +painting, Spanish historians will tell you, Murillo loved so well that +whenever he was downhearted he would stand in front of it for hours, and +become lost to all around him, even forgetting his own Madonnas. One day +the sacristan asked him impatiently, why he so often stood there +staring. "I am waiting," Murillo answered, "till those holy men have +taken the Saviour down from the Cross." It hangs well lighted over one +of the altars of the Sacristy. Few faces have ever been painted which +convey depth and intensity of feeling in a more affecting way. The +agonized faces of the women at the foot of the Cross express all an +innocent human heart can feel of compassion, heart-wrung sorrow and +despair. The ecstasy with which Saint Anthony, who is kneeling in +prayer, gazes at the Child Jesus has seldom been surpassed in reality +and power. Entirely lifted beyond the earthly sphere, his features +kindle with ardent piety and divine love. The angels surrounding the +Infant Jesus have a simplicity of expression which never escapes those +who have loved and studied children. The coloring is unique and of a +truly penetrating softness. All the little details of the miserable cell +in which the saint is kneeling are rendered with<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_223" id="page_223"></a>{223}</span> the vigorous reality +so characteristic of the Spanish school, while in the upper part of the +painting one seems to see even the dust particles floating in the rays +of sunlight. The shadows have a marvelous transparency.</p> + +<p>The Angel de la Guarda, or Guardian Angel, is one of the master's very +best works. The purples and yellows of the angel's vesture have kept +their depth and richness through all the centuries in which the colors +have been drying.</p> + +<p>There might be a guide-book dealing with the paintings of the Cathedral +alone. How differently it is decorated from the great Gothic cathedrals +of the present Anglican Church! In Seville as in Florence, all the fine +arts seemed to flower and come to perfection during the sixteenth +century. Sculpture and painting were employed to embellish architecture, +as in the ancient days of Greece. The sister arts walked once more hand +in hand. The figures in stone and still more in terra-cotta which adorn +the exterior porches and the more decorative portions of the interior +are unusually fine. Many of the bishops, saints and kings have an +unmistakable Renaissance feeling. Take, for instance, such a statue as +the Virgin del Reposo, so dear to the Sevillians,—you feel in all the +handling the period of transition. Such sculptors as Miguel Florentin, +Juan Marin, and Diego de Pesquera must have been influenced by Italy +when they carved the statues which adorn the Cathedral of Seville.</p> + +<p>The contact with Italy and the many Italian workmen gradually induced +faithlessness to the earlier Gothic ideals of the founders and builders +of the church. The great Maestro Mayor of Toledo Cathedral,<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_224" id="page_224"></a>{224}</span> Henrique de +Egas, was among the first to introduce restraint in Spanish building +after the fanaticism of the later flamboyant. In the time of Ferdinand +and Isabella, a well-known Toledan published a Spanish abridgment of +Vitruvius; this in conjunction with the influence of many foreign +artists led the way to classical building. Granada was soon resurrected +as a Greek-Roman "Centralbau" and even the crossing of Gothic Burgos was +unfortunately restored by Borgoña after classic models.</p> + +<p>The new foreign movement found expression in architecture, in sculpture +and in painting, often with the most extraordinary attempts to employ +the new without discarding the old. Grotesque and fantastic ornaments +crown illogical construction.</p> + +<p>The royal chapel, the chapter house, the sagrario and the great sacristy +are examples of the new-born style. The first two are magnificent +specimens of Spanish Renaissance. Each of them is a fine church in +itself, and they can only be classed as chapels because they bear that +relation and are proportioned to the immense mother church of Seville.</p> + +<p>The walls of the Capilla Real form the eastern termination to the +Cathedral, and the chapel is very properly planned upon the axe of the +church and entered through a splendidly decorated lofty arch. It is +about 81 by 59 feet in plan, and 113 feet high to the lantern crowning +the really fine dome. A round altar at its eastern extremity is closed +off by a typically impressive reja. The architecture is of the +magnificence of Saint Peter's in Rome, and not unlike it in detail. +Eight Corinthian pilasters support the dome, breaking the wall space +into panels and carrying the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_225" id="page_225"></a>{225}</span> richest classical cornice surmounted by +fine statues of the Apostles, Evangelists and kings. The chapel takes +its name from being the burial place of the royal house. Along its walls +are the tombs of Saint Ferdinand's consort, of Alfonso the Learned and +his mother, Beatrice of Suabia, and the beautiful Doña Maria de Padilla, +the mistress of Pedro the Cruel. He himself is buried below in the vault +with many other of the royal princes. In the centre of the chapel Saint +Ferdinand lies in full armor with a crown on his head. Three times a +year he is shown to the soldiers of Spain, who march past with sounding +bugles and lowered banners.</p> + +<p>The chapel was planned and built by Martin Ganza during the reign of +Charles V. Shortly after the defeat of the Moors, an earlier royal one +was built upon the same site and added to the old mosque. When the great +new Cathedral was planned, the Chapter begged permission to remove +temporarily the bodies of the royal personages interred in the +chapel,—the holy King Ferdinand, his mother and son. This petition was +granted by Queen Joanna on condition that they would rebuild it on a +more fitting scale at as early a date as possible. The Chapter +preferred, however, to expend all its means and energies on the great +vaulting of the Cathedral rather than on the new royal sepulchre, and +this was not rebuilt until Charles V finally lost patience over the +negligent and disrespectful manner in which the remains of his forbears +were treated and wrote to the Chapter, in 1543, commanding them "to +start the work without any delay whatsoever, and to bring it to +completion as rapidly as possible, and to execute the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_226" id="page_226"></a>{226}</span> work as +excellently as befitted its royal guests." That the workmen made no +delay in obeying the royal commands is shown by the fact that the walls +were well up as early as 1566 and finished shortly afterwards.</p> + +<p>None of the Spanish cathedrals have a better type of Plateresque +architecture and decoration than the sacristy, built during the first +half of the seventeenth century. The plan is that of a Greek cross, 70 +by 40 feet, and about 120 feet high. Its dome, spanning the great +central vault, is a distinct feature in any comprehensive exterior view +of the Cathedral. The Sacristy is filled with curious and priceless +relics, treasures, and vestments belonging to the church. As Santa Justa +and Santa Rufina are in a manner the patron saints of Seville, their +picture by Goya hanging here is of interest. Both of them hold vessels +of the character of soup dishes; and their faces, taken from Seville +models, are of decidedly earthly types.</p> + +<p>To the west of the façade as you enter, lies the large sagrario, or +parish church. It is a building entirely by itself, 112 feet long, with +a single nave spanned by a dangerously bold barrel vault.</p> + +<p>Here and there among the chapels you come suddenly on famous subjects by +great masters, names renowned in Spanish history or striking works of +art. Learning and statesmanship are honored in great Mendoza's monument: +the silent mailed effigies of the Guzmans commemorate the thrilling +exploits of Spanish arms. What sympathies are stirred as you stand +uncovered before the tomb of the great and deeply wronged Discoverer! We +hear again the passionate appeals and the vain pleadings of his +undaunted<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_227" id="page_227"></a>{227}</span> faith. The living head was left to whiten within prison +walls; its effigy is now proudly carried on the four gorgeous shoulders +of the Spanish states; the poor bones, after their weary travels from +Valladolid to the Carthusian monastery of Las Cuevas, from Hispaniola to +Havana, have finally found a resting-place within the very walls where +they were once treated with such contumely,—for here lies the Great +Admiral, Cristoforo Colon.</p> + +<p>You pass paintings by Alfonso Cano, Ribera, Zurbaran, Greco and +Goya,—Murillo's Immaculate Conception, better known than all his other +works; Montañez' exquisite Crucifixion, canvases by Valdes, Herrera, +Boldan and Roelas. There are subjects curious and out of keeping with +our present artistic sentiments, saints walking about with their heads +instead of breviaries under their arms, dresses more fitting for the +ballroom than the wintry scenery amid which they are worn, marriage +ceremonies of the Virgin, Adam and Eve, entirely forgetful of their lost +Eden in the contemplation of the Virgin's halo, keys with quaint old +Arab inscriptions: "May Allah render eternal the dominion of Islam in +this city," saints with removable hair of spun gold and jointed limbs, +others snatched from quiet altar service to plunge into the turmoil of +battle on the saddle bow of reigning kings. Verily a museum of +historical curiosities as well as of the fine arts, satisfying +sensational cravings as well as the finer artistic sense.</p> + +<p>The structure is revealed to us through a light of unearthly sweetness. +None of the Spanish cathedrals are more satisfactorily lighted, for +Seville has neither the brilliant clarity of some of the northern +churches,<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_228" id="page_228"></a>{228}</span> which robs them of a certain mystery and awe, nor has it the +sinister obscurity of some of the southern, where both structure and +detail are half lost in shadows, as in Barcelona.</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 600px;"> +<a href="images/ill_sevillecathedral.png"> +<img src="images/ill_sevillecathedral_th.png" +width="600" +height="428" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE AND THE GIRALDA" title="CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE AND THE GIRALDA" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption"> +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE AND THE GIRALDA</p> +</div> + +<p>The light from the cimborio and from the two rows of windows as well as +the doors penetrates every chapel with its rainbow hues; it reveals the +whole majestic structure, the lofty spring of the arches, the glittering +ironwork of the screens, the titanic strength and simple caps of the +columns, and breathes celestial life into the army of saints and +martyrs. It gives a soul to it all. The effect produced by the early +morning and late afternoon light is very different. Santa Maria de la +Sede, like all her earthly sisters, has a variety of expressions. At +times she burns with animation, even a remnant of earthly passion may +glow in her holy countenance, and again she is cold, impassive and +nunlike in her gray garb of renunciation.</p> + +<p>According to an Andalusian proverb, the rays of the sun have no evil +power where the voice of prayer is heard. For this reason, only a few of +the highest windows are screened by semi-transparent curtains, and the +light pours in unbroken through most of their brilliant tints—down the +nave in deep blood reds and indigo blues. The greater portion of the +glass is unusually rich in coloring,—perhaps too florid, but typical of +the Flemish School of glass-painting. Ninety-three windows were stained +during the first half of the sixteenth century, for which the church +paid the painters the large sum of 90,000 ducats. The earliest ones are +by Micer and Cristobal Aleman, who in 1538 introduced in Seville real +stained glass. Aleman's, <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_229" id="page_229"></a>{229}</span>representing the Ascension of Christ, Mary +Magdalen, and the Awakening of Lazarus, the Entry into Jerusalem, the +Descent of the Holy Ghost and the Apostles, all in the transept, +together with those by his brother Arnao de Flanders, are the +best,—better than most Flemish windows of the time in any European +cathedral. True, they are somewhat heavy in outline and the coloring +lacks softness and restraint in tone, but they have great depth, +excellency of drawing and power of expression in faces and figures.</p> + +<p>The little chapel, the Capilla de los Doncelles, contains a magnificent +sheet of glass representing the Resurrection of Christ, painted by +Carlos de Bruges, one of the great Flemish artists. A whole school of +foreign painters seem to have gathered round these famous "vidrieros," +many of them working in their shops. Among the best known are Arnao de +Vergara, Micer Enrique Bernardino de Celandra and Vicente Menardo.</p> + +<p class="top5">The Giralda is incomparable, a unique expression of feminine strength. +She is as oriental and mysterious as the Sphinx, or might be likened to +a great sultana in enchanted sleep. Though her majestic head has towered +for centuries beside her Christian sister, they still seem as +irreconcilable as their faiths a thousand years ago. It has been a +strange companionship. The oriental loveliness and splendor of the +Giralda, like that of Seville, are best felt at the twilight hour, when +her jewels sparkle in the last rays of the setting sun. With the waning +light the coloring becomes purple, then indigo, while the silhouette +still stands out in startling clearness and strength against the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_230" id="page_230"></a>{230}</span> +spotless blue of the evening sky. You feel as if the whole mountain of +masonry were slowly but surely leaning more and more from its base and +about to bury you in its fall. The vermilion and ochre coloring are like +the petals of the rose. Nowhere is the surface uniform, but passes +gradually from light cream and buff through warmer amber to brilliant +orange and carmine and crimson lake, even to the color of the +pomegranate's heart. The exquisite surface of delicate tinting, mellowed +by the storms and suns of centuries, is everywhere relieved by the +brilliant sparkle, the delicate play of light and shade, of the Moorish +designs. When the low rays of the Andalusian sun illumine the Giralda, +just touched here and there with dots of molten gold like the orange +trees from whose green bed it rises, you see the boldest creation of +Moorish imagination in all its splendor. The great Cathedral itself +becomes a modest nun with rich, but sombre, cape over her shoulders, +beside this dazzling creature glowing with Saracenic fire.</p> + +<p>The Giralda is the greatest of all the monuments of that enlightened +civilization. She is so different from any other tower that comparison +becomes difficult. There is a robustness, an appearance of adequate +solidity and strength which are lacking in the Italian towers of Saint +Mark's, of Pistoja, or of Florence. This holds true even in relation to +other Moorish towers, or such edifices as the Mosque at Cordova, the +Alcazar at Seville, or the pillared halls of Granada; all other Moorish +work seems to have a certain feminine weakness, a timidity and +insecurity, when compared with the tower which dominates Maria +Santissima. The Giralda is your first and last impression<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_231" id="page_231"></a>{231}</span> of this +corner of the world, for it embodies all the grace and strength that can +be combined in architecture. Old Spanish authorities assert that it was +in the very year when believers throughout Christendom were anxiously +expecting the end of the world that the Moslem infidels began to build +their huge monument. More probably it was started about the year 1185, +as the prayer tower or minaret of the mosque which was then rapidly +progressing. The Spanish historian Gayangos says that it was completed +by Jabar or Gever in 1196, during the reign of the illustrious Almohad +ruler, Abu Jakub Jusef, the same monarch who erected the Mesquita at +Cordova. Other authorities insist that its original purpose was as an +observatory,—but although it may have been used for astronomical +purposes, it was certainly erected as a tower from which the muezzin +could call the faithful to prayer in the Mosque of Seville. While +building it, Gever claims to have invented algebra.</p> + +<p>The original tower has undergone skillful but of course detrimental +changes from the hands of later generations. We have descriptions and +representations of it prior to the changes made in 1500. The main Arab +structure was, like almost all Mohammedan prayer-towers, surmounted by a +smaller tower and capped by a spire. It was about 250 feet high, and on +its summit an iron standard supported, before the earthquake of 1395, +four enormous balls of brass. King Alfonso the Wise, in his "Cronica de +España," describing Seville in the thirteenth century, says that "when +the sun shone upon these balls, they emitted so fierce a light that they +might be seen a day's journey<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_232" id="page_232"></a>{232}</span> away from the city." When Seville was +taken by Saint Ferdinand in 1248, the tower was standing in the full +glory of its original conception. The thought that it might fall into +the hands of the conquerors so horrified its builders that they were +only prevented from destroying it by Saint Ferdinand's threat that, if a +single brick were removed, not an infidel in Seville should keep his +head.</p> + +<p>The Giralda had already lost the Byzantine crown which it had worn +proudly for five hundred years when, in 1595, it came near total +destruction, and was only saved during the terrible earthquake and storm +which almost destroyed the city by the interposition of its special +protectresses, the potter girls of Triana, Santa Justa and Santa Rufina. +There are pictures which show us these blessed Virgins supporting the +tower while the wind devils with distended cheeks are blowing on its +sides with all their might and main. We are not only grateful to them +for this timely intervention, but very glad it cost them so little +exertion, for we find them shortly afterwards holding the tower in their +hands as lightly as a filigree casket. The architects who restored it +about twenty years ago fortunately refrained from all attempts at +improving or renovating its sunburned, wind-swept surface.</p> + +<p>The Giralda is as strong as it looks. The huge walls have a thickness of +eight feet below, diminishing to seven feet in the upper stories. The +height to the very top of the crowning figure is 308 feet. In the +foundations are bricks, rubble, and huge blocks of earlier Roman and +Visigothic masonry; even Latin inscriptions are found immured. The +Moors, like all other<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_233" id="page_233"></a>{233}</span> builders, used the materials readiest at hand; +the rejected building stones of one generation become the corner stones +of the next.</p> + +<p>Below the Renaissance addition with which the tower was terminated in +1568, the broad sides of the shaft had been broken by the Arabs in the +simplest and most felicitous manner. The brickwork was treated in three +panels with the corner borders very properly broader and stronger than +the two intermediate ones. The panels, which could not be of a happier +depth, are filled down to eighty feet of the ground with varying Moorish +arabesque patterns; the figured diaper-work on all sides is broken in +the two outer panels by blind cusped arches, and in the central +patterns, by Moorish windows of the "ajuiez" variety. Their double +arches are subdivided by small Byzantine columns; these again are framed +within larger cusped and differently broken horseshoe curves. Small +Renaissance balconies have at a later date been placed below the +windows. The small niches comprising the total Moorish composition +sparkle throughout with life and charm, and, though no two are alike, +they form a harmonious whole. The Arab seemed to have an instinctive +aversion from tedious repetition. He would always vary the design just +enough to satisfy his imagination and creative faculty, but never +sufficiently to disturb the harmony of the general scheme. As with the +windows, so also with the arabesques. They begin at slightly varying +heights on the different sides of the tower, so that the windows may +properly meet the different elevations of the interior stair. Their +patterns are not quite the same, neither on the various sides of the +tower nor at<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_234" id="page_234"></a>{234}</span> different heights on the same side. The decoration +employed is admirably fitted to a large surface which would have been +weakened by strong cutting or deep relief. Considering what Arab art +achieved within prescribed limits, the student of Christian art may well +deplore that the Koran, in its abhorrence of idol-worship, forbade its +followers in any way to reproduce human or animal forms. Forever +debarred all the wider possibilities of movement and poetry these would +have given them for interior decoration, Moorish art necessarily +stagnated to mere conventionalization of floral and natural subjects. +These are well adapted to exterior mural surfacing. When we look at the +fancifully handled geometric patterns on the Giralda, we can only +rejoice that the frescoes added by the later Renaissance artists in the +upper arches and along some of the lower surfaces have been washed away +by time. They were ineffective; all that remains of Moorish is +magnificent. A small arcade, running the width of each side in its +single panel, terminates the Moorish work.</p> + +<p>It is almost to be regretted that the Renaissance top has been so well +done, for its barbarous exotism is sufficient to condemn it. It has +excellently fulfilled a dastardly purpose.</p> + +<p>The original Moorish termination was taken down by the architect, +Francisco Ruiz, who was commissioned by the Cathedral Chapter in 1568 to +give it a more fitting crown. His design consists of three stages +reaching to a height of about a hundred feet. The first, of the same +width as the shaft below, is pierced by openings "to let out the sweet +sounds of the bells inside." The second stage consists of a double tier +of<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_235" id="page_235"></a>{235}</span> considerably smaller squares pierced by wide arches. Around the four +sides of its upper frieze runs the inscription so legible that all +Sevillians who know how may read, "Nomen Domini Fortissima Turris" +(Proverbs, xviii, 10). The third stage consists of a double lantern +surmounted by a soaring Seraphim, bearing in one hand the banner of +Constantine and in the other the Roman palm of conquest. The +"Girardello" was cast in gilded bronze by Bartolomé Morel in the year +1568. Intended to symbolize Faith, the name, a diminutive of Giralda, or +weathercock, is most inappropriate. Despite her enormous size and +weight, the faintest zephyr blowing down from the Sierra Moreña sets her +turning on the spire she treads so lightly, whereupon the crowds of +hawks resting on Girardello disperse in noisy scolding.</p> + +<p>Dumas gazed at her in wonder and admiration. "C'est merveilleux," he +said, "de voir tourner dans un rayon de soleil cette figure d'or aux +ailes deployées, qui semble, comme un oiseau céleste fatigué d'une +longue course, avoir choisi pour se reposer un instant le point le plus +proche du ciel."</p> + +<p>The great bells of the tower, all baptized with holy oil, a custom very +frequent in Spain, are dear to the hearts of those whom they daily call +to rest and prayer. As they strike the hours, passers-by look up to see +their great tongues protrude. Their sweet peal is heard in the most +distant quarters of the city, and beyond on the waters of the +Guadalquivir and in the fertile valley through which it flows. The deep +resonant note of Santa Maria is the last sound we hear before falling +asleep.</p> + +<p>Inside you may ascend to the very summit by<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_236" id="page_236"></a>{236}</span> steps so broad and easy +that two horses abreast may go as far as the platform of the bells. +Below you lies the city with its scattered white buildings that once +housed half a million, and beyond, the valley that enfolded twelve +thousand villages. Though dwindled and changed, time has dealt gently +with Seville. There is gay laughter in her sunny streets and the olive +groves echo with rippling song. Just under your feet throbs the heart of +it all. Though repeatedly struck by lightning, the great Cathedral still +stands, an everlasting symbol of the Church, triumphant and eternal. +<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_237" id="page_237"></a>{237}</span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_239" id="page_239"></a>{239}</span></p> + +<h3><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII<br /> +<br />GRANADA</h3> + +<div class="image" style="width: 414px;"> +<a href="images/ill_granadawest.png"> +<img src="images/ill_granadawest_th.png" +width="414" +height="550" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA +West front" title="CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA +West front" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption">CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA<br /> +West front</p> +</div> + +<table summary="poetry" +class="sml80"><tr><td> +Kennst du das Land we die Citronen blühn,<br /> +Im dunkeln Land die Goldorangen glühn,<br /> +Ein sanfter Wind vom blauen Himmel weht,<br /> +Die Myrte still und hoch der Lorbeer steht?<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><span class="smcap">Goethe's</span> <i>Wilhelm Meister</i>.</span></td></tr> +</table> + +<table summary="poetry" +class="sml80"><tr><td> +Thus being entred, they behold arownd<br /> +A large and spacious plaine, on every side<br /> +Strewed with pleasauns, whose fayre grassy grownd<br /> +Mantled with greene, and goodly beautifide<br /> +With all the ornaments of Floraes pride.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;"><i>Faerie Queene</i>, book 2, c. xii.</span></td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="heading">I</p> + +<p><span class="lgletter">T</span><span style="margin-left: -.75em;">HE</span> +first stars shone pale in the fields of upper air over walls and +towers wrapt in the mystery of twilight which softened every outline and +cast a kindly veil over the decay of a thousand years. The air was +oppressively sweet with the fragrance exhaled by southern vegetation on +a summer evening. The roses had climbed to the top of the walls, where +they could cool their flushed cheeks on the marble copings of the +battlements. The myrtle and ivy trembled in the evening breeze, and +through the broken casements the aloes whispered to the sweet-breathing +orange trees in the courtyards. The martlet twittered in the branches. +On all sides was heard in cool silvery continuity the gurgle and plash +of streams which, issuing from mountain snows, had wound their loitering +way through fields of violets and forget-me-nots to the "large and +spacious plaine" of the Vega.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_240" id="page_240"></a>{240}</span> The fairy palace of the Alhambra, the +Acropolis that once held forty thousand defenders of the faith, crowns +and encircles the hill. From its watch-tower the nightingales pour forth +lovers' songs, plaintive and passionate, heightening the enchantment of +a scene unsurpassed in natural loveliness and the charm of a romantic +past.</p> + +<p>The hillsides undulating from the vermilion ramparts of the Alhambra are +clad with graceful elms, with orange and pomegranate trees bearing deep +red and golden fruit and with the mulberry's glistening olive green. +Here and there are open spaces between the groves; fields of roses and +lilies. The Darro and the Xenil flow by the foot of the hill, and from +their banks for almost thirty miles stretches the Vega. At the base of +the fortress, between the rivers, lies the city of Granada,—</p> + +<p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The artist's and the poet's theme,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The young man's vision, the old man's dream,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Granada, by its winding stream,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The City of the Moor.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Out on the plain the settlement becomes gradually sparser, the houses +more scattered. White stucco walls are interspersed with plots of green +garden, the ochre houses are smaller shining patches amid the +yellow-flowering fig-cactus and the regularly planted olive groves, +until finally the eye must search for the farmhouse hidden among +vineyards, orchards and waving fields of corn. The gleaming villas and +farmhouses still look as they did to the Moor, like "oriental pearls set +in a cup of emeralds."</p> + +<p>The endless plain, once the fertile bosom of fourteen cities, +innumerable strong castles and high<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_241" id="page_241"></a>{241}</span> watch-towers, is shut in from the +outside world like a very Garden of Eden, by the mountain walls of the +Alpujarras and Sierra Alhama. Far away on the horizon the barrier is +broken at a single point, the Loja gorge. This was once guarded by +sentinels ever on the watch for the distant gleam of Christian lances to +light the fires that signaled approaching danger to the distant citadel. +Most Spanish cities were densely built within high walls, but Granada +felt so secure in her mountain fortress that her dwellings were strewn +broadcast over the plain. Behind the walls of the Alhambra, on a second +slope wooded with cypress, the brilliant towers of the Generaliffe gleam +against the dark foliage. Beyond, across the whole southern sweep, rises +the chalky, hazy blue of the Sierra Nevada, capped with glittering, +everlasting snow. Gazing up from the valley below, one might fancy it a +white veil thrown back from the lovely features of the landscape.</p> + +<p>Thus lies Granada, a verdant and perfumed valley wrapt in the soft +mystery of its hazy atmosphere,—"Grenade,—plus éclatante que la fleur +et plus savoureuse que le fruit, dont elle porte le nom, semble une +vierge paresseuse qui s'est couchée au soleil depuis le jour de la +création dans un lit de bruyères et de mousse, défendue par une muraille +de cactus et d'aloes,—elle s'endort gaiement aux chansons des oiseaux +et le matin s'éveille souriante au murmure de ses cascatelles."<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> + +<p>More than any other spot on earth, Granada seems haunted by memories of +bygone glory. The wide plains, now inhabited by less than seventy-five +thousand,<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_242" id="page_242"></a>{242}</span> once swarmed with over half a million souls. The artist feels +poignantly the charm of those long centuries of Arabian Days and Nights +that were forever blotted out by the zeal of the Christian sword. The +ruined temples still attest the thrift and industry, the refinement and +learning of the vanished race; the squalid poverty that has replaced it +is deaf and blind to the records of ancient grandeur, but the traveler +and the historian may still be thrilled by the struggle that destroyed +"the most voluptuous of all retirements" and feel there as nowhere else +the relentless power of the most Catholic Kings, the pathos of the Moor.</p> + +<div class="imageplan" style="width: 495px;"> +<a href="images/ill_plangranada.png"> +<img src="images/ill_plangranada_th.png" +width="495" +height="550" +alt="KEY OF PLAN OF GRANADA CATHEDRAL" title="KEY OF PLAN OF GRANADA CATHEDRAL" /></a> +</div> + +<table summary="segovia plan" +cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" +class="sml75"> +<tr><td colspan="4" align="center">KEY OF PLAN OF GRANADA CATHEDRAL</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="4" align="center"> </td></tr> +<tr><td>A. </td><td>Sagrario.</td><td>E. </td><td>Door of the Perdon.</td></tr> +<tr><td>B.</td><td>Royal Chapel.</td><td>F.</td><td>Door of St. Jeronimo.</td></tr> +<tr><td>C.</td><td>Capilla Mayor.</td><td>G.</td><td>Main Entrance.</td></tr> +<tr><td>D.</td><td>Choir.</td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr> +</table> + +<p>Granada is a very old city, and like Cordova and Seville, it was one of +the principal Moorish centres; in fact after their fall, the industries +and culture which had been theirs went to swell the inheritance of +Granada. Its name has always been associated with the scarlet-blossoming +tree which covers its slopes, whose fruit the Catholic sovereigns +proudly placed in the point of their shield, with stalks and leaves and +shell open-grained. During the Roman occupation, a settlement had been +made on the wooded slopes at the foot of the Sierra Nevada and called +Granatum (pomegranate). The Goths in their turn swept over the peninsula +until, in 711, they were driven out of the valley by the advancing Arab +hordes. These transformed the name given it by the Romans to Karnattah. +Seven hundred and eighty-two years passed before the Crescent set +forever on the Iberian peninsula. Dynasties had succeeded one another in +the various kingdoms formed of larger and smaller portions of southern +and central Spain, but in the north, hardy <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_243" id="page_243"></a>{243}</span>monarchs had founded more +stable thrones on the ruins of the Gothic Empire, and they were eagerly +watching the advancing decay, the domestic discord of the Mohammedan +power and grasping every opportunity for the aggrandizement of their own +states.</p> + +<p>In the tenth century, the Moorish power was at its zenith. During the +eleventh, Granada had become strong enough to break away from the +caliphate of Cordova. There the Almorvides and Almohades dynasties had +alternated while the Nasrides ruled in the kingdom and city of Granada +until the luckless Boabdil surrendered its keys.</p> + +<p>During the last three centuries of Moorish rule, the northern Cross cast +an ever longer shadow before it. Alfonso of Aragon advanced to within +the walls of the outer forts in 1125, and in the two and a half +centuries following, tribute was exacted by the crown of Castile. The +Moors of Cordova were more hardy and warlike than the Arabs of Granada. +The arts of peace flourished with this latter poetical, artistic and +commercial race, who as time went on became less and less able to defend +themselves against the fanaticism and skill of the Spanish armies. Like +Hannibal's soldiers on the fertile plains of Lombardy, they had become +enervated in the luxury of their beautiful valley. When their imprudent +ruler answered the Castilian envoys who had come to collect the usual +tribute, "that the Kings of Granada who paid tribute were dead, and that +the mint now only coined blades of scimeters and heads of lances," the +hour of Granada's destiny had struck. The smiling valley became for ten +years a field of blood and carnage, after which its devastation was +relentlessly completed by the Holy Office of the Inquisition.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_244" id="page_244"></a>{244}</span></p> + +<p>Ferdinand and Isabella entered the last stronghold of the Moors in the +very year when the history of the civilized world was changing its +course. Its helmsman, Columbus, was received in the Castilian camp +outside the walls of the beleaguered city. On the second of January, +1492, Hernando, Bishop of Avila, raised the Christian Cross beside the +banner of Castile on the ramparts of the highest tower of the Alhambra; +four days later, on the day of the Kings and the festival of the +Epiphany, Ferdinand and Isabella entered the city.</p> + +<p>"The royal procession advanced to the principal mosque, which had been +consecrated as a cathedral. Here the sovereigns offered up prayers and +thanksgivings and the choir of the royal chapel chanted a triumphant +anthem, in which they were joined by the courtiers and cavaliers. +Nothing could exceed the thankfulness to God of the pious King Ferdinand +for having enabled him to eradicate from Spain the empire and name of +that accursed heathen race, and for the elevation of the Cross in that +city where the impious doctrines of Mohamed had so long been +cherished."<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> + +<p>Bells were rung and masses celebrated in gratitude throughout the +Christian world. As far away as Saint Paul's in London town, a special +Te Deum was chanted by order of the good King Henry the Seventh. Spain +had reached the summit of her glory, before which yawned the abyss.</p> + +<p>And now in the name of Christ the Inquisition was established and one of +its chief offices founded; in His name the Jews were driven out, +Christian oaths and<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_245" id="page_245"></a>{245}</span> covenants broken, and the peaceful Moorish +inhabitants hounded from their hearths. Under Philip III, in 1609, their +last descendants were banished from the realm.</p> + +<p>No scene of chivalry during the middle ages displayed a more brilliant +and bloody pageant than the battlefield of Granada. It was the +culmination of the work of Spain's greatest rulers,—the great crisis in +her history.</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Here gallants held it little thing for ladies' sake to die,<br /> +Or for the Prophet's honour, or pride of Soldenry.<br /> +For here did Valour flourish and deeds of warlike might<br /> +Ennobled lordly palaces in which was our delight.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> + +<p>Gazing over this famous plain, the Vega, that "Pearl of Price," with its +courtyards now desolate, its gardens parched and well-nigh calcined by +the sun, one recalls Voltaire's words: "Great wrongs are always recent +wounds!" and long years have passed since the iron heel of Austria set +its first impress on the soil.</p> + +<p>James Howell, the English traveler and busybody in the capital at the +time Prince Charles went surreptitiously wooing, writes home in 1623, +after visiting Granada: "Since the expulsion of the Moors, it is also +grown thinner, and not so full of corn; for those Moors would grub up +wheat out of the very tops of the craggy hills, yet they used another +grain for their bread, so that the Spaniard had nought else to do but go +with his ass to the market and buy the corn of the Moors."</p> + +<p>Only once more does Granada's name emerge from the oblivion of +ages,—when the Iron Duke occupied<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_246" id="page_246"></a>{246}</span> the city during the Peninsular War. +He covered with a kindly hand some of her barrenness, planting English +elms beneath her fortress.</p> + +<p class="heading">II</p> + +<p>In the heart of a crumbling mass of chalky, chrome-colored walls and +vermilion roofs, rises the dome of the Cathedral. Here, as in Seville, +the ground once sanctified to Moslem prayer was cleansed by the +Catholics from the pollution of the Moor, and the Christian edifice was +reared on the foundations of the Mohammedan mosque. As already noted, +one of the first religious acts of the conquerors was the consecration, +in January, 1492, of the ancient mosque, which thereafter was used for +Christian worship under the direction of the wise and tolerant Talavera, +as first Bishop of Granada. The new building was not begun until the +year 1523, an exceedingly late date in cathedral-building,—a time when +the great art was slowly dying down, and, in northern countries, +flickering in its last flamboyancy.</p> + +<p>On March 25, 1525, the corner stone was laid of the new Cathedral of +Santa Maria de la Encarnacion. It was planned on a much more elaborate +scale than the previous mosque, which, however, continued to be +independently used as a Christian church until the middle of the +seventeenth century and was not demolished till the beginning of the +eighteenth, to make room for the new sagrario, or parish church, of +Santa Maria de la O.</p> + +<p>The old mosque was of the usual type of Moslem<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_247" id="page_247"></a>{247}</span> house of prayer, its +eleven aisles subdivided by a forest of columns and resembling in +general aspect the far greater mosque of Cordova. Prior to the actual +commencement of the new Cathedral, though not to its design, the Royal +Chapel was erected, between the years 1506 and 1517, and when the +Cathedral was built, it became its southern, lateral termination and by +far the most magnificent and interesting portion of the interior. It was +planned and executed by the original designer of the church, and even +after this was finished, the Royal Chapel remained, like the chapel of +Saint Ferdinand of Seville, an independent church with its own Chapter +and clergy and independent services.</p> + +<p>About a dozen master-builders, almost all working under foreign +influence, are known as the architects of the great Spanish cathedrals. +They seem generally to have worked more or less in conjunction with each +other, several being employed on the same building, or called in turn to +advise in one place or superintend in another. Sometimes a whole body of +them reported together, or several of them were jointly consulted by a +cathedral chapter.</p> + +<p>The original conception of the Cathedral of Granada was the work of +Enrique de Egas of Brussels, who, when he was commissioned by the new +Chapter to plan a fitting memorial to the final triumph of Christianity +over Islam in Spain, was among the most celebrated builders of his day. +He had already succeeded his father as Maestro Mayor of the Cathedral of +Toledo when, just before his death, in 1534, he executed the Royal +Chapel of Granada Cathedral, as well as built the hospital of Santa Cruz +in the same<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_248" id="page_248"></a>{248}</span> city. The Colegio de Santa Cruz at Valladolid was also his +work, and he had been summoned with other leading architects to decide +the best mode of procedure in Seville Cathedral after the disastrous +collapse of its dome. At times he was giving advice in both Saragossa +and Salamanca. Enrique de Egas' designs were accepted in 1523. He had +hardly proceeded further in two years than to lay out the general plan +of the Cathedral, when, either through misunderstanding or some +controversy, he was supplanted in his office by the equally celebrated +Diego de Siloé. Like Egas, his activity was not confined to Granada, but +extended to Seville and Malaga.</p> + +<p>In the year 1561, two years before Siloé's death, the building was +sufficiently completed to be opened for public worship, and consequently +on August 17th of that year it was solemnly consecrated. The foundations +and lower portion of the northern tower were executed about this time by +Siloé's successor, Juan de Maeda. The tower was completed and partially +taken down again during the following twenty years by Ambrosio de Vico. +Then follows the main portion of the exterior work, especially the west +façade (of the first half of the seventeenth century), by the +celebrated, not to say notorious, Alfonso de Cano, and José Granados. +The decoration of the interior, the addition of chapels and the building +of the sagrario were continued through the latter part of the +seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries.</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 550px;"> +<a href="images/ill_exteriorgranada.png"> +<img src="images/ill_exteriorgranada_th.png" +width="550" +height="393" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA +The exterior cornices of the Royal Chapel" title="CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA +The exterior cornices of the Royal Chapel" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption">CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA<br /> +The exterior cornices of the Royal Chapel</p> +</div> + +<p>The building operations thus extended over a period of two hundred and +fifty years. Alfonso de Cano's reputation was of various kinds; the son +of a carpenter and a native of Granada, as soon as his talents <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_249" id="page_249"></a>{249}</span>were +recognized, he was apprenticed to the great Montañes. To judge from +contemporaneous accounts, he must have been as hot-headed and +quarrelsome as the Florentine goldsmith of similar talents and +versatility. He was always ready to exchange the paint-brush or chisel +for his good sword, and there was scarcely a day during the years of his +connection with the Cathedral in which he was not enjoying a hot +controversy with the Chapter. His favor with the weak monarch and the +powerful ruling Conde-Duc was so great that they had the audacity to +appoint him a prebendary of the Chapter after he had been forced to fly +from justice in Valladolid on a charge of murder, as well as for having +beaten his wife on his return from a meeting of the ecclesiastical body. +The Chapter deprived him of his office as soon as they dared, which was +six years after his appointment.</p> + +<p>Egas' original plan, like the work he actually carried out in the Royal +Chapel, was undoubtedly for a Gothic edifice, as this style was +understood and executed in Spain. From the fact that the original Gothic +intention was abandoned for a Spanish Renaissance church, many +authorities give the date of its commencement as 1529, when Diego de +Siloé's Renaissance work was under way. In the end of the fifteenth and +beginning of the sixteenth centuries, the great turning-point had come. +Italian influences were beginning to predominate over earlier styles and +the last exquisite flames of the Gothic fire were slowly dying out to +give place to the heavy Renaissance structure of ecclesiastical +inspiration. Spaniards who had returned fresh from Italian soil and +tutelage evolved with their ornate sense and characteristic<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_250" id="page_250"></a>{250}</span> love for +magnificence, the style, or rather decorative treatment, which marks the +first stage of Spanish Renaissance architecture called "Estilo +Plateresco." This is a happy name for it, its derivation being from +"plata," or silver plate, and indicating that architects were attempting +to decorate the huge superficial spaces on their churches with the same +intricacy and sparkle as the silversmiths were hammering on their +ornaments. There was evolved the same lace-like quality, the same +sparkling light and shade. Wonderful results were indeed obtained by the +stone-cutters of the sixteenth century.</p> + +<p>The Cathedral of Granada is not at all remarkable. Its interest is +derived from the city of which it is the chief Christian edifice and the +great bodies which it contains; to students of architecture it is in a +manner a connecting link between the Gothic building of the middle ages +and the modern revival of classical building methods.</p> + +<p>It is the death of the old and the birth of the new; it marks the advent +of stagnant, uninspired formalism in constructive forms. Its sarcophagi +and much of its decoration are both in design and execution most +exquisite and appropriate examples of Renaissance art in Spain. Its easy +victory in decorative forms was owing to the fact that there had +practically been evolved little or no Spanish ornamental design outside +of that produced by the ingenuity and peculiar skill of the Moors. The +influence of Moorish design is long traceable in Christian decoration. +The Spanish nature craves rich adornment in all material. The art of the +great sculptors who, like Berruguete, returned at the beginning of the +new century with<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_251" id="page_251"></a>{251}</span> inspiration gained in the workshops of the Florentine +Michael Angelo, soon found a host of pupils and followers. Not only in +stone, but in wood, metal, plaster, and on canvas, the new forms were +carried to a gorgeous profusion never dreamt of before. Charles V stands +out amid its glories in as clear relief as in the tumult of the +battlefield. The decline and frigid formality did not set in until the +reign of his unimpassioned and repulsive son. The grandest epoch in +Spain's history thus corresponds to the most inspired period of its +sculpture. The first architects of this period worked on Granada +Cathedral; the work of the greatest sculptor, the Burgundian Vigarny, is +found in inferior form on the retablo of the Royal Chapel. In Spain, +where the climate made small window openings desirable, the churches +offered great wall spaces to the sculptor. The splendid portals, window +frames, turrets and parapets, the capitals and string courses and niches +all became rich fields for Spanish interpretation of the exquisite art +of Lombardy.</p> + +<p>The new art first found tentative expression in decorative forms, then +in more radical and structural changes. The world-empire of which +Ferdinand had dreamed, and which his grandson almost possessed, placed +untold wealth and the art of every kingdom at the disposal of Spain.</p> + +<p>Granada Cathedral has a strange exterior, meaningless except in certain +portions, which are essentially Spanish. To the Granadines it is as +marvelous as Saint Peter's to the Romans. Its view is obstructed on all +sides by a maze of crumbling walls, yellow hovels, and shop fronts +shockingly modern and out of keeping. It is all very, very provincial. +The stream of the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_252" id="page_252"></a>{252}</span> world has left it behind and its pageants and glories +had departed centuries ago. Donkeys heavily laden with baskets of market +produce stand—personifications of wronged and unremonstrating +patience—hitched to the iron rails before its main portals. Goats +browse on the grass in its courtyards, and are milked between the +buttresses. Immediately to the south of it lies the old episcopal +palace, where the archbishop preached the sermons criticized by the +ingenuous Gil Blas.</p> + +<p>The main entrance is to the west. This front is the latest portion of +the building with the exception of certain portions of the interior. +Though not as corrupt as some of the surgical decorations in the +trascoro, it is the heaviest and least interesting part of the church. +It bears no relation to the sides of the building, but seems to have +been clapped on like a mask. The central portion is subdivided into +three huge bays, the spring of the arch, which rises from the +intermediate piers, being considerably higher in the centre than those +of the two to the north and south. Diego de Siloé probably designed the +composition, intending that it should be flanked and terminated by great +towers. Three stages, rising to a height of some 185 feet, stand to the +north. Corinthian and Ionic orders superimpose a Doric entablature over +a plain and restrained base. Arches frame more or less meaningless and +unpierced designs between the pilasters and engaged columns of the +orders. The whole is as painfully dry as the transfer of a student's +compass from a page of Vignola. Old cuts and descriptions represent this +northern tower crowned by an octagonal termination with a height of 265 +feet. Despite the<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_253" id="page_253"></a>{253}</span> apparent massiveness of the substructure, this soon +made the whole so alarmingly insecure that it was pulled down. The +present tower scarcely reaches above the broken lines and flat surfaces +of the roof tiles and, particularly at a distance, has the effect of a +huge buttress. The southern tower was never erected, but in place of it +the front was supported by a makeshift portion of base. The northern +tower is the work of Maeda, the façade principally by Cano, although +much of the sculpture, such as the Incarnation over the central doorway, +and the Annunciation and Assumption over the side portals, are by other +inferior eighteenth-century sculptors.</p> + +<p>Statues, cartouches and ornamental medallions relieve the paneled +surfaces of the stonework, the masonry of which has been laid and +jointed with the utmost conceivable mechanical skill. The whole central +composition fizzles out in a meaningless mass of parapets and variously +carved stone terminations. One feels as if the original designer had +started on such a gigantic scale that he either had to give up finishing +his work proportionately or keep on till it reached the sky,—he wisely +chose the former alternative.</p> + +<p>In Granada, as in most of the Spanish cathedrals, the decoration of the +doorways and portals forms one of the principal features of exterior +interest. Their ornamentation, with that of the parapets crowning the +outer walls of chapels and aisles, is practically all that relieves the +huge surfaces of ochre masonry. The walls themselves indicate in no +manner the interior construction; the windows which pierce them are very +low and narrow and Gothic in outline. The north and south façades,—if +despite their many<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_254" id="page_254"></a>{254}</span> obstructions they may be spoken of as such,—differ +radically. The northern is to a great extent executed in the same +ponderous magnificence as the western. Two doorways pierce it, the +Puerta de San Jeronimo with mediocre sculpture by Diego de Siloé and his +pupil and successor, Juan de Maeda, and the Puerta del Perdon, leading +into the transept. The decoration of this doorway is as good pure +Renaissance work as was executed in Spain during the first quarter of +the sixteenth century. It consists of a double Corinthian order crowned +by a broken pediment. The shafts of both orders are wreathed. The +pilasters, the moldings of the arch, the archivolt and jambs are all, in +the lower order, most profusely covered with exquisite designs, +admirably fitted to their respective fields, full of imagination and +virility. They are as good as the best corresponding work in Italy. +Above the arch key of the main door, splendidly treated bas-reliefs of +Faith and Justice support from the spandrels an inscription recounting +the defeat of the Moors. The frieze band of both lower and upper orders +is profusely filled with ornament, while small cherubs in excellent +scale replace the conventional volutes of the Corinthian capitals. In +the upper order the niches have unfortunately been left uncompleted. A +bas-relief of God the Father fills the semicircle of the main arch; +Moses and David occupy the lunettes.</p> + +<p>The huge pilasters or buttresses of the church which run up east and +west of the entire composition are decorated with the enormous imperial +shields of Charles V, overshadowing in their vulgar predominance all the +exquisitely proportioned and delicate detail adjacent to them.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_255" id="page_255"></a>{255}</span></p> + +<p>Some of the bays on the southern side of the Cathedral can be better +seen, as a small courtyard separates them from the adjacent building, +the episcopal palace. The others are choked by the Capilla del Pulgar, +the Royal Chapel and the sagrario.</p> + +<p>This side of the church exhibits in its balustrades, its ornamentation +and the crocketed terminations and finials to the exterior buttresses, +what is far more interesting in the Plateresque style of Spain than the +purely borrowed and imitative features of the west and northern fronts. +Here appear in jeweled play of light and shade, in all their imaginative +and exquisite intricacy, those forms of carved string courses which were +developed by the Spanish Renaissance and were essentially Spanish and +national. You feel somewhere back of it the Moorish influence. It +presents all the richness, the magnificence and exuberant fancy which +characterizes the spirit in which its masters worked. The labor it +involved must have been enormous. The splendor of the solid lacework ten +to twelve feet high is thrown out by contrast with the naked walls which +it crowns.</p> + +<p>The Capilla del Pulgar, which blocks the most westerly corner of the +south elevation, was named in honor of Hernan Peres del Pulgar, the site +of whose brave exploit it marks. In 1490, during the last siege of +Granada, he determined on a deed which should outdo all feats of heroism +and defiance ever performed by Moslem warriors. At dead of night, some +authorities say he was on horseback, others that he swam the +subterranean channel of the Darro, he penetrated to the heart of the +enemy's city and fastened with his dagger to the door of their principal +mosque a scroll<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_256" id="page_256"></a>{256}</span> bearing the words "Ave Maria." Before this insult to +their faith had been discovered, he had regained Ferdinand's camp.</p> + +<p>A double superimposed arcade faces the southern side of the sagrario: +the lower story has been brutally closed and defaced by modern +additions, almost concealing its original carving. The upper story, +however, which forms a balcony, strongly recalls by its fancifully +twisted shafts, elliptical arches and Gothic traceried balustrade, +similar early Renaissance work at Blois, where the Gothic and early +Italian work were so charmingly blended.</p> + +<p>The Royal Chapel is entered through an Italian Renaissance doorway of +good general design and decoration, but the Spanish cornice and +balustrade crowning the outer walls are much more interesting in +details. The principal member consists of a band of crowned and +encircled F's and Y's, the initials of the Catholic Kings. It is broken +over the window by three gigantic coats-of-arms. To the left is +Ferdinand's individual device of a yoke, the "yugo," with the motto +"Tato Mota" (Tanto Monta) tantamount, assumed as a mark of his equality +with the Castilian Queen; to the right Isabella's device of a bundle of +arrows or "flechas," the symbol of union. In the centre is the common +royal shield, proudly adopted after the union of the various kingdoms of +the Peninsula had been cemented. The Eagle of Saint John the Evangelist +and the common crown surmount the arms of Castile and Leon, of Aragon, +Sicily, Navarre, and Jerusalem and the pomegranate of Granada.</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 408px;"> +<a href="images/ill_rejagranada.png"> +<img src="images/ill_rejagranada_th.png" +width="408" +height="550" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA +The reja enclosing the Royal Chapel and tombs of the Catholic Kings" title="CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA +The reja enclosing the Royal Chapel and tombs of the Catholic Kings" /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption"> +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA<br /> +The reja enclosing the Royal Chapel and tombs of the Catholic Kings</p> +</div> + +<p>The various roofs of the Cathedral are covered with endless rows of +tiles, which in the furrowed, <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_257" id="page_257"></a>{257}</span>overlapping irregularity of their surfaces +add to the general play of light and shade. Above them all spreads the +umbrella-shaped dome which crowns the Capilla Mayor.</p> + +<p>At the period when Gothic church-building was disappearing, we find not +a few edifices where the old and new styles are curiously blended. A +Renaissance façade added in later days might encase a practically +complete Gothic interior. In Granada, with the exception of the Royal +Chapel, very little of the interior contained traces of the expiring +style. In the Cathedral proper, it is principally found in a groined +vaulting of the different bays, which is covered with varying and most +elaborate schemes of ornamental Gothic ribs, which seem strangely +incongruous to the architect as he looks up from the classical shafts in +the expectation of finding a corresponding form of building and +decoration in the later vaulting.</p> + +<p>The general plan of the church is more Renaissance than Gothic, +exhibiting rather the form of the "Rundbau" than the "Langbau" of the +Latin cross. Its main feature is likewise the great dome rising above +and lighting the Capilla Mayor. The Spanish cimborio has at last reached +its fullest development in the Renaissance lantern.</p> + +<p>The church is divided into nave and double side aisles, outside of which +is a series of externally abutting chapels. East and west it contains +six bays. The choir blocks up the fifth and sixth bays of the nave, and +in the customary Spanish manner it is separated from the high altar in +the Capilla Mayor by the croisée of the transept. Back of this, forming +the eastern termination, runs an ambulatory.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_258" id="page_258"></a>{258}</span></p> + +<p>The vaulting, one hundred feet high, is carried by a series of gigantic +white piers consisting of four semi-columns of Corinthian order with +their intersecting angles formed by a triple rectangular break. The +vaulting springs from above a full entablature and surmounting +pedestals, the latter running to the height of the arches dividing the +various vaulting compartments. The church is about 385 feet long and 220 +feet wide.</p> + +<p>The choir is uninteresting; the carving of its stalls and organs in +nowise comparing with the "silleria" of Seville or Burgos. The Capilla +Mayor, the principal feature of the interior, is circular in form, and +separated from the nave by a splendid "Arco Toral." The dome, which +rises to a height of 155 feet, is carried by eight Corinthian piers. In +general scheme it is pure Italian Renaissance, of noble and harmonious +proportions and very richly decorated. At the foot of the pilasters +stand colossal statues of the Apostles. Higher up there is a series of +most remarkable paintings by Alfonso Cano and some of his pupils. Cano's +represent seven incidents in the life of the Virgin,—the Annunciation, +Visitation, Nativity, Assumption, etc. Though some of his carvings, and +especially the dignified and noble Virgin in the sacristy, are +admirable, still, to judge from this series, it was as a painter that he +excelled. They show, too, how essentially Spanish he was, like his great +master, Montañez. The careless, lazy quality of his temperament is +sufficiently apparent, but he cannot be denied a place among the great +masters of Spanish painting who immediately preceded the all-eclipsing +glory of Velasquez, Murillo, and Ribera.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_259" id="page_259"></a>{259}</span></p> + +<p>The lights of the dome which rises over the paintings are filled with +very lovely stained glass, representing scenes from the Passion by the +Dutchmen, Teodor de Holanda, and Juan del Campo. On the two sides of the +choir below are colossal heads of Adam and Eve carved by Cano and +kneeling figures of Ferdinand and Isabella.</p> + +<p>There are endless chapels outside the outer aisles, but, in spite of +some good bits of sculpture and painting here and there, one longs to +sweep them out of the way and free the edifice from their encumbrance.</p> + +<p>The interior of the great sagrario is an expressionless jumble of the +later Renaissance decadence,—and it is a shame that no more fitting +architecture surrounds the tomb of the good Talavera, here laid to rest +by his friend Tendilla, the first Alcaide of the Alhambra, with the +inscription over his tomb, "Amicus Amico."</p> + +<p>The general color scheme in the interior of the Cathedral is white and +gold. One feels that it is handsome, even harmonious and magnificent, +but that all the mystery and religious awe that pervaded the great +churches of the previous centuries have vanished forever.</p> + +<p>The Royal Chapel, although the oldest part of the building, should be +considered last of all, as it is by far the most interesting portion and +leaves an impression so vivid as to overshadow all other parts of the +great edifice. It is situated between the sagrario and the Sacristia and +is entered through the southern arm of the transept. The chapel itself +is the very last Gothic efflorescence from which the spirit has fled, +leaving only empty form. It consists of a single big nave flanked by +lower chapels. The ornamentally<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_260" id="page_260"></a>{260}</span> ribbed vaulting with gilt bosses and +keystones is carried by clustered shafts engaged in its side walls. The +shafts are too thin and the capitals too meagre. A broader and more +generous string course runs, at the height of the capitals, across the +wall surfaces between the upper clerestory and the lower arcades. +Portions of this reveal a strong Moorish influence, as the manner in +which the great Gothic lettering is employed to decorate the band. +Similarly to the invocations to Allah running round the walls of the +Alhambra, we read here that "This chapel was founded by the most +Catholic Don Fernando and Doña Isabel, King and Queen of the Españos<a name="FNanchor_D_26" id="FNanchor_D_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_26" class="fnanchor">[d]</a>, +of Naples, of Sicily, and Jerusalem, who conquered this kingdom and +brought it back to the faith, who acquired the Canary Isles and Indies, +as well as the cities of Ican, Tripoli, and Bugia; who crushed heresy, +expelled Moors and Jews from these realms, and reformed religion. The +Queen died Tuesday, November 26, 1504. The King died January 25, 1516. +The building was completed 1517." Enrique de Egas had, at Ferdinand's +order, commenced building two years after Isabella's death. The grandson +enlarged it later, finding it "too small for so much glory."</p> + +<p>The high altar with its retablo and the royal sarcophagi are separated +from the rest of the chapel by the most stupendous and magnificent iron +screen or reja ever executed. Spaniards have here surpassed all their +earlier productions in this their master craft. Not even the screens of +the great choir and altar of Seville or Toledo can compare with it. With +the possible exception of the curious Biblical scenes naively +represented by groups of figures near the apex, which<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_261" id="page_261"></a>{261}</span> still tell their +story in true Gothic style, it is a burst of Renaissance, or Plateresque +glory. It is not likely that the crafts, with all their mechanical +skill, will ever again produce a work of such artistic perfection. It +represents the labor of an army of skilled artisans,—all the sensitive +feeling in the finger-tips of the Italian goldsmith, the most cunning +art of the German armorer and a combination of restraint and boldness in +the Spanish smith and forger. The difficulty naturally offered by the +material has also restrained the artisan's hand and imagination from +running riot in vulgar elaboration. The design, made by Maestro +Bartolomé of Jaen in 1523, is as excellent as the technique is +astonishing. It may be said that in grandeur it is only surpassed by the +fame of the Queen whose remains lie below. The material is principally +wrought iron, though some of the ornaments are of embossed silver plate +and portions of it gilded as well as colored. Bartolomé's design +consists in general of three superimposed and highly decorated rows of +twisted iron bars with molded caps and bases. Each one must have been a +most massive forging, hammered out of the solid iron while it was red +hot. The vertically aspiring lines of the bars are broken by horizontal +rows of foliage, cherubs' heads and ornamentation, as well as two broad +bands of cornices with exquisitely decorated friezes. Larger pilasters +and columns form its panels, the central ones of which constitute the +doorway and enclose the elaborate arms of Ferdinand and Isabella and +those of their inherited and conquered kingdoms. The screen is crested +by a rich border of pictorial scenes, of flambeaux and foliated +Renaissance scrollwork, above which in the centre is throned<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_262" id="page_262"></a>{262}</span> the +crucified Saviour adored by the Virgin and Saint John. The crucifix +rises to the height of the very capitals which carry the lofty vaulting.</p> + +<div class="image" style="width: 550px;"> +<a href="images/ill_tombsgranada.png"> +<img src="images/ill_tombsgranada_th.png" +width="550" +height="396" +alt="CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA +The tombs of the Catholic Kings, of Philip and of Queen Juana." title="CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA +The tombs of the Catholic Kings, of Philip and of Queen Juana." /></a> +<br /> +<p class="lacoste">Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid</p> +<p class="caption"> +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA<br /> +The tombs of the Catholic Kings, of Philip and of Queen Juana.</p> +</div> + +<p>Inside the reja, a few steps above the tombs, rises Philip Vigarny's, or +Borgoña's, elaborate reredos. To the Protestant sense this is gaudy and +theatrical, a strikingly garish note in the solemnity and grandeur of +the chapel. To the right and left of its base are, however, most +interesting carvings, among them the kneeling statues of Ferdinand and +Isabella. Behind the former is his victorious banner of Castile. The +figures are vitally interesting as contemporaneous portraits of the +monarchs, aiming to reproduce with fidelity their features and every +detail of their dress. There is also a series of bas-reliefs portraying +incidents in the siege of Granada,—the Cardinal on a prancing charger, +behind him a forest of lances, the lurid, flaming sky throwing out in +sharp silhouette the pierced walls and rent battlements. The Moors, very +much like dogs shrinking from a beating, are being dragged to the +baptismal font;—the gesticulating prelates hold aloft in one hand the +cross and in the other, the sword, for the tunicked figures to make +their choice. The scene has been described by Sir W. Stirling Maxwell, +who tells us "that in one day no less than three thousand persons +received baptism at the hands of the Primate, who sprinkled them with +the hyssop of collective regeneration."</p> + +<p>Again, in another, the cringing Boabdil is presenting the keys of the +city to the "three kings." Isabella is on a white genet, and Mendoza, +like the old pictures of Wolsey, on a trapped mule. Ferdinand is there +in all his magnificence; the knights, the halberdiers and <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_263" id="page_263"></a>{263}</span>horsemen, all +the details of the dramatic moment, full of the greatest imaginable +historic and antiquarian interest, perpetuated by one who was probably +an eye-witness of the scene.</p> + +<p>At the foot of the altar, in the centre of the chapel, stand the tombs +of Ferdinand and Isabella and of Philip and Joan. They are as gorgeous +specimens of sepulchral monuments as the reja is of an ecclesiastical +iron screen. Both sarcophagi are executed in the softest flushed +alabaster; that of Ferdinand and Isabella by the Florentine Dominico +Fancelli; that of their daughter and her son by the Barcelonian +Bartolomé Ordenez, "The Eagle of Relief," who carved his blocks at +Carrara. The tomb of poor crazy Jane, and the unworthy, handsome husband +whom she doted on to the extent of carrying his body with her throughout +the doleful wronged insanity of her later years, is somewhat more +elevated than that of the Catholic Kings, though its general design is +very similar. Philip of Austria sleeps vested with the Order of the +Golden Fleece.</p> + +<p>Isabella's celebrated will begins with her desire that her body may be +taken to Granada and there laid to rest in the Franciscan monastery of +Santa Isabella in the Alhambra, with a simple tomb and inscription: "but +should the King, my lord, prefer a sepulchre in some other place, then +my will is that my body be there transported, and laid where he can be +placed by my side, that the union we have enjoyed in this world, and +which through the mercy of God may be hoped for again when our souls are +in heaven, may be symbolized by our bodies being side by side on earth." +The humble burying-ground designated by Isabella, and<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_264" id="page_264"></a>{264}</span> where she was +first laid to rest with the simple rites she desired, was, however, no +fitting place for the grandparents of Imperial Charles. Here, in the +Cathedral's principal chapel, he had them laid in the year 1525.</p> + +<p>The sarcophagus consists of three stages, containing the ornamental +motives so characteristic of the best sculpture of the Italian +Renaissance. No other form of statuary brought out their skill and +genius so fully as a sepulchral monument. Medallions, statues, niches, +saints, angels, griffins and garlands are all woven into a magnificent +base to receive the recumbent effigies. Apostles and bas-reliefs of +scenes from the life of Christ surround the base, while winged griffins +break the angles. Above are the four Doctors of the Church, the arms of +the Catholic Kings and the proud and simple epitaph, "Mahometicē +sectē prostratores et hereticē pervicaciē extinctores: +Fernandus Aragonium et Helisabetha Castellē, vir et uxor unanimes, +catholici appelati, marmoreo clauduntur tumulo."<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> In tranquil crowned +dignity above lie Ferdinand in his mantle of knighthood, his sword +clasped over his armored breast, and Isabella with the cross of her +country's patron saint. The recumbent figures are extremely fine; the +faces, which are portraits, convey all we know of their prototypes' +characteristics. Ferdinand's proud, pursed lips whisper his selfish +arrogance, his iron will, and the greatness and fulfillment of his +dreams. The hard, masterful jaw confirms the character given him by the +shrewd French cynic as one of the most thorough egotists who ever sat on +a throne, as well as that of his <span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_265" id="page_265"></a>{265}</span>English son-in-law, who knew enough to +call him "the wisest king that ever ruled Spain."</p> + +<p>Beside Ferdinand sleeps his lion-hearted consort. It is her lofty soul +which broods over the sepulchre and heightens the feeling of reverence +already inspired by reja and sarcophagus. She is still the brightest +star that ever rose in the Spanish firmament and shone in clear radiance +above even the lights of Ximenez, of Columbus, or the Great Captain. Her +smile is now as cold and her look as placid as moonlight sleeping on +snow.</p> + +<p>Noble, tender-hearted and true, dauntless, self-sacrificing and +faithful, she rose supreme in every relation of life and the great +crisis of her people's history. "In all her revelations of Queen or +Woman," said Lord Bacon, "she was an honour to her sex, and the corner +stone of the greatness of Spain."</p> + +<p>Standing before her tomb, on the battlefield of her victorious armies, +the clear perspective and calm judgment of four centuries still declare +her "of rare qualities,—sweet gentleness, meekness, saint-like, +wife-like government, the Queen of earthly queens."<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_266" id="page_266"></a>{266}</span></p> + +<h3><a name="BOOKS_CONSULTED" id="BOOKS_CONSULTED"></a><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_267" id="page_267"></a>{267}</span>BOOKS CONSULTED</h3> + +<ul class="sml80"> +<li><span class="smcap">De Amicis, Edmondo.</span> <i>Spain.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Baedeker, Karl.</span> <i>Spain (Guidebook).</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Bermudez, Cean.</span> <i>Descripcion Artistica de la Catedral de Sevilla.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Bermudez, Cean.</span> <i>Noticias de los Arquitectos y Arquitectura de España.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Caveda, José.</span> <i>Ensayo Historico sobre los diversos Generos de Arquitectura.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Didier.</span> <i>Année en Espagne.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Dumas, Alexandre, Père.</span> <i>De Paris à Cadiz.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Ellis, Havelock.</span> <i>Macmillan's</i>, May, 1903 (vol. 88).</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Ford, Richard.</span> <i>The Spaniards and their Country.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Ford, Richard.</span> <i>Gatherings in Spain.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Gautier, Théophile.</span> <i>Voyage En Espagne.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Hare, A. J. C.</span> <i>Wanderings in Spain.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Hay, John.</span> <i>Castilian Days.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Hume, M. A. S.</span> <i>The Spanish People.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Hume and Burke.</span> <i>History of Spain.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Hutton, Edward.</span> <i>The Cities of Spain.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Hutton, Edward.</span> <i>Studies in Lives of the Saints.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Irving, Washington.</span> <i>Alhambra.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Junghaendel, Max.</span> <i>Die Baukunst Spanien's.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Lamperez Y Romea, D. Vicente.</span> <i>Estudio sobre las Catedrales Españas.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Lamperez Y Romea, D. Vicente.</span> <i>Historia de la Arquitectura Cristiana Española en la Edad Media.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Lund, L.</span> <i>Spanske tilstande i nutid og fortid.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Lynch, Hannah.</span> <i>Toledo, the Story of a Spanish Capital.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Meagher, James L.</span> <i>The Great Churches of the World.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Moore, Charles Herbert.</span> <i>Development and Character of Gothic Architecture.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Norton, Charles Eliot.</span> <i>Church-building in the Middle Ages.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Orcajo, Don Pedro.</span> <i>Historia de la Catedral de Burgos.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Peyron, Jean François.</span> <i>Essays on Spain.</i></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Prescott, W. H.</span> <i>Ferdinand and Isabella.</i><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_268" id="page_268"></a>{268}</span></li> +<li><span class="smcap">Quadrado, D. José Ma</span>. <i>España, sus Monumentos y Artes—su Naturaleza e Historia</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Rudy, Charles</span>. <i>The Cathedrals of Northern Spain</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Rose, H. J.</span> <i>Among the Spanish People</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Rosseeuw de St. Hilaire, E. F. A.</span> <i>Histoire D'espagne</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">St. Reynald</span>. <i>La Nouvelle Revue</i>, 1881, "L'espagne Musulmane."</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Schmidt, K. E.</span> <i>Sevilla</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Smith</span>. <i>Architecture of Spain</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Street, G. E.</span> <i>Gothic Architecture in Spain</i>.</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Wort, Talbot D.</span> <i>Brochure Series of Arch. Illustration</i>, 1903 (vol. 9).</li> +<li><span class="smcap">Wyatt, Sir Mathew Digby</span>. <i>An Architect's Note-book in Spain</i>.</li> +<li>(<span class="smcap">Official Publication</span>). <i>Los Monumentos Arquitectonicos de España</i>.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_269" id="page_269"></a>{269}</span></li> +</ul> + +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_270" id="page_270"></a>{270}</span></p> + +<h3><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX</h3> + +<p><span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_271" id="page_271"></a>{271}</span></p> + +<ul> +<li class="alpha">Aaron, <a href="#page_054">54</a>.</li> +<li>Abel, <a href="#page_110">110</a>.</li> +<li>Abu Jakub Jusuf, <a href="#page_203">203</a>, <a href="#page_231">231</a>.</li> +<li>Abraham, <a href="#page_153">153</a>.</li> +<li>Acropolis, <a href="#page_240">240</a>.</li> +<li>Acuna, Bishop of, <a href="#page_048">48</a>, <a href="#page_049">49</a>, <a href="#page_062">62</a>.</li> +<li>Adaja, <a href="#page_067">67</a>.</li> +<li>Adam, <a href="#page_227">227</a>, <a href="#page_259">259</a>.</li> +<li>Adriatic, <a href="#page_201">201</a>.</li> +<li>Africa, <a href="#page_194">194</a>.</li> +<li>Aguero, Campo, <a href="#page_184">184</a>.</li> +<li>Alava, Juan de, <a href="#page_022">22</a>, <a href="#page_177">177</a>, <a href="#page_207">207</a>.</li> +<li>Alcides, <a href="#page_193">193</a>.</li> +<li>Alcaide, <a href="#page_127">127</a>, <a href="#page_259">259</a>.</li> +<li>Alcantara, Bridge of, <a href="#page_123">123</a>.</li> +<li>Alcantara, Order of, <a href="#page_128">128</a>.</li> +<li>Alcazar of Avila, <a href="#page_084">84</a>.</li> +<li>Alcazar of Segovia, <a href="#page_169">169</a>, <a href="#page_171">171</a>, <a href="#page_172">172</a>, <a href="#page_173">173</a>.</li> +<li>Alcazar of Seville, <a href="#page_209">209</a>, <a href="#page_230">230</a>.</li> +<li>Alcazar of Toledo, <a href="#page_123">123</a>.</li> +<li>Alcazerias, Toledo, <a href="#page_129">129</a>.</li> +<li>Aleman, Christobal, <a href="#page_228">228</a>.</li> +<li>Alfaqui Abu Walid, <a href="#page_154">154</a>.</li> +<li>Alfonso, architect of Toledo, <a href="#page_135">135</a>, <a href="#page_141">141</a>.</li> +<li>Alfonso I, <a href="#page_068">68</a>, <a href="#page_127">127</a>, <a href="#page_243">243</a>.</li> +<li>Alfonso III, <a href="#page_037">37</a>.</li> +<li>Alfonso IV, <a href="#page_129">129</a>, <a href="#page_130">130</a>, <a href="#page_156">156</a>.</li> +<li>Alfonso VI, <a href="#page_005">5</a>, <a href="#page_007">7</a>, <a href="#page_037">37</a>, <a href="#page_061">61</a>, <a href="#page_068">68</a>, <a href="#page_069">69</a>, <a href="#page_091">91</a>, <a href="#page_096">96</a>, <a href="#page_127">127</a>, <a href="#page_220">220</a>.</li> +<li>Alfonso VII, <a href="#page_155">155</a>.</li> +<li>Alfonso VIII, <a href="#page_073">73</a>, <a href="#page_154">154</a>.</li> +<li>Alfonso IX, <a href="#page_005">5</a>, <a href="#page_006">6</a>, <a href="#page_074">74</a>, <a href="#page_096">96</a>.</li> +<li>Alfonso X, The Wise, <a href="#page_047">47</a>, <a href="#page_070">70</a>, <a href="#page_097">97</a>, <a href="#page_169">169</a>, <a href="#page_219">219</a>, <a href="#page_225">225</a>, <a href="#page_231">231</a>.</li> +<li>Alfonso XI, <a href="#page_036">36</a>, <a href="#page_155">155</a>, <a href="#page_171">171</a>.</li> +<li>Alfonso, King, <a href="#page_034">34</a>.</li> +<li>Alfonso de Cartagena, Bishop, <a href="#page_049">49</a>, <a href="#page_052">52</a>, <a href="#page_062">62</a>.</li> +<li>Alfonsinas, Tablas, <a href="#page_219">219</a>.</li> +<li>Alhambra, <a href="#page_240">240</a>, <a href="#page_241">241</a>, <a href="#page_244">244</a>, <a href="#page_259">259</a>, <a href="#page_260">260</a>, <a href="#page_263">263</a>.</li> +<li>Alleman, Jorge Fernandez, <a href="#page_207">207</a>.</li> +<li>Almanzor, <a href="#page_095">95</a>.</li> +<li>Almeria, <a href="#page_194">194</a>.</li> +<li>Almohaden, <a href="#page_203">203</a>, <a href="#page_243">243</a>.</li> +<li>Almorvides, <a href="#page_243">243</a>.</li> +<li>Alpujarras, <a href="#page_241">241</a>.</li> +<li>Alvarez of Toledo, Juan, <a href="#page_044">44</a>.</li> +<li>Alvaro, Maestro, <a href="#page_023">23</a>.</li> +<li>Amiens, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_025">25</a>, <a href="#page_043">43</a>, <a href="#page_093">93</a>, <a href="#page_094">94</a>, <a href="#page_124">124</a>, <a href="#page_131">131</a>, <a href="#page_163">163</a>, <a href="#page_201">201</a>.</li> +<li>Andalusia, <a href="#page_122">122</a>, <a href="#page_191">191</a>, <a href="#page_192">192</a>, <a href="#page_194">194</a>, <a href="#page_201">201</a>.</li> +<li>Andino, Cristobal, <a href="#page_051">51</a>.</li> +<li>Angelo, Michael, <a href="#page_153">153</a>, <a href="#page_251">251</a>.</li> +<li>Angers, Bishop of, <a href="#page_020">20</a>.</li> +<li>Angevine School, <a href="#page_040">40</a>.</li> +<li>Anna, Sta., <a href="#page_041">41</a>, <a href="#page_048">48</a>.</li> +<li>Antonio, St., <a href="#page_222">222</a>.</li> +<li>Apostles, <a href="#page_144">144</a>, <a href="#page_229">229</a>.</li> +<li>Aquitaine, <a href="#page_007">7</a>, <a href="#page_010">10</a>, <a href="#page_015">15</a>.</li> +<li>Aragon, King of, <a href="#page_048">48</a>, <a href="#page_127">127</a>.</li> +<li>Aragon, Province of, <a href="#page_019">19</a>, <a href="#page_122">122</a>, <a href="#page_143">143</a>, <a href="#page_207">207</a>, <a href="#page_256">256</a>.</li> +<li>Arge, Juan de, <a href="#page_107">107</a>.</li> +<li>Arnao de Flanders, <a href="#page_229">229</a>.</li> +<li>Astorga, <a href="#page_020">20</a>.</li> +<li>Asterio, Bishop of, <a href="#page_061">61</a>.</li> +<li>Asturias, <a href="#page_034">34</a>, <a href="#page_069">69</a>, <a href="#page_070">70</a>, <a href="#page_094">94</a>, <a href="#page_095">95</a>.</li> +<li>Augustus, Emperor, <a href="#page_094">94</a>.</li> +<li>Avila, Cathedral of, 6<a href="#page_005">5-87</a>.</li> +<li>Aymar, <a href="#page_070">70</a>.</li> +<li>Ayuntamiento, Toledo, <a href="#page_129">129</a>.</li> +<li>Azeu, Bernard of, <a href="#page_091">91</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Bacon, Lord, <a href="#page_265">265</a>.</li> +<li>Badajoz, Juan, <a href="#page_022">22</a>, <a href="#page_097">97</a>.</li> +<li>Bagdad, <a href="#page_127">127</a>.</li> +<li><a name="Baetica" id="Baetica"></a>Bætica, Provincia, <a href="#page_193">193</a>.</li> +<li><a name="Baetis" id="Baetis"></a>Bætis, <a href="#page_193">193</a>, <a href="#page_215">215</a>.</li> +<li>Baldwin, Maestro, <a href="#page_107">107</a>.</li> +<li>Banderas, Seville, Patio de las, <a href="#page_201">201</a>.</li> +<li>Bandinelli, Baccio, <a href="#page_153">153</a>.</li> +<li>Barcelona, <a href="#page_228">228</a>.</li> +<li>Bartolomé of Jaen, <a href="#page_261">261</a>.</li> +<li>Basle, Council of, <a href="#page_049">49</a>, <a href="#page_062">62</a>.</li> +<li>Baudelaire, <a href="#page_214">214</a>.</li> +<li>Bautizo, Seville, door of, <a href="#page_208">208</a>.</li> +<li>Beatrice of Suabia, <a href="#page_053">53</a>, <a href="#page_223">223</a>.</li> +<li>Beauvais, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_093">93</a>.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_272" id="page_272"></a>{272}</span></li> +<li>Belgium, <a href="#page_162">162</a>.</li> +<li>Bellini, Giovanni, <a href="#page_162">162</a>.</li> +<li>Bellver, Riccardo, <a href="#page_208">208</a>.</li> +<li>Benavente, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_142">142</a>.</li> +<li>Benedict, St., <a href="#page_005">5</a>.</li> +<li>Benedictines, <a href="#page_037">37</a>, <a href="#page_220">220</a>.</li> +<li>Benilo, <a href="#page_070">70</a>.</li> +<li>Berenzuela, Queen, <a href="#page_092">92</a>.</li> +<li>Bermudez, Cean, <a href="#page_044">44</a>, <a href="#page_045">45</a>, <a href="#page_069">69</a>, <a href="#page_134">134</a>, <a href="#page_199">199</a>.</li> +<li>Bernard, Archbishop of Toledo, <a href="#page_007">7</a>, <a href="#page_130">130</a>, <a href="#page_154">154</a>, <a href="#page_156">156</a>.</li> +<li>Berroqueña, <a href="#page_138">138</a>, <a href="#page_141">141</a>.</li> +<li>Berruguete, Alfonso, <a href="#page_079">79</a>, <a href="#page_134">134</a>, <a href="#page_151">151</a>, <a href="#page_153">153</a>, <a href="#page_250">250</a>.</li> +<li>Berruguete, Pedro, <a href="#page_079">79</a>.</li> +<li>Blanche of France, <a href="#page_047">47</a>.</li> +<li>Blas, Gil, <a href="#page_169">169</a>, <a href="#page_252">252</a>.</li> +<li>Blasquez Dean Blasco, <a href="#page_074">74</a>.</li> +<li>Blois, <a href="#page_256">256</a>.</li> +<li>Boabdil, <a href="#page_243">243</a>, <a href="#page_262">262</a>.</li> +<li>Boldan, <a href="#page_227">227</a>.</li> +<li>Bologna, University of, <a href="#page_006">6</a>.</li> +<li>Bordeaux, <a href="#page_093">93</a>.</li> +<li>Borgoña, <a href="#page_224">224</a>.</li> +<li>Borgoña, Juan de, <a href="#page_079">79</a>, <a href="#page_134">134</a>.</li> +<li>Borgoña, Philip, <a href="#page_151">151</a>, <a href="#page_152">152</a>, <a href="#page_177">177</a>, <a href="#page_262">262</a>.</li> +<li>Boston, <a href="#page_018">18</a>.</li> +<li>Bourges, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_094">94</a>, <a href="#page_134">134</a>.</li> +<li>Brizuela, Pedro, <a href="#page_187">187</a>.</li> +<li>Bruges, Carlos de, <a href="#page_229">229</a>.</li> +<li>Brunelleschi, <a href="#page_176">176</a>.</li> +<li>Brussels, <a href="#page_247">247</a>.</li> +<li>Bugia, <a href="#page_260">260</a>.</li> +<li>Burgos, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_030">30-63</a>, <a href="#page_080">80</a>, <a href="#page_081">81</a>, <a href="#page_086">86</a>, <a href="#page_093">93</a>, <a href="#page_097">97</a>, <a href="#page_101">101</a>, <a href="#page_105">105</a>, <a href="#page_106">106</a>, <a href="#page_111">111</a>, <a href="#page_131">131</a>, <a href="#page_132">132</a>, <a href="#page_134">134</a>, <a href="#page_141">141</a>, <a href="#page_177">177</a>, <a href="#page_183">183</a>, <a href="#page_199">199</a>, <a href="#page_207">207</a>, <a href="#page_224">224</a>, <a href="#page_258">258</a>.</li> +<li>Burgos, Bishopric of, <a href="#page_122">122</a>.</li> +<li>Burgundy, School of, <a href="#page_010">10</a>, <a href="#page_013">13</a>.</li> +<li>Burne-Jones, <a href="#page_050">50</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Cadiz, <a href="#page_194">194</a>.</li> +<li>Cæsar, Julius, <a href="#page_193">193</a>.</li> +<li>Calderon, <a href="#page_006">6</a>.</li> +<li>Caliphs, <a href="#page_004">4</a>.</li> +<li>Calix, <a href="#page_157">157</a>.</li> +<li>Calatrava, Order of, <a href="#page_128">128</a>.</li> +<li>Calixtus III, Pope, <a href="#page_008">8</a>.</li> +<li>Campaña, Pedro, <a href="#page_195">195</a>.</li> +<li>Campero, Juan, <a href="#page_022">22</a>.</li> +<li>Campo, Juan del, <a href="#page_259">259</a>.</li> +<li>Canary Isles, <a href="#page_260">260</a>.</li> +<li>Cano, Alfonso, <a href="#page_195">195</a>, <a href="#page_227">227</a>, <a href="#page_248">248</a>, <a href="#page_258">258</a>, <a href="#page_259">259</a>.</li> +<li>Cantabria, <a href="#page_070">70</a>.</li> +<li>Capulet, <a href="#page_138">138</a>.</li> +<li>Capitan, Calle del Gran, <a href="#page_201">201</a>.</li> +<li>Carlos de Bruges, <a href="#page_229">229</a>.</li> +<li>Carmona, <a href="#page_082">82</a>.</li> +<li>Carpentania, <a href="#page_124">124</a>.</li> +<li>Casanova, <a href="#page_208">208</a>.</li> +<li>Castanela, Juan de, <a href="#page_044">44</a>, <a href="#page_045">45</a>.</li> +<li>Castile, Province of, <a href="#page_006">6</a>, <a href="#page_019">19</a>, <a href="#page_030">30</a>, <a href="#page_033">33</a>, <a href="#page_034">34</a>, <a href="#page_068">68</a>, <a href="#page_072">72</a>, <a href="#page_074">74</a>, <a href="#page_092">92</a>, <a href="#page_095">95</a>, <a href="#page_122">122</a>, <a href="#page_127">127</a>, <a href="#page_135">135</a>, <a href="#page_136">136</a>, <a href="#page_143">143</a>, <a href="#page_159">159</a>, <a href="#page_171">171</a>, <a href="#page_172">172</a>, <a href="#page_178">178</a>, <a href="#page_207">207</a>, <a href="#page_215">215</a>, <a href="#page_219">219</a>, <a href="#page_243">243</a>, <a href="#page_244">244</a>, <a href="#page_256">256</a>, <a href="#page_264">264</a>.</li> +<li>Catalina, Toledo, Puerta de Sta., <a href="#page_145">145</a>.</li> +<li>Catarina, Burgos, Chapel of, <a href="#page_041">41</a>, <a href="#page_060">60</a>.</li> +<li>Catharine Plantagenet, Queen, <a href="#page_159">159</a>.</li> +<li>Catholic Kings, <a href="#page_020">20</a>, <a href="#page_128">128</a>, <a href="#page_143">143</a>, <a href="#page_172">172</a>, <a href="#page_217">217</a>, <a href="#page_242">242</a>, <a href="#page_256">256</a>.</li> +<li>Caveda, <a href="#page_199">199</a>, <a href="#page_200">200</a>.</li> +<li>Cebrian, Pedro, <a href="#page_097">97</a>.</li> +<li>Celandra, Enrique Bernardino de, <a href="#page_229">229</a>.</li> +<li>Cellini, <a href="#page_152">152</a>.</li> +<li>Cervantes, <a href="#page_196">196</a>.</li> +<li>Cespedes, Domingo de, <a href="#page_134">134</a>, <a href="#page_150">150</a>.</li> +<li>Ceuta, <a href="#page_192">192</a>.</li> +<li>Chambord, <a href="#page_210">210</a>.</li> +<li>Champagne, <a href="#page_099">99</a>.</li> +<li>Charles V, Emperor, <a href="#page_045">45</a>, <a href="#page_046">46</a>, <a href="#page_071">71</a>, <a href="#page_137">137</a>, <a href="#page_153">153</a>, <a href="#page_171">171</a>, <a href="#page_172">172</a>, <a href="#page_173">173</a>, <a href="#page_225">225</a>, <a href="#page_251">251</a>, <a href="#page_254">254</a>, <a href="#page_263">263</a>.</li> +<li>Charles, Prince of England, <a href="#page_169">169</a>, <a href="#page_245">245</a>.</li> +<li>Chartres, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_040">40</a>, <a href="#page_093">93</a>, <a href="#page_094">94</a>, <a href="#page_102">102</a>, <a href="#page_109">109</a>, <a href="#page_141">141</a>, <a href="#page_201">201</a>.</li> +<li>Chartudi, Martin Ruiz de, <a href="#page_179">179</a>.</li> +<li>Chico, Patio, <a href="#page_018">18</a>, <a href="#page_024">24</a>, <a href="#page_025">25</a>.</li> +<li>Christopher, St., <a href="#page_162">162</a>.</li> +<li>Chronicles, <a href="#page_192">192</a>.</li> +<li>Churriguera, <a href="#page_028">28</a>.</li> +<li>Cid, Campeador, <a href="#page_033">33</a>, <a href="#page_123">123</a>, <a href="#page_127">127</a>, <a href="#page_134">134</a>, <a href="#page_200">200</a>.</li> +<li>Cisneros, Cardinal, <a href="#page_080">80</a>.</li> +<li>Cistercians, <a href="#page_040">40</a>.</li> +<li>Citeaux, <a href="#page_130">130</a>.</li> +<li>Clamores, <a href="#page_167">167</a>.</li> +<li>Clara, Sta., <a href="#page_172">172</a>, <a href="#page_173">173</a>, <a href="#page_177">177</a>, <a href="#page_185">185</a>.</li> +<li>Clement, St., <a href="#page_102">102</a>.</li> +<li>Cluny, <a href="#page_005">5</a>, <a href="#page_007">7</a>, <a href="#page_010">10</a>, <a href="#page_130">130</a>, <a href="#page_131">131</a>, <a href="#page_220">220</a>.</li> +<li>Cologne, <a href="#page_138">138</a>, <a href="#page_211">211</a>.</li> +<li>Colonia, Diego de, <a href="#page_049">49</a>.</li> +<li>Colonia, Francisco de, <a href="#page_057">57</a>, <a href="#page_060">60</a>.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_273" id="page_273"></a>{273}</span></li> +<li>Colonia, Juan de, <a href="#page_049">49</a>, <a href="#page_060">60</a>, <a href="#page_062">62</a>, <a href="#page_101">101</a>.</li> +<li>Colonia, Simon de, <a href="#page_049">49</a>.</li> +<li>Columbina Library, <a href="#page_209">209</a>, <a href="#page_215">215</a>.</li> +<li>Columbus, <a href="#page_197">197</a>, <a href="#page_204">204</a>, <a href="#page_215">215</a>, <a href="#page_216">216</a>, <a href="#page_227">227</a>, <a href="#page_244">244</a>, <a href="#page_265">265</a>.</li> +<li>Compero, Juan de, <a href="#page_178">178</a>.</li> +<li>Compostella, St. James of, <a href="#page_157">157</a>.</li> +<li>Compostella, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_096">96</a>.</li> +<li>Comuneros, <a href="#page_071">71</a>.</li> +<li>Comunidades, <a href="#page_127">127</a>, <a href="#page_173">173</a>, <a href="#page_182">182</a>.</li> +<li>Constable, Burgos, Chapel of, <a href="#page_041">41</a>, <a href="#page_049">49</a>, <a href="#page_057">57</a>, <a href="#page_058">58</a>.</li> +<li>Constance, Queen, <a href="#page_130">130</a>, <a href="#page_154">154</a>, <a href="#page_156">156</a>, <a href="#page_220">220</a>.</li> +<li>Constantine, <a href="#page_235">235</a>.</li> +<li>Constantinople, <a href="#page_219">219</a>.</li> +<li>Copin, <a href="#page_134">134</a>.</li> +<li>Cordova, Caliphate of, <a href="#page_005">5</a>, <a href="#page_194">194</a>, <a href="#page_195">195</a>, <a href="#page_203">203</a>, <a href="#page_204">204</a>, <a href="#page_230">230</a>, <a href="#page_231">231</a>, <a href="#page_242">242</a>, <a href="#page_243">243</a>, <a href="#page_247">247</a>.</li> +<li>Cornelis, <a href="#page_083">83</a>.</li> +<li>Coroneria, Burgos, Puerta de la, <a href="#page_047">47</a>, <a href="#page_056">56</a>.</li> +<li>Corpus Christi, Burgos, Chapel of, <a href="#page_041">41</a>.</li> +<li>Corpus Domini, Feast of, <a href="#page_219">219</a>.</li> +<li>Cortes, <a href="#page_036">36</a>, <a href="#page_125">125</a>.</li> +<li>Cortez, <a href="#page_197">197</a>.</li> +<li>Council of the Indies, <a href="#page_197">197</a>.</li> +<li>Councils, <a href="#page_126">126</a>, <a href="#page_157">157</a>.</li> +<li>Covarrubias, Alfonso, <a href="#page_022">22</a>, <a href="#page_134">134</a>, <a href="#page_177">177</a>.</li> +<li>Cristela, St., <a href="#page_086">86</a>.</li> +<li>Cristobal, Seville, Gate of St., <a href="#page_209">209</a>.</li> +<li>Cruz, Granada, Hospital of Sta., <a href="#page_247">247</a>.</li> +<li>Cruz, Valladolid, Colegio de, <a href="#page_247">247</a>.</li> +<li>Cruz, Santos, <a href="#page_079">79</a>.</li> +<li>Cubillas, Garcia de, <a href="#page_174">174</a>, <a href="#page_177">177</a>, <a href="#page_179">179</a>.</li> +<li>Cuevas, Monastery of Las, <a href="#page_227">227</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Dado, Chapel of Nuestra Señora del, <a href="#page_114">114</a>.</li> +<li>Damascus, <a href="#page_002">2</a>.</li> +<li>Dancart, <a href="#page_218">218</a>.</li> +<li>Daniel, <a href="#page_112">112</a>.</li> +<li>Darro, <a href="#page_240">240</a>, <a href="#page_255">255</a>.</li> +<li>David, <a href="#page_003">3</a>, <a href="#page_048">48</a>, <a href="#page_112">112</a>, <a href="#page_158">158</a>, <a href="#page_254">254</a>.</li> +<li>Davila, Bishop Blasquez, <a href="#page_074">74</a>.</li> +<li>Davila, Juan Arias, <a href="#page_171">171</a>, <a href="#page_177">177</a>, <a href="#page_184">184</a>.</li> +<li>Davila, Sancho, <a href="#page_082">82</a>.</li> +<li>Denis, Abbey of St., <a href="#page_040">40</a>.</li> +<li>Dominican, <a href="#page_128">128</a>, <a href="#page_218">218</a>.</li> +<li>Dominic, St., <a href="#page_006">6</a>.</li> +<li>Donatello, <a href="#page_152">152</a>.</li> +<li>Doncelles, Seville, Capilla de los, <a href="#page_229">229</a>.</li> +<li>Dueñas, Convent of Las, <a href="#page_030">30</a>.</li> +<li>Duke, Iron, <a href="#page_245">245</a>.</li> +<li>Durham, <a href="#page_123">123</a>.</li> +<li>Dumas, Alexandre, <a href="#page_241">241</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Eden, Garden of, <a href="#page_241">241</a>.</li> +<li>Edward I, <a href="#page_033">33</a>.</li> +<li>Egas, Annequin de, <a href="#page_135">135</a>.</li> +<li>Egas, Anton de, <a href="#page_021">21</a>, <a href="#page_022">22</a>, <a href="#page_134">134</a>.</li> +<li>Egas, Enrique de, <a href="#page_135">135</a>, <a href="#page_177">177</a>, <a href="#page_207">207</a>, <a href="#page_224">224</a>, <a href="#page_247">247</a>, <a href="#page_248">248</a>, <a href="#page_249">249</a>, <a href="#page_260">260</a>.</li> +<li>Egypt, <a href="#page_209">209</a>.</li> +<li>Eleanor of Castile, <a href="#page_033">33</a>.</li> +<li>Eleanor Plantagenet, <a href="#page_037">37</a>.</li> +<li>Ellis, Havelock, <a href="#page_214">214</a>.</li> +<li>Ely, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_148">148</a>.</li> +<li>England, <a href="#page_033">33</a>, <a href="#page_124">124</a>, <a href="#page_149">149</a>.</li> +<li>Enrique, Architect, <a href="#page_054">54</a>, <a href="#page_060">60</a>, <a href="#page_097">97</a>.</li> +<li>Enrique II, <a href="#page_070">70</a>.</li> +<li>Enriquez, Beatrix, <a href="#page_215">215</a>.</li> +<li>Erasma, <a href="#page_167">167</a>.</li> +<li>Eslava, <a href="#page_214">214</a>.</li> +<li>Esteban, Burgos, Church of San, <a href="#page_034">34</a>.</li> +<li>Esteban, Salamanca, Church of San, <a href="#page_030">30</a>, <a href="#page_044">44</a>.</li> +<li>Estrella, <a href="#page_072">72</a>.</li> +<li>Eugenio IV, <a href="#page_074">74</a>.</li> +<li>Eugenio, St., <a href="#page_141">141</a>.</li> +<li>Europe, <a href="#page_162">162</a>, <a href="#page_194">194</a>, <a href="#page_215">215</a>.</li> +<li>Eve, <a href="#page_227">227</a>, <a href="#page_259">259</a>.</li> +<li>Exodus, <a href="#page_153">153</a>.</li> +<li>Ezekiel, <a href="#page_192">192</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Fancelli, Dominico, <a href="#page_263">263</a>.</li> +<li>Fanez, Alvar, <a href="#page_123">123</a>.</li> +<li>Ferdinand I, <a href="#page_034">34</a>, <a href="#page_095">95</a>.</li> +<li>Ferdinand III, St., <a href="#page_037">37</a>, <a href="#page_048">48</a>, <a href="#page_053">53</a>, <a href="#page_061">61</a>, <a href="#page_070">70</a>, <a href="#page_092">92</a>, <a href="#page_131">131</a>, <a href="#page_193">193</a>, <a href="#page_195">195</a>, <a href="#page_203">203</a>, <a href="#page_209">209</a>, <a href="#page_219">219</a>, <a href="#page_224">224</a>, <a href="#page_225">225</a>, <a href="#page_231">231</a>, <a href="#page_232">232</a>, <a href="#page_249">249</a>.</li> +<li>Ferdinand of Aragon, <a href="#page_020">20</a>, <a href="#page_049">49</a>, <a href="#page_082">82</a>, <a href="#page_127">127</a>, <a href="#page_128">128</a>, <a href="#page_136">136</a>, <a href="#page_137">137</a>, <a href="#page_152">152</a>, <a href="#page_244">244</a>, <a href="#page_251">251</a>, <a href="#page_256">256</a>, <a href="#page_259">259</a>, <a href="#page_260">260</a>, <a href="#page_261">261</a>, <a href="#page_262">262</a>, <a href="#page_263">263</a>, <a href="#page_264">264</a>, <a href="#page_265">265</a>.</li> +<li>Ferdinand, Infante, <a href="#page_047">47</a>.</li> +<li>Ferguson, <a href="#page_206">206</a>.</li> +<li>Fernandez, Alejo, <a href="#page_195">195</a>.</li> +<li>Fernandez, Marco Jorge, <a href="#page_218">218</a>.</li> +<li>Fernandez, Martin, <a href="#page_060">60</a>.</li> +<li>Flanders, <a href="#page_183">183</a>.</li> +<li>Florence, <a href="#page_070">70</a>, <a href="#page_196">196</a>, <a href="#page_223">223</a>, <a href="#page_230">230</a>.</li> +<li>Fonfria, <a href="#page_167">167</a>.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_274" id="page_274"></a>{274}</span></li> +<li>Fonseca, Bishop Don Juan Rodriguez de, <a href="#page_056">56</a>, <a href="#page_136">136</a>.</li> +<li>France, <a href="#page_028">28</a>, <a href="#page_044">44</a>, <a href="#page_047">47</a>, <a href="#page_069">69</a>, <a href="#page_072">72</a>, <a href="#page_092">92</a>, <a href="#page_094">94</a>, <a href="#page_109">109</a>, <a href="#page_123">123</a>, <a href="#page_132">132</a>, <a href="#page_133">133</a>, <a href="#page_149">149</a>, <a href="#page_153">153</a>, <a href="#page_162">162</a>, <a href="#page_183">183</a>, <a href="#page_200">200</a>, <a href="#page_207">207</a>.</li> +<li>Francesco de Salamanca, <a href="#page_218">218</a>.</li> +<li>Francis, St., <a href="#page_137">137</a>.</li> +<li>Franciscan Monastery, <a href="#page_263">263</a>.</li> +<li>Frederic of Germany, <a href="#page_092">92</a>.</li> +<li>Friola, St., <a href="#page_114">114</a>, <a href="#page_167">167</a>.</li> +<li>Front of Périgueux, St., <a href="#page_015">15</a>.</li> +<li>Frumonio, Bishop, <a href="#page_095">95</a>.</li> +<li>Frutos, St., <a href="#page_174">174</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Gallichan's Story of Seville, <a href="#page_197">197</a>, <a href="#page_199">199</a>.</li> +<li>Gallo, Torre del, <a href="#page_015">15</a>.</li> +<li>Ganza, Martin, <a href="#page_225">225</a>.</li> +<li>Garcia, Alvar, <a href="#page_072">72</a>.</li> +<li>Garcia, Pedro, <a href="#page_207">207</a>.</li> +<li>Gautier, Théophile, <a href="#page_046">46</a>, <a href="#page_122">122</a>, <a href="#page_151">151</a>, <a href="#page_199">199</a>.</li> +<li><a name="Gayangos" id="Gayangos"></a>Gayangos, <a href="#page_231">231</a>.</li> +<li>Generaliffe, <a href="#page_241">241</a>.</li> +<li>Germany, <a href="#page_093">93</a>, <a href="#page_162">162</a>, <a href="#page_183">183</a>.</li> +<li>Gever, <a href="#page_231">231</a>.</li> +<li>Ghiberti, <a href="#page_048">48</a>, <a href="#page_152">152</a>.</li> +<li>Gibbon, Grinling, <a href="#page_027">27</a>.</li> +<li>Gil de Hontañon, Juan, <a href="#page_022">22</a>, <a href="#page_023">23</a>, <a href="#page_028">28</a>, <a href="#page_174">174</a>, <a href="#page_175">175</a>, <a href="#page_176">176</a>, <a href="#page_177">177</a>, <a href="#page_179">179</a>, <a href="#page_207">207</a>.</li> +<li>Gil de Hontañon, Rodrigo, <a href="#page_023">23</a>, <a href="#page_179">179</a>, <a href="#page_184">184</a>.</li> +<li>Giralda, <a href="#page_201">201</a>, <a href="#page_209">209</a>, <a href="#page_229">229</a>, <a href="#page_230">230</a>, <a href="#page_232">232</a>, <a href="#page_234">234</a>, <a href="#page_235">235</a>.</li> +<li>Giraldo, Luis, <a href="#page_083">83</a>.</li> +<li>Goethe, <a href="#page_239">239</a>.</li> +<li>Goliath, <a href="#page_003">3</a>.</li> +<li>Gomez, Alvar, <a href="#page_136">136</a>, <a href="#page_141">141</a>.</li> +<li>Gonzales, Bishop, <a href="#page_097">97</a>.</li> +<li>Gonzales, Ferdinand, <a href="#page_033">33</a>, <a href="#page_034">34</a>.</li> +<li>Gonzalo, Don, <a href="#page_053">53</a>.</li> +<li>Gorda, <a href="#page_142">142</a>.</li> +<li>Goya, <a href="#page_162">162</a>, <a href="#page_201">201</a>, <a href="#page_226">226</a>, <a href="#page_227">227</a>.</li> +<li>Granada, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_182">182</a>, <a href="#page_216">216</a>, <a href="#page_224">224</a>, <a href="#page_237">237-265</a>.</li> +<li>Granada, Province of, <a href="#page_122">122</a>, <a href="#page_138">138</a>, <a href="#page_152">152</a>, <a href="#page_194">194</a>, <a href="#page_195">195</a>, <a href="#page_230">230</a>.</li> +<li>Granados, José, <a href="#page_248">248</a>.</li> +<li>Gray, Thomas, <a href="#page_167">167</a>.</li> +<li>Greco, El, <a href="#page_162">162</a>, <a href="#page_227">227</a>.</li> +<li>Gredos, Sierra, <a href="#page_067">67</a>, <a href="#page_121">121</a>.</li> +<li>Greece, <a href="#page_153">153</a>, <a href="#page_197">197</a>, <a href="#page_223">223</a>.</li> +<li>Gregory the Great, <a href="#page_126">126</a>.</li> +<li>Gregory VII, <a href="#page_091">91</a>, <a href="#page_220">220</a>.</li> +<li>Guadalquivir, <a href="#page_197">197</a>, <a href="#page_235">235</a>.</li> +<li>Guadarrama, Sierra de, <a href="#page_034">34</a>, <a href="#page_067">67</a>.</li> +<li>Guarda, Angel de la, <a href="#page_222">222</a>, <a href="#page_223">223</a>.</li> +<li>Guas, Juan, <a href="#page_135">135</a>.</li> +<li>Guzman, <a href="#page_226">226</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Hagenbach, Peter, <a href="#page_221">221</a>.</li> +<li>Hannibal, <a href="#page_005">5</a>, <a href="#page_243">243</a>.</li> +<li>Hapsburg, <a href="#page_217">217</a>.</li> +<li>Hare, <a href="#page_264">264</a>.</li> +<li>Havana, <a href="#page_227">227</a>.</li> +<li>Hell, Toledo, Gate of, <a href="#page_143">143</a>.</li> +<li>Henry of Aragon, <a href="#page_159">159</a>.</li> +<li>Henry II, <a href="#page_053">53</a>, <a href="#page_155">155</a>, <a href="#page_160">160</a>, <a href="#page_178">178</a>.</li> +<li>Henry III, <a href="#page_155">155</a>.</li> +<li>Henry IV, <a href="#page_172">172</a>.</li> +<li>Henry VII, <a href="#page_244">244</a>.</li> +<li>Henry VIII, <a href="#page_061">61</a>, <a href="#page_164">164</a>.</li> +<li>Hercules, <a href="#page_192">192</a>, <a href="#page_193">193</a>.</li> +<li>Hermanidad, Dependencias de la, <a href="#page_210">210</a>.</li> +<li>Hernando, <a href="#page_244">244</a>.</li> +<li>Herrera, <a href="#page_195">195</a>, <a href="#page_227">227</a>.</li> +<li>Hispalis, <a href="#page_194">194</a>.</li> +<li>Hispania, Citerior, <a href="#page_068">68</a>.</li> +<li>Hispaniola, <a href="#page_227">227</a>.</li> +<li>Holanda, Teodor de, <a href="#page_259">259</a>.</li> +<li>Holando, Alberto, <a href="#page_080">80</a>.</li> +<li>Holy Office, <a href="#page_196">196</a>, <a href="#page_243">243</a>.</li> +<li>Houssaye, La, <a href="#page_151">151</a>.</li> +<li>Howell, James, <a href="#page_245">245</a>.</li> +<li>Hoz, Juan de, <a href="#page_207">207</a>.</li> +<li>Huelva, <a href="#page_194">194</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Iago, Burgos, Chapel of St., <a href="#page_060">60</a>.</li> +<li>Iberian Peninsula, <a href="#page_136">136</a>.</li> +<li>Ildefonso, St., <a href="#page_108">108</a>, <a href="#page_127">127</a>, <a href="#page_143">143</a>, <a href="#page_147">147</a>, <a href="#page_157">157</a>, <a href="#page_158">158</a>.</li> +<li>Ildefonso, Toledo, Chapel of St., <a href="#page_157">157</a>.</li> +<li>Indies, <a href="#page_128">128</a>, <a href="#page_260">260</a>.</li> +<li>Innocent III, <a href="#page_020">20</a>, <a href="#page_092">92</a>, <a href="#page_093">93</a>.</li> +<li>Inquisition, <a href="#page_128">128</a>, <a href="#page_243">243</a>, <a href="#page_244">244</a>.</li> +<li>Irving, Washington, <a href="#page_160">160</a>, <a href="#page_244">244</a>.</li> +<li>Isaac, <a href="#page_153">153</a>.</li> +<li>Isabella, <a href="#page_020">20</a>, <a href="#page_062">62</a>, <a href="#page_082">82</a>, <a href="#page_127">127</a>, <a href="#page_128">128</a>, <a href="#page_131">131</a>, <a href="#page_136">136</a>, <a href="#page_137">137</a>, <a href="#page_138">138</a>, <a href="#page_152">152</a>, <a href="#page_154">154</a>, <a href="#page_195">195</a>, <a href="#page_224">224</a>, <a href="#page_244">244</a>, <a href="#page_256">256</a>, <a href="#page_259">259</a>, <a href="#page_260">260</a>, <a href="#page_261">261</a>, <a href="#page_262">262</a>, <a href="#page_263">263</a>, <a href="#page_264">264</a>.</li> +<li>Isabella, Granada, Monastery of Sta., <a href="#page_263">263</a>.</li> +<li>Isabella of Portugal, <a href="#page_160">160</a>.</li> +<li>Isaiah, <a href="#page_048">48</a>, <a href="#page_106">106</a>, <a href="#page_192">192</a>.</li> +<li>Isidore, <a href="#page_126">126</a>, <a href="#page_220">220</a>, <a href="#page_221">221</a>.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_275" id="page_275"></a>{275}</span></li> +<li>Islam, <a href="#page_202">202</a>, <a href="#page_227">227</a>, <a href="#page_247">247</a>.</li> +<li>Isle-de-France, <a href="#page_099">99</a>, <a href="#page_102">102</a>.</li> +<li>Italy, <a href="#page_072">72</a>, <a href="#page_093">93</a>, <a href="#page_153">153</a>, <a href="#page_196">196</a>, <a href="#page_200">200</a>, <a href="#page_223">223</a>, <a href="#page_254">254</a>.</li> +<li>Ixbella, <a href="#page_194">194</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Jacob, <a href="#page_153">153</a>.</li> +<li>Jaen, <a href="#page_194">194</a>, <a href="#page_195">195</a>, <a href="#page_208">208</a>, <a href="#page_260">260</a>.</li> +<li>Jain Temples, <a href="#page_205">205</a>.</li> +<li>James I, <a href="#page_136">136</a>.</li> +<li>James, St., <a href="#page_054">54</a>.</li> +<li>James, Professor, <a href="#page_087">87</a>.</li> +<li>Janera, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_153">153</a>.</li> +<li>Jeremiah, <a href="#page_112">112</a>.</li> +<li>Jeronimo, Granada, Puerta de, <a href="#page_254">254</a>.</li> +<li>Jerusalem, <a href="#page_029">29</a>, <a href="#page_214">214</a>, <a href="#page_229">229</a>, <a href="#page_256">256</a>.</li> +<li>Jesse, Tree of, <a href="#page_162">162</a>.</li> +<li>John, St., <a href="#page_055">55</a>, <a href="#page_057">57</a>, <a href="#page_208">208</a>, <a href="#page_219">219</a>, <a href="#page_256">256</a>, <a href="#page_262">262</a>.</li> +<li>John the Baptist, Toledo, Hospital of St., <a href="#page_153">153</a>.</li> +<li>John I, <a href="#page_155">155</a>.</li> +<li>John II, <a href="#page_159">159</a>.</li> +<li>Jonah, <a href="#page_192">192</a>.</li> +<li>Joshua, <a href="#page_112">112</a>.</li> +<li>Juan, Don, <a href="#page_134">134</a>.</li> +<li>Juan, Bishop of Sabina, <a href="#page_171">171</a>.</li> +<li>Juan, Toledo, chapel of St., <a href="#page_161">161</a>.</li> +<li>Juan, Seville, door of St., <a href="#page_208">208</a>.</li> +<li>Juana, Queen, <a href="#page_021">21</a>, <a href="#page_225">225</a>, <a href="#page_263">263</a>.</li> +<li>Judgment, Last, <a href="#page_126">126</a>.</li> +<li>Junta, Santa, <a href="#page_071">71</a>.</li> +<li>Justa, Sta., <a href="#page_226">226</a>, <a href="#page_232">232</a>.</li> +<li>Jusquin, Maestro, <a href="#page_101">101</a>, <a href="#page_110">110</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Karnattah, <a href="#page_242">242</a>.</li> +<li>Kempeneer, <a href="#page_222">222</a>.</li> +<li>Koran, <a href="#page_234">234</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Lagarto, Seville, door of, <a href="#page_209">209</a>.</li> +<li>Lamperez y Romea, Señor D., <a href="#page_009">9</a>, <a href="#page_040">40</a>, <a href="#page_076">76</a>, <a href="#page_108">108</a>.</li> +<li>Lara, Bishop Manrique, <a href="#page_096">96</a>.</li> +<li>Latin, <a href="#page_126">126</a>, <a href="#page_187">187</a>, <a href="#page_193">193</a>, <a href="#page_232">232</a>.</li> +<li>Lazarus, <a href="#page_229">229</a>.</li> +<li>Leander, <a href="#page_220">220</a>.</li> +<li>Leocadia, Sta., <a href="#page_157">157</a>, <a href="#page_158">158</a>.</li> +<li>Leon, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_026">26</a>, <a href="#page_036">36</a>, <a href="#page_039">39</a>, <a href="#page_043">43</a>, <a href="#page_080">80</a>, <a href="#page_081">81</a>, <a href="#page_082">82</a>, <a href="#page_086">86</a>, <a href="#page_090">90</a>, <a href="#page_117">117</a>, <a href="#page_132">132</a>, <a href="#page_134">134</a>, <a href="#page_142">142</a>, <a href="#page_177">177</a>, <a href="#page_198">198</a>, <a href="#page_199">199</a>, <a href="#page_212">212</a>, <a href="#page_256">256</a>.</li> +<li>Leon, Kingdom of, <a href="#page_005">5</a>, <a href="#page_006">6</a>, <a href="#page_019">19</a>, <a href="#page_030">30</a>, <a href="#page_034">34</a>, <a href="#page_069">69</a>, <a href="#page_127">127</a>, <a href="#page_215">215</a>.</li> +<li>Lerida, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_133">133</a>.</li> +<li>Lerma, Bishop Gonzalvo da, <a href="#page_052">52</a>.</li> +<li>Lions, Toledo, gate of, <a href="#page_144">144</a>, <a href="#page_161">161</a>.</li> +<li>Llana, Toledo, gate of, <a href="#page_145">145</a>.</li> +<li>Lockhart, <a href="#page_245">245</a>.</li> +<li>Loevgild, <a href="#page_094">94</a>, <a href="#page_126">126</a>.</li> +<li>Loja, <a href="#page_241">241</a>.</li> +<li>Lombardy, <a href="#page_201">201</a>, <a href="#page_206">206</a>, <a href="#page_243">243</a>, <a href="#page_251">251</a>.</li> +<li>London, <a href="#page_204">204</a>, <a href="#page_244">244</a>.</li> +<li>Lonja, Seville, gate of, <a href="#page_209">209</a>.</li> +<li>Lopez, Pedro, <a href="#page_207">207</a>.</li> +<li>Lorenzana, <a href="#page_136">136</a>.</li> +<li>Louis, St., <a href="#page_047">47</a>, <a href="#page_092">92</a>.</li> +<li>Lucas of Holland, <a href="#page_152">152</a>.</li> +<li>Luis, Fray, <a href="#page_006">6</a>.</li> +<li>Luna, Count Alvaro de, <a href="#page_159">159</a>.</li> +<li>Luther, <a href="#page_086">86</a>.</li> +<li>Lusitania, <a href="#page_005">5</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Madrid, <a href="#page_096">96</a>, <a href="#page_128">128</a>, <a href="#page_173">173</a>, <a href="#page_206">206</a>.</li> +<li>Madrigal, Tostada de, <a href="#page_079">79</a>.</li> +<li>Maeda, Juan de, <a href="#page_248">248</a>, <a href="#page_253">253</a>, <a href="#page_254">254</a>.</li> +<li>Magi, adoration of the, <a href="#page_104">104</a>.</li> +<li>Malaga, <a href="#page_248">248</a>.</li> +<li>Mancha, La, <a href="#page_093">93</a>.</li> +<li>Manrico de Lara, Francisco, <a href="#page_023">23</a>.</li> +<li>Mans, Cathedral of Le, <a href="#page_148">148</a>.</li> +<li>Mantanzas, D. Juan Ruiz, <a href="#page_156">156</a>.</li> +<li>Maria, Burgos, gate of Sta., <a href="#page_060">60</a>.</li> +<li><a name="Maria_de_la_Encarnacion" id="Maria_de_la_Encarnacion"></a>Maria, de la Encarnacion, Sta., Granada, <a href="#page_246">246</a>.</li> +<li>Maria, Burgos, Sta. Maria la Mayor, <a href="#page_034">34</a>, <a href="#page_057">57</a>, <a href="#page_060">60</a>.</li> +<li>Maria, Leon, Sta., <a href="#page_092">92</a>, <a href="#page_096">96</a>, <a href="#page_098">98</a>, <a href="#page_116">116</a>.</li> +<li>Maria del Fiore, Sta., <a href="#page_017">17</a>, <a href="#page_176">176</a>, <a href="#page_201">201</a>.</li> +<li>Maria, de la O., Sta., <a href="#page_246">246</a>.</li> +<li>Maria de la Sede, Seville, Sta., <a href="#page_203">203</a>, <a href="#page_207">207</a>, <a href="#page_213">213</a>, <a href="#page_214">214</a>, <a href="#page_219">219</a>, <a href="#page_228">228</a>, <a href="#page_230">230</a>.</li> +<li>Mary, Virgin, <a href="#page_104">104</a>, <a href="#page_130">130</a>, <a href="#page_157">157</a>, <a href="#page_158">158</a>, <a href="#page_167">167</a>, <a href="#page_171">171</a>, <a href="#page_173">173</a>, <a href="#page_174">174</a>, <a href="#page_179">179</a>, <a href="#page_195">195</a>, <a href="#page_217">217</a>, <a href="#page_219">219</a>, <a href="#page_220">220</a>, <a href="#page_227">227</a>, <a href="#page_258">258</a>, <a href="#page_262">262</a>.</li> +<li>Mary Magdalen, <a href="#page_229">229</a>.</li> +<li>Marin, Juan, <a href="#page_223">223</a>.</li> +<li>Marin, Lope, <a href="#page_209">209</a>.</li> +<li>Marks, St., <a href="#page_012">12</a>, <a href="#page_015">15</a>, <a href="#page_230">230</a>.</li> +<li>Marmont, <a href="#page_030">30</a>.</li> +<li>Martial, <a href="#page_193">193</a>.</li> +<li>Martin, <a href="#page_214">214</a>.</li> +<li>Maurice, Bishop, <a href="#page_037">37</a>, <a href="#page_046">46</a>, <a href="#page_049">49</a>, <a href="#page_054">54</a>, <a href="#page_061">61</a>.</li> +<li>Maxwell, Sir W. Stirling, <a href="#page_262">262</a>.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_276" id="page_276"></a>{276}</span></li> +<li>Medina, Pedro de, <a href="#page_097">97</a>.</li> +<li>Mediterranean, <a href="#page_122">122</a>, <a href="#page_193">193</a>.</li> +<li>Meister Wilhelm, <a href="#page_239">239</a>.</li> +<li>Mellan, Pedro, <a href="#page_207">207</a>, <a href="#page_208">208</a>.</li> +<li>Menardo, Vicente, <a href="#page_229">229</a>.</li> +<li>Mendoza, Doña Mencia de, <a href="#page_050">50</a>.</li> +<li>Mendoza, <a href="#page_136">136</a>, <a href="#page_138">138</a>, <a href="#page_143">143</a>, <a href="#page_155">155</a>, <a href="#page_226">226</a>, <a href="#page_262">262</a>.</li> +<li>Merida, <a href="#page_068">68</a>.</li> +<li>Mesquita, <a href="#page_231">231</a>.</li> +<li>Mexico, <a href="#page_197">197</a>.</li> +<li>Micer, <a href="#page_228">228</a>.</li> +<li>Michael, St., <a href="#page_086">86</a>.</li> +<li>Miguel, Florentino, <a href="#page_196">196</a>, <a href="#page_207">207</a>, <a href="#page_223">223</a>.</li> +<li>Miguel, San, <a href="#page_172">172</a>, <a href="#page_173">173</a>, <a href="#page_185">185</a>.</li> +<li>Miguel, Seville, Door of St., <a href="#page_208">208</a>.</li> +<li>Milan, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_138">138</a>, <a href="#page_204">204</a>, <a href="#page_206">206</a>.</li> +<li>Milo, Venus of, <a href="#page_212">212</a>.</li> +<li>Miserere, <a href="#page_214">214</a>.</li> +<li>Mohamed, <a href="#page_244">244</a>.</li> +<li>Molina, Juan Sanchez de, <a href="#page_060">60</a>.</li> +<li>Montagues, <a href="#page_138">138</a>.</li> +<li>Montañez, <a href="#page_217">217</a>, <a href="#page_227">227</a>, <a href="#page_249">249</a>, <a href="#page_258">258</a>.</li> +<li>Moses, <a href="#page_054">54</a>, <a href="#page_112">112</a>, <a href="#page_254">254</a>.</li> +<li><a name="Mogaguren" id="Mogaguren"></a>Mogaguren, Juan de, <a href="#page_179">179</a>, <a href="#page_186">186</a>.</li> +<li>Munoz, Sancho, <a href="#page_217">217</a>.</li> +<li>Murillo, <a href="#page_196">196</a>, <a href="#page_222">222</a>, <a href="#page_227">227</a>, <a href="#page_258">258</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Nacimiento, Seville, doors of, <a href="#page_207">207</a>.</li> +<li>Nacimiento, Salamanca, door of, <a href="#page_025">25</a>.</li> +<li>Nantes, <a href="#page_093">93</a>.</li> +<li>Naples, <a href="#page_191">191</a>, <a href="#page_260">260</a>.</li> +<li>Napoleon, <a href="#page_135">135</a>.</li> +<li>Naranjos, Seville, door of the, <a href="#page_209">209</a>.</li> +<li>Narbonne, <a href="#page_093">93</a>, <a href="#page_157">157</a>.</li> +<li>Nasrides, <a href="#page_243">243</a>.</li> +<li>Navarre, <a href="#page_072">72</a>, <a href="#page_092">92</a>, <a href="#page_256">256</a>.</li> +<li>Navas de Tolosa, Las, <a href="#page_070">70</a>, <a href="#page_093">93</a>, <a href="#page_154">154</a>.</li> +<li>Netherlands, <a href="#page_196">196</a>.</li> +<li>Nevada, Sierra, <a href="#page_241">241</a>, <a href="#page_242">242</a>.</li> +<li>Ney, <a href="#page_030">30</a>.</li> +<li>Nicholas, Church of, Burgos, <a href="#page_034">34</a>.</li> +<li>Nicholas Florentino, <a href="#page_014">14</a>.</li> +<li>Nile, <a href="#page_209">209</a>.</li> +<li>Norman, Juan de, <a href="#page_207">207</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Odysseus, <a href="#page_192">192</a>.</li> +<li>Oliquelas, <a href="#page_139">139</a>.</li> +<li>Ontoria, <a href="#page_042">42</a>.</li> +<li>Orazco, Juan de, <a href="#page_022">22</a>.</li> +<li>Ordoñez, Bartolomé, <a href="#page_263">263</a>.</li> +<li>Ordoño, King, <a href="#page_095">95</a>, <a href="#page_113">113</a>, <a href="#page_114">114</a>.</li> +<li>Ouen of Rouen, Cathedral of St., <a href="#page_028">28</a>.</li> +<li>Oviedo, <a href="#page_034">34</a>, <a href="#page_196">196</a>, <a href="#page_198">198</a>.</li> +<li>Oxford, University of, <a href="#page_006">6</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Padella, <a href="#page_127">127</a>, <a href="#page_225">225</a>.</li> +<li>Palazzo del Goberno Civil, Salamanca, <a href="#page_028">28</a>.</li> +<li>Pardon, Burgos, Door of, <a href="#page_061">61</a>.</li> +<li>Pardon, Granada, Door of, <a href="#page_254">254</a>.</li> +<li>Pardon, Segovia, Door of, <a href="#page_185">185</a>.</li> +<li>Pardon, Seville, Door of, <a href="#page_209">209</a>.</li> +<li>Pardon, Toledo, Door of, <a href="#page_126">126</a>, <a href="#page_143">143</a>.</li> +<li>Paris, <a href="#page_219">219</a>.</li> +<li>Paris, University of, <a href="#page_006">6</a>.</li> +<li>Paris, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_025">25</a>, <a href="#page_101">101</a>, <a href="#page_105">105</a>, <a href="#page_148">148</a>, <a href="#page_163">163</a>, <a href="#page_199">199</a>.</li> +<li>Parthenon, <a href="#page_212">212</a>.</li> +<li>Pater, Walter, <a href="#page_125">125</a>.</li> +<li>Paul, St., <a href="#page_030">30</a>, <a href="#page_054">54</a>, <a href="#page_062">62</a>, <a href="#page_085">85</a>, <a href="#page_142">142</a>, <a href="#page_209">209</a>, <a href="#page_164">164</a>.</li> +<li>Paul's, London, St., <a href="#page_204">204</a>, <a href="#page_244">244</a>.</li> +<li>Pedro, Avila, Church of St., <a href="#page_071">71</a>.</li> +<li>Pedro, Bishop of Avila, Don, <a href="#page_072">72</a>.</li> +<li>Pedro de Aguilar, <a href="#page_155">155</a>.</li> +<li>Pedro el Cruel, <a href="#page_127">127</a>, <a href="#page_225">225</a>.</li> +<li>Pedro of Castile, Don, <a href="#page_070">70</a>.</li> +<li>Pedro, Infante, Don, <a href="#page_178">178</a>.</li> +<li>Pellejeria, Burgos, Door of, <a href="#page_056">56</a>, <a href="#page_058">58</a>.</li> +<li>Peninsular War, <a href="#page_246">246</a>.</li> +<li>Perez, <a href="#page_135">135</a>.</li> +<li>Perez, Juan, <a href="#page_060">60</a>.</li> +<li>Perez de Vargas, Garcia, <a href="#page_193">193</a>.</li> +<li><a name="Perigueux" id="Perigueux"></a>Périgueux, <a href="#page_007">7</a>.</li> +<li>Peru, <a href="#page_197">197</a>.</li> +<li>Pesquera, Diego de, <a href="#page_223">223</a>.</li> +<li>Peter, St., <a href="#page_030">30</a>, <a href="#page_054">54</a>, <a href="#page_062">62</a>, <a href="#page_085">85</a>, <a href="#page_142">142</a>, <a href="#page_209">209</a>, <a href="#page_164">164</a>.</li> +<li>Peter's, Rome, St., <a href="#page_205">205</a>, <a href="#page_224">224</a>, <a href="#page_251">251</a>.</li> +<li>Philip, <a href="#page_048">48</a>.</li> +<li>Philip I (of Austria), <a href="#page_263">263</a>.</li> +<li>Philip II, <a href="#page_023">23</a>, <a href="#page_045">45</a>, <a href="#page_128">128</a>, <a href="#page_196">196</a>, <a href="#page_197">197</a>, <a href="#page_206">206</a>.</li> +<li>Philip III, <a href="#page_245">245</a>.</li> +<li>Philip of Burgundy, Sculptor, <a href="#page_044">44</a>, <a href="#page_045">45</a>, <a href="#page_048">48</a>.</li> +<li>Philip, St., <a href="#page_054">54</a>.</li> +<li>Phœnicia, <a href="#page_197">197</a>.</li> +<li>Phœnicians, <a href="#page_193">193</a>.</li> +<li>Piazzetta, Venice, <a href="#page_201">201</a>.</li> +<li>Pilayo, Bishop of Oviedo, Don, <a href="#page_069">69</a>.</li> +<li>Pituenga, Florin de, <a href="#page_069">69</a>.</li> +<li>Pius II, <a href="#page_160">160</a>.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_277" id="page_277"></a>{277}</span></li> +<li>Pius III, <a href="#page_023">23</a>.</li> +<li>Pistoja, <a href="#page_230">230</a>.</li> +<li>Pizarro, <a href="#page_197">197</a>.</li> +<li>Plaza del Colegio Viejo, Salamanca, <a href="#page_005">5</a>.</li> +<li>Pliny, <a href="#page_128">128</a>.</li> +<li>Plutarch, <a href="#page_125">125</a>.</li> +<li>Poe, <a href="#page_214">214</a>.</li> +<li>Poitou, <a href="#page_137">137</a>.</li> +<li>Porcello, Diego, <a href="#page_060">60</a>.</li> +<li>Poniente, <a href="#page_028">28</a>.</li> +<li>Portugal, <a href="#page_127">127</a>.</li> +<li>Prado, <a href="#page_221">221</a>.</li> +<li>Presentacion, Burgos, Chapel of, <a href="#page_041">41</a>, <a href="#page_052">52</a>.</li> +<li>Presentacion, Toledo, Puerta de la, <a href="#page_145">145</a>.</li> +<li>Psalms, <a href="#page_192">192</a>.</li> +<li>Ptolemy, <a href="#page_215">215</a>.</li> +<li>Pulgar, Capilla del, <a href="#page_255">255</a>.</li> +<li>Pulgar, Herman Perez del, <a href="#page_255">255</a>.</li> +<li>Pyrenees, <a href="#page_093">93</a>, <a href="#page_176">176</a>, <a href="#page_206">206</a>.</li> +<li>Puy, Notre Dame de, <a href="#page_144">144</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Quadrado, <a href="#page_178">178</a>.</li> +<li>Quixote, <a href="#page_134">134</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Ramos, Alfonso, <a href="#page_101">101</a>.</li> +<li>Ramos, door of, <a href="#page_025">25</a>, <a href="#page_029">29</a>.</li> +<li>Raphael, Angel, <a href="#page_155">155</a>.</li> +<li>Raymond, Count of Burgundy, <a href="#page_007">7</a>, <a href="#page_008">8</a>, <a href="#page_069">69</a>, <a href="#page_070">70</a>, <a href="#page_072">72</a>, <a href="#page_170">170</a>.</li> +<li>Real, Seville, Capilla, <a href="#page_205">205</a>, <a href="#page_224">224</a>.</li> +<li>Reccared, <a href="#page_126">126</a>.</li> +<li>Reloi, Toledo, gate of, <a href="#page_145">145</a>.</li> +<li>Rembrandt, <a href="#page_214">214</a>.</li> +<li>Rios, D. Demetrio de los, <a href="#page_096">96</a>.</li> +<li><a name="Reposo" id="Reposo"></a>Reposo, Virgin del, <a href="#page_223">223</a>.</li> +<li><a name="Reyes_Nuevos" id="Reyes_Nuevos"></a>Reyes Nuevos, Toledo, chapel of, <a href="#page_161">161</a>.</li> +<li><a name="Res_Juan" id="Res_Juan"></a>Res, Juan, <a href="#page_083">83</a>.</li> +<li>Rheims, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_025">25</a>, <a href="#page_039">39</a>, <a href="#page_043">43</a>, <a href="#page_093">93</a>, <a href="#page_094">94</a>, <a href="#page_148">148</a>.</li> +<li>Ribera, <a href="#page_162">162</a>, <a href="#page_221">221</a>, <a href="#page_258">258</a>.</li> +<li>Richard, papal legate, <a href="#page_156">156</a>.</li> +<li>Richelieu, <a href="#page_136">136</a>.</li> +<li>Ridriguez, Canon Juan, <a href="#page_174">174</a>.</li> +<li>Rodan, Guillen de, <a href="#page_097">97</a>.</li> +<li>Roderick, King, <a href="#page_126">126</a>.</li> +<li>Rodrigo, architect of Toledo, <a href="#page_135">135</a>.</li> +<li>Rodrigo, Archbishop, <a href="#page_093">93</a>.</li> +<li>Rodrigo de Ferrara, <a href="#page_107">107</a>.</li> +<li>Rodriguez, Archbishop of Seville, <a href="#page_205">205</a>.</li> +<li>Rodriguez, Bishop, <a href="#page_136">136</a>.</li> +<li>Rodriguez of Alava, Count Diego, <a href="#page_034">34</a>.</li> +<li>Rodriguez, Maestro of Seville, <a href="#page_022">22</a>, <a href="#page_207">207</a>.</li> +<li>Rodriguez, Sculptor, <a href="#page_151">151</a>.</li> +<li>Roelas, <a href="#page_227">227</a>.</li> +<li><a name="Rojas_Gonzalo_de" id="Rojas_Gonzalo_de"></a>Rojas, Gonzalo de, <a href="#page_205">205</a>, <a href="#page_207">207</a>.</li> +<li>Romano, Casandro, <a href="#page_069">69</a>.</li> +<li>Rome, <a href="#page_005">5</a>, <a href="#page_093">93</a>, <a href="#page_116">116</a>, <a href="#page_130">130</a>, <a href="#page_135">135</a>, <a href="#page_142">142</a>, <a href="#page_143">143</a>, <a href="#page_191">191</a>, <a href="#page_193">193</a>, <a href="#page_197">197</a>, <a href="#page_224">224</a>.</li> +<li>Roundheads, <a href="#page_061">61</a>.</li> +<li>Rovera, D. Diego de, <a href="#page_174">174</a>.</li> +<li>Royal Chapel, Granada, <a href="#page_247">247</a>, <a href="#page_249">249</a>, <a href="#page_251">251</a>, <a href="#page_255">255</a>, <a href="#page_256">256</a>, <a href="#page_257">257</a>, <a href="#page_259">259</a>.</li> +<li>Rubens, <a href="#page_162">162</a>.</li> +<li>Rufina, Sta., <a href="#page_226">226</a>, <a href="#page_232">232</a>.</li> +<li>Ruiz, Alfonso, <a href="#page_207">207</a>.</li> +<li>Ruiz, Bishop Francisco, <a href="#page_080">80</a>.</li> +<li>Ruiz, Francisco, <a href="#page_234">234</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Sabina, St., <a href="#page_086">86</a>.</li> +<li><a name="Sacchetti" id="Sacchetti"></a>Sacchetti, <a href="#page_026">26</a>.</li> +<li>Salamanca, city of, <a href="#page_069">69</a>.</li> +<li>Salamanca, council of, <a href="#page_045">45</a>.</li> +<li>Salamanca, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_003">3-30</a>, <a href="#page_044">44</a>, <a href="#page_163">163</a>, <a href="#page_170">170</a>, <a href="#page_174">174</a>, <a href="#page_175">175</a>, <a href="#page_176">176</a>, <a href="#page_177">177</a>, <a href="#page_179">179</a>, <a href="#page_184">184</a>, <a href="#page_198">198</a>, <a href="#page_213">213</a>, <a href="#page_248">248</a>.</li> +<li><a name="Salmantica" id="Salmantica"></a>Salmantica, <a href="#page_005">5</a>.</li> +<li>Salisbury, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_131">131</a>.</li> +<li>Salto, Maria del, <a href="#page_178">178</a>, <a href="#page_179">179</a>.</li> +<li>Salvador, Avila, Cathedral of San, <a href="#page_067">67</a>, <a href="#page_071">71</a>.</li> +<li>Sancha, Countess, <a href="#page_114">114</a>.</li> +<li>Sanches de Castro, Juan, <a href="#page_201">201</a>.</li> +<li>Sanchez, Martin, <a href="#page_135">135</a>.</li> +<li>Sanchez, Nufro, <a href="#page_216">216</a>.</li> +<li>Sanchez, Bishop Pedro, <a href="#page_069">69</a>.</li> +<li>Sanchez, Architect Pedro, <a href="#page_053">53</a>, <a href="#page_060">60</a>.</li> +<li>Sancho the Brave, <a href="#page_155">155</a>.</li> +<li>Sancho the Deserted, <a href="#page_155">155</a>.</li> +<li>Santander, Diego de, <a href="#page_053">53</a>.</li> +<li>Santiago, bishopric of, <a href="#page_122">122</a>.</li> +<li>Santiago, Burgos, chapel of, <a href="#page_041">41</a>.</li> +<li>Santiago, Leon, chapel of, <a href="#page_099">99</a>, <a href="#page_107">107</a>, <a href="#page_115">115</a>.</li> +<li>Santiago, order of, <a href="#page_128">128</a>, <a href="#page_135">135</a>, <a href="#page_159">159</a>.</li> +<li>Santiago, Toledo, chapel of, <a href="#page_147">147</a>, <a href="#page_157">157</a>, <a href="#page_159">159</a>.</li> +<li>Santo, Andrea del, <a href="#page_153">153</a>.</li> +<li>Sarabia, Rodrigo de, <a href="#page_022">22</a>.</li> +<li>Sarmental, Puerta del, <a href="#page_054">54</a>.</li> +<li>Sarmentos, family of, <a href="#page_054">54</a>.</li> +<li>Scriveners, Toledo, gate of, <a href="#page_143">143</a>.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_278" id="page_278"></a>{278}</span></li> +<li>Segovia, city of, <a href="#page_067">67</a>, <a href="#page_069">69</a>.</li> +<li>Segovia, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_165">165-187</a>, <a href="#page_213">213</a>.</li> +<li>Segundo, St., <a href="#page_086">86</a>.</li> +<li>Segundo, Avila, church of San, <a href="#page_071">71</a>.</li> +<li>Sens, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_040">40</a>.</li> +<li>Seville, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_024">24</a>, <a href="#page_044">44</a>, <a href="#page_096">96</a>, <a href="#page_097">97</a>, <a href="#page_138">138</a>, <a href="#page_158">158</a>, <a href="#page_182">182</a>, <a href="#page_183">183</a>, <a href="#page_189">189-236</a>, <a href="#page_242">242</a>, <a href="#page_248">248</a>, <a href="#page_258">258</a>, <a href="#page_260">260</a>.</li> +<li>Seville, bishopric of, <a href="#page_122">122</a>.</li> +<li>Sicily, kingdom of, <a href="#page_019">19</a>, <a href="#page_143">143</a>, <a href="#page_256">256</a>, <a href="#page_260">260</a>.</li> +<li>Siena, <a href="#page_070">70</a>.</li> +<li>Sierra Alhama, <a href="#page_241">241</a>.</li> +<li>Sierra Gredos, <a href="#page_067">67</a>, <a href="#page_122">122</a>.</li> +<li>Sierra de Guadarrama, <a href="#page_034">34</a>, <a href="#page_067">67</a>.</li> +<li>Sierra Moreña, <a href="#page_198">198</a>, <a href="#page_235">235</a>.</li> +<li>Sierra Nevada, <a href="#page_241">241</a>, <a href="#page_242">242</a>.</li> +<li><a name="Siloe_Diego_de" id="Siloe_Diego_de"></a>Siloé, Diego de, <a href="#page_049">49</a>, <a href="#page_248">248</a>, <a href="#page_249">249</a>, <a href="#page_252">252</a>, <a href="#page_254">254</a>.</li> +<li>Silva, Diego da, <a href="#page_195">195</a>.</li> +<li>Simon, architect, <a href="#page_097">97</a>.</li> +<li>Sistine Madonna, <a href="#page_212">212</a>.</li> +<li>Sofia, St., <a href="#page_012">12</a>.</li> +<li>Stevenson, R. L., <a href="#page_145">145</a>.</li> +<li>Suabia, <a href="#page_053">53</a>, <a href="#page_225">225</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Tagus, <a href="#page_093">93</a>, <a href="#page_122">122</a>.</li> +<li>Talavera, <a href="#page_246">246</a>, <a href="#page_259">259</a>.</li> +<li>Tarragon, bishopric of, <a href="#page_122">122</a>.</li> +<li>Tarragona, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_133">133</a>.</li> +<li>Tarshish, <a href="#page_192">192</a>.</li> +<li>Tavera, <a href="#page_136">136</a>, <a href="#page_141">141</a>.</li> +<li>Tecla, Sta., <a href="#page_041">41</a>.</li> +<li>Tendilla, <a href="#page_259">259</a>.</li> +<li>Tenorio, <a href="#page_136">136</a>, <a href="#page_141">141</a>, <a href="#page_163">163</a>.</li> +<li>Teresa, Sta., <a href="#page_086">86</a>, <a href="#page_087">87</a>.</li> +<li>Theotocopuli, Jorge Manuel, <a href="#page_140">140</a>.</li> +<li>Thiebaut, <a href="#page_030">30</a>.</li> +<li>Thomas, convent of St., <a href="#page_071">71</a>.</li> +<li>Tierra de Maria Santissima, <a href="#page_198">198</a>.</li> +<li>Titian, <a href="#page_162">162</a>.</li> +<li>Toledo, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_036">36</a>, <a href="#page_039">39</a>, <a href="#page_042">42</a>, <a href="#page_093">93</a>, <a href="#page_096">96</a>, <a href="#page_106">106</a>, <a href="#page_108">108</a>, <a href="#page_121">121-164</a>, <a href="#page_170">170</a>, <a href="#page_177">177</a>, <a href="#page_182">182</a>, <a href="#page_192">192</a>, <a href="#page_198">198</a>, <a href="#page_204">204</a>, <a href="#page_207">207</a>, <a href="#page_212">212</a>, <a href="#page_216">216</a>, <a href="#page_218">218</a>, <a href="#page_223">223</a>, <a href="#page_247">247</a>, <a href="#page_260">260</a>.</li> +<li>Toledo, council of, <a href="#page_008">8</a>, <a href="#page_126">126</a>.</li> +<li>Toledo, province of, <a href="#page_023">23</a>, <a href="#page_169">169</a>.</li> +<li>Tomé, Narciso, <a href="#page_155">155</a>.</li> +<li>Tornero, Juan, <a href="#page_022">22</a>.</li> +<li>Torquemada, <a href="#page_171">171</a>.</li> +<li>Trajan, <a href="#page_167">167</a>.</li> +<li>Triana, <a href="#page_232">232</a>.</li> +<li>Trinity, Boston, church of, <a href="#page_018">18</a>.</li> +<li>Triolan, San, <a href="#page_104">104</a>.</li> +<li>Tripoli, <a href="#page_260">260</a>.</li> +<li>Triumfo, Seville, Plaza del, <a href="#page_201">201</a>.</li> +<li>Tudela, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_133">133</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Urraca, Doña, <a href="#page_069">69</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha"><a name="Vaccaei" id="Vaccaei"></a>Vaccæi, <a href="#page_068">68</a>.</li> +<li>Vadajos, Bishop of, <a href="#page_020">20</a>.</li> +<li>Vergara, Arnao de, <a href="#page_229">229</a>.</li> +<li><a name="Vargas_Luis_de" id="Vargas_Luis_de"></a>Vargas, Luis de, <a href="#page_195">195</a>.</li> +<li>Valdes, <a href="#page_227">227</a>.</li> +<li>Vallejo, Juan de, <a href="#page_044">44</a>, <a href="#page_045">45</a>, <a href="#page_060">60</a>.</li> +<li>Valencia, See of, <a href="#page_007">7</a>, <a href="#page_093">93</a>, <a href="#page_122">122</a>.</li> +<li>Valencia, Alonzo, <a href="#page_097">97</a>.</li> +<li>Valladolid, City of, <a href="#page_021">21</a>, <a href="#page_023">23</a>, <a href="#page_160">160</a>, <a href="#page_227">227</a>, <a href="#page_248">248</a>, <a href="#page_249">249</a>.</li> +<li>Valladolid, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_036">36</a>, <a href="#page_122">122</a>.</li> +<li>Vega, <a href="#page_240">240</a>, <a href="#page_245">245</a>.</li> +<li>Velasco, Don Pedro Fernandez, Count of Haro, <a href="#page_049">49</a>, <a href="#page_050">50</a>.</li> +<li>Velasco, Bishop Antonia de, <a href="#page_052">52</a>.</li> +<li>Velasquez, <a href="#page_196">196</a>, <a href="#page_258">258</a>.</li> +<li>Venice, <a href="#page_191">191</a>.</li> +<li>Vergara, <a href="#page_134">134</a>.</li> +<li>Viadero, <a href="#page_184">184</a>.</li> +<li>Vicente, Avila, Church of, <a href="#page_071">71</a>.</li> +<li>Vico, Ambrosio de, <a href="#page_248">248</a>.</li> +<li><a name="Vigarny" id="Vigarny"></a>Vigarny, Philip (Borgoña), <a href="#page_151">151</a>, <a href="#page_153">153</a>, <a href="#page_251">251</a>, <a href="#page_262">262</a>.</li> +<li>Vignola, <a href="#page_252">252</a>.</li> +<li>Villalon, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_143">143</a>.</li> +<li>Villalpando, <a href="#page_134">134</a>, <a href="#page_154">154</a>.</li> +<li>Villanueva, <a href="#page_082">82</a>.</li> +<li>Villegas, Fernando de, <a href="#page_052">52</a>.</li> +<li>Vincente, St., <a href="#page_086">86</a>.</li> +<li>Viscaya, <a href="#page_069">69</a>.</li> +<li>Visitacion, Burgos, Capilla de, <a href="#page_052">52</a>.</li> +<li>Visquio, Jeronimo, <a href="#page_007">7</a>, <a href="#page_008">8</a>, <a href="#page_010">10</a>.</li> +<li>Vitruvius, <a href="#page_224">224</a>.</li> +<li>Vittoria, <a href="#page_208">208</a>.</li> +<li>Voltaire, <a href="#page_245">245</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Wamba, <a href="#page_126">126</a>.</li> +<li>Wear, <a href="#page_123">123</a>.</li> +<li>Wells, Cathedral of, <a href="#page_099">99</a>.<span class="pagenumber"><a name="page_279" id="page_279"></a>{279}</span></li> +<li>Westminster Abbey, <a href="#page_149">149</a>, <a href="#page_198">198</a>.</li> +<li>Wharton, Mrs., <a href="#page_103">103</a>.</li> +<li>Williams, Leonard, <a href="#page_183">183</a>.</li> +<li>Wolsey, <a href="#page_136">136</a>, <a href="#page_262">262</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Xenil, <a href="#page_240">240</a>.</li> +<li><a name="Ximenez" id="Ximenez"></a>Ximenez, <a href="#page_136">136</a>, <a href="#page_154">154</a>, <a href="#page_156">156</a>, <a href="#page_221">221</a>, <a href="#page_261">261</a>, <a href="#page_265">265</a>.</li> +<li>Ximon, <a href="#page_207">207</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Yorobo, Diego de, <a href="#page_218">218</a>.</li> + +<li class="alpha">Zamora, cathedral of, <a href="#page_133">133</a>.</li> +<li>Zamora, See of, <a href="#page_007">7</a>.</li> +<li>Zaragoza, bishopric, <a href="#page_122">122</a>, <a href="#page_248">248</a>.</li> +<li>Zeres, gate of, <a href="#page_193">193</a>.</li> +<li>Zimena Doña, <a href="#page_033">33</a>.</li> +<li>Zurbaran, <a href="#page_195">195</a>, <a href="#page_227">227</a>.</li> +</ul> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The precedence of Oxford was established by the decree of +Constance of 1414.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Ego comes Raimundus una pariter cum uxore mea Orraca filia +Adefonsi regis, placuit nobis ut propter amorem Dei et restaurationem +ecclesie S. Marie Salamantine sedis et propter animas nostras vel de +parentum nostrorum vobis domino Jeronimo pontefici et magistro nostro +quatinus saceremus vobis sicut et facimus cartulam donationis vel ut ita +decam bonifacti.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Though to the city itself, in which he had been married, he +dealt the death-blow when he moved his Court from Toledo to Valladolid +and established a bishopric at Valladolid (in 1593), which had +previously been subject to Salamanca.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> According to Doctor Döllinger, "a faithless and cruel +freebooter." As a daring and successful "condottiere," he was dear to +his liberty-loving contemporaries, who protested against any +encroachments from Rome or curtailment of their civil rights by native +rulers.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Married to Alfonso III of Castile.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Cean Bermudez, <i>Noticias de los Arquitectos y Arquitectura +de España</i>, vol. i, p. 208.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Avila santos y cantos.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Spain is divided into nine archbishoprics. In Castile are +those of Santiago, Burgos, Valladolid, and Toledo; in Aragon, Zaragoza; +on the Mediterranean, Taragon and Valencia; and in Andalusia, Seville +and Granada.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> +</p><p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ye men so noble and so bright,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who from your elevated height</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Do rule Toledo's avarice,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And govern fear and cowardice.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of costly bed, the Lord of Hosts</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hath made ye to the corner posts.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Leave private interests behind,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Show truth and justice to mankind,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To common good yourselves do bind.</span><br /> +</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Poitou, <i>Spain and its People</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> The work of Jorge Manuel Theotocopuli, son of the great +painter.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> +</p><p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Bell of Toledo,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Church of Leon,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Clock of Benavente,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Columns of Villalon.</span><br /> +</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> He is also the sculptor of the marvelous tomb of Cardinal +Janera in the hospital of St. John the Baptist at Toledo.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> The cost of this reja was 250,000 reales.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> "Transparente," really meaning transparent, allowing the +passage of light. The composition took its name from the little closed +glass or crystal window placed directly back of the altar, and which +thus pierced a portion of the decorated wall surface behind the altar.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> From William Gallichan's <i>Story of Seville</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> +</p><p class="poem"> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He who has not seen Seville,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Has not seen a marvel.</span><br /> +</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> The great astronomical work, performed by that wonder of +learning, Alfonso X of Castile, in concert with Arab and Jewish men of +science.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> <i>Impressions de Voyage</i>, Alexandre Dumas.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Washington Irving's <i>Granada</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Lockhart's <i>Spanish Ballads</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Hare's <i>Queen of Queens</i>.</p></div> + +<p class="c"> Notes of the transcriber of this etext:<a name="corrections" id="corrections"></a></p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_23" id="Footnote_A_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_23"><span class="label">[a]</span></a> Probably "A Castilla y a León mundo nuevo dió Colon".</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_24" id="Footnote_B_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_24"><span class="label">[b]</span></a> Probably Canon Juan Rodriguez.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_25" id="Footnote_C_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_25"><span class="label">[c]</span></a> Should be Puerta del Reloj.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_26" id="Footnote_D_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_26"><span class="label">[d]</span></a> Probably means Españas.</p></div> + +<table summary="corrections" +cellpadding="2" +cellspacing="2" +class="sml80"> +<tr><td colspan="3" align="center">These corrections have been made:</td></tr> +<tr><td>colonnettes</td><td> => </td><td>colonettes</td></tr> +<tr><td>Narciso Tome</td><td> => </td><td>Narciso Tomé {1}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Vaccaei</td><td> => </td><td>Vaccæi {1 <a href="#Vaccaei">index</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Perigueux</td><td> => </td><td>Périgueux {1 <a href="#Perigueux">index</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Baetica</td><td> => </td><td>Bætica {1 <a href="#Baetica">index</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Baetis</td><td> => </td><td>Bætis {1 <a href="#Baetis">index</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Dean Blasco Blasques</td><td> => </td><td>Dean Blasco Blasquez {1 page <a href="#page_074">74</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Guadalquiver</td><td> => </td><td>Guadalquivir {2 page <a href="#page_197">197</a> & <a href="#page_235">235</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Juan Gil de Houtañon</td><td> => </td><td>Juan Gil de Hontañon {1}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Bartolomé of Iaen</td><td> => </td><td>Bartolomé of Jaen {1 page <a href="#page_261">261</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Pellegeria</td><td> => </td><td>Pellejeria {1 plan of Burgos Cathedral}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Pintuenga</td><td> => </td><td>Pituenga {1 page <a href="#page_069">69</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Reyos Nuevos</td><td> => </td><td>Reyes Nuevos {1 <a href="#Reyes_Nuevos">index</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Reyos Catolicos</td><td> => </td><td>Reyes Catolicos {1 page <a href="#page_217">217</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Demetrio de los Reos</td><td> => </td><td>Demetrio de los Rios {1 page <a href="#page_096">96</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Repiso, Virgin del</td><td> => </td><td>Reposo, Virgin del {1 <a href="#Reposo">index</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Diego de Silhoé</td><td> => </td><td>Diego de Siloé {page <a href="#page_048">48</a> & <a href="#Siloe_Diego_de">index</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Philip Vigarni</td><td> => </td><td>Philip Vigarny {page <a href="#page_151">151</a>, <a href="#page_153">153</a>, <a href="#page_251">251</a>, <a href="#page_262">262</a> <a href="#Vigarny">index</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Villalpondo</td><td> => </td><td>Villalpando {page <a href="#page_134">134</a> & <a href="#page_154">154</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Ximenes</td><td> => </td><td>Ximenez {2 page <a href="#page_265">265</a> & <a href="#Ximenez">index</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Juan de Maedo</td><td> => </td><td>Juan de Maeda {1 page <a href="#page_248">248</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Gayangoz</td><td> => </td><td>Gayangos {1 <a href="#Gayangos">index</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Guaz</td><td> => </td><td>Guas {1 page <a href="#page_135">135</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Maria, de la Incarnacion </td><td> => </td><td>Maria, de la Encarnacion {1 <a href="#Maria_de_la_Encarnacion">index</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Mugaguren, Juan de</td><td> => </td><td>Mogaguren, Juan de {1 <a href="#Mogaguren">index</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Rez, Juan</td><td> => </td><td>Res, Juan {1 <a href="#Res_Juan">index</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Rojas, Gonsalo de</td><td> => </td><td>Rojas, Gonzalo de {1 <a href="#Rojas_Gonzalo_de">index</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Sachetti</td><td> => </td><td>Sacchetti {1 <a href="#Sacchetti">index</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Salamantica</td><td> => </td><td>Salmantica {1 <a href="#Salmantica">index</a>}</td></tr> +<tr><td>Vaga, Luis de</td><td> => </td><td>Vargas, Luis de {page <a href="#page_195">195</a> & <a href="#Vargas_Luis_de">index</a>}</td></tr> +</table> + +</div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 31966-h.txt or 31966-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/1/9/6/31966">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/9/6/31966</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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(John Allyne) +Gade + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Cathedrals of Spain + + +Author: John A. (John Allyne) Gade + + + +Release Date: April 12, 2010 [eBook #31966] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN*** + + +E-text prepared by Chuck Greif and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images +generously made available by Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the numerous original illustrations. + See 31966-h.htm or 31966-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31966/31966-h/31966-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/31966/31966-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://www.archive.org/details/cathedralsofspai00gadeiala + + + + + +CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +NEW CATHEDRAL] + +[Illustration: SALAMANCA] + + +CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN + +by + +JOHN ALLYNE GADE + +Fully Illustrated + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + +Boston and New York +Houghton Mifflin Company +The Riverside Press Cambridge +1911 + +Copyright, 1911, by John A. Gade +All Rights Reserved + +Published February 1911 + + + + +TO +THE LAST CHATELAINE +OF FROGNER HOVEDGAARD + +IN REVERENCE, GRATITUDE +AND AFFECTION + + + + +PREFACE + + +In the last dozen years many English books on Spain have appeared. They +have dealt with their subject from the point of view of the artist or +the historian, the archaeologist, the politician, or the mere sight-seer. +The student of architecture, or the traveler, desiring a more intimate +or serious knowledge of the great cathedrals, has had nothing to consult +since Street published his remarkable book some forty years ago. There +have been artistic impressions, as well as guide-book recitations, by +the score. Some have been excellent, though few have surpassed the older +ones of Dumas, pere, and Gautier, or Baedeker's later guide-book. A year +ago appeared the second and last volume of Senor Lamperez y Romea's +"Historia de la Arquitectura Cristiana Espanola en la Edad Media," a +work so comprehensive and scholarly that it practically stands alone. + +It has seemed to me that certain buildings, and especially cathedrals, +cannot be properly studied quite apart from what surrounds them, or from +their past history. To look comprehendingly up at cathedral vaults and +spires, one must also look beyond them at the city and the people and +times that created them. In some such setting, the study of Avila, +Salamanca the elder and the younger, Burgos, Toledo, Leon, Segovia, +Seville, and Granada is here attempted, in the hope it will not prove +too technical for the ordinary traveler, nor too superficial for the +student of architecture. The cathedrals selected cover nearly all +periods of Gothic art, as interpreted in Spain, as well as the earlier +Romanesque and succeeding Renaissance, with which the Gothic was +mingled. All the great churches were the work of different epochs and +consequently contain several styles of architecture. The series here +described is very incomplete, but the book would have grown too bulky +had it included Santiago da Compostella with its heavenly portal, and +Barcelona or Gerona, Lerida or Tudela. + +Whether we read a page of Cervantes, or gaze on one of Velasquez's +faces, or wander through one of the grand cathedrals of Spain, we +realize that this great world-empire has never ceased to exist in +matters of art, but still in the twentieth century must rouse our wonder +and admiration. In barren deserts, on parched and lonely plains, amid +hovels crumbling to decay, still stand the monuments of Spain's +greatness. But if nowhere else in the world can one find such glorious +works of art surrounded by such squalor, let us draw from the past the +promise of a revival in Spain of all that constitutes the true greatness +of a nation. In the fourth century, Bishop Hosius of Cordova was, from +every point of view, the first living churchman--Cordova itself became, +under the Ammeyad Caliphs in the tenth century, the most civilized, the +most learned, and the loveliest capital in Europe. Three hundred years +later, Alfonso X of Castile was not only a distinguished linguist and +poet, but the greatest astronomer and lawgiver of his age. When the +Spanish people have once more made education as general as it was under +the accomplished Arabs, and adopted the division of power insisted on +in a letter from Bishop Hosius to the Emperor Constantius, "Leave +ecclesiastical affairs alone.... We are not allowed to rule the earth," +they will take the rank their character and genius deserve among the +nations. Their cathedrals will then stand in an environment befitting +their grandeur, a society which will help them to transmit to coming +generations the noblest, imperishable hopes of humanity. + +JOHN ALLYNE GADE. + +NEW YORK CITY. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. SALAMANCA 1 + + II. BURGOS 31 + + III. AVILA 65 + + IV. LEON 89 + + V. TOLEDO 119 + + VI. SEGOVIA 165 + + VII. SEVILLE 189 + + VIII. GRANADA 237 + + BOOKS CONSULTED 267 + + INDEX 269 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +NEW CATHEDRAL OF SALAMANCA (page 24) _Frontispiece_ + +CATHEDRALS OF SALAMANCA: The towers of the old and new buildings 3 + +CATHEDRALS OF SALAMANCA: Plans 6 + +THRESHING OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF SALAMANCA 10 + +CATHEDRAL OF SALAMANCA: The Tower of the Cock 16 + +SALAMANCA: From the Vega 28 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: West front 33 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: Plan 36 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: View of the nave 40 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: Lantern over the crossing 46 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: The Golden Staircase 50 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: The Chapel of the Constable 54 + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS: The spires above the house-tops 58 + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA 67 + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA: Plan 68 + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA: Exterior of the apse turret 72 + +AVILA: From outside the walls 80 + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA: Main entrance 86 + +CATHEDRAL OF LEON: From the southwest 91 + +CATHEDRAL OF LEON: Plan 94 + +CATHEDRAL OF LEON: Looking up the nave 98 + +CATHEDRAL OF LEON: Rear of apse 104 + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO 121 + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO: Plan 124 + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO: The choir stalls 140 + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO: Chapel of Santiago, tombs of Alvaro +de Luna and his spouse 158 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA 167 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA: Plan 170 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA: From the Plaza 176 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE: The Giralda, from the Orange Tree Court 191 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE: Plan 194 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE: Gateway of Perdon in the Orange Tree Court 210 + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE AND THE GIRALDA 228 + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA: West front 239 + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA: Plan 242 + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA: The exterior cornices of the Royal Chapel 248 + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA: The reja enclosing the +Royal Chapel and tombs of the Catholic Kings 256 + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA: The tombs of the Catholic Kings, +of Philip and of Queen Juana 262 + + + + +I + +SALAMANCA + +[Illustration: Photo by Author + +CATHEDRALS OF SALAMANCA + +The towers of the old and new buildings] + + + + +CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN + + + + +I + +SALAMANCA + + In quella parte ove surge ad aprire + Zeffiro dolce le novelle fronde, + Di che si vede Europa rivestire. + + _Paradiso_, c. XII, l. 46. + + +I + +Nowhere else in Spain, and certainly in few places outside her borders, +can one take in the whole architectural development of successive styles +and ages so comprehensively as in Salamanca. Byzantine and Romanesque, +Gothic from its first fire to the last flicker and coldness of the +ashes, and the triumphant domination of the reborn classicism,--all are +massed together here. + +Contrasts are eloquent to belittle or magnify. Here two cathedrals stand +side by side, the older from the days of the Kingdom, a mere chapel in +size compared to the larger and later expression of Imperial Spain. A +David beside a Goliath, simple power by the side of ponderous +self-assurance. Rude in its simplicity, seemingly unconscious of its +great inheritance and the genius it embodies, the old church stands a +monument of early virile effort, in strength and poetry akin to the +wind-swept rocks round which still whisper mysterious Oriental legends. +The huge bulk that overshadows it betrays exhausted vigor and a decadent +form. Here is simplicity by complexity, majestic sobriety close to +wanton magnificence, poise by restlessness; each speaks the language of +the age that conceived and brought it forth. Proximity has compelled the +odiousness of comparison, for you can never see the later Cathedral +apart from the old. You are haunted by the salience of their divergency, +the importance of their contrasts, until their meaning becomes so far +clear to you that the solid blocks of the ancient temple seem to +symbolize the Church Militant and Triumphant. That indomitable spirit +did not meet you under the mighty arches of the newer church, but go +into the hushed perfection of those abandoned walls and walk along the +dismantled nave and you will repeat the old epithet coupled with the +city, "Fortis Salamanca!" + +This once famous town lay in a curious setting as seen from the +cock-tower in the month of August. Here and there were rusty, +copper-colored fields, where the plow had just furrowed the surface. +There were vineyards in which the sandy, white mounds were tufted by the +deep emerald of the grape-vines, but the prevailing color was the yellow +straw of harvested fields. These were a busy scene,--laborers were +driving their oxen harnessed to primitive carts and treading out the +grain as in olden times. They made their rounds between the high yellow +cones built up of grain-stalks and filled the hot air with golden dust. + +This is Salamanca of to-day, seemingly robbed of all but her rich +vowels. The whole city, like her two cathedrals, bears traces of the +dynasties that have swept over her. Their footprints are everywhere. +Hannibal's legions passed through Roman Salmantica on their victorious +march to Rome, and the city soon afterwards became a military station in +the province of Lusitania. Plutarch praises the valor of her women. Age +after age generals have built her bridges and the towers and walls that +surround the valley and the three hills, on one of which stands her +supreme mediaeval creation. + +From the eighth century Salamanca became an apple of discord between +Moslem bands and the forces of early Castilian kings, Crescent and Cross +constantly supplanting each other on her turrets. Not until the latter +half of the eleventh century, in the days of King Alfonso VI, were the +Moors driven south of Leon, and Salamanca could at last claim to be body +and soul Christian. The safety of the city was finally assured by +Alfonso's conquest of Toledo. + +The university, destined to become so famous, was founded by Alfonso IX +about 1230. Among the Arab rulers in Spain, there were not a few as +eager as their co-believers in eastern Islam to learn all that the +civilized world could teach in art and science. The Caliphate of Cordova +had from the tenth century drawn to its schools and academies +proficients in astronomy, mathematics, and jurisprudence, as well as in +the more graceful arts of music, rhetoric, and poetry. The monks of +Cluny, belonging to the Order of Saint Benedict, then the most +influential in Europe, now became domiciled in Salamanca under the +protection of King Alfonso. They contributed the arts of France, +preeminently architecture, and the training of their order as +instructors and veracious compilers of historical annals to the learning +and skill already established by the followers of Mahomet in several +cities of the Spanish Peninsula. Thus the science and arts of the Orient +joined forces with those of the Occident within the strong walls of +Salamanca and founded there an illustrious seat of learning. Only three +universities, Oxford,[1] Paris, and Bologna, could boast a greater age, +but Salamanca soon attained such eminence as to rank with these by papal +decree among the "four lamps of the world." In the sixteenth century, +she numbered over seven thousand scholars. Among those destined to +become famous in the world's history were Saint Dominic, Ignatius +Loyola, Fray Luis of Leon, and Calderon. + +To-day solitude and intellectual stagnation reign in the halls and +courts of this once renowned university. In a few half-empty +lecture-rooms the rustic now receives an elementary education, as he +listens to the cathedral chimes across the sunlit courtyard. + +Within the crumbling crenelations of the ancient battlements twenty-four +once large parishes are more or less abandoned or laid waste with their +convents, monasteries, and palaces. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLANS OF NEW AND OLD CATHEDRALS OF SALAMANCA + + A. Old Cathedral. + B. New Cathedral. + C, C. Crossing. + D. Cloisters. + E. Choir. + F. Apse. + G, G. Apsidal Chapels. + H. Altar.] + +The history of Salamanca's ecclesiastical architecture is connected with +the campaigns which were carried on in Castile and Leon at the end of +the eleventh and the beginning of the twelfth centuries. These had +established the dominion of King Alfonso VI, and the great influence +of the distinguished immigrant prelates of the French orders. King +Alfonso left Castile to his daughter Urraca, who, with her husband, +Count Raymond of Burgundy, settled in Salamanca. The old city, which had +suffered so long and terribly from the successive fortunes of war and +its quickly shifting masters, was once more to feel the blessings of law +and order. To replace its sad depopulation, Count Raymond allotted the +various portions of the city to newcomers of the most different +nationalities,--Castilians, Gallegos, Mozarabes, Basques, and Gascons. +Among them were naturally pilgrims and monks, who played an important +part in every colonizing enterprise of the day, introducing new ideas, +arts, and craftsmen's skill. After his conquest of Toledo, Alfonso VI +placed on the various episcopal thrones of his new dominion Benedictine +monks of Cluny,--men of unusual ability and energy. The great Bernard, +who had been crowned Archbishop of Toledo, had brought with him many +brethren from the mother house, whose patrimony was architecture. Among +them was a young Frenchman from Perigueux in Aquitaine, Jeronimo +Visquio, whose ability as organizer and builder, up to the time of his +death in 1120, left great results wherever he labored, and most +especially in Salamanca. He was the personification of the Church +Militant of his time,--fighting side by side with the most romantic hero +of Spanish history and legend, confessing him on his death-bed, and +finally consigning him to his tomb. Jeronimo was transferred from the +See of Valencia to that of Zamora, to which Salamanca was subject, and +shortly afterwards Salamanca was elevated to episcopal dignity by Pope +Calixtus II, Count Raymond's brother. Even in the days of the Goths, we +find mention of prelates of Salamanca who voiced their ideas in the +Councils of Toledo, and later followed, for such scanty protection as it +offered, the Court of the early Castilian kings. In calling Jeronimo to +Salamanca, Raymond had, however, a very different purpose in mind from +that of attaching to his court an already celebrated churchman. He +understood the vital importance of building up within his city a +powerful episcopal seat with a great church. Grants and other assistance +were at once given the churchman and were in fact continued through +successive reigns until, with indulgences, benefices, and privileges, it +grew to be a feudal power. As late as the fifteenth century, the workmen +of the Cathedral were exempted from tributes and duties by the Spanish +kings.[2] During the first years of Jeronimo's activity and the earliest +work on the building, we find curious descriptions of how the Moorish +prisoners were put to work on the walls, even to the number of "five +hundred Moslem carpenters and masons." + +The Cathedral stands upon one of the hills of the old city. The exact +date of its inception, as well as the name of the original architect, is +doubtful, but it is certain that it was begun not long after the year +1100. At Jeronimo's death it could not have been far advanced, but the +crossing and the Capilla Mayor could be consecrated and employed for +services in the middle of the century, and the first cloisters were +built soon after. The nave and side aisles followed, their arches being +closed in the middle of the thirteenth century. The lantern was probably +placed over the crossing as late as the year 1200. Following an order +inverse to that pursued by later Gothic architects, the Romanesque +builders finished their work with the eastern end. + +Its building extended over long periods marked by a gain in confidence +and skill and a development of architectural style, so that in its +stones we may read a most interesting story of different epochs, and to +serious students of church-building, the old Cathedral of Salamanca is +possibly the most interesting edifice in Spain. It is magnificent in its +early, virile manhood. The tracing of the many and varied influences is +as fascinating as it is bewildering. Every student and authority on the +subject has a new conception or some definite final conclusion in regard +to its many surprising elements. No student of Spanish architecture has +studied its origin with greater insight or knowledge than Senor Don +Lamperez y Romea in his recent luminous work on Spanish ecclesiastical +architecture. + +To say that the old Cathedral was wholly a French importation would be +unjust; to speak of it as sprung entirely from native precedents and +inspiration would show equal ignorance. No, there were many and subtle +influences affecting its original conception and formation; first of all +and naturally, those derived from Burgundy, now only partially visible, +as for instance the vaulting of the nave. These precedents have been +altered or concealed in the evolution of the building. Byzantine +influences follow,--most obvious in the magnificent dome crowning the +crossing. The School of Aquitaine of course made itself felt through +Bishop Jeronimo as well as several of his successors. Great portions are +Gothic, slightly visible in some of the later exterior work, but +throughout in the last interior portions of the great arches and vaults. + +After carefully considering all these influences and going to their +roots, we may conclude that the old Cathedral of Salamanca is both in +plan and structure a Romanesque church of the Burgundian School built on +Spanish soil by French monks from Cluny, who in their new surroundings +were strongly affected by Byzantine and Oriental influences and possibly +by the original Spanish or Moorish development of the dome. At a later +date, under Aquitaine bishops, certain forms of vaulting characteristic +of their region were adopted as well as devices to bring about the +transition between the circular dome and the square base. + +Strange to say it is a Romanesque church erected at the time when what +are regarded as the finest Gothic cathedrals were being built in France. +The Spaniard clung more tenaciously to the older style, which in many +ways adapted itself better to his climate and requirements, while it +easily flowed into native streams of inspiration to form with them a +mighty whole. The church is neither French nor Spanish nor Arab nor +Italian in its various composition, but distinctly Romanesque in +spirit. + +[Illustration: Photo by Author + +THRESHING OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF SALAMANCA] + +The plan is in general that of the old basilica: a nave with side aisles +of five bays, a crossing prolonged one bay to the south beyond the side +aisle, while to the east the nave and side aisles all terminate in a +semicircular apsidal chapel. A portion of the southern wall of the huge +new Cathedral replaces the northern one of the old church by encroaching +on its side aisle. A flight of eighteen broad stone steps occupies the +northern bay of the old Cathedral's crossing and leads from its +considerably lower pavement up to the level of the new one. To the south +lie the great cloisters. It was a plan which for its time was +undoubtedly as magnificent in scale as it seemed diminutive and +insignificant in the sixteenth century when the new Cathedral was built. + +The massiveness on which the old Romanesque builders depended to obtain +their elevations and support the great weight is most impressive. The +outer walls have in some places a thickness of ten feet and the piers +are much larger in section than those of the new Cathedral which carry +vaults soaring far above the roof of the earlier structure. The choir +had formerly blocked the clear run of the nave; to the good fortune of +the old church and the injury of the new, this was removed to the latter +when it was sufficiently advanced to receive it. Unfortunately, the plan +of the west front was very radically disturbed by the building of the +new Cathedral, the two old towers flanking the entrance being removed +and a narrow passage, which leads into the nave through the immense +later masses of masonry, taking the place of the old entrance. The nave +is 33 feet wide, 190 feet long and 60 feet high; the side aisles are 20 +feet broad, 180 feet long and 40 feet high, thus surprisingly high in +proportion to the nave. + +The main piers which subdivide nave and side aisles are most +interesting, as their greater portion belongs to the original structure. +They are faced by semicircular shafts which carry simple, unmolded, +transverse ribs in the central aisle. A small additional columnar +section is seen in the angles of the piers, supporting in an awkward +position, with the assistance of the interposed corbel, molded, diagonal +vaulting ribs. Columns, reaching to about two thirds of the height of +the tall shafts of the nave, carry the arches separating nave from side +aisles. The undecorated base-molds of the total composite piers are all +supported upon a heavy, widely projecting, common drum, a curious +remnant of the earlier single Byzantine pillar of but one body and base. + +The capitals are among the great glories of the edifice. They are +remarkable from every point of view, and among the finest Byzantine +extant, comparable to the best of Saint Mark's or of Sancta Sofia. The +acanthus leaves are carved with all the jewel-like sparkle and crispness +and the play of light and shade of the best period; the life and spring +of a living stem are in them. Their oriental parentage is apparent at a +glance. Much of the carving is alive with all the fancy and imagination +of the day,--beasts and monsters, real and mythical animals, masks and +contorted human figures and devils interlace on the bells and peer out +from the foliage. The execution is quite unrestrained. It has a +divergency which must have had its unconscious origin in the different +antique caps serving again in the early Byzantine edifices. The ancient +carvers must have realized the full importance of sculptural relief in +their poorly lighted edifices. Again, the corbels which carry the +diagonal ribs are formed by crude contorted beings and animals, in some +instances bearing figures leaning against the lower surfaces of the +diagonal ribs and intended still further to conceal its faulty spring. +At the intersections of the diagonal ribs are bosses with figures at the +salient points. + +With an astonishment verging on incredulity, we look up at the vaulting +supported by these piers. In place of the great Burgundian barrel vaults +above the nave and semicircular arches between nave and side aisles, +there are pointed Gothic transverse arches and quadripartite vaulting of +low spring and simplest sections, but nevertheless ogival. It is evident +both by the appearance of shafts, as well as by other indications, that +it could not have been the original construction, but rather one reached +at a later day when the new art was supplanting the old, a substitution +for the original Romanesque vaulting; the upper windows and the most +glorious lantern are all constructed in the Romanesque style to which +the Spanish builders clung so long and tenaciously in preference to the +subtle and nervous French Gothic which suited neither their temperament +nor conditions. The church must originally have been carried out in +their more native art, which they better understood. + +The western termination of the church is formed by three semicircular +apses crowned by semicircular vaults. In the central one, closed from +the transept by a simple iron reja, stands the high altar backed by a +great Gothic retablo of fifty-five panels and crowned in the vaulting by +a most remarkable painting. In the walls of the niches is a series of +tombs of persons with varying claims to our interest and esteem. Its +original exclusiveness in the reception of royal princes of pure lineage +gave way in the thirteenth century to admit princesses and bastards. +Here lies the Dean of Santiago and Archdeacon of Salamanca, a natural +son of the King of Leon. His mother, owing to her short-comings, got no +farther than the cloister vaults. Some one has extracted from the +archives of the old Cathedral the origin of the ancient mural decoration +above the high altar. On the 15th of December, 1445, the Chapter engaged +the services of Nicholas Florentino, painter, who for a consideration of +75,000 maravedis "of current white Castilian money, which is worth two +old white ones and three new," promised to complete the painting "from +top to bottom." On a rich blue background the Supreme Judge stands in +the centre; to the right, is a regiment of the dead clad in white +raiment, graciously welcomed by angels with trumpets; on the left, the +damned are being hustled into hell by devils. As a well-preserved +example of very ancient Spanish painting, it certainly is of intrinsic +value and interest and recalls the naive representations of early +Italian artists. + +It is unusually well lighted for a Romanesque church, which is naturally +owing to the dome and not to the various windows or roses. There is no +triforium, but the side walls, transepts, and apses are pierced by +openings of true Romanesque type. The thick masonry has been most +timidly pierced for narrow, round-headed slits of light, with splayed +jambs and colonettes engaged to their sides carrying the typically +ornamented archmolds enframing the whole. The stone mullions of the two +remaining roses are equally timid and typical, but have not suffered +like the windows from the encroachment of the new edifice. + +The pavement undulates like that of Saint Mark's. High above the +crossing of nave and transepts rises the tower flooding the church with +light and internally as well as externally expressing one of the +grandest architectural conceptions of the Spanish Peninsula. + +Superlatives can alone describe the Torre del Gallo,--truly a product +and glory of Spanish soil. Many writers have argued its similarity to +the domes of Aquitaine churches, to Saint Front of Perigueux and others, +but it is distinctly different from and far superior to those with which +it has been compared in the magnificently interposed members of the +drum, which shed light into the church through their openings and raise +the cupola high enough to make of it a finely proportioned, crowning +member. The cupola alone, certainly not the general disposition, may be +regarded as a copy of earlier examples. + +The internal and external cores have been admirably managed, the outer +one being much higher to be in correct proportion to the surrounding +masonry which it crowns. The interior transition from the square to the +round base, twenty-eight feet in diameter, is rather clumsily managed. +The successive masonry courses of the angles step out in Byzantine +fashion in front of each other. The four piers of the crossing, upon +which the pendentives descend, are no larger than the main piers of the +nave. Above the pendentives which stand out, in their undecorated +masonry, the circle is girdled by a carved cyma, above which rises a +double arcade of sixteen arches, each arch flanked by strong and simple +columns with Byzantine caps of barely indicated foliage. Powerful, +intermediate columnar shafts separate the superimposed arcades and carry +on their caps the sixteen ribs that shoot upwards and meet in the great +floral boss at the apex of the inner dome. The lower arcades are +semicircular, the upper, trefoiled, while the intermediate shafts are +broken by two band-courses. All the moldings, and especially the +energetic, muscular ribs, are splendidly simple and vigorous in their +undecorated profiles. The lower arcade is blind, the upper admits light +through timidly slender apertures, with the exception of every fourth +arch, which coincides with an exterior turret. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF SALAMANCA + +The Tower of the Cock] + +Externally the lantern is even more remarkable than internally. As seen +from within, it is faced alternately by four tympanums and four turrets. +These are broken by long, narrow, round-headed openings, vivified by +ball moldings ornamenting the heavy rounding of their splays. The +tympanums, as well as the windows between them, and the turrets are +flanked by a series of Romanesque columns. Their grouping, the deep +reveals and resulting shadows, the play of light and shade brought out +in the foliage of their various caps, which is but indicated in the +simple manner of the style, and the adjacent moldings, all give a most +archaic impression. The roofing of the turrets, as well as that of the +outer dome, suggests a stone coat-of-mail. The flags are laid in +scallops or stepped rows, like the scales of a fish, giving a far +tighter joint than the stone channels covering the roofing of Avila +Cathedral. The outline of the dome is that of a cone with a slightly +modulated curve, perhaps unconsciously affected by a Moorish +delineation. The angles are marked by bold crockets. Above, crowning the +apex, perches the cock, gayly facing whatever part of the heavens the +wind blows from. There is an everlasting triumph in it all, reminding +one not a little of that won at a later date in Santa Maria del Fiore. +Salamanca holds the religious triumph of a militant age; Florence, the +sacred glory of an artistic one. The lofty aspiration, boldly hewn in +the Spanish fortress, is no less admirable than the constructive genius +rounded in Brunelleschi's dome. + +The remainder of the interior is now singularly undecorated and severe. +The entrance has been so much transformed by later additions that, in +place of the original portal and vestibule, there remains only a +vestibule considerably narrower than the nave, compressed on one side by +the huge towers of the new Cathedral, and on the other by later +alterations. The two older towers which contained, one the chimes and +the other the dwelling of the Alcaide, have quite disappeared. The +vestibule has excellent allegorical sculptures and Gothic statuary. + +The northern aisle still has a few mural paintings, but the larger part +of those which once illuminated the bare walls were washed off by a +bigoted prelate in the fifteenth century and the present gray of the +stone, as seen in the dim light, looks cold compared to the rich gold of +the exterior masonry bathed in sunshine. The excellence of the vaulting +is such that to-day hardly a fissure or crack is visible. The old +pavement consists of great rectangles marked by red sandstone borders +and bluestone centre slabs, the size of a grave, with central dowels for +lifting and closing. In the southern transept-arm leading to the +cloisters, some of the original windows are still preserved with their +fine columns, archivolts, and carved moldings. The ribs of the vaults +are decorated by zigzag ornamentation, and here a few magnificent old +tombs remain intact in their ancient niches. + +There is, properly speaking, no exterior elevation of the whole +structure. The western front is hidden by the modernization, the north +and south, by the new Cathedral, the cloisters, and squalid, encumbering +walls and chapels. From the "Patio Chico" alone, the old structure can +be seen unobstructed. The curves of the apses bulge out like +full-bellied sails, their great masonry surfaces broken by the small +windows, which are cut with enormous splays and encased and arched by +typical Romanesque features, the windows protected by heavy Moorish +grilles. Engaged shafts run up the sides of the central apse to below a +quatrefoil gallery, originally a shelter for the archers stationed to +defend the building. Two fortress-towers formed the eastern angles north +and south; the one to the north was removed in building the new +Cathedral. A scaled turret, broken by later Gothic pediments, crosses +the one remaining. Above all soars the dome, the inspiration of our +greatest American Romanesque temple, Trinity Church in Boston. + +At the end of the twelfth century the houses of a sacrilegious Salamanca +gentleman were confiscated and given to the Cathedral Chapter, who +forthwith began the cloisters upon their site. They lie to the south and +thus came to be planned and built into the original fabric and with +Romanesque arches and wooden roof. They were practically entirely +rebuilt in the fifteenth century and again restored in the eighteenth. +Curious, elaborate, vaulted chapels--in one of which the Mozarabic rite, +the ancient Gothic ritual prolonged under Moslem rule, is still +occasionally celebrated--adjoin it to the east and south. Recently, old +Byzantine niches and tombs, some of great interest, have been uncovered +in the outer walls. + + +II + +"Most Reverend Father in Christ, Lord Cardinal, our much beloved and +very dear Friend; We the King and the Queen of Castile, of Leon, and of +Aragon, Sicily, etc., send this to salute you, as one whom we love and +esteem highly, and to show we desire God may give life, health, and +honor, even to the extent of your own desire. We inform you that the +City of Salamanca is one of the most notable, populous, and principal +cities of our kingdoms, in which there is a society of scholars, and +where all sciences may be studied, and to which people from all states +continually come. The Cathedral Church of the said city is very small, +dark, and low, to such an extent that the divine services cannot be +celebrated in such a manner as they should be, especially during +feast-days when a large concourse of people streams to the Cathedral, +and by the Grace of God, the said city increases and enlarges day by +day. And considering the extreme narrowness of the said Church, the +Administrator and Dean and Chapter have agreed to rebuild it, making it +as large as is necessary and convenient, according to the population of +the said city. This furthermore as the form and the fabric of the said +Church cannot be rebuilt without disfigurement. And in order to build +better and promptly, as the said Church has a very small income, it is +necessary that our most Holy Father concede some indulgences in the form +that the Bishops of Vadajos and Astorga, our agents and emissaries to +your Court, will tell your Reverend Fatherhood, and we request you to +beseech His Holiness to concede the said indulgences. Therefore we +affectionately beg you to undertake the matter in the manner which we +affectionately supplicate, because our Lord will be served, and the +Divine Service increased, and we will receive it from you in peculiar +gratitude. Regarding this, we wrote details to the said bishops. We beg +you to give them credit and favor. Most Reverend Father in Christ, Lord +Cardinal, our very dear and beloved friend, may God our Lord at all +times especially guard and favor your Reverend Fatherhood. + +"I, THE KING, I, THE QUEEN. + +SEVILLE, the 17th day of February, in the ninety-first year." + +That was the way the Catholic Kings wrote to the Cardinal of Angers to +make plain to him that the plain, dark, small, old Cathedral was no +longer in keeping with their glory or the times, and to begin the +movement for a larger edifice. The stern simplicity of the ancient +Church was indeed out of harmony with the brilliance and craving for +lavish display and magnificent proportions which characterize the age of +Ferdinand and Isabella. + +Pope Innocent VIII answered the appeal in the year 1491, granting +permission for the transference of the services to a larger edifice more +fitting the congregation of Salamanca, now at the zenith of its +prosperity and academic renown. In 1508 Ferdinand passed through +Salamanca, and was again sufficiently fired by religious zeal to issue +the following order: "The King to the Master Mayor of the works of the +Church of Seville. Since it has now to be decided how the Church of +Salamanca may be made, in order that its design may be made as it ought, +I consent that you be present there. I charge and command you instantly +to leave all other things, and come to the said City of Salamanca, that, +jointly with the other persons who are there, you may see the site where +the said Church has to be built, and may make a drawing for it, and in +all things may give your judgment how it may be most suited to the +Divine Worship and to the ornature of the said Church; which, having +come to pass, then your salary shall be paid, which I shall receive +return for in this service. Done in Valladolid, the 23d day of November, +1509." + +The famous Master of Toledo, Anton Egas, received a similar summons +(served in his absence on his two maids), but neither architect seems to +have been over-zealous in carrying out the royal commands, for next year +Queen Juana, Ferdinand's daughter, growing impatient, writes again: "I +find it now good, as I command you, that immediately that this my letter +shall be made known to you, without making any excuse or delay, you go +to the said City of Salamanca." + +This produced the desired result, for the two delinquent architects +hurried to the city, studied the conditions, and, after considerable +squabbling with each other and the Chapter, many drawings, and a lengthy +report, agreed to disagree. This was too much for the Bishop, and +without further ado he summoned on the 3d of September, 1512, a famous +conclave of all the celebrated architects in Spain to pass on the report +of Egas of Toledo and Rodriguez of Seville and settle the matter. Here +sat besides Egas, Juan Badajos, Juan Gil de Hontanon, Alfonso +Covarrubias, Juan de Orazco, Juan de Alava, Juan Tornero, Rodrigo de +Sarabia and Juan Campero. The matter was thrashed out both as to site +and form and a final report sent in, stating the result of their +deliberations, "and as they were much learned and skilful men, and +experienced in their art, their opinion ought certainly to be acted on." +However, to leave no further doubt, every one of them swore "by God and +Saint Mary, under whose protection the Church is, and upon the sign of +the Cross, upon which they all and each of them put their hands bodily, +that they had spoken the entire truth, which each of them did, saying, +'So I swear, and Amen.'" This settled the business. Three days +afterwards, Juan Gil de Hontanon, the later builder of Segovia and +rebuilder of the dome of Seville, was named Maestro Mayor and Juan +Campero, his apprentice. + +On a stone of the main facade there still stands an inscription +recording the solemn laying of the corner-stone on the 12th of May, +1513. It was dedicated to the Mother and the Saviour. The wisest of the +resolutions passed by this wisest of architectural bodies was the +recommendation to leave the old edifice undisturbed. + +Work was immediately started on the western entrance front and continued +with untiring energy by Juan Gil until his death in 1531. His two sons +assisted him, and they were all constantly guided and aided by a body of +the most eminent Spanish architects who yearly visited the edifice. On +the death of Maestro Alvaro, six years later, Juan's son, Rodrigo Gil, +was selected as Maestro Mayor. He naturally tried to carry out all his +father had planned, building with equal rapidity and no less excellence. +By 1560 the work had been carried as far towards the east as the +crossing. Amid immense popular rejoicing, and with ecclesiastical pomp, +the Holy Sacrament was moved from the old Basilica to the new. "Pio III +papa, Philippe II rege, Francisco Manrico de Lara episcopo, ex vetere ad +hoc templum facta translatio xxv mart. anno a Christo nato MDLX." This +of course gave a new impetus to the work, and arch after arch, chapel on +chapel, rapidly grew through the next decades. The bigoted Philip +naturally looked on with favoring eye.[3] Twice the work languished, but +was resumed through the waning period of the Gothic style. The new +classicism was triumphantly replacing the dying art, and the builders of +Salamanca were sorely perplexed whether or not to make a radical +departure to the newer style. Most fortunately, the conclave called +together at this critical moment remained loyal to the original +conception, and the Renaissance only took possession in ornamentation +and the dome. Not until 1733 was the final "translation" celebrated. +Later, earthquakes and lightning shook down both dome and tower, so that +practically it was not till the nineteenth century that the last mortar +was dry. The building spanned a long and glorious epoch in the city's +history, from a time when her imperial master ruled the world until a +foreign upstart trampled her under foot. + +The plan of the new Cathedral, like that of Seville, is an enormous +rectangle of ten bays, resembling a huge mosque, 378 feet long by 181 +feet wide. It consists of nave and double side aisles without projecting +transept; square chapels fill the outer aisles as well as the bays of +the eastern termination. After much discussion it was decided that the +nave (130 feet high) should be about one third higher than the first +side aisles; the chapels are 54 feet in height. + +The choir blocks the third and fourth bays of the nave, while the +Capilla Mayor occupies the eighth. Over the sixth soars the lantern. The +platform of the Patio Chico separates the sacristy and the old Cathedral +that practically abuts the entire southern front. At the southwestern +angle, the intersection of the two cathedrals is hidden by the gigantic +tower. The northern front is admirably free, the whole structure being +visible on its high granite platform. The western front is entered +through the great triple doorway, the central being that of the +Nacimiento; the northern, through the Puerta de las Ramos, the southern, +through the Puerta del Patio Chico. + +Glancing at the plan as a whole, one cannot but deplore that a +conception of such daring proportions with no limitation of time nor +money, having centuries and the wealth of the Indies to draw on, was not +conceived with that most perfect of all Gothic developments, the +semicircular apsidal termination. The Spanish, as well as the customary +English eastern end, can never, from any standpoint of ingenuity or +beauty, be comparable to the amazing conceptions of Rheims or Amiens or +Paris. + +The interior effect is expressed in one word,--"grandiloquence." It is a +true child of the age which conceived it, and the spirit which informed +its erection. If the fabric of the old Cathedral is essentially +Romanesque, with later Gothic ornamentation and constructional features, +the new is entirely Gothic, with Renaissance additions. The spirit and +form are Gothic,--Spanish Gothic,--and one of its last sighs. The fire +was extinct. By display and sculptural fire-works, by bold flaunting of +mechanical mastery, a last trial and glorious failure were made in an +attempt to emulate the marvelous structural logic and simplicity which +had marked the Gothic edifices of an earlier age. + +The blending of the two styles does not jar, but has been effected with +a harmony scarcely to be expected. If one were not hampered with an +architectural education, one could admire it all, instead of criticizing +and wondering why a Renaissance lantern is raised upon a Gothic crown, +and why a fine Renaissance balustrade above Gothic band-courses +separates the nave arches from its clerestory, while those of the side +aisles are separated by a Gothic one. The interior fabric itself is +fine: it is more in detail, in the stringiness and multiplicity of +moldings, in the fineness, subdivision, and elaboration of carvings and +ornament that one feels the advancing degeneration. From being frank and +simple, it has become insincere and profuse. + +The Gothic window openings, which had been steadily developing larger +and bolder up to their culmination in the glorious conservatory of Leon, +had again grown smaller and more fitted to the climate. In Salamanca +they are small and high up. Nave and side aisles both carry +clerestories; that of the nave consisting of seventy-two windows in +alternate bays of three windows and two windows with circle above, that +of the side aisle, of one large window subdivided within its own field. +The chapel walls are also pierced by smaller openings. Some have good +though not excellent coloring. + +The form of the Renaissance lantern is not infelicitous, either from the +inside or outside. It was first built by Sacchetti. The double base is +octagonal, with corners strengthened by columns and pilasters and +executed with much artistic skill. Were it not for the vulgar interior +coloring and ornamentation of cherubs, scrolls, and scallop shells, +contorted, disproportionate, and unmeaning, its high, brilliantly +lighting semicircle might be pleasing. Horrible decoration fills the +panels of the octagonal base. The dome itself is almost as gaudily +colored. + +The interior is built of a clear gray stone on which sparing employment +of color in certain places is most effective. Thus in the bosses of the +vaulting ribs throughout, in the capitals of the piers of nave and +transept, in the very elaborate fan-vaulting of the Capilla Mayor, and +in the soffits of nave-clerestory, the blue and gold contrasts finely +with the cold gray surfaces. Renaissance medallions decorate the +spandrels of the nave, but those of the side aisles bear the +coats-of-arms of the Cathedral and the City of Salamanca. A differently +designed fan-vaulting spreads over every chapel. Great rejas enclose +choir and Capilla Mayor from the transept. The rear of the choir is +badly mutilated by a Baroque screen, while the sides and back of the +high altar still consist of the rough blocks which have been waiting for +centuries to be carved. The choir-stalls are very late eighteenth +century, a mass of over-elaborate detail, as fine as Grinling Gibbon's +carving, and if possible even more remarkable in the detail. + +The west and north facades are, for a Spanish cathedral, singularly free +and unencumbered. The west faces the old walls of the university. The +entire composition is overshadowed by the tremendous tower that looms up +for miles around in the country. It is indeed "Salamanca qui erige ses +clochers rutilants sur la nudite inexorable du desert." Though it has +nothing to do with the rest of the composition, it is a happy mixture of +the two styles; the massive base is as high as the roofing of the nave, +blessedly bare and severe beside the restlessness of the adjoining +screen. A clock and a few panels are all that break it. Classical +balconies run round it above and below the first bell-story, the sides +of which are decorated with a Corinthian order and broken by round +arched openings. A similar order decorates the drum of the cupola, while +Gothic crocketed pyramids break the transition at angles. At the peak of +the lantern, three hundred and sixty feet in the air, soars the +triumphant emblem of the Church of Christ. That man of architectural +infamy, Churriguera, erected it, showing in this instance an +extraordinary restraint. + +The facade belongs to the first period of the Cathedral, and portions of +it are Juan Gil de Hontanon's work, though the later points to Poniente. +It is interesting to compare it with the last Gothic work in France, +with, for instance, Saint-Ouen at Rouen. The end of the style in the two +countries is totally different--one expiring in a mass of glass and +tracery, the other, in a meaningless jumble of ornamentation, of cusped +and broken and elliptical arches and carving incredible in its delicacy. +One can scarcely believe it to be stone. The Spanish, though not wild in +its extravagance, yet lacks all sense of restraint. The front is +composed of a screenwork of three huge arches, within which three +portals leading to the aisles form the main composition, the whole +crowned by a series of crocketed pinnacles. A plain fortress-like pier, +resembling the remnant of an old bastion, terminates it to the north. +Great buttresses separate the portals. Around them are deep reveals and +archivolt; somewhat recalling French examples in their forms; above them +is an inexhaustible effort in stone. There are myriads of brackets and +canopies, some few having statues. There are enough coats-of-arms to +supply whole nations with heraldic emblems, and recessed moldings of +remarkable and exquisite workmanship and crispness of foliage. Some of +the bas-reliefs, as those of the Nativity and Adoration, are very fine. +The Virgin in the pillar separating the doors of the central entrance +gathers the folds of her robe about her with a queenly grace and +dignity. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +SALAMANCA + +From the Vega] + +The whole doorway on its great scale is a remarkable work of the +transition from Gothic to Renaissance. While the treatment of the +figures has a naturalism already entirely Renaissance, the main bulk of +the ornamental detail is still in its feeling quite Gothic. + +From the steps of the Palazzo del Goberno Civil, the northern front +stretches out before you above the bushy tops of the acacia trees in the +Plaza del Colegio Viejo. The demarcations are strong in the horizontal +courses of the balconies which crown the walls of the nave and +side-aisle chapels,--the two lower quite Gothic. The thrust of the naves +is met by great buttresses flying out over the roofs of the side aisles, +and there, as well as above the buttresses of the chapel walls, +pinnacles rise like the masts in a great shipyard. The whole organism of +the late Spanish Gothic church lies open before you. The long stretch of +the three tiers of walls is broken by the face of the transept, the door +of which is blocked, while the surrounding buttresses and walls are +covered with canopies and brackets, all vacant of statues. In place of +the condemned door, there is one leading into the second bay, the Puerta +de los Ramos or de las Palmas, in feeling very similar to the main doors +of the west. Its semicircular arches support a relief representing +Christ entering Jerusalem. A circular light flanked by Peter and Paul +comes above, and the whole is encased in a series of broken arches +filled with the most intricate carving. + +The grand and the grandiloquent Cathedral seem to gaze out over the town +and the vast plain of the old kingdom of Leon and to listen. It is a +golden town, of a dignity one gladly links with the name of Castile. It +is a city--or what is left of it after the firebrands of Thiebaut, of +Ney, and of Marmont--of the sixteenth century, of convents and churches +and huge ecclesiastical establishments. They rise like amber mountains +above the squalid buildings crumbling between them, and stand in grilled +and latticed silence. Las Duenas lies mute on one side and on the other +San Esteban, where the great discoverer pleaded his cause to deaf ears. +In the evening glow their brown walls gain a depth and warmth of color +like the flush in the dark cheeks of Spanish girls. + + + + +II + +BURGOS + +[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS + +West front] + + Whereat he wondred much, and gan enquere + What stately building durst so high extend + Her lofty towres unto the starry sphere. + + _The Faerie Queene_, book I, c. x, lvi. + + +I + +The best view of the spires of Burgos is from the ruined walls of the +Castillo high above the city. From these crumbling ramparts, pierced and +gouged by a thousand years of assault and finally rent asunder by the +powder of the Napoleonic armies, you look directly down upon the +mistress of the city and the sad and ardent plain. A stubbly growth, +more like cocoa matting than grass, covers the unroofed floor beneath +your feet. From this Castle, Ferdinand Gonzales ruled Castile, and here +the Cid led Dona Zimena, and Edward I of England Eleanor of Castile, to +the altar. The only colors brightening the melancholy hillside are here +and there the brilliant blood-stain of the poppy, the gold of the +dandelion, and the episcopal purple of the thistle. Below and beyond, +stretches a sea of shaded ochre, broken in the foreground by the +corrugations of the many roofs turned by time to the brownish tint of +the encircling hillocks and made to blend in one harmony with its +monochrome bosom. Fillets of silver pierce the horizon, glittering as +they wind nearer between over-hanging birches and poplars. The deep, +guttural, roar of the great Cathedral's many voices rises in majestic +and undisputed authority from the valley below, now and again joined by +the weaker trebles of San Esteban and San Nicolas. Regiments of soldiers +march with regular clattering step through holy precincts and up and +down the crooked lanes and squares; barracks and parade-grounds occupy +consecrated soil,--still Santa Maria la Mayor raises her voice to +command obedience and proclaim her undivided dominion over the plains of +drowsy, old Castile. + +From this height, one does not notice the transformation of the Gothic +into seventeenth-century edifices, nor the changes wrought by later +centuries. In the glare of the dazzling sun, the tremulous atmosphere, +and the lazy, curling smoke of the many chimneys, Burgos still seems +Burgos of the Middle Ages, the royal city, mistress of the castles and +sweeping plains, and the Cathedral is her stronghold. + +She is very old,--tradition says, founded by Count Diego Rodriguez of +Alava with the assistance of an Alfonso who ruled in Christian Oviedo +towards the end of the ninth century. For many years his descendants, as +well as the lords of the many castles strewn along the lonely hills +north of the Sierra de Guadarrama, owed allegiance to Leon and the +kingdom of the Asturias. Burgos finally threw off the yoke, and chose +judges for rulers, until one of them, Ferdinand Gonzalez, assumed for +himself and his successors the proud title of "Conde of Castile." Under +his great-grandson, Ferdinand I, Castile and Leon were united in 1037, +thus laying the foundations of the later monarchy. Burgos became a +capital city. Against the dark background of mediaeval history and +interwoven with many romantic legends, there stands out that greatest of +Spanish heroes, the Cid Campeador. This Rodrigo Diaz was born near +Burgos. The lady Zimena whom he married was daughter of a Count Diego +Rodriguez of Oviedo, probably a descendant of the founder of the city. +In the presence of the knights and nobles of Burgos, the Cid forced +Alfonso VI to swear that he had no part in the murder of King Sancho, +and in the royal city he was then elected King of Castile by the Commons +(1071). Alfonso never forgave the Cid this humiliation, and later exiled +him. To the Burgalese of to-day, he seems as living and real as he was +to mediaeval Castilians. Spanish histories and children will tell you of +two things that make Burgos immortal--her Cathedral, and her motherhood +to Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar.[4] + +The importance of the city as a Christian centre becomes evident at the +end of the eleventh century (1074), when it receives its own bishop, and +shortly afterwards, fully equipped, convokes a church council to protest +against the supplanting by the Latin of the earlier Mozarabic rite, so +dear to the hearts of the people. The same Alfonso transferred his +capital to the newly conquered Toledo and, contemporaneous with the +great prosperity of Burgos during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, +there was endless jealousy as to precedence, first between Burgos and +Toledo and afterwards between these and Valladolid. Burgos reaches the +zenith of her power in the reign of Saint Ferdinand and the first half +of the thirteenth century, though as late as 1349, Alfonso XI, in the +assembled Cortes, still recognizes Burgos's claim as "first city" by +calling on her to give her voice first,--"prima voce et fide," saying +_he_ would then speak for Toledo. Not long after, Valladolid overshadows +them both. + +The greatness of Burgos is that of the old Castilian kingdom; with its +extinction came hers. Her flowering and expansion were contemporaneous +with the most splendid period of Gothic art. Her day was a glorious one, +before bigotry had laid its withering hand upon the arts, and while the +rich imagination and skilled hands of Moorish and Jewish citizens still +ennobled and embellished their capital city. + + +II + +The present Cathedral is singularly picturesque and by far the most +interesting of the three great Gothic Cathedrals of Spain,--Leon, +Toledo, and Burgos. The interest is mainly due to her vigorous organism, +an outcome of more essentially Spanish predilections (as well as a +natural interpretation of the French importations) than we find in +either of the sister churches. Later additions and ornamentation have +naturally concealed and disfigured, but the old body is still there, +admirable, fitting, and sane. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF BURGOS CATHEDRAL + + A. Chapel of Santa Thecla. + B. Chapel of Santa Anna. + C. Chapel of the Holy Birth. + D. Chapel of the Annunciation. + E. Chapel of Saint Gregory. + F. Chapel of the Constable. + G. Chapel of the Parish of St. James. + H. Chapel of Saint John. + I. Chapel of Saint Catherine. + K. Chapel of Jean Cuchiller. + L. Chapter House. + M. Sacristy. + N. Minor Sacristy. + O. Chapel of Saint Henry. + P. Altar. + Q. Choir. + R. Chapel of the Presentation of the Virgin. + S. Choir. + T. Golden Staircase. + U. Door of the Pellegeria. + X. Door of the Sarmental. + Y. Door of the Perdon. + Z. Door of the Apostles.] + +Burgos Cathedral is built upon a hillside, her walls hewn out of and +climbing the sides of the mountain, making it necessary either from +north or south to approach her through long flights of stairs. What she +loses in freedom and access, she certainly gains in picturesqueness. She +is flesh of the flesh and blood of the blood of the city, scaling its +heights like a great mother and drawing after her the surrounding houses +which nestle to her sides. She would not gain in majesty by standing +free in an open square, nor by receiving the sunlight on all sides. And +so, though many later additions hide much of the early fabric, they +combine with it to form a picturesque whole, a wonderful jewelled +casket, a sparkling diadem set high on the royal brow of the city, such +as possibly no other city of its size in Christendom can boast. + +It was King Alfonso VI who at the end of the eleventh century gave his +palace-ground for the erection of a Cathedral for the new Episcopal See. +We know nothing of its design, nor whether it occupied exactly the same +site as the later building. The early one must, however, have been a +Romanesque Church;--what might not a later Romanesque Cathedral have +been!--for the style had arrived at a point of vitally interesting +promise and national development, when it was forced to recoil before +the foreign invaders, the Benedictines and Cistercians. + +Two great names are linked to the founding of the present Cathedral of +Burgos, Saint Ferdinand and Bishop Maurice. The latter was bishop from +1213 to 1238, and probably an Englishman who came to Burgos in the train +of the English Queen, Eleanor Plantagenet.[5] He was sent to Speyer as +ambassador from the Spanish Court to bring back the Princess Beatrice +as bride for Saint Ferdinand. Maurice's mission took him through those +parts of Germany and France where the enthusiasm for cathedral-building +was at its height, and he had time to admire and study a forest of +exquisite spires, newly reared, particularly while the young lady given +him in charge was sumptuously entertained by King Philip Augustus. +Naturally he returned to his native city burning with ardor to begin a +similar work there, and probably brought with him master-builders and +skilful artists of long training in Gothic church-building. + +Queen Berengaria and King Ferdinand met the Suabian Princess at the +frontier of Castile. The first ceremony was the conference of the Order +of Knighthood, in the presence of all the "ricos hombres" (ruling men), +the cavaliers of the kingdom with their wives and the burgesses. The +sword was taken from the altar and girded on by the right noble lady +Berengaria. We read that the other arms had been blessed by Bishop +Maurice and were donned by the King with his own hands, no one else +being high enough for the office. Three days later Ferdinand was married +to "dulcissimam Domicellam" in the old Cathedral by the Bishop of Burgos +without protest from the Primate of Castile, Archbishop Rodrigo of +Toledo. This took place in 1219, and two years after King and Bishop +laid the corner-stone of the new edifice. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS + +View of the nave] + +The work must have been spurred on by all the religious ardor which +fired the first half of the thirteenth century, for only nine years +later services were held in the eastern end of the building. The good +Bishop was laid to rest in the old choir, where he still lies +undisturbed, though to-day it is the Capilla Mayor. By the middle of the +century, the great bulk of the old structure must have been well +advanced. The lower portions of the towers and the eastern termination +are fourteenth-century work; the spires themselves, fifteenth. A +multitude of changes and additions, new chapels and buildings, +gradually, as years went on, transformed the primitive plan from its +first harmony and beauty to a confused mass of aisles, vaults, and +chapels. When we compare the present fabric with the early plan, we see +with what masterly skill and simplicity the original one was conceived. + +All that is left or can be seen of this first structure is splendid. +Though built in the second period of the great northern style, it has +none of the lightness of the French churches which were going up +simultaneously, nor even that of Spanish Leon or Toledo. It has heavy +supporting walls and is of the family of the early French with a +magnificently powerful and efficient system of piers and buttresses. It +is not free from a certain Romanesque feeling in its general lines, its +windows, and in many of its details. Though a splendid type of Gothic +construction, this first church is a convincing proof that the nervous, +subtle, fully developed system was foreign to Spanish taste. The +complicated solutions, the intricate planning, were not in accordance +with their temper nor predilections. Rheims may be said to express the +radical temper of its French builders, Burgos, the conservative Spanish. +In Spain, construction and artistic principles did not go hand in hand +in the glorious manner they were wont to in France. Burgos seems much +more emotional than sensitive. Riotous excess and empty display take the +place of restrained and appropriate decoration. The organic dependence +which should exist between sculpture and architecture, so invariably +present in the early French church, is lacking in Burgos. A careful +analysis is interesting. It reveals the fusion of foreign elements, the +severe monastic of the Cistercians and the later sumptuous secular +style, the florid intricacy of the German, the glory of the Romanesque, +the dryness of its revival and the bombast of the Plateresque, all more +or less transformed by what Spaniards could and would do. In its +construction and buttresses, it recalls Sens and Saint-Denis; in its +nave, Chartres; in its vaulting, the Angevine School. The symmetry of +the early plan is fascinating, and Senor Lamperez y Romea's sincere and +beautiful reconstruction must be a faithful reproduction. It makes the +side aisles quite free, the broad transepts to consist of two bays, +while the crossing is carried by piers heavy enough to support an +ordinary vault but not a majestic lantern. Five perfectly formed radial +chapels surround the polygonal ambulatory and are continued towards the +crossing by three rectangular chapels on each side. The vaulting of nave +and transepts is throughout sexpartite; that of the side aisles, +quadripartite. Most of this has, as will be seen, been profoundly +modified. + +The old structure is the kernel of the present church. It consists of a +central nave of six bays up to a strongly marked crossing and three +beyond, terminating in a pentagonal apse. The side aisles are decidedly +lower and continue across the transept round the apse. These again are +flanked on the west by the chapel churches of Santa Tecla, Santa Anna, +and the Presentacion, as well as by a number of other smaller, vaulted +compartments. Only two of the radial chapels outside the polygonal +ambulatory remain, the others having been altered or supplanted by the +great Chapels of the Constable, of Santiago, Santa Catarina, Corpus +Christi, and the Cloisters. The western front is entered by a triple +doorway corresponding to nave and side aisles; the southern transept, by +an incline 40 feet wide, broken by 28 steps. On reaching the door of the +northern transept, one finds the ground risen outside the church some 26 +feet above the level of the inner pavement, and instead of descending by +the interior staircase, one wanders far to the northeast, there to +descend to a portal in the north of the eastern transept. The whole +church is about 300 feet long, and in general 83 feet wide, the +transepts, 194 feet. + +The piers under the crossing, as well as those of the first bay inside +the western entrance, are much larger than the others, in order to +support the additional weight of crossing and towers, and the piers, +abutting aisle and transept walls, are also unusually strong. The +interior pillars are of massive cylindrical plan, of well-developed +French Gothic type, solid, but kept from any appearance of heaviness by +their form and by eight engaged columns. The ornamented bases are high +and of characteristic Gothic moldings. The finely carved capitals carry +square abaci in the side aisles and circular ones in the nave. Both +abaci and bases have been placed at right angles to the arches they +support. The three engaged pier columns facing the nave carry the +transverse and diagonal groining ribs, while the wall ribs are met by +shafts on each side of the clerestory windows. + +The four main supports at the angles of the crossing are rather towers +than piers. In the original structure, they were probably counterparts +of those supporting the inner angles of the tower between nave and side +aisles, with a fully developed system of shafts for the support of the +various groining ribs. With the collapse of the old crossing and the +consequent erection of an even bulkier and far more weighty +superstructure, tremendous circular supports upon octagonal bases were +substituted. They are thoroughly Plateresque in feeling, 50 feet in +circumference and delicately fluted and ribbed as they descend, with +Renaissance ornaments on the pedestals and similar statues under Gothic +canopies, evidently inserted in their faces as a compromise to the +surrounding earlier style. + +Glancing up at the superstructure and vaulting, there is a great +consciousness of light and joy,--a feeling that it would have been +well-nigh perfect, if the choir and its rejas could only have remained +in their old proper place east of the crossing, instead of sadly +congesting a nave magnificent in length and size. The brightness is due, +partly to the stone itself, almost white when first quarried from +Ontoria, and partly to the uncolored glass in the greater portion of the +clerestory. Here and there the masonry has the mellow tones of +meerschaum, shaded with pinkish and lava-gray tints, but the effect is +rather that of ancient marble than of limestone. The interior, compared +to Toledo, is a bride beside a nun. Granting the loss of original +simplicity and a rather distressing mixture of two styles, the +combination has been handled with a skill and genius peculiarly Spanish +and therefore picturesque. The austerity of the French prototype has +been replaced by joyousness and regal splendor. If we examine carefully +the older portions of the interior structure and carving as well as the +traces of parts that have disappeared, we feel how very French it is, +and undoubtedly erected without assistance from Moorish hands. The +vaulting is like some of the French, very rounded, especially in the +side aisles. It is all plain excepting under the dome and the vaults +immediately abutting, where additional ribs were evidently added at a +later time. The vaulting ribs of the main arches start unusually low +down, almost on a level with the top of the triforium windows, giving +the church relatively a much lower effect than Leon or the French Rheims +or Amiens. + +Both triforium and clerestory are very fine, especially in the nave, +where, although they have undergone alterations, these are less radical +than in the Capilla Mayor. The triforium, which is early +thirteenth-century work, is strikingly singular. Its narrow gallery is +covered by a continuous barrel vault parallel to the nave. Six slender +columns divide its seven arches, while above them are trefoil and +quatrefoil penetrations contained within a segmental arch, broken by +carved heads. The fine old shafts, separating the trefoiled or +quatrefoiled arcade, are hidden by crocketed pinnacles and a traceried +balcony. The triforium east of the crossing has only four arches, with +much later traceried work above. The charming old simplicity is of +course lost wherever gaudy carving has been added, but the oldest +portions belong decidedly to the early Gothic work of northern France. +Above rises the clerestory in its early vigor, with comparatively small +windows, consisting of two arches and a rose. + +Probably the crossing had originally a vault somewhat more elaborate +than the others, or, possibly, even a small lantern. To emphasize the +crossing, both internally and externally, was always a peculiar delight +to Spanish builders. This characteristic was admirably adapted to +Romanesque churches and in the Gothic was still felt to be essential, +but Burgos shared the fate of Seville and the new Cathedral of +Salamanca. The old writer, Cean Bermudez, relates that "the same +disaster befell the crossing of Burgos that had happened to Seville,--it +collapsed entirely in the middle of the night on the 3d of March, 1539. +At that time the Bishop was the Cardinal D. Fray Juan Alvarez de Toledo, +famous for the many edifices which he erected and among them S. Esteban +of Salamanca. Owing to the zeal of the Prelate and the Chapter and the +piety of the generous Burgalese, the rebuilding began the same year. +They called upon Maestro Felipe, who was assisted in the planning and +construction by Juan de Vallejo and Juan de Castanela, architects of the +Cathedral. Felipe died at Toledo, after completing the bas-reliefs of +the choir stalls. The Chapter honored his memory in a worthy manner, for +they placed in the same choir under the altar of the Descent from the +Cross this epitaph: 'Philippus Burgundio statuarius, qui ut manu +sanctorum effigies, ita mores animo exprimebat: subsellis chori +struendis itentus, opere pene absoluto, immoritur.'"[6] + +In place of the old dome rose one of the most marvelous and richest +structures in Spain, a crowning glory to the heavenly shrine. It is at +once a mountain of patience and a burst of Spanish pomp and pride. It is +the labor of giants, daringly executed and lavishly decorated. "The work +of angels," said Philip II. Nothing less could have called forth such an +exclamation from those acrimonious lips and jaded eyes. The men who +designed and erected it were the best known in Spain. There was Philip, +the Burgundian sculptor with exquisite and indefatigable chisel, who had +come to Spain in the train of the Emperor. Vallejo, one of the famous +council that sat at Salamanca, had with Castanela erected the triumphal +arch which appeased Charles's wrath kindled against the citizens of +Burgos, and is even to-day, after the Cathedral, the city's most +familiar landmark. In the year 1567, twenty-eight years after the +falling of the first lantern, the new one towered completed in its +place. It was a magnificent attempt at a blending, or rather a +reconciliation, of the Renaissance and the Gothic. There is the +character of one and the form of the other. Gothic trefoil arches and +traceries are carried by classical columns. Renaissance balustrades and +panels intermingle with crockets and bosses, and Florentine panels and +statues with Gothic canopies. They are so interwoven that the careful +student of architecture feels himself in a nightmare of styles and +different centuries. It was of course an undertaking doomed to failure. + +The outline is octagonal. Above the pendentives, forming the transition +of the octagon, comes a double frieze of armorial bearings (those of +Burgos and Charles V) and inscriptions, and a double clerestory, +separated and supported by classical balustraded passages; the window +splays and heads are a complete mass of carving and decorations. The +vaulting itself contains within its bold ribs and segments an infinite +variety of stars, as if one should see the panes of heaven covered with +frosty patterns of a clear winter morning. + +Theophile Gautier's description of it is interesting as an expression of +the effect it produced on a man of artistic emotions rather than trained +architectural feeling: "En levant la tete," he says, "on apercoit une +espece de dome forme par l'interieur de la tour,--c'est un groupe de +sculpture, d'arabesques, de statues, de colonettes, de nervures, de +lancettes, de pendentifs, a vous donner le vertige. On regarderait deux +ans qu'on n'aurait pas tout vu. C'est touffu comme un chou, fenestre +comme une truelle a poisson; c'est gigantesque comme une pyramide et +delicat comme une boucle d'oreille de femme, et l'on ne peut comprendre +qu'un semblable filigrane puisse se soutenir en l'air depuis des +siecles." + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS + +Lantern over crossing] + +The work immediately around and underneath this gigantic effort is +really the earliest part of the church, for, as was usual, the portion +indispensable for services was begun first. The transepts, the abutting +vaults, the southern and possibly the northern entrance fronts, +undoubtedly all belong to the work carried so rapidly forward by Bishop +Maurice's contagious enthusiasm. The work of the transepts is very +similar to that in the nave, but, in the former, one obtains really a +much finer view of the receding bays north and south than in the nave +with its choir obstruction. The huge rose of the south transept, placed +directly under the arch of the vaulting, is a splendid specimen of a +Gothic wheel. Its tracery is composed of a series of colonettes +radiating from centre to circumference, every two of which form, as it +were, a separate window tracery of central mullion, two arches and upper +rose. The other windows of the transepts are, barring their later +alterations, typically thirteenth-century Gothic, high and narrow with +colonettes in their jambs. While the glazing of the great southern rose +is a perfect burst of glory, that of the northern transept arm is later +and very mediocre. + +There is a little chapel opening to the east out of the northern +transept arm which is full of interest from the fact that it belongs to +the original, early thirteenth-century structure. Probably there was a +corresponding one in the southern arm, with groining equally remarkable. +The northern transept arm is filled by the great Renaissance "golden +staircase" leading to the Puerta de la Coroneria, now always closed. It +must have been a magnificent spectacle to see the purple and scarlet +robes of priest and prelate sweep down the divided arms of the stair +uniting in the broad flight at the bottom. Such an occasion was the +marriage in 1268 of the Infante Ferdinand, son of Alfonso the Wise, to +Blanche of France, a niece of Saint Louis. The learned monarch ever had +a lavish hand, and he spared no expense to dazzle his distinguished +guests, among whom were the King of Aragon and Philip, heir to the +French throne. Ferdinand was first armed chevalier by his father, and +the marriage was then celebrated in the Cathedral of Burgos with greater +pomp and magnificence than had ever before been seen in Spain. + +The gilt metal railing is as exquisite in workmanship as in design, +carried out by Diego de Siloe, who was the architect of the Cathedral in +the beginning of the sixteenth century. There is also a lovely door in +the eastern wall of the southern transept, now leading to the great +cloisters. The portal itself is early work of the fourteenth century, +with the Baptism of Christ in the tympanum, the Annunciation and David +and Isaiah in the panels, all of early energy and vitality, as full of +feeling as simplicity. And the extraordinary detail of the wooden doors +themselves, executed a century and a half later by order of the +quizzical-looking old Bishop of Acuna, now peacefully sleeping in the +chapel of Santa Anna, is as beautiful an example of wood-carving as we +have left us from this period. If Ghiberti's door was the front gate of +paradise, this was certainly worthy to be a back gate, and well worth +entering, should the front be found closed. + +The choir occupies at present as much as one half the length of nave +from crossing to western front, or the length of three bays. With its +massive Corinthian colonnade, masonry enclosure and rejas rising to the +height of the triforium, it is a veritable church within a church. The +stalls, mostly Philip of Burgundy's work from about the year 1500, +surround the old tomb of the Cathedral's noble founder. As usual, the +carvings are elaborate scenes from Bible history and saintly +lore,--over the upper stalls, principally from the old Testament, and +above the lower, from the New. + +A very remarkable family of German architects have left their indelible +stamp upon Burgos Cathedral. In 1435 a prominent Hebrew of the tribe of +Levi died as Bishop of the See, and was succeeded by his son, Alfonso de +Cartagena. Alfonso not only followed in his father's footsteps, but +became one of the most renowned churchmen in Spain during the early +years of Ferdinand of Aragon. And he looks it too, as he lies to-day +near the entrance to his old palace, in fine Flemish lace, mitre covered +with pearls, and sparkling, jewelled crozier. As Chancellor of Spain, +Alfonso was sent to the Council of Basle, and thereafter, like his +predecessor Maurice, he returned to Burgos, bringing with him visions of +church-building such as he had never dreamed of before and the architect +Juan de Colonia. + +The Plateresque style was rapidly developing towards the effulgence so +in harmony with Spanish taste. Interwoven and fused with the work Juan +was familiar with from his native country, he and his sons, Simon and +Diego, encouraged and royally assisted by Alfonso and his successor, D. +Luis of Acuna, set about to erect some of the most striking and +wonderful portions of Burgos Cathedral,--the towers of the facade, the +first lantern and the Chapel of the Constable. + +The Chapel of Don Pedro Fernandez de Velasco, Count of Haro and +Constable of Castile, was not erected with pious intent, but to the +immortal fame of the Constable and his wife. In the centre of the +chapel-church on a low base lie the Count and Countess. The white +Carrara of the figures is strangely vivid against the dark marble on +which they rest, and all is colored by the sunlight striking down +through the stained glass. It is very regal. The Constable is clad in +full Florentine armor, his hands clasping his sword and his mantle about +his shoulders. The carving of the flesh and the veining, and especially +the strong knuckles of the hands, are astonishing. The fat cushions of +the forefinger and thumb seem to swell and the muscles to contract in +their grip on the cross of the hilt. The robe of his spouse, Dona Mencia +de Mendoza, is richly studded with pearls, her hand clasps a rosary, +while, on the folds of her skirt, her little dog lies peacefully curled +up. + +The plan of the chapel is an irregular hexagon. It should have been +octagonal, but the western sides have not been carried through and end +in a broad-armed vestibule, which by rights should be the radial chapel +upon the extreme eastern axis of the whole church. Above the vaulting +early German pendentives are inserted in the three faulty and five true +angles in order to bring the plan into the octagonal vaulting form. The +builder seems almost to have made himself difficulties that he might +solve them by a tour-de-force. A huge star-fish closes the vault. The +recumbent statues face an altar. The remaining sides are subdivided by +typically Plateresque band-courses and immense coats-of-arms of the Haro +and Mendoza families. The upper surfacing is broken by a clerestory with +exquisite, old stained glass. It is melancholy to see tombs of such +splendid execution crushed by meaningless, empty display, out of all +scale, vulgar, gesticulating, and theatrical, especially so when one +notices with what extraordinary mechanical skill much of the detail has +been carved. It thrusts itself on your notice even up to the vaulting +ribs, which the architect, not satisfied to have meet, actually crossed +before they descend upon the capitals below. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS + +The Golden Staircase] + +The reja closing the chapel off from the apse is among the finest of the +Renaissance, the masterpiece of Cristobal Andino, wrought in the year +1523. Curiously enough, the supporters of the shield above might have +been modeled by Burne-Jones instead of the mediaeval smith. + +The interior could not always have been as light and cheerful as at +present, for probably all the windows were more or less filled with +stained glass from the workshops of the many "vidrieros" for which +Burgos was so renowned that even other cathedral cities awarded her the +contracts for their glazing. The foreign masters of Burgos were +accustomed to see their arches and sculpture mellowed and illumined by +rainbow lights from above, and surely here too it was of primary +importance. + +After the horrible powder explosion of 1813, when the French soldiers +blew up the old fortress, making the whole city tremble and totter, the +agonized servants of the church found the marble pavements strewn with +the glorious sixteenth-century crystals that had been shattered above. +They were religiously collected and, where possible, reinserted in new +fields. + +Chapels stud the ground around the old edifice. The Cloisters, a couple +of chapels north of the chevet and small portions here and there, rose +with the transepts and the original thirteenth-century structure, but +all the others were erected by the piety or pride of later ages or have +been transformed by succeeding generations. Their vaulting illustrates +every period of French and German Gothic as well as Plateresque art, +while their names are taken from a favorite saint or biblical episode or +the illustrious founders. The fifteenth century was especially sedulous, +building chapels as a rich covering for the splendid Renaissance tombs +of its spiritual and temporal lords. They are carved with the admirable +skill and genius emanating once more from Italy. The Castilian Constable +and his spouse, Bishop Alfonso de Cartagena (in the Capilla de la +Visitacion), Bishop Antonia de Velasco, the eminent historian-archbishop +(in the Sacristia Nueva), are splendid marbles of the classic revival. +They must all have been portraits: for instance Bishop Gonzalvo de +Lerma, who sleeps peacefully in the Chapel of the Presentacion; his fat, +pursed lips and baggy eyelids are firmly closed, and his soft, double +chin reposes in two neat folds upon the jeweled surplice. So, too, +Fernando de Villegas, who lies in the north transept and whose scholarly +face still seems to shine with the inner light which prompted him to +give his people the great Florentine's Divine Comedy. + +The poetry and romance that cling to these illustrious dead are equally +present as you pass through the lovely Gothic portal into the cloisters +which fill the southeastern angle of the church and stand by the figures +of the great Burgalese that lie back of the old Gothic railings in many +niches of the arcades. To judge from the inscriptions they would, if +they could speak, be able to tell us of every phase in their city's +religious and political struggles, from the age of Henry II down to the +decay of Burgos. Saints, bishops, princes, warriors, and architects lie +beneath the beautiful, double-storied arcade. Here lies Pedro Sanchez, +the architect, Don Gonzalo of Burgos, and Diego de Santander, and here +stand the effigies of Saint Ferdinand and Beatrice of Suabia. The very +first church had a cloister to the west of the transept, now altered +into chapels. For some reason, early in the fourteenth century, the +present cloister was built east of the south transept and with as lovely +Gothic arches as are to be found in Spain. We read of great church and +state processions, marching under its vaults in 1324, so then it must +have been practically completed. Later on the second story was added, +much richer and more ornate than the lower. The oldest masonry, with its +delicate tracery of four arches and three trefoiled roses to each +arcade, seems to have been virtually eaten away by time. New leaves and +moldings are being set to-day to replace the old. The pure white, native +stone, so easy to carve into spirited crockets and vigorous strings +similar to the old, stands out beside the sooty, time-worn blocks, as +the fresh sweetness of a child's cheek laid against the weather-beaten +furrows of the grand-parent. A careful scrutiny of all the details shows +in what a virile age this work was executed. The groining ribs are of +fine outline, the key blocks are starred, the foliage is spirited both +in capitals and in the cusps of the many arches, the details are +carefully molded and distributed, and the early statues in the internal +angles and in places against the groining ribs are of rich treatment, +strong feeling, and in attitude equal to some of the best French Gothic +of the same period. The door that leads out of the cloisters into the +old sacristy with the Descent from the Cross in its tympanum is truly a +beautiful piece of this Gothic work. + +While these cloisters lie to the east, the broad terraces leading to the +glorious, southern transept entrance are flanked to the west by the +Archbishop's Palace, whose bare sides, gaudy Renaissance doorway and +monstrous episcopal arms, repeated at various stages, hide the entire +southwestern angle of the church. + +Between the cloisters and the Archbishop's Palace at the end of the +broad terraces, rises the masonry facing the southern transept arm. It +belongs, together with that of the northern, to the oldest portions of +the early fabric erected while Maurice was bishop and a certain +"Enrique" architect, and shows admirable thirteenth-century work. The +Sarmentos family, great in the annals of this century, owned the ground +immediately surrounding this transept arm. As a reward for their +concession of it to the church, the southern portal was baptized the +"Puerta del Sarmental," and they were honored with burial ground within +the church's holy precincts. It cannot be much changed, but stands +to-day in its original loveliness. + +[Illustration: Photo by A. Vadillo + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS + +The Chapel of the Constable] + +A statue of the benign-looking founder of the church stands between the +two doors, which on the outer sides are flanked by Moses, Aaron, Saint +Peter and Saint Paul, and the two saints so beloved by Spaniards, Saint +James and Saint Philip. The archivolts surrounding the tympanum are +filled by a heavenly host of angels, all busied with celestial +occupations, playing instruments, swinging censers, carrying candelabra, +or flapping their wings. Both statues and moldings are of character and +outline similar to French work of this best period, nevertheless of a +certain distinctly Spanish feeling. The literary company of the tympanum +is full of movement and simple charm. In the lowest plane are the twelve +Apostles, all, with the exception of two who are conversing, occupied +with expounding the Gospels; in the centre is Christ, reading to four +Evangelists who surround him as lion, bull, eagle and angel; finally, +highest up, two monks writing with feverish haste in wide-open folios, +while an angel lightens their labor with the perfume from a swinging +censer. + +It is sculpture, rich in effect, faithful in detail and of strong +expression, admirably placed in relation to the masonry it ornaments. It +has none of the whimsical irrelevancy to surroundings characterizing so +much of the work to follow, nor its hasty execution. It is not +meaningless carving added indefinitely and senselessly repeated, but +every bit of it embellishes the position it occupies. Above the portal +the stonework is broken and crowned by an exquisite, early rose window +and the later, disproportionately high parapet of angels and +free-standing quatrefoiled arches and ramps. + +The northern doorway, almost as rich in names as in sculpture, is as +fine as the southern, so far below it on the hillside. It is called the +Doorway of the Apostles from the twelve still splendidly preserved +statues, six of which flank it on each side. It is also named the Door +of the Coroneria, but to the Burgalese it is known simply as the Puerta +Alta, or the "high door." The door proper with its frame is a later +makeshift for the original, thirteenth-century one. On a base-course in +the form of an arcade with almost all its columns likewise gone, stand +in monumental size the Twelve Apostles. The drapery is handled +differently on each figure, but with equal excellence; the faces, so +full of expression and character, stand out against great halos and +represent the apostles of all ages. Similar in treatment to the southern +door, the archivolts here are filled with a series of fine statues. +There are angels in the two inner arches and in the outer, and the naked +figures of the just are rising from their sepulchres in the most +astonishing attitudes. The tympanum is also practically a counterpart of +the southern one, only here in its centre the predominating figure of +the Saviour is set between the Virgin and Saint John. + +As the Puerta Alta is so high above the church pavement, and ingress +would in daily use have proved difficult, the great door of the +Pellejeria was cut in the northeastern arm of the transept at the end of +the furriers' street, and down a series of moss-grown, cobblestone +planes the Burgalese could gain entrance to their church from this side. +The great framework of architecture which encases it is so astonishingly +different from the work above and around it that one can scarcely +believe it possible that they belong to one and the same building. It is +a tremendous piece of Plateresque carving, as exquisite as it is out of +place, erected through the munificence of the Archbishop Don Juan +Rodriguez de Fonseca in 1514 by the architect Francisco de Colonia. It +might have stood in Florence, and most of it might have been set against +a Tuscan church at the height of the Renaissance. There is everywhere an +overabundance of luxurious detail and rich carving. Between the +entablatures and columns stand favorite saints. The Virgin and Child are +adored by a very well-fed, fat-jowled bishop and musical angels. In one +of the panels the sword is about to descend on the neck of the kneeling +Saint John. In another, some unfortunate person has been squeezed into a +hot cauldron too small for his naked body, while bellows are applied to +the fagots underneath it and hot tar is poured on his head. While the +whole work is thoroughly Renaissance, there is here and there a curious +Gothic feeling to it, from which the carvers, surrounded and inspired by +so much of the earlier art, seem to have been unable to free themselves. +This appears in the figure ornamentation in the archivolts around the +circular-headed opening, the angel heads that cut it as it were into +cusps and the treatment and feeling of some of the figures in the larger +panels. + +The exterior of Santa Maria is very remarkable. It is a wonderful +history of late Gothic and early Renaissance carving. The only clearing +whence any freedom of view and perspective may be had is to the west, in +front of the late fifteenth-century spires, but wherever one stands, +whether in the narrow alleys to the southeast, or above, or below in the +sloping city, the three great masses that rise above the cathedral roof, +of spires, cimborio, and the Constable's Lantern, dominate majestically +all around them. If one stands at the northeast, above the terraces +that descend to the Pellejeria door, each of the three successive series +of spires that rise one above the other far to the westward might be the +steeple of its own mighty church. The two nearest are composed of an +infinite number of finely crocketed turrets, tied together by a sober, +Renaissance bulk; that furthest off shoots its twin spires in Gothic +nervousness airily and unchecked into the sky, showing the blue of the +heavens through its flimsy fabric. Between them, tying the huge bulk +together, stretch the buttresses, the sinews and muscles of the +organism, far less marked and apparent, however, than is ordinarily the +case. At various stages above and around, crowning and banding towers, +chapels, apse, naves, and transepts, run the many balconies. They are +Renaissance in form, but also Gothic in detail and feeling. Like the +masts of a great harbor, an innumerable forest of carved and stony +trunks rise from every angle, buttress, turret, and pier. In among them, +facing their carved trunks and crowning their tops, peeping out from the +myriads of stony branches, stands a heavenly legion of saints and +martyrs. Crowned and celestial kings and angels people this petrified +forest of such picturesque and exuberant beauty. + +[Illustration: Photo by A. Vadillo + +CATHEDRAL OF BURGOS + +The spires above the house-tops] + +The general mass that rises above the roofs, now flat and covered with +reddish ochre tiles, is, whatever may be the defects of its detail, +almost unique in its lavish richness. The spires rest upon the +house-tops of Burgos like the jeweled points of a monarch's crown. The +detail is so profuse that it well-nigh defies analysis. It seems as if +the four corners of the earth must for generations have been ransacked +to find a sufficient number of carvers for the sculpture. The closer one +examines it, the more astonishing is the infinite labor. Rich, crocketed +cornices support the numerous, crowning balconies. Figure on figure +stands against the many sides of the four great turrets that brace the +angles of the cimborio, against the eight turrets that meet its octagon, +on the corners of spires, under the parapets crowning the transepts, +under the canopied angles of the Constable's Lantern, on balconies, over +railings, and on balustrades. Crockets cover the walls like feathers on +the breast of a bird. It surely is the temple of the Lord of Hosts, the +number of whose angels is legion. It is confused, bewildering, over-done +and spectacular, lacking in character and sobriety, sculptural +fire-works if you will, a curious mixture of the passing and the coming +styles, but nevertheless it is wonderful, and the age that produced it, +one of energy and vitality. Curiously enough, the transepts have no +flying, but mere heavy, simple buttresses to meet their thrusts. The +ornamentation of the lower wall surfaces is in contrast to the +superstructure, barren or meaningless. On the plain masonry of the lower +walls of the Constable's Chapel stretch gigantic coats-of-arms. Knights +support their heads as well as the arms of the nobles interred within. +Life-sized roaring lions stand valiantly beside their wheels like +immortally faithful mariners. Above, an exquisitely carved, German +Gothic balustrade acts as a base for the double clerestory. The angle +pinnacles are surrounded by the Fathers of the Church and crowned by +angels holding aloft the symbol of the Cross. The gargoyles look like +peacefully slumbering cows with unchewed cuds protruding from their +stony jaws. Tufts of grass and flowers have sprung from the seeds borne +there by the winds of centuries. + +Outside the Chapel of Sant Iago are more huge heraldic devices: knights +in full armor and lions lifting by razor-strops, as if in some test of +strength, great wheels encircling crosses. Above them, gargoyles leer +demoniacally over the heads of devout cherubim. In the little street of +Diego Porcello, named for the great noble who still protects his city +from the gate of Santa Maria, nothing can be seen of the great church +but bare walls separated from the adjacent houses by a dozen feet of +dirty cobblestones. Ribs of the original chapels that once flanked the +eastern end, behind the present chapels of Sant Iago and Santa Catarina, +have been broken off flat against the exterior walls, and the cusps of +the lower arches have been closed. + +Thus the fabric has been added to, altered, mutilated or embellished by +foreign masters as well as Spanish hands. Who they all were, when and +why they wrought, is not easy to discover. Enrique, Juan Perez, Pedro +Sanchez, Juan Sanchez de Molina, Martin Fernandez, Juan and Francisco de +Colonia and Juan de Vallejo, all did their part in the attempt to make +Santa Maria of Burgos the loveliest church of Spain. + +The mighty western facade rises in a confined square where acacia trees +lift their fresh, luxuriant heads above the dust. The symmetry of the +towers, the general proportions of the mass, the subdivisions and +relationship of the stories, the conception as a whole, clearly show +that it belongs to an age of triumph and genius, in spite of the +disfigurements of later vandals, as well as essentially foreign masters. +It is of queenly presence, a queen in her wedding robes with jewels all +over her raiment, the costliest of Spanish lace veiling her form and +descending from her head, covered with its costly diadem. + +North and south the towers are very similar and practically of equal +height, giving a happily balanced and uniform general appearance. The +lowest stage, containing the three doorways leading respectively into +north aisle, nave, and south aisle, has been horribly denuded and +disfigured by the barbarous eighteenth century, which boasted so much +and created so little. It removed the glorious, early portico, leaving +only bare blocks of masonry shorn of sculpture. No greater wrong could +have been done the church. In the tympanum above the southern door, the +vandals mercifully left a Coronation of the Virgin, and in the northern +one, the Conception, while in the piers, between these and the central +opening, four solitary statues of the two kings, Alfonso VI and Saint +Ferdinand, and the two bishops, Maurice and Asterio, are all that remain +of the early glories. The central door is called the Doorway of Pardon. + +One can understand the bigotry of Henry VIII and the Roundheads, which +in both cases wrought frightful havoc in art, but it is truly +incomprehensible that mere artistic conceit in the eighteenth century +could compass such destruction. The second tier of the screen facing the +nave, below a large pointed arch, is broken by a magnificent rose. Above +this are two finely traceried and subdivided arches with eight statues +set in between the lowest shafts. The central body is crowned by an +open-work balustrade forming the uppermost link between the towers. The +Virgin with Child reigns in the centre between the carved inscription, +"Pulchra es et decora." Three rows of pure, ogival arches, delicate, and +attenuated, break the square sides of the towers above the entrance +portals; blind arches, spires and statues ornament the angles. +Throughout, the splays and jambs are filled with glittering balls of +stone. Inscriptions similar in design to that finishing the screen which +hides the roof lines crown the platform of the towers below the base of +the spires. + +The towers remained without steeples for over two hundred years until +the good Bishop Alfonso de Cartagena, returning to his city in 1442 from +the Council of Basle, brought with him the German, Juan de Colonia. +Bishop Alfonso was not to see their completion, for he died fourteen +years later, but his successor, Don Luis de Acuna, immediately ordered +the work continued and saw the figures of Saint Peter and Saint Paul +placed on the uppermost spires, three hundred feet above the heads of +the worshipping multitude. + +The spires themselves, essentially German in character, are far from +beautiful, perforated on all sides by Gothic tracery of multitudinous +designs, too weak to stand without the assistance of iron tie rods, the +angles filled with an infinite number of coarse, bold crockets breaking +the outlines as they converge into the blue. + +When prosperity came again to Burgos, as to many other Spanish cities, +it was owing to the wise enactments of Isabella the Catholic. The +concordat of 1851 enumerated nine archbishoprics in Spain, among which +Burgos stands second on the list. + +Such is Burgos, serenely beautiful, rich and exultant, the apotheosis of +the Spanish Renaissance as well as studded with exquisitely beautiful +Gothic work. She is mighty and magnificent, speaking perhaps rather to +the senses than the heart, but in a language which can never be +forgotten. Although various epochs created her, radically different in +their means and methods, still there is a certain intangible unity in +her gorgeous expression and a unique picturesqueness in her dazzling +presence. + + + + +III + +AVILA + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA] + + I lift mine eyes, and all the windows blaze + With forms of saints and holy men who died, + Here martyred and hereafter glorified; + And the great Rose upon its leaves displays + Christ's Triumph, and the angelic roundelays + With splendor upon splendor multiplied. + + _Longfellow._ + + +The Cathedral of San Salvador is the strongest link in the chain that +encircles the city of Avila,--"cuidad de Castilla la vieja." Avila lies +on a ridge in the corner of a great, undulating plain, clothed with +fields of grain, bleached light yellow at harvest, occasional groups of +ilex and straggling pine and dusty olives scrambling up and down the +slopes. Beyond is the hazy grayish-green of stubble and dwarfed +woodland, with blue peaks closing the horizon. To the south rises the +Sierra Gredos, and eastwards, in the direction of Segovia, the Sierra de +Guadarrama. The narrow, murky Adaja that loiters through the upland +plain is quite insufficient to water the thirsty land. Thistles and +scrub oak dot the rocky fields. Here and there migratory flocks of sheep +nibble their way across the unsavory stubble, while the dogs longingly +turn their heads after whistling quails and the passing hunter. + +The crenelated, ochre walls and bastions that, like a string of amber +beads, have girdled the little city since its early days, remain +practically unbroken, despite the furious sieges she has sustained and +the battles in which her lords were engaged for ten centuries. As many +as eighty-six towers crown, and no less than ten gateways pierce, the +walls which follow the rise or fall of the ground on which the city has +been compactly and narrowly constructed for safest defense. It must look +to-day almost exactly as it did to the approaching armies of the Middle +Ages, except that the men-at-arms are gone. The defenses are so high +that what is inside is practically hidden from view and all that can be +seen of the city so rich in saints and stones[7] are the loftiest spires +of her churches. + +To the Romans, Avela, to the Moors, Abila, the ancient city, powerfully +garrisoned, lay in the territory of the Vaccaei and belonged to the +province of Hispania Citerior. During three later centuries, from time +to time she became Abila, and one of the strongest outposts of Mussulman +defense against the raids of Christian bands from the north. Under both +Goths and Saracens, Avila belonged to the province of Merida. At a very +early date she boasted an episcopal seat, mentioned in church councils +convoked during the seventh century, but, during temporary ascendencies +of the Crescent, she vanishes from ecclesiastical history. For a while +Alfonso I held the city against the Moors, but not until the reign of +Alfonso VI did she permanently become "Avila del rey," and the +quarterings of her arms, "a king appearing at the window of a tower," +were left unchallenged on her walls. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF AVILA CATHEDRAL + + A. Capilla Mayor. + B. Crossing. + C. Cloisters. + D. Towers. + E. Main Entrance. + F. Northern Portal.] + +By the eleventh century the cities of Old Castile were ruined and +depopulated by the ravages of war. Even the walls of Avila were +well-nigh demolished, when Count Raymond laid them out anew and with the +blessing of Bishop Pedro Sanchez they rose again in the few years +between 1090 and the turning of the century. The material lay ready to +hand in the huge granite boulders sown broadcast on the bleak hills +around Avila, and from these the walls were rebuilt, fourteen feet thick +with towers forty feet high. The old Spanish writer Cean Bermudez +describes this epoch of Avila's history. + +"When," he says, "Don Alfonso VI won Toledo, he had in continuous wars +depopulated Segovia, Avila and Salamanca of their Moorish inhabitants. +He gave his son-in-law, the Count Don Raymond of the house of Burgundy, +married to the Princess Dona Urraca, the charge to repeople them. Avila +had been so utterly destroyed that the soil was covered with stones and +the materials of its ruined houses. To rebuild and repopulate it, the +Count brought illustrious knights, soldiers, architects, officials and +gentlemen from Leon, the Asturias, Vizcaya and France, and from other +places. They began to construct the walls in 1090, 800 men working from +the very beginning, and among them were many masters who came from Leon +and Vizcaya. All obeyed Casandro Romano and Florin de Pituenga, Masters +of Geometry, as they are called in the history of this population, which +is attributed to the Bishop of Oviedo, D. Pilayo, who lived at that time +and who treats of these things." + +During these perilous years, Count Raymond wisely lodged his masons in +different quarters of the city, grouping them according to the locality +they came from, whether from Cantabria, the Asturias, or the territory +of Burgos. + +A nobility, as quarrelsome as it was powerful, must have answered Count +Raymond's call for new citizens, for during centuries to come, the +streets, like those of mediaeval Siena and Florence, constantly ran with +the blood of opposing factions. Warring families dared walk only certain +streets after nightfall, and battles were carried on between the +different castles and in the streets as between cities and on +battlefields. In the quarrels between royal brothers and cousins, Avila +played a very prominent part. The nurse and protectress of their tender +years, and the guardian of their childhood through successive reigns of +Castilian kings, she became a very vital factor in the fortunes of +kings, prelates, and nobles. In feuds like those of Don Pedro and his +brother Enrique II, she was a turbulent centre. Great figures in Spanish +history ruled from her episcopal throne, especially during the +thirteenth century. There was Pedro, a militant bishop and one of the +most valiant on the glorious battlefield of Las Navas; Benilo, lover of +and beloved by Saint Ferdinand; and Aymar, the loyal champion of Alfonso +the Wise through dark as well as sunny hours. + +The Jews and the Moriscoes here, as wherever else their industrious +fingers and ingenious minds were at work, did much more than their share +towards the prosperity and development of the city. The Jews especially +became firmly established in their useful vocations, filling the king's +coffers so abundantly that the third of their tribute, which he granted +to the Bishop, was not appreciably felt, except in times of armament +and war. With the fanatical expulsion of first one, and then the other, +race, the city's prosperity departed. Their place was filled by the +bloodhounds of the Inquisition, who held their very first, terrible +tribunal in the Convent of Saint Thomas, blighting the city and +surrounding country with a new and terrible curse. The great rebellion +under the Emperor Charles burst from the smouldering wrath of Avila's +indignant citizens, and in 1520 she became, for a short time, the seat +of the "Junta Santa" of the Comuneros. + +It is still easy to discern what a tremendous amount of building must +have gone on within the narrow city limits during the early part of its +second erection. The streets are still full of bits of Romanesque +architecture, palaces, arcades, houses, balconies, towers and windows +and one of the finest groups of Romanesque churches in Spain. Of lesser +sinew and greater age than San Salvador, they are now breathing their +last. San Vicente is almost doomed, while San Pedro and San Segundo are +fast falling. + +But San Salvador remains still unshaken in her strength,--a fortress +within a cathedral, a splendid mailed arm with its closed fist of iron +reaching through the outer bastions and threatening the plains. It is a +bold cry of Christian defiance to enemies without. If ever there was an +embodiment in architecture of the church militant, it is in the +Cathedral of Avila. Approaching it by San Pedro, you look in vain for +the church, for the great spire that loomed up from the distant hills +and was pointed out as the holy edifice. In its place and for the +eastern apse, you see only a huge gray bastion, strong and secure, +crowned at all points by battlements and galleries for sentinels and +fighting men,--inaccessible, grim, and warlike. A fitting abode for the +men who rather rode a horse than read a sermon and preferred the +breastplate to the cassock, a splendid epitome of that period of Spanish +history when the Church fought instead of prying into men's souls. It +well represents the unification of the religious and military offices +devolving on the Church of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in +Castile,--a bellicose house rather than one of prayer. + +All the old documents and histories of the Church state that the great +Cathedral was started as soon as the city walls were well under way in +1091 and was completed after sixteen years of hard work. Alvar Garcia +from Estrella in Navarre is recorded as the principal original +architect, Don Pedro as the Bishop, and Count Raymond as spurring on the +1900 men at work, while the pilgrims and faithful were soliciting alms +and subscriptions through Italy, France, and the Christian portions of +the Spanish Peninsula. + +Of the earliest church very little remains, possibly only the outer +walls of the great bastion that encloses the eastern termination of the +present edifice. This is much larger than the other towers of defense, +and, judging from the excellent character of its masonry, which is +totally different from the coarse rubble of the remaining city walls and +towers, it must have been built into them at a later date, as well as +with much greater care and skill. Many hypotheses have been suggested, +as to why the apse of the original church was thus built as a portion of +the walls of defense. All seem doubtful. It was possibly that the +altar might come directly above the resting-place of some venerated +saint, or perhaps to economize time and construction by placing the apse +in a most vulnerable point of attack where lofty and impregnable masonry +was requisite. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA + +Exterior of the apse turret] + +The church grew towards the west and the main entrance,--the transepts +themselves, and all work west of them, with the advent of the new style. +We thus obtain in Avila, owing to the very early commencement of its +apse, a curious and vitally interesting conglomeration of the Romanesque +and Gothic. Practically, however, all important portions of the +structure were completed in the more vigorous periods of the Gothic +style with the resulting felicitous effect. + +The building of the apse or the chevet westward must, to judge from its +style, have advanced very slowly during the first hundred years, for its +general character is rather that of the end of the twelfth and beginning +of the thirteenth centuries (the reign of Alfonso VIII) than of the pure +Romanesque work which was still executed in Castile at the beginning of +the twelfth century. A great portion of the early Gothic work is, apart +from its artistic merit, historically interesting, as showing the first +tentative, and often groping, steps of the masters who wished to employ +the new forms of the north, but followed slowly and with a hesitation +that betrayed their inexperience. Arches were spanned and windows +broken, later to be braced and blocked up in time to avert a +catastrophe. The transepts belong to the earliest part of the fourteenth +century. We have their definite dates from records,--the northern arm +rose where previously had stood a little chapel and was given by the +Chapter to Dean Blasco Blasquez as an honorable burial place for himself +and his family, while Bishop Blasquez Davila, the tutor of Alfonso IX +and principal notary of Castile, raised the southern arm immediately +afterwards. He occupied the See for almost fifty years, and must have +seen the nave and side aisles and the older portions, including the +northwestern tower, all pretty well constructed. This tower with its +unfinished sister and portions of the west front are curiously enough +late Romanesque work, and must thus have been started before the nave +and side aisles had reached them in their western progress. The original +cloisters belonged to the fourteenth century, as also the northern +portal. Chapels, furnishings, pulpits, trascoro, choir stalls, glazing, +all belong to later times, as well as the sixteenth-century mutilations +of the front and the various exterior Renaissance excrescences. + +It is interesting to infer that the main part of the fabric must +virtually have been completed in 1432, when Pope Eugenio IV published a +bull in favor of the work. Here he only speaks of the funds requisite +for its "preservation and repair." We may judge from such wording the +condition of the structure as a whole. + +The most extraordinary portion of the building is unquestionably its +"fighting turret" and eastern end. This apse is almost unique in Spanish +architectural history and deeply absorbing as an extensive piece of +Romanesque work, not quite free from Moorish traces and already +employing in its vaulting Gothic expedients. It may be called "barbaric +Gothic" or "decadent Romanesque," but, whatever it is termed, it will be +vitally interesting and fascinating to the student of architectural +history. + +Externally the mighty stone tower indicates none of its interior +disposition of chapels or vaulting. The black, weather-stained granite +of its bare walls is alternately broken by slightly projecting pilasters +and slender, columnar shafts. They are crowned by a corbel table and a +high, embattled parapet, that yielded protection to the soldiers +occupying the platform immediately behind, which communicated with the +passage around the city walls. This is again backed by a second wall +similarly crowned. The narrowest slits of windows from the centres of +the radiating, apsidal chapels break the lower surfaces, while double +flying buttresses meet, at the level of the triforium and above the +clerestory windows, the thrusts of the upper walls. + +The plan is most curious, and on account of its irregularity as well as +certain inconsistencies, it is difficult to guess how far it was +originally conceived in its present form, or what alterations were made +in the earlier centuries. Some changes must have been made in its +vaulting. The chevet or Capilla Mayor, which at first very properly +contained the choir, is surrounded by a double ambulatory, outside of +which the thick walls are pierced by nine apsidal chapels. It is +probable that these were originally constructed by the engineers to +lighten the enormous bulk of the outer masonry. They are not quite +semicircles in plan, and are vaulted in various simple ways. Where ribs +occur, they meet in the key of the arch separating chapel from +ambulatory. The piers round the apse itself are alternately +monocylindrical and composite; the intermediate ones, subdividing +unequally the "girola," are lofty, slender columns, while those of the +exterior are polygonal in plan, with shafts against their faces. Some of +the caps are of the best Romanesque types, and composed of animals, +birds, and leaves, while others, possibly substituted for the original +ones, have a plain bell with the ornamentation crudely applied in color. + +The Capilla Mayor has both triforium and clerestory of exquisite early +work. Dog-tooth moldings ornament the archivolts. Mohammedan influence +had asserted itself in the triforium, which is divided by slender shafts +into two windows terminating in horseshoe arches, while the clerestory +consists of broad, round, arched openings. + +The construction and balance of the apse thrusts were doubtless +originally of a somewhat different nature from what we find at present, +as may easily be observed from the materials, the function and positions +of the double flying buttresses. They may have been added as late as +three centuries after the original fabric. Lamperez y Romea's +observations in regard to this are most interesting:-- + +"We must observe in the two present orders of windows, that the lower +was never built for lights and its construction with double columns +forming a hollow space proves it a triforium. That it was actually so is +further abundantly proved by several circumstances: first, by a parapet +or wall which still exists below the actual roof and which follows the +exterior polygonal line of the girola, as well as by some +semi-Romanesque traceries which end in the wall of the Capilla Mayor, +and finally, by a continuous row of supports existing in the thickness +of the same wall below a gutter, separating the two orders of windows. +These features, as well as the general arrangement of the openings, +demonstrate that there was a triforium of Romanesque character, +occupying the whole width of the girola, which furthermore was covered +by a barrel vault. Above this came the great platform or projecting +balcony, corresponding to the second defensive circuit. Military +necessity explains this triforium; without it, there would be no need of +a system of continuous counterthrusts to that of the vaults of the +crossing. If we concede the existence of this triforium, various obscure +points become clear." + +The Capilla Mayor has four bays prior to reaching the pentagonal +termination. The vaulting of the most easterly bay connects with that of +the pentagon, thus leaving three remaining bays to vault; two form a +sexpartite vault, and the third, nearest the transept, a quadripartite. +All the intersections are met by bosses formed by gilded and spreading +coats-of-arms. The ribs do not all carry properly down, two out of the +six being merely met by the keystones of the arches between Capilla +Mayor and ambulatory. The masonry of the vaulting is of a reddish stone, +while that of the transepts and nave is yellow, laid in broad, white +joints. + +In various portions of the double ambulatory passage as well as some of +the chapels, the fine, deep green and gold and blue Romanesque coloring +may still be seen, giving a rich impression of the old barbaric splendor +and gem-like richness so befitting the clothing of the style. Other +portions, now bare, must surely all have been colored. The delicate, +slender shafts, subdividing unequally the ambulatory, have really no +carrying office, but were probably introduced to lessen the difficulty +of vaulting the irregular compartments of such unequal sides. Gothic art +was still in its infancy, and the splendid grasp of the vaulting +difficulties and masterly solution of its problems exemplified in so +many later ambulatories, had not as yet been reached. Here we have about +the first fumbling attempt. The maestro is still fighting in the dark +with unequal thrusts, sides and arches of different widths, and a desire +to meet them all with something higher and lighter than the old +continuous barrel vault. A step forward in the earnest effort toward +higher development, such as we find here, deserves admiration. The +profiles of the ribs are simple, undecorated and vigorous, as were all +the earliest ones; in the chapels, or rather the exedras in the outer +walls, the ribs do not meet in a common boss or keystone, its advantages +not as yet being known to the builders. A good portion of the old +roof-covering of the Cathedral, not only over the eastern end, but +pretty generally throughout, has either been altered, or else the +present covering conceals the original. + +Thus it is easy to detect from the outside, if one stands at the +northwestern angle of the church and looks down the northern face, that +the upper masonry has been carried up by some three feet of brickwork, +evidently of later addition, on top of which comes the present covering +of terra-cotta tiles. The old roof-covering here of stone tiles, as also +above the apse, rested directly on the inside vaults, naturally +damaging them by its weight, and not giving full protection against the +weather. The French slopes had in some instances been slavishly copied, +but the steep roofs requisite in northern cathedrals were soon after +abandoned, being unnecessary in the Spanish climate. Over the apse of +Avila, there may still be found early thirteenth-century roofing, +consisting of large stone flags laid in rows with intermediary grooves +and channels, very much according to ancient established Roman and +Byzantine traditions. Independent superstructure above the vault proper, +to carry the outside covering, had not been introduced when this roofing +was laid. + +In its early days many a noted prelate and honored churchman was laid to +rest within the holy precinct of the choir in front of the high altar or +in the rough old sepulchres of the surrounding chapels. With the moving +of the choir, and probably also a change in the church ceremonies, came +a rearrangement of the apse and the Capilla Mayor's relation to the new +rites. + +The retablo back of the high altar, consisting of Plateresque ornament, +belongs for the most part to the Renaissance. The Evangelists and church +fathers are by Pedro Berruguete (not as great as his son, the sculptor +Alfonso), Juan de Borgona and Santos Cruz. In the centre, facing the +ambulatory behind, is a fine Renaissance tomb of the renowned Bishop +Alfonso Tostada de Madrigal. He is kneeling in full episcopal robes, +deeply absorbed either in writing or possibly reading the Scriptures. +The workmanship on mitre and robe is as fine as the similar remarkable +work in Burgos, while the enclosing rail is a splendid example of the +blending of Gothic and Renaissance. + +The glass in the apse windows is exceptionally rich and magnificently +brilliant in its coloring. It was executed by Alberto Holando, one of +the great Dutch glaziers of Burgos, who was given the entire contract in +1520 by Bishop Francisco Ruiz, a nephew of the great Cardinal Cisneros. + +Such, in short, are the characteristics of the chevet of the Cathedral +of Avila, constructed in an age when its builders must have worked in a +spirit of hardy vigor with the trowel in one hand and the sword in the +other. As we see it to-day, it imparts a feeling of mystery, and its +oriental splendor is enhanced by the dim, religious light. + +In entering the crossing, we step into the fullness of the Gothic +triumph. The vaults have been thrown into the sky to the height of 130 +feet. It is early Gothic work, with its many errors and consequent +retracing of steps made in ignorance. The great arches that span the +crossing north and south had taken too bold a leap and subsequently +required the support of cross arches. The western windows and the great +roses at the end of the transepts, with early heavy traceries, proved +too daring and stone had to be substituted for glass in their apertures; +the long row of nave windows have likewise been filled with masonry. +Despite these and many similar penalties for rashness, the work is as +dignified as it is admirable. Of course the proportions are all small in +comparison with such later great Gothic churches as Leon and Burgos, the +nave and transepts here being merely 28 to 30 feet wide, the aisles only +24 feet wide. Avila is but an awkward young peasant girl if compared +with the queenly presence of her younger sisters. Nevertheless Avila is +in true Spanish peasant costume, while Leon and Burgos are tricked out +in borrowed finery. The nave is short and narrow, but that gives an +impression of greater height, and the obscurity left by the forced +substitution of stone for glass in the window spaces adds to the +solemnity. The nave consists of five bays, the aisle on each side of it +rising to about half its height. The golden groining is quadripartite, +the ribs meeting in great colored bosses and pendents, added at periods +of less simple taste. In the crossing alone, intermediary ribs have been +added in the vaulting. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +AVILA + +From outside the walls] + +The walls of the transept underneath the great blind wheels to the north +and south are broken by splendid windows, each with elaborate tracery +(as also the eastern and western walls), heavy and strong, but finely +designed. The glazing is glorious, light, warm, and intense. The walls +of the nave, set back above the lowest arcade some eighteen inches, have +triforium and clerestory, and above this again, they are filled quite up +to the vaulting with elaborate tracery, possibly once foolhardily +conceived to carry glass. Each bay has six arches in both triforium and +clerestory, all of simple and early apertures. The glazing of the +clerestory is white, excepting in one of the bays. In this single +instance, a simple, geometric pattern of buff and blue stripes is of +wonderfully harmonious and lovely color effect. + +The shafts that separate nave from side aisles are still quite +Romanesque in feeling,--of polygonal core faced by four columns and +eight ribs. The capitals are very simple with no carving, but merely a +gilded representation of leafage, while the base molds carry around all +breaks of the pier. It may be coarse and crude in feeling and execution, +certainly very far from the exquisite finish of Leon, nevertheless the +infancy of an architectural style, like a child's, has the peculiar +interest of what it holds in promise. Like Leon, the side aisles have +double roofing, allowing the light to penetrate to the nave arcade and +forming a double gallery running round the church. + +Many of the bishops who were buried in the choir in its old location +were, on its removal to the bay immediately west of the crossing, also +moved and placed in the various chapels. The sepulchre of Bishop Sancho +Davila is very fine. Like his predecessors, he was a fighting man. His +epitaph reads as follows:-- + +"Here lies the noble cavalier Sancho Davila, Captain of the King Don +Fernando and the Queen Dona Isabel, our sovereigns, and their alcaide of +the castles of Carmona, son of Sancho Sanches, Lord of San Roman and of +Villanueva, who died fighting like a good cavalier against the Moors in +the capture of Alhama, which was taken by his valor on the 28th of +February in the year 1490." + +The pulpits on each side of the crossing, attached to the great piers, +are, curiously enough, of iron, exquisitely wrought and gilded. The one +on the side of the epistle is Gothic and the other Renaissance, the body +of each of them bearing the arms of the Cathedral, the Agnus Dei, and +the ever-present lions and castles. The rejas, closing off choir and +Capilla Mayor in the customary manner, are heavy and ungainly. On the +other hand, the trascoro, that often sadly blocks up the sweep of the +nave, is unusually low and comparatively inconspicuous. It contains +reliefs of the life of Christ, from the first half of the sixteenth +century, by Juan Res and Luis Giraldo. The choir itself is so compact +that it only occupies one bay. The chapter evidently was a modest one. +The stalls are of elaborate Renaissance workmanship. The verger now in +charge, with the voice of a hoarse crow, reads you the name of the +carver as the Dutchman "Cornelis 1536." + +Strange to say, there are no doors leading, as they logically should, +into the centre of the arms of the transept. Through some perversity, +altars have taken their place, while the northern and southern entrances +have been pushed westward, opening into the first bays of the side +aisles. The southern door leads to a vestibule, the sacristy with fine +Gothic vaulting disfigured by later painting, a fine fifteenth-century +chapel and the cloisters. None of this can be seen from the front, as it +is hidden by adjoining houses and a bare, pilastered wall crowned by a +carved Renaissance balustrade. The galleries of the present cloisters +are later Gothic work with Plateresque decorations and arches walled up. + +Avila Cathedral is, as it were, a part and parcel of the history of +Castile during the reigns of her early kings, the turbulent times when +self-preservation was the only thought, any union of provinces far in +the future, and a Spanish kingdom undreamed of. She was a great church +in a small kingdom, in the empire she became insignificant. Much of her +history is unknown, but in the days of her power, she was certainly +associated with all great events in old Castile. Her influence grew +with her emoluments and the ever-increasing body of ecclesiastical +functionaries. In times of war, she became a fortress, and her bishop +was no longer master of his house. The Captain-General took command of +the bastions, as of those of the Alcazar, and soldiers took the place of +priests in the galleries. She was the key to the city, and on her flat +roofs the opposing armies closed in the final struggle for victory. + +The Cathedral has, in fact, only an eastern and a northern elevation, +the exterior to the west and south being hidden by the huge tower and +the confused mass of chapels and choir which extend to the walls and +houses. + +The western entrance front is noble and dignified in its austere +severity; probably as old as the clerestory of the nave, it is a grim +sentinel from the first part of the fourteenth century. With the +exception of the entrance, it speaks the Romanesque language, although +its windows and some of its decoration are pointed. It is magnificent +and impressive, very Spanish, and almost unique in the Peninsula. Four +mighty buttresses subdivide the composition; between these is the +entrance, and to the north and south are the towers which terminate the +aisles. + +The southern tower has never been finished. The northern is full of +inspiration. It is broken at two stages by double windows, the upper +ones of the belfry being crowned by pediments and surmounted by rich, +sunk tracery. The piers terminate in hexagonal pinnacles, while the +tower, as well as the rest of the front, is finished with a battlement. +The later blocking up of this, as well as the superimposed roofing, is +very evident and disturbing. All the angles of buttresses, of windows, +arches, splays, and pyramids,--those also crowning the bulky piers that +meet the flying buttresses,--are characteristically and uniquely +decorated with an ornamentation of balls. It softens the hard lines, +splashing the surface with infinite series of small, sharp shadows and +making it sparkle with life and light. The angles recall the blunt, blue +teeth of a saw. + +The main entrance, as well as the first two bays of the naves underneath +the towers, must originally have been of different construction from the +present one. Inside the church, these bays are blocked off from nave and +side aisles by walls, on top of which they communicate with each other +as also with the eastern apse by galleries, probably all necessary for +the defense of troops in the early days. Possibly a narthex terminated +the nave back of the original entrance portal underneath the present +vaulted compartment. + +The main entrance door is indeed a strange apparition. In its whiteness +between the sombre tints of the martial towers, it rises like a spectre +in the winding-sheets of a later age. It is distressingly out of place +and time in its dark framework. + +"But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, +but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor, and some to dishonor." + +The semicircular door is crowned by a profusely subdivided, Gothic +archivolt and guarded by two scaly giants or wild men that look, with +their raised clubs, as if they would beat the life out of any one who +should try to enter the holy cavern. Saints Peter and Paul float on +clouds in the spandrels. Above rises a sixteenth-century composition of +masks and canopied niches. The Saviour naturally occupies the centre, +flanked by the various saints that in times of peril protected the +church of Avila: Saints Vincente, Sabina and Cristela, Saint Segundo and +Santa Teresa. In the attic in front of a tremendous traceried cusp, with +openings blocked by masonry, the ornamentation runs completely riot. +Saint Michael, standing on top of a dejected and doubled-up dragon, +looks down on figures that are crosses between respectable caryatides +and disreputable mermaids. It is certainly as immaterial as unknown, +when and by whom was perpetrated this degenerate sculpture now +shamelessly disfiguring a noble casing. The strong, early towers seem in +their turn doubly powerful and eloquent in their simplicity and one +wishes the old Romanesque portal were restored and the great traceries +above it glazed to flood the nave with western sunlight. + +The northeastern angle is blocked by poor Renaissance masonry, the +exterior of the chapels here being faced by a Corinthian order and +broken by circular lights. + +The northern portal is as fine as that of the main entrance is paltry. +The head of the door, as well as the great arch which spans the recess +into which the entire composition is set, is, curiously enough, +three-centred, similar to some of the elliptical ones at Burgos and +Leon. A lion, securely chained to the church wall for the protection of +worshipers, guards each side of the entrance. Under the five arches +stand the twelve Apostles, time-worn, weather-beaten and mutilated, but +splendid bits of late thirteenth-century carving. For they must be as +early as that. The archivolts are simply crowded with small figures of +angels, of saints, and of the unmistakably lost. In the tympanum the +Saviour occupies the centre, and around Him is the same early, naive +representation of figures from the Apocalypse, angels, and the crowned +Virgin. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF AVILA + +Main entrance] + +Two years before Luther, a true exponent of Teutonic genius, had nailed +his theses to the door of a cathedral in central Germany, there was born +in the heart of Spain as dauntless and genuine a representative of her +country's genius. Each passed through great storm and stress of the +spirit, and finally entered into that closer communion with God, from +which the soul emerges miraculously strengthened. Do not these bleak +hills, this stern but lovely Cathedral, rising _per aspera ad astra_, +typify the strong soul of Santa Teresa? A great psychologist of our day +finds the woman in her admirable literary style. Prof. James further +accepts Saint Teresa's own defense of her visions: "By their fruits ye +shall know them." These were practical, brave, cheerful, aspiring, like +this Castilian sanctuary, intolerant of dissenters, sheltering and +caring for many, and leading them upward to the City which is unseen, +eternal in the heavens. + + + + +IV + +LEON + +[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF LEON + +From the southwest] + + Look where the flood of western glory falls + Through the great sunflower disk of blazing panes + In ruby, saffron, azure, emerald stains. + + _Holmes._ + + +In the year 1008 the ancient church of Leon witnessed a ceremony +memorable for more reasons than one. It was conducted throughout +according to Gothic customs, King, Queen, nobility and ecclesiastics all +being present, and it was the first council held in Spain since the Arab +conquest whose acts have come down to us. The object was twofold: to +hold a joyous festival in celebration of the rebuilding of the city +walls, which had been broken down some years before by a Moslem army, +and to draw up a charter for a free people, governing themselves, for +Spain has the proud distinction of granting municipal charters one or +two hundred years before the other countries of Europe. For three +centuries of Gothic rule, the kings of Leon, Castile and other provinces +had successfully resisted every attempt at encroachment from the Holy +See and, in session with the clergy, elected their own bishops, until in +1085 Alfonso VI of Castile takes the fatal step of sending Bernard +d'Azeu to receive the pallium and investiture as Bishop of Toledo from +the hands of Gregory VII. From this time forth, kings are crowned, +queens repudiated, and even the hallowed Gothic or Mozarabic ritual is +set aside for that of Rome by order of popes. + +In 1135 Santa Maria of Leon is the scene of a gorgeous pageant. An +Alfonso, becoming master of half Spain and quarter of France, thinks he +might be called Emperor as well as some others, and within the Cathedral +walls he receives the new title in the presence of countless +ecclesiastics and "all his vassals, great and small." The monarch's robe +was of marvelous work, and a crown of pure gold set with precious stones +was placed on his head, while the King of Navarre held his right hand +and the Bishop of Leon his left. Feastings and donations followed, but, +what was of vastly more importance, the new Emperor confirmed the +charters granted to various cities by his grandfather. + +Again a great ceremony fills the old church. Ferdinand, later known as +the Saint, is baptized there in 1199. A year or two later, Innocent III +declares void the marriage of his father and mother, who were cousins, +and an interdict shrouds the land in darkness. Several years pass during +which the Pope turns a deaf ear to the entreaties of a devoted husband, +the King of Leon, to their children's claim, the intercession of Spanish +prelates, and the prayers of two nations who had good cause to rejoice +in the union of Leon and Castile. Then a victim of the yoke, which Spain +had voluntarily put on while Frederic of Germany and even Saint Louis of +France were defending their rights against the aggressions of the Holy +See, the good Queen Berenzuela, sadly took her way back to her father's +home, to the King of Castile. + +His prerogative once established, Innocent III looked well after his +obedient subjects. When Spain was threatened by the most formidable of +all Moorish invasions, he published to all Christendom a bull of crusade +against the Saracens, and sent across the Pyrenees the forces which had +been gathering in France for war in Palestine. Rodrigo, Archbishop of +Toledo, preached the holy war and led his troops, in which he was joined +by the bishops of Bordeaux, Nantes, and Narbonne at the head of their +militia. Germany and Italy sent their quota of knights and soldiers of +fortune, and this concourse of Christian warriors, speaking innumerable +tongues, poured through mountain defiles and ever southward till they +met in lofty Toledo and camped on the banks of the Tagus. Marches, +skirmishes, and long-drawn-out sieges prelude the great day. The hot +Spanish summer sets in, the foreigners, growing languid in the arid +stretches of La Mancha, and disappointed at the slender booty meted out +to them, desert the native army, march northwards and again cross the +Pyrenees to return to their homes. It was thus left to the Spaniards, +led by three kings and their warlike prelates, to defeat a Moslem army +of half a million and gain the glorious victory of Las Navas de Tolosa +on the sixteenth of August, 1212. + +With Rome's firm grasp on the Spanish Peninsula came temples no less +beautiful than those the great Mother Church was planting in every +portion of her dominion north of the Pyrenees,--Leon, Burgos, Toledo and +Valencia rose in proud challenge to Amiens, Rheims, Beauvais and +Chartres. + +Leon may be called French,--yes, unquestionably so, but that is no +detraction or denial of her native "gentileza." She may be the very +embodiment of French planning, her general dimensions like those of +Bourges; her portals certainly recall those of Chartres, and the +planning of her apsidal chapels, her bases, arches, and groining ribs, +remind one of Amiens and Rheims; but nevertheless this exotic flower +blooms as gloriously in a Spanish desert as those that sprang up amid +the vineyards or in the Garden of France. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF LEON CATHEDRAL + + A. Capilla Mayor. + B. Choir. + C. Crossing. + D. Tombs. + E. Trascoro. + F. Towers. + G. Cloisters.] + +Leon is almost as old as the history of Spain. In the first century +after Christ, the seventh Roman legion, on the order of Augustus, +pitched their tents where the city now stands, built their customary +rectangular enclosure with its strong walls and towers, happily seconded +by the nature of the surrounding country. From here the wild hordes of +the Asturias could be kept in check. The city was narrowly built in the +fork of two rivers, on ground allowing neither easy approach nor +expansion, so that the growth has, even up to the twentieth century, +been within the ancient walls, and the streets and squares are in +consequence narrow and cramped. On many of the blocks of those old walls +may still be seen carved in the clear Roman lettering, "Legio septima +gemina, pia, felix." The name of Leon is merely a corruption first used +by the Goths of the Roman "Legio." Roman dominion survived the empire +for many years, being first swept away when the Gothic hordes in the +middle of the sixth century descended from the north under the +conqueror, Loevgild. Its Christian bishopric was possibly the first in +Spain, founded in the darkness of the third century, since which time +the little city can boast an unbroken succession of Leonese bishops, +although a number, during the turbulent decades of foreign rule, may not +actually have been "in residence." The Moslem followed the Goth, and +ruled while the nascent Christian kingdom of the Asturias was slowly +gaining strength for independence and the foundation of an episcopal +seat. In the middle of the eighth century, the Christians wrested it +from the Moors. On the site of the old Roman baths, built in three long +chambers, King Ordono II erected his palace (he was reconstructing for +defense and glory the walls and edifices of the city) and in 916 +presented it with considerable ground and several adjacent houses to +Bishop Frumonio, that he might commence the building of the Cathedral on +the advantageous palace site in the heart of the city. Terrible Moorish +invasions occurred soon after, involving considerable damage to the +growing Byzantine basilica. In 996 the Moors swept the city with fire +and sword, and again, three years later, it fell entirely into the hands +of the great conqueror Almanzor, who remained in possession only just +the same time, for we may read in the old monkish manuscripts that in +1002 from the Christian pulpits of Castile and Leon the proclamation was +made: "Almanzor is dead, and buried in Hell." + +Leon could boast of being the first mediaeval city of Europe to obtain +self-government and a charter of her own, and she became the scene of +important councils during the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth +centuries. In the eleventh century, under the great Ferdinand I, who +united Castile and Leon, work on the basilica was pushed rapidly +forward. French influence was predominant in the early building +operations, for Alfonso VI of Castile, who assumed the title of Emperor +of Spain, had two French wives, each of whom brought with her a batch of +zealous and skillful church-building prelates. + +The church was finally consecrated in 1149. About twenty-five years ago, +the Spanish architect, D. Demetrio de los Rios, in charge of the work of +restoration on the present Cathedral, discovered the walls and +foundations of the ancient basilica and was able to determine accurately +its relation to the later Gothic church. The exact date when this was +begun is uncertain,--many writers give 1199. Beyond a doubt the +foundations were laid out during the reign of Alfonso IX, early in the +thirteenth century, when Manrique de Lara was Bishop of the See of Leon +and French Gothic construction was at the height of its glory. It is +thus a thirteenth-century church, belonging principally to the latter +part, built with the feverish energy, popular enthusiasm, and +unparalleled genius for building which characterizes that period and +stamps it as uniquely glorious to later constructive ages. Though +smaller than most of the immense churches which afterwards rose under +Spanish skies, Leon remained in many respects unsurpassed and unmatched. + + "Sevilla en grandeza, Toledo en riqueza, + Compostella en fortaleza, esta en sutileza + Santa Maria de Regla." + +In the middle of the thirteenth century, after the consecration of the +new church, a famous council of all the bishops of the realm was held in +the little town of Madrid, and there the faithful were exhorted, and +the lukewarm admonished with threats, to contribute by every means to +the successful erection of Leon's Cathedral. Indulgences, well worth +consideration, were granted to contributors, at the head of whom for a +liberal sum stood the king, Alfonso X. + +But Leon, capital of the ancient kingdom, was doomed before long to feel +the bitterness of abandonment. The Castilian kings followed the retreat +southward of the Moorish armies, and the history of the capital of Leon, +which, during the thirteenth century, had been the history of the little +kingdom, soon became confined within the limits of her cathedral walls. +Burgos, a mighty rival, soon overshadowed her. The time came when the +Bishop of Leon was merely a suffragan of the Archbishop of Burgos, and +her kings had moved their court south to Seville. The city of Leon was +lost in the union of the two kingdoms. + +The fortunes of the Cathedral have been varied and her reverses great. +Her architects risked a great deal and the disasters entailed were +proportionate. Though belonging preeminently in style to the glorious +thirteenth century, her building continued almost uninterruptedly +throughout the fourteenth. We have in succession Maestro Enrique, Pedro +Cebrian, Simon, Guillen de Rodan, Alonzo Valencia, Pedro de Medina, and +Juan de Badajoz, working on her walls and towers with a magnificent +recklessness which was shortly to meet its punishment. Although Bishop +Gonzalez in 1303 declared the work, "thanks be to God, completed," it +was but started. The south facade was completed in the sixteenth +century, but as early as 1630 the light fabric began to tremble, then +the vaulting of the crossing collapsed and was replaced by a more +magnificent dome. Many years of mutilations and disasters succeeded. The +south front was entirely taken down and rebuilt, the vaulting of aisles +fell, great portions of the main western facade, and ornamentation here +and there was disfigured or destroyed by the later alterations in +overconfident and decadent times, until, in the middle of the eighteenth +century, very considerable portions of the original rash and exquisite +fabric were practically ruined. There came, however, an awakening to the +outrages which had been committed, and from the middle of the nineteenth +century to the present day, the work of putting back the stones in their +original forms and places has steadily advanced to the honor of Leon and +glory of Spain, until Santa Maria de Regla at last stands once more in +the full pristine lightness of her original beauty. + +The plan of Leon is exceedingly fine, surpassed alone among Spanish +churches by that of Toledo. Three doorways lead through the magnificent +western portal into the nave and side aisles of the Church. These +consist of five bays up to the point where the huge arms of the transept +spread by the width of an additional bay. In proportion to the foot of +the cross, these arms are broader than in any other Spanish cathedral. +They are four bays in length, the one under the central lantern being +twice the width of the others, thus making the total width of the +transepts equal to the distance from the western entrance to their +intersection. The choir occupies the fifth and sixth bays of the nave. +To the south, the transept is entered by a triple portal very similar in +scale and richness to the western. The eastern termination of the +church is formed by a choir of three and an ambulatory of five bays +running back of the altar and trascoro, and five pentagonal apsidal +chapels. The sacristy juts out in the extreme southwestern angle. The +northern arm of the huge transepts is separated from the extensive +cloisters by a row of chapels or vestibules which to the east also lead +to the great Chapel of Santiago. All along its eastern lines the church +with its dependencies projects beyond the city walls, one of its massive +towers standing as a mighty bulwark of defense in the extreme +northeastern angle. + +[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF LEON + +Looking up the nave] + +It is a plan that must delight not only the architect, but any casual +observer, in its almost perfect symmetry and in the relationship of its +various parts to each other. It belonged to the primitive period of +French Gothic, though carried out in later days when its vigor was +waning. It has not been cramped nor distorted by initial limitation of +space or conditions, nor injured by later deviations from the original +conception. It is worthy of the great masters who planned once for all +the loveliest and most expressive house for the worship of God. Erected +on the plains of Leon, it was conceived in the inspired provinces of +Champagne and the Isle de France. + +It has a total length of some 308 feet and a width of nave and aisles of +83. The height to the centre of nave groining is 100 feet. The western +front has two towers, which, curiously enough, as in Wells Cathedral, +flank the side aisles, thus necessitating in elevation a union with the +upper portions of the facade by means of flying buttresses. + +There is a fine view of the exterior of the church from across the +square facing the southwestern angle. A row of acacia plumes and a +meaningless, eighteenth-century iron fence conceal the marble paving +round the base, but this foreground sinks to insignificance against the +soaring masses of stone towers and turrets, buttresses and pediments, +stretching north and east. Both facades have been considerably restored, +the later Renaissance and Baroque atrocities having been swept away in a +more refined and sensitive age, when the portions of masonry which fell, +owing to the flimsiness of the fabric, were rebuilt. The result has, +however, been that great portions, as for instance in the western front +and the entire central body above the portals, jar, with the chalky +whiteness of their surfaces by the side of the time-worn masonry. They +lack the exquisite harmony of tints, where wind and sun and water have +swept and splashed the masonry for centuries. + +The two towers that flank the western front in so disjointed a manner +are of different heights and ages. Both have a heavy, lumbering quality +entirely out of keeping with the aerial lightness of the remainder of +the church. It is not quite coarseness, but rather a stiff-necked, +pompous gravity. Their moldings lack vigor and sparkle. The play of +fancy and sensitive decorative treatment are wanting. The northern tower +is the older and has an upper portion penetrated by a double row of +round and early pointed windows. An unbroken octagonal spire crowns it, +the angles of the intersection being filled by turrets, as uninteresting +as Prussian sentry-boxes. The southern tower, though lighter and more +ornamented, has, like its sister, extremely bald lower surfaces, the +four angles in both cases being merely broken by projecting buttresses. +The lowest story was completed in the fourteenth century. It was added +to in successive centuries by Maestro Jusquin and Alfonso Ramos, but its +great open-work spire, of decided German form, probably much influenced +by Colonia's spires at Burgos, was first raised in the fifteenth +century. + +It is a complete monotonous lacework of stone, not nearly as spirited as +similar, earlier, French work. The spire is separated from the bald base +by a two-storied belfry, with two superimposed openings on each surface. +Gothic inscriptions decorate the masonry and the huge black letters +spell out "Deus Homo--Ave Maria, Gratia plena." + +At the base, between these huge, grave sentinels, stands the magnificent +old portico with the modern facing of the main body of the church above +it. This screen of later days, built after the removal of a hideously +out-of-keeping Renaissance front, is contained within two buttresses +which meet the great flying ones. In fact, looking down the stone gorge +between these buttresses and the towers, one sees a mass of pushing and +propping flying buttresses springing in double rows above the roof of +the side aisles towards the clerestories of the nave. The screen itself +contains, immediately above the portico, an arcade of four subdivided +arches, corresponding to the triforium, and above it a gorgeous rose +window. It is the best type of late thirteenth or early +fourteenth-century wheel of radial system, very similar in design to the +western wheel of Notre Dame de Paris and the great western one of +Burgos. Springing suddenly into being in all its developed perfection, +it can only be regarded as a direct importation from the Isle de France. +The ribs of the outer circle are twice as many as those of the inner, +thus dividing the glass surfaces into approximately equal breadth of +fields. This and the rose of the southern transept are similar, and both +are copies of the original one still extant in the north transept. A +fine cornice and open-work gallery surmount the composition, flanked by +crocketed turrets and crowned in the centre by a pediment injurious in +effect and of Italian Renaissance inspiration. The gable field is broken +by a smaller wheel, and in an ogival niche are statues of the +Annunciation. + +The portico is the most truly splendid part of the Cathedral. Erected at +the end of the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth century, much +of its Gothic sculpture is unsurpassed in Spain. A perfect museum of art +and a history in magnificent carving. The composition as a whole recalls +again unquestionably Chartres. It consists of three recessed arches +hooding with deep splays the three doorways which lead into nave and +side aisles. Between the major arches are two smaller, extremely pointed +ones, the most northerly of which encases an ancient columnar shaft +decorated with the arms of Leon and bearing the inscription, "locus +appellationis." Beneath it court was long held and justice administered +by the rulers of Leon during the Middle Ages. + +The arches of the porches are supported by piers, completely broken and +surrounded by columnar shafts and niches carrying statues on their +corbels. These piers stand out free from the jambs of the doors and +wall surfaces behind, and thus form an open gallery between the two. +Around and over all is an astounding and lavish profusion of +sculpture,--no less than forty statues. The jambs and splays, the +shafts, the archivolts, the moldings and tympanums are covered with +carving, varied and singularly interesting in the diversity of its +period and character. Part of it is late Byzantine with the traditions +of the twelfth century, while much is from the very best vigorous Gothic +chisels, and yet some, later Gothic. Certain borders, leafage, and vine +branches are Byzantine, and so also are some of the statues, "retaining +the shapeless proportions and the immobility and parched frown of the +Byzantine School, so perfectly dead in its expression, offering, +however, by its garb and by its contours not a little to the study of +this art, and so constituting a precious museum." Again, other statues +have the mild and venerable aspect of the second period of Gothic work. +The oldest are round the most northerly of the three doorways. Every +walk of life is represented. There is a gallery of costumes; and most +varying emotions are depicted in the countenances of the kings and +queens, monks and virgins, prelates, saints, angels, and bishops. +Separating the two leaves of the main doorway, stands Our White Lady. +But if the statues are interesting, the sculpture of the archivolts and +the personages and scenes carved on the fields of the tympanums far +surpass them. + +Mrs. Wharton says somewhere, "All northern art is anecdotic,--it is an +ancient ethnological fact that the Goth has always told his story that +way." Nothing could be more "anecdotic" than this sculpture. The +northern tympanum gives scenes from the Life of Christ, the Visitation, +the Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi, and the Flight into Egypt. In +the southern, are events from the life of the Virgin Mary; but the +central one, and the archivolts surrounding it, contain the most +spirited bits. The scene is the Last Judgment, with Christ as the +central figure. Servants of the Church of various degrees are standing +on one side with expressions of beatitude nowise clouded by the fate of +the miserable reprobates on the other. In the archivolts angels ascend +with instruments and spreading wings, embracing monks or gathering +orphans into their bosoms, while the lost with horrid grimaces are +descending to their inevitable doom. Not even the great Florentine could +depict more realistically the feelings of such as had sinned grievously +in this world. + +The long southern side of the church has for its governing feature the +wide transept termination, which in its triple portal, triforium arcade, +and rose is practically a repetition of the west. The central body is +all restored. The original, magnificent old statues and carving have, +however, been set back in the new casings around and above the main +entrance. An old Leonese bishop, San Triolan, occupies in the central +door the same position as "Our White Lady" to the west, while the +Saviour between the Four Evangelists is enthroned in the tympanum. + +[Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF LEON + +Rear of apse] + +One obtains a most interesting study in construction by standing behind +the great polygonal apse, whence one may see the double rows of flying +buttresses pushing with the whole might of the solid piers behind them +against the narrow strips of masonry at the angles of the choir. From +every buttress rise elegantly carved and crocketed finials. Marshalled +against the cobalt of the skies, they body forth an array of shining +lances borne by a heavenly host. The balconies, forming the cresting to +the excessively high clerestory, are entirely Renaissance in feeling, +and lack in their horizontal lines the upward spring of the church +below. Almost all of this eastern end, breaking through the city walls, +is, with the possible exception of the roof, part of the fine old +structure, in contrast to the adjoining Plateresque sacristy. + +It is generally from the outside of French cathedrals that one receives +the most vivid impressions. Though the mind may be overcome by a feeling +of superhuman effort on entering the portals of Notre Dame de Paris, yet +the emotion produced by the first sight of the queenly, celestial +edifice from the opposite side of the broad square is the more powerful +and eloquent. Not so in Spain,--and this in spite of the location of the +choirs. It is not until you enter a Spanish church that its power and +beauty are felt. + +The audacious construction of Leon, which one wonders at from the square +outside, becomes well-nigh incredible when seen from the nave. How is it +possible that glass can support such a weight of stone? If Burgos was +bold, this is insane. It looks as unstable as a house of cards, ready +for a collapse at the first gentle breeze. Can fields of glass sustain +three hundred feet of thrusts and such weights of stone? It is a +culmination of the daring of Spanish Gothic. In France there was this +difference,--while the fields of glass continued to grow larger and +larger, the walls to diminish, and the piers to become slenderer, the +aid of a more perfectly developed system of counterthrusts to the +vaulting was called in. In Spain we reach the maximum of elimination in +the masonry of the side walls at the end of the thirteenth century, and +in the Cathedral of Leon, whereas later Gothic work, as in portions of +Burgos and Toledo, shows a sense of the futile exaggeration towards +which they were drifting, as well as the impracticability of so much +glass from a climatic point of view. + +Internally, Leon is the lightest and most cheerful church in Spain. The +great doorways of the western and southern fronts, as well as that to +the north leading into the cloisters, are thrown wide open, as if to add +to the joyousness of the temple. Every portion of it is flooded with +sweet sunlight and freshness. It is the church of cleanliness, of light +and fresh air, and above all, of glorious color. The glaziers might have +said with Isaiah, "And I will make thy windows of agates and thy gates +of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones." The entire walls +are a continuous series of divine rainbows. + +The side walls of the aisles for a height of some fourteen feet to the +bottom of their vaulting ribs, the triforium, commencing but a foot +above the arches which separate nave from side aisles, and immediately +above the triforium, forty feet of clerestory,--all is glass, emerald, +turquoise, and peacock, amber, straw, scarlet, and crimson, encased in a +most delicate, strangely reckless, and bold-traceried framework of +stained ivory. Indeed, the jeweled portals of Heaven are wide open when +the sun throws all the colors from above across the otherwise colorless +fields of the pavement. "The color of love's blood within them glows." +There is glazing of many centuries and all styles. In some of the +triforium windows are bits of glass, which, after the destruction or +falling of the old windows, were carefully collected, put together, and +used again in the reglazing. Some of it is of the earliest in Spain, +probably set by French, Flemish, or German artisans who had immigrated +to practise their art and set up their factories on Spanish soil +adjacent to the stone-carvers' and masons' sheds under the rising walls +of the great churches. Like all skilled artisans of their age, the +secret of their trade, the proper fusing of the silica with the +alkalies, was carefully guarded and handed down from father to son or +master to apprentice. They were chemists, glaziers, artists, colorists, +and glass manufacturers, all in one. The heritage was passed on in those +days, when the great key of science which opens all portals had not yet +become common property. Some of the oldest glass is merely a crude +mosaic inlay of small bits and must date back to early thirteenth +century. Coloring glass by partial fusion was then first practised and +soon followed by the introduction of figures and themes in the glass, +and the acquisition of a lovely, homogeneous opalescence in place of the +purely geometrical patterns. Scriptural scenes or figures painted, as +the Spanish say, "en caballete," became more and more general. The best +of the Leon windows are from the fifteenth century, when the glaziers' +shops in the city worked under the direction of Juan de Arge, Maestro +Baldwin, and Rodrigo de Ferraras, and its master colorists were at work +glazing the windows of the Capilla Mayor, the Capilla de Santiago, and a +portion of those of the north transept. "Ces vitreaux hauts en couleur, +qui faisaient hesiter l'oeil emerveille de nos peres entre la rose du +grand portail et les ogives de l'abside." The glazing has gone on +through centuries; even to-day the glaziers at Leon are busy in their +shops, making the sheets of sunset glow for their own and other Spanish +cathedrals. + +In some of the side aisles, they have, alas, during recent decades +placed some horrible "grisaille" and geometrically patterned +windows,--in frightful contrast to the delightful thirteenth-century +legends of Saint Clement and Saint Ildefonso, or that most absorbing +record of civic life depicted in the northern aisle. In studying the +windows of Leon, Lamperez y Romea's observations on Spanish glazing are +of interest: "In the fourteenth century the rules of glazing in Spain +were changed. Legends had fallen into disuse and the masters had learned +that, in the windows of the high nave, small medallions could not be +properly appreciated. They were then replaced by large figures, isolated +or in groups, but always one by one in the spaces determined by the +tracery. The coloring remained strong and vivid. The study of nature, +which had so greatly developed in painting and in sculpture, altered the +drawing little by little, the figures became more modeled and lifelike, +and were carried out with more detail. At the same time the coloring +changed by the use of neutral tints, violet, brown, light blues, rose, +etc. Many of the old windows are of this style. And so are the majority +of the windows of Avila, Leon, and Toledo, as it lasted in Spain +throughout the fifteenth century, and others which preserve the +composition of great figures and strong coloring, although there may be +noticed in the drawings greater naturalism and modeling." + +These rules differed slightly from those followed in France, where, with +the exception of certain churches in the east, the windows of the +thirteenth century were richer in decoration, more luscious in coloring +and more harmonious in their tones than those of the fourteenth. There +is little in this later century that can compare with the +thirteenth-century series of Chartres figures. + +The Leonese windows are perhaps loveliest late in the afternoon, when +the saints and churchmen seem to be entering the church through their +black-traceried portals, and, clad in heavenly raiment, about to descend +to the pavement,-- + + As softly green, + As softly seen, + Through purest crystal gleaming, + +there to people the aisles and keep vigil at the altars of God to the +coming of another day. + +There are, fortunately, scarcely any other colors or decorations,--or +altars off side aisles,--that might divert the attention from the +richness of glass. The various vaulting has the jointing of its +stonework strongly marked, but, with the exception of the slightly +gilded bosses, no color is applied. The glory of the glass is thus +enhanced. Owing to the great portions of masonry which have been +rebuilt, this varies in its tints, but the old was, and has remained, of +such an exquisitely delicate creamy color that the new interposed +stonework merely looks like a lighter, fresher shade of the old. The +restoration has been executed with rare skill and artistic feeling. + +In studying the inner organism and structure of the edifice, one soon +sees how recklessly the original fabric was constructed and in how many +places it had to be rebuilt, strengthened and propped,--indeed, +immediately after its completion. Here, as was the general custom in the +greater early Gothic cathedrals, the building began with the choir and +Capilla Mayor, to be followed by the transepts, the portions of the +edifice essential to the service. The choir was probably temporarily +roofed over and the nave and side aisles followed. The exterior facades, +portals, and upper stories of the towers were carried out last of all by +the aid of indulgences, contributions, alms and concessions. + +In old manuscripts and documents which record the very first work on the +cathedrals we find the one in charge called "Maestro,"--or _magister +operis_, _magister ecclesiae_, _magister fabricae_, but not till +the sixteenth century does the appellation "arquitecto" appear. +His pay seems to have varied, both in amount and in form of +emolument,--sometimes it was good hard cash, often a very poor or +dubious remuneration, handed out consequently with a more lavish hand; +sometimes grants, and again royal favor. Generally the architect entered +into a stipulated agreement with the Cathedral Chapter, both as to his +time and services, before he began his work. We find Master Jusquin +(1450-69) receiving from the Chapter of Leon not only a daily salary but +also annual donations of bushels of wheat, pairs of gloves, lodgings, +poultry, other supplies, and the use of certain workmen. + +Leon's unquestionable French parentage is, if possible, even more +obvious in the interior than in the exterior. The piers between nave and +side aisles are cylindrical in plan, having in their lowest section on +their front surface three columns grouped together that continue +straight up through triforium and clerestory and carry the transverse +and diagonal ribs of the nave. They have further one column on each side +of the axis east and west and, strange to say, only one toward the side +aisles, which thus lack continuous supports for their diagonal ribs. The +outer walls of the side aisles are formed by a blind arcade of five +arches, surmounted by a projecting balcony or corridor and a clerestory +subdivided by its tracery into four arches and three cusped circles. The +nave triforium consists of a double arcade with a gallery running +between (one of the very rare examples in Spain). Each bay has in the +triforium four open and two closed arches, surmounted by two +quatrefoils. The clerestory rises above, divided by marvelously slender +shafts into six compartments and three cusped circles in the apex of the +arch. Here shine, in dazzling raiment and with ecstatic expressions, the +saints and martyrs ordered in the fifteenth century from Burgos for the +sum of 20,000 maravedis. + +Throughout all the glazed wall surfaces we find evidence of the anxiety +that overtook their reckless projectors. All but the upper cusps of the +windows of the side aisles have been filled in by masonry, painted with +saints and evangelists in place of the translucent ones originally +placed here. The lower portions of the triforium lights have been +blocked up and also the two outer arches of the clerestory. The light, +clustered piers and slender, double flying buttresses could not +accomplish the gigantic task of supporting the great height above. Nor +could the ingenious strengthening of the stone walls (consisting of +ashlar inside and out, facing intermediate rubble) by iron clamps supply +the requisite firmness. + +It seems doubly unfortunate that the choir stalls should occupy the +position they do here, when there is such liberal space in the three +bays east of the crossing in front of the altar. The stone of their +exterior backing is cold and gray beside the ochre warmth of the +surrounding piers. The classic Plateresque statues and bas-reliefs, as +well as the exquisitely carved, Florentine decoration, seems strangely +out of place under the Gothic loveliness above. The trascoro itself is +warmer in color, but of the extravagant later period. Its pilasters, +spandrels, and band-courses are filled with elaborate and fine +Florentine ornamentation, while the niches themselves, with high reliefs +representing the Annunciation, the Nativity, and the Adoration of the +Magi, are not quite free from a certain Gothic feeling. Above, great +statues of Church Fathers weigh heavily on the delicate work and smaller +scale below. + +The carving of the double tier of walnut choir stalls is at once +restrained and rich. Beautiful Gothic tracery surmounts in both tiers +the figures that fill the panels above the seats. Below are characters +from the Old Testament,--Daniel, Jeremiah, Abel, David busily playing +his harp, Joshua "Dux Isri," Moses with splendid big horns and tablets, +Tobias with his little fish slit up the belly. Above stand firmly +full-length figures of the Apostles and saints. With the exception of +some of the work near the entrance, which is practically Renaissance in +feeling, all this carving is late Gothic from the last part of the +fifteenth century and executed by the masters Fadrique, John of Malines, +and Rodrigo Aleman. Two of the stalls, more elevated and pronounced than +the rest, are for the hereditary canons of the Cathedral, the King of +Leon and the Marquis of Astorga. Excellent as they are, these stalls are +not nearly so rich in design nor beautiful in execution as the Italian +Renaissance choir stalls, in the Convent of San Marcos directly outside +the city walls, carved some decades later by the Magister Guillielmo +Dosel. + +The crossing is splendidly broad, the transepts appearing, as one +glances north and south, as much the main arms of the cross as do the +nave and choir. The southern arm is quite new, having been completely +rebuilt by D. Juan Madrazo and D. Demetrio Amador de los Rios. The +glazing of its window and the arabesques cannot be compared to those of +the original fabric in the northern arm. The four piers of the crossing, +though slender and graceful, carry full, logical complements of shafts +for the support of the various vaulting ribs, intersecting at their +apexes. + +The retablo above the high altar is in its simplicity as refreshing as +the light and sunniness of the church. In place of the customary gaudy +carving, it merely consists of a series of painted fifteenth-century +tablets set in Gothic frames. Simple rejas close the western bays and a +florid Gothic trasaltar, the eastern termination. Directly back of the +altar lies a noble and dignified figure, the founder of the church, King +Ordono II. At his feet is a little dog, looking for all the world like +a sucking pig in a butcher's window. And above him is an ancient and +most curious Byzantine relief of the Crucifixion. The lions and castles +of his kingdom surround the old king. The greater portion of the carving +must belong to the oldest in the church. + +In looking at the vaulting and considering the difficulty of planning +the "girola" or ambulatory, one realizes that such construction could +only be the outcome of many years of study, experiment and inspiration. +Perfection means long previous schooling and experience. The apsidal +chapels that radiate from it have glass differing in excellence. Here +and there frescoes of the thirteenth century line these earliest walls. +It is surprising in how many different places old sepulchres are to be +found, all more or less similar in their general design and belonging to +the period of transition from the Byzantine to the Gothic, yet each +denoting the building period of the place where it stands. Some of the +subjects of the carving are most curious: a hog playing the bagpipes, +the devil in the garb of a father confessor, tempting a penitent; or +again, a woman suckling an ass. Saint Froila lies on one side of the +altar. Not only his sanctity but even his authenticity were disputed by +various disbelievers in the city, prior to his being brought to this +final resting-place. The matter was decided by placing the body in +question on an ass's back, whereupon the sagacious animal took his holy +burden to the spot where it deserved burial. + +In the Capilla de Nuestra Senora del Dado, or "of the die," stands a +Virgin with the face of the Christ child ever bleeding, it is said, +since the time when an unlucky gambler in a fit of despair threw his +dice against the Babe. + +Directly opposite Ordono's tomb lies the Countess Sancha, who, in a +burst of religious enthusiasm, decided to leave her considerable worldly +goods to the Church instead of to her nephew. This was more than he +could stand, and he murdered her. Below her figure he is represented, +receiving his just reward in being torn to pieces by wild horses. + +To the north, a florid Gothic portal leads on a higher level to the +Chapel of Santiago. This has been, and is still being, restored. Its +three vaults are differently arched, the ribs not being carried down +against the side walls to the floor, but met by broad corbels supported +by curious figures. The stonework is cold and gray in comparison to the +church proper. + +Separating the northern entrance from the cloisters is a row of chapels, +leading one into the other and crowded with tombs and sculpture. There +are few more complete cloisters in Spain. Large and elaborate, they are +a curious mixture of the old Gothic and the Renaissance restorations of +the sixteenth century. Ancient Gothic tombs, their archivolts crowded +with angels, pierce the interior walls, while the vaults themselves are +most elaborately groined, the arches and vaulting being later filled +with Renaissance bosses and rosettes. In the sunny courtyard are piled +up the Renaissance turrets and sculptures that once usurped on the +facades the places of the older Gothic ornamentation. The northern +portal itself is practically hidden by the chapels and cloisters. It is +fine Gothic work. A Virgin and Child form a mullion in its centre, while +very worldly-looking women parade in its archivolts. Everywhere are the +arms of the United Kingdoms. A great portion of the ancient tapestry +blue and Veronese red coloring is still preserved, throwing out the old +Gothic figures in their true tints. + +This aerial tabernacle, so rich and yet so simple, lies in the heart of +a city so fabulously old that the Cathedral itself belongs rather to its +later days. The old houses and streets have a dryness and close smell +like that in the ancient sepulchres of parched countries. Monuments and +walls and turrets of Rome crumble around the houses and vaults of +Byzantium. The naive frescoes and carvings of the eighth and ninth +centuries seem to look down with childlike wonder and amazement on the +pedestrians now crowding the patterned pavements, or pressing against +the shady sides of the time-worn arches. + +The worshipers who tread the narrow lanes leading to and from the altar +have changed, but little else. The square, mediaeval castles with their +angular towers still command the approach of the main thoroughfares. The +crabbed old watchman with lantern and stick under his cape treads his +doddering gait across the courtyards through the night hours, crying +after the peal of the bell above, "Las doce han dado y sereno," "Las +trece han dado y aleviendo," "Las quince han dado y nublano," just as in +the middle ages, so that the good peasant may know time and weather and +merely turn in his bed, if neither crops nor creatures need care. + +Santa Maria de Regla too stands to-day as she stood in the middle ages, +a monument to the care and affection of her children. She has the same +spirituality, harmony of proportions, slenderness, and purity of lines, +and she looks down and blesses us to-day with the same serenity and +queenly grace which she wore in the fourteenth century. She is the +finest Gothic cathedral in Spain. + + + + +V + + +TOLEDO + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO] + +I withdrew at once with the Morisco into the cloisters of the +Cathedral.--_Don Quixote._ + + +I + +The peace of death is over Toledo, unbroken by any invasion of modern +thought or new architecture since her last deep sighs mingled with the +distant echoes of the middle ages. But she still wears the mantle of her +imperial glory. She sleeps in the fierce, beating sunlight of the +twentieth century like the enchanted princess of fairy tales, +undisturbed by, and unconscious of, the world around her. + +The atmosphere is transparent; the sky spreads from lapis-lazuli to a +cobalt field back of the snow-capped, turquoise Sierra de Gredo +mountains, while a clear streak of lemon color throws out the sharp +silhouette of the battlements and towers. + +There is sadness and desolation in the decay, a pathetically forlorn and +tragical widowhood, strangely affecting to the senses. + + A blackened ruin, lonely and forsaken, + Already wrapt in winding-sheets of sand; + So lies Toledo till the dead awaken,-- + A royal spoil of Time's resistless hand. + +Toledo! The name rings with history, romance and legend. Enthralling +images of the past rise before one and vanish like the ghosts of +Macbeth. Capital of Goth, of Moslem, and of Christian; mightiest of +hierarchical seats,[8] city of monarch and priest, she has worn a double +diadem. Gautier says, "Jamais reine antique, pas meme Cleopatre, qui +buvait des perles, jamais courtisane Venitienne du temps de Titien n'eut +un ecrin plus etincelant, un trousseau plus riche que Notre Dame de +Tolede." But the flame of life which once burned warm and bright is now +extinct and all her glory has vanished. Neglected churches, convents, +palaces, and ruins lie huddled together, a stern and solemn vision of +the past, waiting with the silence of the tomb, broken only by the +continual tolling of her hoarse bells. + +The city has a superb situation. Once seen, it is forever impressed upon +the memory. The hills on which it stands rise abruptly from the +surrounding campagna, which bakes brown and barren and crisp under the +scorching rays of the sun, and stretches away to the distant mountains, +vast and uninterrupted in its solitude and dreariness. It is "pobre de +solemnidad,"--solemnly poor, as runs the touching phrase in Spanish. +There is no joy and freshness of vegetation, no glistening of wet +leaves, no scent of flowers. You read thirst in the plains, hunger in +the soil-denuded hills. All is naked and bare, without a softening line +or gentler shadow, lying fallow in spring, unwatered in drought, and +ungarnered at harvest time. + +The Tagus rushes round the city in the shape of a horseshoe, confining +and protecting it as the Wear does the towers of Durham. It boils and +eddies 'twixt its narrow, rocky confines, hurrying from the gloomy +shadows to the sunshine below, through which it slowly sweeps, murky and +coffee-colored, to the horizon, no life between its flat banks, no +commerce to mark it as a highway. + +You pass over the high-arched Alcantara Bridge, which the Campeador and +his kinsman, Alvar Fanez, crossed with twelve hundred horsemen at their +back, to demand justice from their sovereign. A broad terrace crawls +like a serpent up the steep incline to the city gates. A forest of +soaring steeples rises above you, topped by the square bulk of the +Alcazar. + +The city smells sleepy. The narrow streets, or rather alleys, of the +town wind tortuously around the stucco facades, with no apparent +starting-point or destination, as confused as a skein of worsted after a +kitten has played with it. Thus were they laid out by the wise Arabs, to +afford shade at all hours of the day. At every corner, one runs into +some detail of historical or artistic interest,--history and +architecture here wander hand in hand. + +Huge, wooden doors, closely studded with scallop nails as big as a man's +fist, proud escutcheons of noble races lost to all save Spain's history; +charming glimpses of interior courtyards and gardens glittering fresh in +their emerald coloring, and sweet with the scent of orange blossoms; +Gothic crenelations, Renaissance ironwork and railing, and Moorish +capitals and ornamentation, all pell-mell, the styles of six centuries +often appearing in the same building. More than a hundred churches and +chapels and forty monasteries crumble side by side within the small +radius of the city. Half of its area was once covered by religious +buildings or mortmain property. + + +II + +The church, be it a grand cathedral or the humble steeple of some little +hamlet, is always the connecting link between past and present. It has +been the highest artistic expression of the people, and it remains an +eloquent witness to continuity and tradition. It is what makes later +ages most forcibly "remember," for it seeks to embody and satisfy the +greatest need of the human heart. + +The history of a great cathedral church of Spain is so closely connected +with the civil life of its city that one cannot be thoroughly studied +without some familiarity with the other. Spanish cathedrals differ in +this respect from their great English and French sisters. In England, +cathedrals were built and owned by the clergy, they belonged to the +priests, they were surrounded and hedged in from the outside world by +their extensive lawns and cloisters, refectories, chapter houses, +bishops' palaces, and numerous monastic buildings. They were shut off +from the rest of the world by high walls. In France, the cathedrals were +the centre of civic life; their organs were the heart-throbs of the +people; their bells were notes of warning. The very houses of the +artisans climbed up to their sides and nestled for protection between +the buttresses of the great Mother Church. Notre Dame d'Amiens, for +instance, was the church of a commune, what Walter Pater calls a +"people's church." They belonged to the people more than to the clergy. +They were a civil rather than an ecclesiastical growth, essentially the +layman's glory. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF TOLEDO CATHEDRAL + + A. Chapel of Saint Blase. + B. Chapel of the Parish of Saint Peter. + C. Octagon. + D. Chapel of the Virgin of the Sanctuary. + E. Large Sacristy. + F. Court of the Hall of Accounts. + G. Chapel of the New Kings. + H. Chapel of the Master of Santiago, D. Alvaro de Luna. + I. Chapel of Saint Ildefonso. + K. Chapter House. + L. Chapel of the Old Kings or of the Holy Cross. + M. Capilla Mayor. + N. Chapel of the Tower or of the Dean. + O. Mozarabic Chapel. + P. Choir. + Q. Portal of the Lions. + R. Portal of the Olive, or Gate of La Llana. + S. Portal of the Choir. + T. Portal of the Little Bread. + V. Portal of the Visitation. + W. Portal of the Tower or Gate of Hell. + X. Portal of the Scriveners or of Judgment.] + +In Spain, the church belonged to both. Municipal and ecclesiastical +history were one and the same, going hand in hand in bloody strife or +peaceful union,--the city was the body, the cathedral its animating +soul. The cathedrals were meant, not for prayer alone, but to live +in,--they were for festivals, meetings, thanksgivings, for surging, +excited crowds. The church was an _imperium in imperio_. It was the +rallying place in all great undertakings or excitements. Here the Cortes +often met, the great church conclaves assembled, the mystical Autos or +sacred plays were performed, in them soldiers gathered, prepared for +battle, edicts were published, sovereigns were first proclaimed, and +allegiance was sworn; kings were christened, anointed, and buried. The +troubled murmurings of the lower classes were here first voiced. They +were the art galleries; here were displayed their finest paintings, +statues and tapestries; they were even museums of natural history, and +exhibited the finest examples of their wood-carving and glass-work, and +the iron and silversmith's arts. It is thus easy to see that the +political history of Toledo becomes vital in connection with its +Cathedral church. + +The history of Toledo dates back to Roman days,--we find Pliny referring +to the city as the metropolis of Carpentania. She was among the first +cities of Spain to embrace Christianity. All the barbarians, with the +exception of the Franks, were Arians, but the last Gothic ruler in Spain +to withstand the Roman faith was Leovgild, who reigned in the last half +of the sixth century. He was also their first able administrator, the +first who consistently strove to bring order out of the chaos of warring +tribes and conflicting authorities. Contemporaries describe his palace +at Toledo, his throne and apparel, and his council chamber, as of truly +royal magnificence. It was reserved to his son Reccared to change the +history of Spain by publicly announcing his conversion to the Roman +faith before a council of Roman and Arian bishops held in Toledo in 587, +at the same time inviting them to exchange their views fearlessly and, +as many as would, to follow him. The Goths were never difficult to +convert, and many of the bishops and of the lords who were present +embraced the Catholic faith, to which a majority of the people already +belonged. Gregory the Great, hearing of the success of Reccared's gentle +and liberal proselytism, wrote to him: "What shall I do at the Last +Judgment when I arrive with empty hands, and your Excellency followed by +a flock of faithful souls, converted by persuasion?" He summoned a third +council at Toledo in 589, and in concert with nearly seventy bishops, +regulated the rites and discipline of the Church, at the same time +excluding the Jews from all employments. In royal Toledo Reccared was +anointed with holy oil, and he substituted the Latin for the Gothic +tongue in divine service, where Isidore was the first to use it. In +daily life Latin soon replaced Gothic. King Wamba built the great walls +round the city, and King Roderick held his glorious tournament inside +them. + +Greater than any fame of Gothic monarch was that of the Church Councils +which met here to determine the course of early dogma and shape the +destinies of the larger part of Christendom. + +The most salient figure during the rule of the Gothic kings was Saint +Ildefonso, who quite overshadows his royal contemporaries. In 711 the +Moors conquered the city, which then became a dependency of the Caliphs +of Damascus and Bagdad until a Moorish prince shook off the foreign +yoke. Independent Arab princes ruled, with Toledo as capital of their +empire, until Alfonso VI, King of Castile and Leon, in 1085, finally +conquered it for himself and his successors. + +During the reigns of the early Castilian kings, we find names connected +with the city's history which became famous all over Spain. The Cid was +the city's first Alcaide. Alfonso el Batallador and Pedro el Cruel stand +out in sombre relief, and Toledo was the cradle of the dramatic +Comunidades' rising, and the scene of the noble death of their patriotic +leader Padella. The streets ran with blood, and the walls spoke of +glorious resistance before the Flemish emperor had crushed the liberties +of the people. + +We have a description of the brilliant pageant of Ferdinand and +Isabella's entry after defeating the king of Portugal. "The Prince of +Aragon was in full armour on his war horse and Isabella riding a +beautiful mule, splendidly caparisoned, the bridle being held by two +noble pages. Followed by their gorgeous retinue they rode slowly towards +the Cathedral, while the highest dignitaries of the Church, the +archbishop, himself a mitred king, the canons, and the clergy, in their +pontifical garments, preceded by the Cross, came forth from the Puerta +del Perdon to receive them. On each side of the arch above the doorway +were two angels, and in the centre a young maiden richly clothed, with a +golden crown on her head, to represent the image of 'La Bendita Madre de +Dios, nuestra Senora.' When Ferdinand and Isabella and all the company +had gathered around, the angels began to sing. The following day the +trophies of war were presented to the Cathedral." + +During the period immediately following the reign of the Catholic Kings, +Toledo reached her highest prosperity. She numbered as many as 200,000 +inhabitants;--to-day she has only 20,000. Glorious processions swept +through her streets, the proud knights of the military orders of +Alcantara, Calatrava, and Santiago, black-robed Dominican inquisitors, +executioners, royal chaplains and major-domos, the Councils of the +Indies, Castilian grandees, Roman princes and cardinals, brawling +Flemish and Burgundian nobles, German landsknechts, and great Catholic +ambassadors. + +Toledo received her death-blow when Philip II, unable to brook the +haughty claims of the Toledan archbishops, and feeling his power second +to theirs, finally, in 1560, moved the capital of his realm to Madrid. +Toledo's annals grew dark. So merciless was the Tribunal of the +Inquisition that under its vigilant eye 3327 processes were disposed of +in little more than a year. So Toledo fell from her former greatness. + +The site of the Cathedral in the very heart of the city is by no means +dominant. The church lies so low that even the spire is inconspicuous in +the landscape. On three sides adjacent buildings completely bar all +view or approach. The only free perspective is on the fourth side, from +the steps of the Ayuntamiento across the square. + +The inscription above the door of the city hall, with its trenchant +advice to the magistrates, is well worth notice:-- + + Nobles discretos varones, + Qui gobernais a Toledo + En aquatos escalones + Codicia, temor y miedo. + Por los comunes provechos + Deschad los particulares + Puez vos hezo Dios pilares + De tan requisimos lechos + Estat vermes y derechos.[9] + +In the streets, the _alcazerias_ which wind around the sides of the +Cathedral, the rich silk guild traded. Here were shipped the goods that +freighted vessels sailing for the American colonies. + +During the Visigothic reign in Toledo, the Cathedral site was occupied +by a Christian temple. It was transformed by the Moors after their +occupancy of the city into their principal mosque; there they were still +permitted to carry on their worship, according to the terms of the +treaty made on their surrender of the city to King Alfonso IV in 1085. A +year afterwards King Alfonso went off on a campaign, leaving the +capital in charge of his French queen, Constance, and the Archbishop +Bernard, recently sent to Toledo at the King's request by the Abbot of +Cluny. No sooner was King Alfonso outside the city walls than the +regents turned the Moors out of the church. The Archbishop arrived with +a throng of Christian citizens, battered down the main entrance, threw +the Moslem objects of worship into the gutters, and set in their place +the Cross and the Virgin Mary. When the news of this outrage reached the +ears of the King, he returned in wrath to Toledo, swearing he would burn +both wife and prelate who had dared to break the oath he had so solemnly +sworn. The Moslems, sagely fearing later vengeance would be wreaked upon +them should they permit matters to take their course, besought the +returning sovereign to restrain his wrath while they released him from +his oath,--"Whereat he had great joy, and, riding on into the city, the +matter ended peacefully." + +The appearance of this fanatic Cluny monk is of the greatest importance +as heralding a new influence in the development and history of Spanish +ecclesiastical architecture. His coming marks the introduction of a +foreign style of building and a revolution in the previous national +methods, known as "obra de los Godos," or work of the Goths. Further, +with the gradual arrival of French ecclesiastics from Cluny and Citeaux, +came also a greater interference from Rome in the management of the +Spanish Church, and a radical limitation of the former power of the +Peninsula's arrogant prelates. Owing to the new influence, the Italian +mass-book was soon presented in place of the ancient Gothic ritual and +breviary. The foreign churchmen likewise aided in uniting sovereign, +clergy, and nobility in common cause against the Saracen infidels now so +firmly ensconced in the Peninsula. Spanish art had previously felt only +national influences; now, through the door opened by the monks, it +received potent foreign elements. + +Spain had been far too much occupied with internal strife and political +dissension to have had breathing spell or opportunity for the +development of the fine arts and the building of churches. The passion +for building which the French monks brought with them awoke entirely +dormant qualities in the Spaniard, which in the early Romanesque, but +especially in the Gothic edifices, produced beautiful, but essentially +exotic fruits. First in the days of the Renaissance the architecture +showed features which might be termed original and national. With the +Cluniacs came not only French artisans but Flemish, German, and Italian, +all taking a hand in, and lending their influences to the great works of +the new art. + +Nothing remains of the old Moorish-Christian house of worship. It was +torn down by order of Saint Ferdinand (he had laid the foundation stone +of Burgos as early as 1221), who laid the corner stone of the present +edifice with great ceremony, assisted by the Archbishop, in the month of +August, 1227 (seven years prior to the commencement of Salisbury and +Amiens). The building was practically completed in 1493, during the +reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the most illustrious epoch of Spanish +history. Additions and alterations injurious to the harmony and symmetry +of the building were made till the end of the seventeenth century, and +again continued during the eighteenth. It thus represents the +architectural inspiration and decadence of nearly six hundred years. + +In style it belongs to the group of three great churches, Burgos, Toledo +and Leon, which were based upon the constructional principles and +decorative features termed Gothic. In some respects these churches +embodied to a highly developed extent the organic principles of the +style, in others, they fell far short of a clear comprehension of them. +None of them had the beauty or the purity of the greatest of their +French sisters. Burgos may be said to be most consistently Gothic in all +its details, but neither Toledo nor Leon was free from the influence of +Moorish art, which was indeed developing and flowering under Moslem rule +in the south of the Peninsula, at the time when Gothic churches were +lifting their spires into the blue of northern skies under the guidance +and inspiration of the French masters. In many respects the Gothic could +not express itself similarly in Spain and France,--climatic conditions +differed, and, consequently, the architecture which was to suit their +needs. In France, Gothic building tended towards a steadily increasing +elimination of all wall surfaces. The weight and thrusts, previously +carried by walls, were met by a more and more skillfully developed +framework of piers and flying buttresses. Such a development was not +practical for Spain nor was it understood. The widely developed fields +for glass would have admitted the heat of the sun too freely, whereas +the broad surfaces of wall-masonry gave coolness and shade. Nor were the +sharply sloping roofs for the easy shedding of snow necessary in Spain. +In French and English Gothic churches, the light, pointed spire is the +ornamental feature of the composition, whereas in the Spanish, with a +few exceptions, the towers become heavy and square. + +None of the three Cathedrals in question impresses us as the outcome of +Spanish architectural growth, but seems rather a direct importation. +They have the main features of a style with which their architects were +familiar and in which they had long since taken the initial steps. They +are working with a practically developed system, whose infancy and early +growth had been followed elsewhere. + +While in the twelfth, and the early portion of the thirteenth century, +Frenchmen were gradually evolving the new system of ecclesiastical +architecture, the Spaniards, destined to surpass them, were to all +purposes still producing nothing but Romanesque buildings, borrowing +certain ornamental or constructional features of the new style, but in +so slight and illogical a degree, that their style remained based upon +its old principles. They employed the pointed arch between arcades and +vaulting, and unlike the French, threw a dome or cimborio over the +intersection of nave and transepts. In some instances we find a regular +French quadripartite vault at the crossing, but such changes are not +sufficient to term the cathedrals of the period (Tudela, Tarragona, +Zamora, and Lerida) Gothic. They remain historically, rather than +artistically, interesting. With the second quarter of the thirteenth +century, comes the change. + +In style Toledo corresponds most closely to the early Gothic of the +north of France. Its plan reminds one forcibly of Bourges, though it is +far more ambitious in size. Owing to the long period of its building, it +bears late Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque features, while traces of +Moorish influence are not wanting. + +The Cathedral of Toledo was built in an imaginative, creative and +passionate age,--an age when the ordinary mason was a master builder as +well as sculptor, stimulated by local affection, pride and piety. The +results of his work were tremendous,--his finished product was a +storehouse of art. Artists of all nations had a hand in the work. +Bermudez mentions 149 names of those who embellished the Cathedral +during six centuries. Here worked Borgona, Berruguete, Cespedes, and +Villalpando, Copin, Vergara Egas, and Covarrubias. It is rather +difficult to analyze their genius. They were not naturally artists, as +were the French and Italians; they did not create as easily, but were +rather stimulated by a more naive craving for vast dimensions. With this +we find interwoven in places the sparkling, jewel-like intricacy and +play of light and shade so natural to the Moorish artisan, and the +sombre, overpowering solemnity of the warlike Spanish cavalier. + +It is necessary for a people at all times to find expression for its +aesthetic life. Architecture, like literature, reflects the sentiments +and tendencies of a nation's mind. As truly as Don Quixote, Don Juan, or +the Cid express them, so do the stories told by Toledo, Leon, or Burgos. +They reproduce the passions, the dreams, the imagination, and the +absurdities of the age which created them. + +Toledo's first architect, who superintended the work for more than half +a century, was named Perez (d. 1285). He was followed by Rodrigo, +Alfonso, Alvar Gomez, Annequin de Egas, Martin Sanchez, Juan Guas, and +Enrique de Egas. Hand in hand with the architects, worked the high +priests. + +The Archbishop of Toledo is the Primate of Spain. Mighty prelates have +sat on that throne, and the chapter was once one of the most celebrated +in the world. The Primate of Toledo has the Pope as well as the King of +Spain for honorary canons, and his church takes precedence of all others +in the land. The offices attached to his person are numerous. As late as +the time of Napoleon's conquest of the city, fourteen dignitaries, +twenty-seven canons, and fifty prebends, besides a host of chaplains and +subaltern priests, followed in the train of the Metropolitan. At the +close of the fifteenth century, his revenues exceeded 80,000 ducats +(about $720,000), while the gross amount of those of the subordinate +beneficiaries of his church rose to 180,000. This amount, or 12,000,000 +reals, had not decreased at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In +the middle ages he was followed by more horse and foot than either the +Grand Master of Santiago or the Constable of Castile. When he threw his +influence into the balance, the pretender to the throne was often +victorious. He held jurisdiction over fifteen large and populous towns +besides numbers of inferior places. + +Many who occupied the episcopal throne of Toledo ruled Spain, not only +by virtue of the prestige their high office gave them, but through +extraordinary genius and remarkable attainments. They were great alike +in war and in peace. Many of them combined broadness of view and real +learning with purity of morals. They founded universities and libraries, +framed useful laws, stimulated noble impulses, corrected abuses, and +promoted reforms. Popes called them to Rome to ask their advice in +affairs of the Church. Bright in the history of Spain shine the names of +such prelates as Rodriguez, Tenorio, Fonseca, Ximenez, Mendoza, Tavera, +and Lorenzana. + +From the tenth to the sixteenth centuries Castile was far less bigoted +than other European nations, for, of all the daughters of the Mother +Church, Spain was the most independent. Her kings and her primate were +naturally her champions, ever ready and defiant. King James I even went +so far as to cut out the tongue of a too meddlesome bishop. From early +Gothic days to the time when Ferdinand began to dream of Spain as a +power beyond the Iberian Peninsula, no kingdom in Europe was less +disposed to brook the interference of the Pope. Ferdinand and Isabella +thwarted him in insisting upon their right to appoint their own +candidates for the high offices of the Spanish church, and the Pope was +obliged to give way. + +The figure we constantly encounter in the thrilling tilts between Rome +and Spanish prelates is the Archbishop of Toledo. Like Richelieu and +Wolsey, Ximenez and Mendoza towered above their time, and their great +spirits still seem present within their church. Ximenez, better known in +English as Cardinal Cisneros, rose to his high office much against his +will from the obscurity of a humble monk. The peremptory orders of the +Pope were necessary to make him leave his cell and become successively +Archbishop of Toledo, Grand Chancellor of Castile, Inquisitor General, +Cardinal, Confessor to Queen Isabella, Minister of Ferdinand the +Catholic, and Regent of the Kingdom of Charles V. He was "an austere +priest, a profound politician, a powerful intellect, a will of iron, and +an inflexible and unconquerable soul; one of the greatest figures in +modern history; one of the loftiest types of the Spanish character. +Notwithstanding the greatness thrust upon him, he preserved the austere +practices of the simple monk. Under a robe of silk and purple, he wore +the hard shirt and frock of St. Francis. In his apartments, embellished +with costly hangings, he slept on the floor, with only a log of wood for +his pillow. Ferdinand owed to him that he preserved Castile, and Charles +V, that he became King of Spain. He did not boast when, pointing to the +Cordon of St. Francis, he explained, 'It is with this I bridle the pride +of the aristocracy of Castile.'"[10] + +History may accuse him of the unpardonable expulsion of the Moriscos, +and the retention of the Inquisition as well as its introduction into +the New World,--but what he did was done from the strength of his +convictions and according to what, in the light of his age, seemed the +best for his country and his Church. He was perhaps even greater as a +Spaniard than as a churchman. His conceptions were all grand, and he was +as versatile as he was great. Victor in the greatest of all Spanish +toils, he executed the polyglot version of the Scriptures, the most +stupendous literary achievement of his age. Fitting his greatness is the +simplicity of his epitaph:-- + + Condideram musis Franciscus grande lyceum, + Condor in exiguo nunc ego sarcophago. + Praetextam junxi sacco, galeamque galero, + Frater, Dux, Praesul, Cardineusque pater. + Quin virtute mea junctum est diadema cucullo, + Cum mihi regnanti paruit Hesperia. + +The figure of Cardinal Mendoza stands out clear and strong in the final +struggle with Granada. It was he who first planted the Cross where the +Crescent had waved for six centuries, and he was the first to counsel +Isabella to assist the great discoverer. His keen intellect made him +lend a ready ear and friendly hand to the rapid development of the +science of his time and the fast-spreading taste for literature. + +And so the line of Toledo's illustrious bishops continues,--leaders of +the church militant, like the Montagues and Capulets, they fought from +the mere habit of fighting, but they seldom stained their swords in an +unworthy cause. + + +III + +There is a great discrepancy between the interior and the exterior of +the Cathedral. The former is as grand as the latter is insignificant and +unworthy. The scale is tremendous. Only Milan and Seville cover a +greater area, if the Cathedral is considered in connection with its +cloisters. Cologne comes next to it in size. It runs from west to east, +with nave and double side aisles, ending in a semicircular apse with a +double ambulatory. As is characteristic of Spanish churches, it is +astonishingly wide for its length,--being 204 feet wide and 404 feet +long. The nave is 98 feet high and 44 feet wide, while the outer aisles +are respectively 26 and 32 feet across. + +The exterior, with the exception of the ornamental portions of the +portals and a few carvings, is all built of a Berroquena granite. The +interior is of a kind of mouse-colored limestone taken from the quarries +of Oliquelas near Toledo. Like many limestones, it is soft when first +quarried, but hardens with time and exposure. + +The impression of the exterior is strangely disappointing. Imposing and +massive, but irregular, squat, and encumbered by surrounding edifices +clinging to its masonry. An indifferent husk, encasing a noble interior. +Only one tower is completed, and no two portions of the decoration are +symmetrical. The exterior has no governing scheme, no "idee maitresse," +no individual style, and is the outgrowth of no definite period. +Successive generations of peace or war have enriched or destroyed its +masonry. You stop with an exclamation of admiration in front of certain +details of the exterior; before others, you only feel astonishment. The +want of order and unity in the execution of its various portions and +elevations is distressing. + +Order and harmony may be preserved, even where an edifice is carried on +by successive ages, each of which imparts to its work the stamp of its +own developing skill and imagination. Very few of the great cathedrals +were begun and completed in one style. Most of the great French churches +show traces of the earlier Norman or Romanesque; most of the English +Gothic, traces of the Norman or of the different periods of English +Gothic architecture; but one dominating scheme has been followed by the +consecutive architects. The lack of such a governing and restraining +principle is felt in the exterior of Toledo. Further than this, although +successive wars and religious fanaticism have with their destructive +fury injured so many of the beautiful statues and exquisite carvings and +much of the stained glass of the French and English religious +establishments, still the architecture itself has in the main been left +undisturbed. In Toledo, there is hardly a portion of the early structure +and decoration of the lower, visible part of the Cathedral which has not +been altered or torn down by the various architects of the last three +centuries. + +As an obvious result, the portions of the exterior which are interesting +are individual features, and not a unified scheme; and they are +interesting historically, rather than in relation to or in dependence +upon one another. + +The west front, which is the principal facade, the various doorways and +completed tower form the most interesting portions of the exterior. + +The west front is flanked by two projecting towers, dissimilar in +design. To the south is the uncompleted one, containing the Mozarabic +chapel,[11] roofed by an octagonal cupola and surmounted by a lantern, +strangely betraying in exterior form its Byzantine ancestry. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO + +The choir stalls] + +To the north rises the spire which commands the city and the Cathedral +of Toledo. It was begun in 1380 and completed in sixty years,--no long +time when we take into account its size and detail and the carefulness +of its construction. Rodrigo Alfonso and Alvar Gomez were the +architects, and the Cardinals Pedro Tenorio and Tavera directed the +work. Although it lacks the soaring grace of the towers of Burgos, it +possesses quiet strength and a majestic dignity, and the transitions +between its various stories have been executed with a skill scarcely +less than that shown in the older tower of Chartres. It is in fact full +of a character of its own. Divided into three parts, it rises to a +height of some three hundred feet and terminates in a huge cross. The +principal building material is the hard but easily carved Berroquena +granite, with certain portions finished in marble and slate. The lower +part, which is square, has its faces pierced by interlacing Gothic +arches, windows of different shapes, ornamental coats-of-arms and marble +medallions. It is crowned by a railing and, at the corners where the +transition to the hexagon occurs, by stone pyramids. The central part is +hexagonal in plan and ornamented by arches and crocketed finials. Above +it rises the slate spire terminating under the cross in a conical +pyramid, added after a fire in the year 1662. The spire is curiously and +uniquely encircled by three collars of pointed iron spikes, intended to +symbolize the crowns of thorns. + +The great bells of the Cathedral peal from this tower, among them the +huge San Eugenio, better known, though, by the name "Campana gorda," or +the Big-bellied Bell, weighing 1543 arobes (about 17 tons) and put up +the same day it was cast in the year 1753. Its fame is shown by the old +lines, which enumerate the wonders of Spain as the-- + + Campana la de Toledo, + Iglesia la de Leon, + Reloj el de Benavente, + Rollos los de Villalon.[12] + +Fifteen shoemakers could sit under it and draw out their cobbler's +thread without touching each other. A legend relates that "the sound of +it reached, when first it was rung, even to heaven. Saint Peter fancied +that the tones came from his own church in Rome, but on ascertaining +that this was not the case, and that Toledo possessed the largest of all +bells, he got angry and flung down one of his keys upon it, thus causing +a crack in the bell which is still to be seen." + +Not only does the hoarse croak of Gorda's voice remind the tardy +worshiper of the approaching hour of prayer, but it tells each and all +of the "barrio" where the fire is raging. Though the prudent Toledan may +not know the art of signing his name or reading his Pater Noster, full +well he knows, whenever Gorda speaks, whether the danger is at his own +door or at his neighbor's. + +The lower portion of the facade between the towers is composed of a fine +triple portal dating from 1418 to 1450, which, despite later changes, is +still an excellent piece of Gothic work. It contains over seventy +statues. Above, the facade is composed of an ornamental screen +inexpressive of the structure and the internal arrangement of the +edifice. A railing separated the "lonja," or enclosure immediately in +front of the entrances, from the street outside. The central entrance +is the Gate of Pardon; to the north is the Gate of the Tower, also +called the Gate of Hell; to the south is the Gate of the Scriveners or +of Judgment. The middle door is the largest and most important. For +centuries the steps leading to it have been climbed and descended by the +pregnant women of Toledo, to insure an easy parturition. + +The doors themselves are covered with most interesting bronze work, +showing how far the Spaniards had in later centuries developed the art +of their skillful Saracenic predecessors. The arch of the Gate of Pardon +is exquisitely formed and its moldings and recesses are profusely +decorated with finely chiseled figures and ornaments. Each of the three +doors is surmounted by a relief, that over the Pardon representing the +Virgin presenting the chasuble to Saint Ildefonso, who is kneeling at +her feet. + +The Scriveners' Gate derives its name from having been the door of entry +for the scriveners when they came to the Cathedral to take their oath, +but, though they had a gate for their own particular use, they did not +seem to enjoy an especially good reputation. According to an old verse, +their pen and paper would drop from their hands to dance an independent +fandango long before their souls ever entered the Kingdom of Heaven. + +Above the door is an inscription commemorative of the great exploits of +the Catholic Sovereigns and Cardinal Mendoza and of the expulsion of the +Jews from the Kingdoms of Castile, Aragon and Sicily. + +The principal feature above the doors is a classical gable which extends +the whole width of the facade, its field filled with colossal pieces of +sculpture representing the Last Supper. Our Lord and the Apostles are +seated, each in his own niche. It recalls the carving over the northeast +entrance of Notre Dame du Puy. Nothing could be more ineffective and out +of place than to crown this portion of the Gothic building with a Greek +gable end. Finally, above the gable, with a curious pair of arches built +out in front of it, comes a circular rose almost thirty feet in +diameter, of early fourteenth-century work, this again being surmounted +by late eighteenth-century Baroque additions. + +There are two doorways on the south side. The Gate of the Lions, which +forms the southern termination to the transept, is of course named from +the lions standing over the enclosing rail directly in front of it, each +supporting its shield. Here you have a bit of the finest work of the +exterior, a most exquisite specimen of the Gothic work of the fifteenth +century. Its detail and finish are remarkable, and few pieces of Spanish +sculpture of its time surpass it in elegance and grace. The larger +figures are most interesting, varying greatly in execution and +character. Those of the inner arches are stiff and still struggling for +freedom from tradition, but of admirably carved drapery,--while the +bishops in the niches to the right and left have faces radiating +kindness and patriarchal benignity, faces we meet and bless in our own +walks of life to-day. The bronze Renaissance doors are as fine as their +setting,--splendid examples of the metal stamping of the sixteenth +century, and the wooden carving on their inner surfaces is equally fine. +The bronze knocker might easily have come from the workshop of the great +Florentine goldsmith. + +The Gate of La Llana, west of the Gate of the Lions, is as ludicrous in +its eighteenth-century dress as the gable of the west facade. + +On the north side of the church we find three gates; in the centre, +forming the northern entrance to the transept, the Puerta del Reloi[c], +and east and west of it, the Puerta de Santa Catalina, and the Puerta de +la Presentacion. + + +IV + +You leave the outside with a feeling of distress at having viewed a +patchwork of architectural composition, feebly decorating and badly +expressing a noble and mighty frame. You enter into a light of celestial +softness and purity. It seems an old and faded light. As soon as you +regain vision in the cool, refreshing twilight, you experience the +long-deferred exultation. You are amid those that pray,--the poor and +sorrowing, those that would be strengthened. Here voices sink to a +reverent whisper, for curiosity is hushed into awe. "I could never +fathom how a man dares to lift up his voice to preach in a +cathedral,--what has he to say that will not be an anti-climax?" says +Robert Louis Stevenson, and you are struck by the force of his remark +when you compare the droning voice coming from one corner of the +building with the glorious expression of man's faith rising above and +around you. The quiet majesty and silent eloquence of the one +accentuates the feebleness of the other. + +For the interior is as simple and restrained and the planning as logical +and lucid as the exterior is blameworthy and unreasonable. Here is +rhythm and harmony. The constructive problems have been ingeniously +mastered, and the carved and decorated portions subordinated to the +gigantic scheme of the great monument. The sculptures are limited to +their respective fields. Structural and artistic principles go hand in +hand. Eloquently the carvings speak the language of the time,--they +become a pictorial Bible, open for the poor man to read, who has no +knowledge of crabbed, monastic letters. They are the language of true +religion, the religion that may change but can never die. + +The plan is unquestionably the _grand_ feature of the Cathedral; the +beauty and scale of it challenge comparison with those of all other +churches in Christendom. The vaulting and its development, the +concentration of the thrust upon the piers and far-leaping flying +buttresses are unquestionably on such a scale and of such character as +to place it among the mightiest, if not the most pure and well-developed +Gothic edifices. It is like a giant that knows not the strength of his +limbs nor the possibilities in his mighty frame. + +You do not feel the great height of the nave, owing to the immensity of +all dimensions and the great circumference of the supporting piers. The +nave and the double side aisles on each side are all of seven bays. The +transept does not project beyond the outer aisles. The plan proper has +thus, at a rough glance, the appearance of a basilica and seems to lack +the side arms of the Gothic cross. The choir consists of one bay, and +the chevet formed by an apse to the choir of five bays. Both aisles +continue around the chevet. Outside these again, and between the +buttresses of the main outer walls, lie the different chapels, the +great cloister and the different compartments and dependencies belonging +to church and chapel,--a tremendous development, accumulation, +growth,--a city in itself. The cloisters, as well as almost all the +chapels, were added after the virtual completion of the Cathedral +proper. + +The chevet is the keynote of the plan, and the solution of the problem, +how to vault the different compartments lying between the three +concentric circular terminations beyond the choir. Their vaulting shows +constructive skill and ingenuity of the highest order. The architects +solved the problem with a simplicity and grandeur which places their +genius on a level with that of the greatest of French builders. There +are no previous examples of Spanish churches where similar problems have +been dealt with tentatively. We are thus forced to acknowledge that the +schooling for, and consequent mastery of, the problem, must have been +gained on French soil. The central apse is surrounded by four piers, the +two aisles are separated by eight, and the outer wall is marked by +sixteen points of support. The bays in both aisles are vaulted +alternately by triangular and virtually rectangular compartments. The +vista from west to east is perfectly preserved, and the distance from +centre to centre of every second pair of outer piers is as nearly as +possible the same as that of the inner row. The outer wall of the +aisles, except where the two great chapels of Santiago and San Ildefonso +are introduced, was pierced alternately by small, square chapels +opposite the triangular, vaulting compartments and circular chapels +opposite the others. + +In the cathedrals of Notre Dame de Paris, Saint Remi of Rheims, and in +Le Mans, we find intermediate triangular vaulting compartments +introduced, but they are either employed with inferior skill or in a +different form. In none of these cathedrals do they call for such +unstinted admiration as those of the architect of Toledo. They just fall +short of the happiest solution. In Saint Remi, for instance, we have +intermediate trapezoids instead of rectangles, the inner chord being +longer than the exterior. + +The seventy-two well-molded, simple, quadripartite vaults of the whole +edifice (rising in the choir to about one hundred, and, in the inner and +outer aisles, to sixty and thirty-five feet) are supported by +eighty-eight piers. The capitals of the engaged shafts, composed of +plain foliage, point the same way as the run of the ribs above them. +Simple, strong moldings compose the square bases. The great piers of the +transept are trefoiled in section. The outer walls of the main body of +the church are pierced by arches leading into uninteresting, rectangular +chapels, some of them decorated with elaborate vaulting. In the outer +wall of the intermediate aisle is a triforium, formed by an arcade of +cusped arches, and above this, quite close to the point of the vault, a +rose window in each bay. The clerestory, filling the space above the +great arches on each side of the nave, is subdivided into a double row +of lancet-pointed windows, surmounted by a rosette coming directly under +the spring of the vault. + +The treatment of the crossing of transept and nave is in Toledo, as in +all Spanish churches, emphatic and peculiar. The old central lantern of +the cruciform church was retained and developed in their Gothic as well +as in their Renaissance edifices, and was permitted illogically to break +the Gothic roof line. The lantern of Ely is the nearest reminder we have +of it in English or French Gothic. In Spain the "cimborio" became an +important feature and made the croisee beneath it the lightest portion +of the edifice. It shed light to the east and west of it, into the high +altar and the choir. + +The position of the choir is striking and distressing. Its rectangular +body completely fills the sixth and seventh bays of the nave, +interrupting its continuity and spoiling the sweep and grandeur of the +edifice at its most important point. It sticks like a bone in the +throat. Any complete view of the interior becomes impossible, and its +impressive majesty is belittled. One constantly finds the choir of +Spanish cathedrals in this position, which deprives them of the fine +perspective found in northern edifices. In Westminster Abbey, strangely +enough, the choir is similarly placed, and there, as here, it is as if +the hands were tied and the breath stifled, where action should be +freest. + +This peculiar position of the choir was owing to the admission of the +laity to the transept in front of the altar. In earlier days the choir +was adjacent to and facing the altar, the singers and readers being +there enclosed by a low and unimportant rail. The short, eastern apses +of the Spanish cathedrals and the undeveloped and insufficient room for +the clergy immediately surrounding the altar almost necessitated this +divorce of the choir. In France and England the happier and more logical +alternative was resorted to, of providing sufficient space east of the +intersection of the transept for all the clergy. + +The rectangular choir of Toledo is closed at the east by a magnificent +iron screen; at the west, by a wall called the "Trascoro," acting as a +background to the archbishop's seat. A doorway once pierced its centre +but was blocked up for the placing of the throne. + +If the position of the choir is unfortunate, its details are among the +most remarkable and glorious of their time and country. The only +entrance is through the great iron parclose or reja at the east. This, +as well as the corresponding grille work directly opposite, closing off +the bay in front of the high altar, are wonderful specimens of the +iron-worker's craft, splendid masterpieces of an art which has never +been excelled since the days of its mediaeval guilds. The master Domingo +de Cespedes erected the grille in the year 1548. The framework seems to +be connected by means of tenons and mortices, while the scrolls are +welded together. The larger moldings are formed of sheet iron, bent to +the shape required and flush-riveted to their light frames. Neither the +general design nor the details (both Renaissance in feeling) are +especially meritorious, but the thorough mastery of the material is most +astonishing. The stubborn iron has been wrought and formed with as much +ease and boldness as if it had been soft limestone or plaster. It is +characteristic of the age that the craftsman has not limited himself to +one material. Certain portions of the smaller ornaments are of silver +and copper. Originally their shining surfaces, as well as the gilding of +the great portion of the principal iron bars, must have touched the +whole with life and color. It was all covered with black paint in the +time of the Napoleonic wars to escape the greedy hands of La Houssaye's +victorious mob, and the gates still retain the sable coat that protected +them. + +Even a more glorious example of Spanish craftsmanship is found in the +choir stalls which surround us to the north and south and west as soon +as we enter. Here we are face to face with the finest flowering of +Spanish mediaeval art. Theophile Gautier, generalizing upon the whole +composition, says: "L'art gothique, sur les confins de la Renaissance, +n'a rien produit de plus parfait ni de mieux dessine." The whole +treatment of the work is essentially Spanish. + +The stalls, the "silleria," are arranged in two tiers, the upper reached +by little flights of five steps and covered by a richly carved, marble +canopy, supported by slender Corinthian columns of red jasper and +alabaster. All the stalls are of walnut, fifty in the lower row, seventy +in the upper, exclusive of the archbishop's seat. The right side of the +altar, that is, the right side of the celebrant looking from the altar, +is called the side of the Gospel,--the left, the side of the Epistle. +The great carvings, differing in the upper and lower stalls in period +and execution, are the work of three artists. The carvings of the lower +row were executed by Rodriguez in 1495, those of the upper, on the +Gospel side, by Alonso Berruguete, and those on the side of the Epistle, +by Philip Vigarny (also called Borgona), both of the latter about fifty +years later (in 1543). + +The reading desk of the upper stalls forms the back of the lower and +affords the field for their sculptural decoration. The subjects are the +Conquest of Granada and the Campaigns of Ferdinand and Isabella. We are +shown in the childish and picturesque manner in which the age tells its +story, the various incidents of the war, all its situations and groups, +its curious costumes, arms, shields, and bucklers, and even the names of +the fortresses inscribed on their masonry. We can recognize the Catholic +monarchs and the great prelate entering the fallen city amid the +grief-stricken infidels. + +The spirit of the work is distinctly that of the period which has gone +before, without any intimations of that to come. It has the character of +the German Gothic, recalling Lucas of Holland and his school. If it has +a grace and beauty of its own, there is also a childish grotesqueness +without any of the self-assured mastery, so soon to spread its Italian +light. The imagination and composition are there, but not the +execution,--the mind, but not the hand. + +The carvings of the upper stalls were executed by their masters in +generous rivalry and in a spirit that shows a decided classic influence. + +Many curious accounts of the time describe the excitement which +prevailed during their execution and the various favor they found in the +eyes of different critics. Looking at them, one's thoughts revert to +that glorious dawn in which Cellini and Ghiberti and Donatello labored. +The inscription says of the two artists, "Signatum marmorea tum ligna +caelavere hinc Philippus Burgundio, ex adverso Berruguetus Hispanus: +certaverunt tum artificum ingenia; certabunt semper spectatorum +judicia." + +Berruguete's work (on the Gospel side) shows distinct traces of Michael +Angelo's influence and his study in Italian ateliers with Andrea del +Sarto and Baccio Bandinelli.[13] The nervous vigor of the Italian giant +and the purity of style which looked back at Greece and Rome, are +apparent. + +The subjects of Vigarny's work, as also of Berruguete's, are taken from +the Old Testament. They have a more subtle charm, more grace and +freedom. Some of them show strength and an unerring hand, others, +delicacy and exquisite subtleness. Where the Maestro Mayor of Charles V +is powerful and energetic, Vigarny is imaginative and rich. + +Comparing the upper and lower rows of panels, we must see what +remarkable steps had been taken in so short a time by the sculptors. A +lightness of execution, a victorious self-reliance, seems to follow +close on the steps of tentative, even if conscientious, effort. The +carving, the bold relief of the chiseling, have a vividness and +intensity of expression, surpassing some of the best work of Italy and +France. + +The niches in the marble canopy above the upper row of stalls are filled +with figures standing almost in full relief, and representing the +genealogy of Christ. + +The outer walls of the choir are also completely covered with sculpture. +It is thoroughly Gothic in character, crude, and fumbling for +expression, consisting of arcades with niches above containing +alto-relievo illustrations of Old Testament scenes and characters. You +recognize the Garden of Eden, Abraham with agonized face, Isaac, Jacob, +passages from Exodus, and other familiar scenes. Many of the panels +depict further the small, everyday occurrences and incidents so loved by +mediaeval artists, and so full of earnest, religious feeling. Crowning it +all, amid the pinnacles, are a whole flock of angels, quite prepared for +Ascension Day. It is all very similar to the early fourteenth-century +work in French cathedrals. + +The bay in front of the high altar, forming with it the Capilla Mayor, +and the choir are closed from the transept by a huge reja as fine as the +one facing it, and the work of the Spaniard Francesco Villalpando +(1548).[14] + +The Capilla Mayor originally consisted of the one bay to the east of the +transept, the adjacent terminating portion of the nave being the chapel +containing the tombs of the kings. The great Cardinal Ximenez received +Isabella's permission to remove the dividing wall in case he could +accomplish the task without disturbing any of the monarchs' coffins. The +walls all round, both internally and externally, are completely covered +with sculpture. Many of the figures are faithful portraits; many of the +groups tell an interesting story. On the Gospel side there are two +carvings, one over the other, the upper representing Don Alfonso VIII, +and the lower, the shepherd who guided the monarch and his army to the +renowned plains of Las Navas de Tolosa, where the battle was fought +which proved so glorious to Christian arms. One likewise sees the statue +of the Moor, Alfaqui Abu Walid, who threw himself in the path of King +Alfonso and prevailed upon him to forgive Queen Constance and Bishop +Bernard for the expulsion of the Moors from their mosque, contrary to +the king's solemn oath. + +All around us lie the early rulers of the House of Castile, Alfonso VII, +Sancho the Deserted, and Sancho the Brave, the Prince Don Pedro de +Aguilar, son of Alfonso XI, and the great Cardinal Mendoza. Below in the +vault lie, by the sides of their consorts, Henry II, John I, and Henry +III. + +At the end of the chapel, acting as a background to the altar, you find +a composition constantly met in and characteristic of Spanish +cathedrals. The huge "retablo" is nothing but a meaningless, gaudy and +sensational series of carved and decorated niches. It is carved in +larchwood and merely reveals a love of the cheap and tawdry display of +the decadent florid period of Gothic. + +Back of the retablo and the high altar, you are startled by the most +horrible and vulgar composition of the church. Nothing but the mind of +an idiot could have conceived the "transparente."[15] It has neither +order nor reason. The whole mass runs riot. Angels and saints float up +and down its surface amid doughy clouds. The angel Raphael +counterbalances the weight of his kicking feet by a large goldfish which +he is frantically clutching. It is a piece of uncontrolled, imbecile +decoration, perpetrated to the everlasting shame of Narciso Tome in the +first half of the eighteenth century. + +Nothing except the choir and Capilla Mayor disturb the simplicity of +the aisles and the great body of the church. All other monuments or +compositions are found in the numerous rooms and chapels leading from +the outer aisles or situated between the lower arches of the outside +walls. There are many of them, some important, others trivial. The +Mozarabic chapel, in the southwest corner of the cathedral, is the one +place in the world where you may still every morning hear the quaint old +Visigothic or Mozarabic ritual recited. The chapel was constructed under +Cardinal Ximenez in 1512 for the double purpose of commemorating the +tolerance of the Moors, who during their dominion left to the Christians +certain churches in which to continue their own worship, and also to +perpetuate the use of the old Gothic ritual. It is most curious, almost +barbaric: "The canons behind, in a sombre flat monotone, chant responses +to the officiating priest at the altar. The sound combines the +enervating effect of the hum of wings, whirr of looms, wooden thud of +pedals, the boom and rush of immense wings circling round and round." It +is strange to hear this echo a thousand years old of a magnanimous act +in so intolerant an age. + +In the eleventh century King Alfonso, at the insistence of Bernard and +Constance, and the papal legate Richard, decided to abolish the use of +the old Gothic ritual and to introduce the Gregorian rite. The Toledans +threatened revolt rather than abandon their old form of worship. The +King knew no other method of decision than to leave the question to two +champions. In single combat the Knight of the Gothic Missal, Don Juan +Ruiz de Mantanzas, killed his adversary while he himself remained +unhurt. At a second trial, where two bulls were entrusted with the +perplexing difficulty, the Gothic bull came off victor. Councils were +held and the Pope still persevered in his determination to abolish the +old Spanish service book. Outside the walls of the city, in front of the +King and churchmen and amid the entire populace of Toledo, a great fire +was built, and the two mass-books were thrown into it. When the flames +had died down, only the Gothic mass-book was found unscathed. Only after +many years, when traditions had gradually altered and even much of the +text had become meaningless to the clergy, did the Roman service book +become universally introduced into Toledan houses of worship. + +Two other chapels are of especial interest: those of Saint Ildefonso and +Santiago. Saint Ildefonso, who became metropolitan in 658, is second +only in honor to Saint James of Compostella; he was unquestionably the +most favored of Toledo's long line of bishops. + +Three natives of Narbonne had dared to question the perpetual virginity +of Our Lady. Saint Ildefonso gallantly took up her defense and proved it +beyond doubt or questioning in his treatise "De Virginitate Perpetua +Sanctae Mariae adversus tres Infideles." It was a crushing vindication +and a discourse of much reason and scriptural light. Shortly afterwards +the Bishop, together with the King and court, went to the Church of +Saint Leocadia to give public thanks. As soon as the multitude had had +sufficient time to kneel at the saint's tomb, a group of angels appeared +amid a cloud and surrounded by sweet scents. Next the sepulchre opened +of its own accord. Calix relates, "Thirty men could not have moved the +stone which slid slowly from the mouth of the tomb. Immediately Saint +Leocadia arose, after lying there three hundred years, and holding out +her arm, she shook hands with Saint Ildefonso, speaking in this voice, +'Oh, Ildefonso, through thee doth the honor of My Lady flourish.' All +the spectators were silent, being struck with the novelty and the +greatness of the miracle. Only Saint Ildefonso, with Heaven's aid, +replied to her. Now the virgin Saint looked as if she wished to return +into the tomb and she turned around for that purpose, when the King +begged of Saint Ildefonso that he would not let her go until she left +some relic of her behind, for a memorial of the miracle and for the +consolation of the city. And as Saint Ildefonso wished to cut a part of +the white veil which covered the head of St. Leocadia, the King lent him +a knife for that purpose, and this must have been a poniard or a dagger, +though others say it was a sword. With this the saint cut a large piece +of the blessed veil, and while he was giving it to the King, at the same +time returning the knife, the saint shut herself up entirely and covered +herself in the tomb with the huge stone." + +But even this was not a sufficient expression of gratitude to satisfy +Saint Mary, for next week she herself came down to enjoy matins with +Saint Ildefonso in the Cathedral. She sat in his throne and listened to +his discourse with both pleasure and edification. A celestial host +dispensed music in the choir, music of heaven, hymns, David's psalms and +chants, such as never had been heard before, either in Seville or in +Toledo. To cap it all, the Virgin made her favorite a splendid present +of a chasuble worked by the angels with which she invested him with her +own hands before she said good-bye. You may still kiss your fingers +after having touched the sacred slab upon which the Virgin stood and +above which run the words of the Psalmist: "Adorabimus in loco ubi +steterunt pedes ejus." The chapel is, similarly to the screens around +the choir, of fourteenth-century work. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO + +Chapel of Santiago, tombs of D. Alvaro de Luna and his spouse] + +The Chapel of Santiago was erected by Count Alvaro de Luna, for more +than thirty years the real sovereign of Castile. It is most elaborately +decorated throughout with rich Gothic work, interwoven with sparkling +filigree of Saracenic character. The tombs of the Lunas are of interest +because of the great Count. His own is not the original one. The first +mausoleum which he erected to himself was so constructed that the +recumbent effigy or automaton could, when mass was said, slowly rise, +clad in full armor, and remain kneeling until the service was ended, +when it would slowly resume its former posture. This was destroyed at +the instigation of Alvaro's old enemy, Henry of Aragon, who remained +unreconciled even after the death of his old minister. At each corner of +Alvaro's tomb kneels a knight of Santiago, at his feet a page holds his +helmet, his own hands are crossed devoutly over the sword on his breast, +and the mantle of his order is folded about his shoulders. His face +wears an expression of sadness. + +Alvaro began his career as a page in the service of Queen Catharine +(Plantagenet). He ended it as Master of Santiago, Constable of Castile, +and Prime Minister of John II, whom he completely ruled for thirty-five +years. He lived in royal state, became all-powerful and arrogant. His +diplomacy effected the marriage of Henry II and Isabella of Portugal, +but he later incurred the enmity of Isabella, was accused of high +treason, found guilty, and executed in the square of Valladolid. Pius II +said of him, "He was a very lofty mind, as great in war as he was in +peace, and his soul breathed none but noble thoughts." + +And thus we may continue all around the Cathedral, past the successive +chapels, vestries, sanctuaries and treasuries,--the architecture and +sculpture of each connected with great events and telling its own story +of dark tragedy or lighter romance. + +In one, the Spanish banners used to be consecrated before leading the +hosts against the Moors; in another, Spain now keeps her priceless +treasures under the locks of seven keys hanging from the girdles of an +equal number of canons. There are silver and gold and pearl and precious +jewels sufficient to set on foot every stagnant Spanish industry. The +8500 pearls of the Virgin's cape might alone feed a province for no +short time. They are buried in the dark. Outside in the light, the +children of Spain are starving and without means of obtaining food. At +one's elbow the whine of the beggar is continually heard, till one +recalls Washington Irving's words: "The more proudly a mansion has been +tenanted in the days of its prosperity, the humbler are its inhabitants +in the days of her decline, and the palace of the king commonly ends in +being the resting-place of the beggar." + +Here and there, in the interior as in the exterior, we find, mixed with +or decorating the Gothic, Moorish and Renaissance details and the later +extravagances which followed the decline of the Gothic. Even where the +carvers are expressing themselves in Gothic or Renaissance details, we +frequently observe an extreme richness, a love of chiaroscuro, of +sparkling jewel-like light and shade, and intricately woven +ornamentation which betrays the influence of the Arab. We see the +Morisco, a kind of fusion of French and Moorish, in many places. The +triforium of the choir is decidedly Moorish in its design, although it +is Gothic in all its details and has carvings of heads and of the +ordinary dog-tooth enrichment instead of merely conventionalized leaf +and figure ornament. It consists of a trefoil arcade. In the spandrels +between its arches are circles with heads and, above these, triangular +openings pierced through the wall. The moldings of all the openings +interpenetrate, and the whole arcade has the air of intricate ingenuity +so usual in Moorish work. Again, in the triforium of the inner aisle we +find Moorish influence,--the cusping of the arcade is not enclosed +within an arch but takes a distinct horseshoe outline, the lowest cusp +near the cap spreading inward at the base. We see Moorish tiles, we find +Moorish cupolas as in the Mozarabic chapel, and Moorish doorways, as the +exquisite one leading into the Sala Capitular,--here and there and +everywhere, we suddenly come upon details betraying the Arab intimacy. + +The children of the Renaissance also embellished in their new manner, +not only in the magnificent carvings of the choir but in a variety of +places, for instance, the doors themselves contained within the Moorish +molds leading to the Sala just mentioned, the entire chapel of St. Juan, +the Capilla de Reyes Nuevos, portions of the Puerta del Berruguete, and +the bronze doors of the Gate of the Lions. + +Again, on the capitals and bases of many of the piers, with the +exception of those of the central nave, Byzantine influence may be seen. + +So each age, according to its best ken, dealt with the Cathedral. In +among the varying styles of architectural decoration, the sister arts +embellish the stone surfaces or are hung upon them. There are paintings +by Titian, Giovanni Bellini, and Rubens, by El Greco, Goya, and Ribera; +Italian and Flemish tapestries, and frescoes too. Probably the greater +portion of the main walls were covered with them, for here and there +traces are still to be seen and a tree of Jesse remains in the tympanum +of the south transept, and near it an enormous painting of Saint +Christopher. + +While the "Tresorio" may have been the treasure-house of the clergy, the +church itself was that of the people. Here was their art museum, here +were their galleries. The decorations became the primers from which they +learnt their lessons. Here they would meet in the afternoon hour as the +light fell aslant sapphire and ruby, through the clerestory openings. It +would light up their treasures with strange, unearthly glory and form +aureoles and haloes of rainbow splendor over the heads of their beloved +saints. Cool amethyst and emerald and warmer amber and gold touched the +darkest corners, and a gold and purple glory illuminated the high altar. + +Some of the earlier glass is as fine as any to be found in Europe. The +depth and intensity of the colors are remarkable. Probably none of it +was Spanish, but all was imported from France, Belgium, or Germany. The +glass in the rose of the north transept and in the eastern windows of +the transept clerestory can hold its own beside that of the cathedrals +of Paris and Amiens. The subject scheme of the rose in the north +transept is truly noble. The earliest glass is that in the nave (a +little later than 1400), and this is Flemish. The windows of the aisles +are at least a century later. Their composition is simple and broad, the +coloring rich and deep, and the interior dusk of the church enhances the +value of the sunlight filtering through the glass. + +Better than to descend into the immense crypt below the Cathedral, with +its eighty-eight massive piers corresponding to those above, is it to +stray into the broken sunlight of the green and fragrant cloister +arcade. + +Bishop Tenorio procured the site for the church from the Jews, who here, +right under the walls of the Christian church, held their market. A +fresco adjoining the gate explains by what means. It represents on a +ladder a fiendish-looking Jew who has cut the heart out of a beautiful, +crucified child and is holding the dripping dagger in his hand. This +fresco stirred up the fury of the Christian populace to the point of +burning the Jewish market, houses and shops, which then were annexed by +the Bishop. The fine, two-story Gothic arcade of the cloisters encloses +a sun-splashed garden filled with fragrant flowers. Around the walls of +the lower arcade are a series of very mediocre frescoes. The +architecture itself is not nearly as interesting as that of the +cloisters of Salamanca. It ought particularly to be so in this portion +of the church, for here is the very climate and place for the courtyard +life of the Spaniard. + + +V + +So lies the Cathedral, crumbling in the sunlight of the twentieth +century. Beautiful, but strange and irreconcilable to all that is around +her, she alone, the Mother Church, stands unshaken, lonely and +melancholy, but grand and solemn in the midst of the paltry and tawdry +happenings of to-day. She has served giants, and now sees but a race of +dwarfs; princes have prostrated themselves at her altars, where now only +beggars kneel. Her walls whisper loneliness, desertion, widowed +resignation. + + NOTE.--In connection with the remarks on page 160, a Catholic + friend has pointed out how rarely, when Peter has been robbed, + ostensibly to pay Paul, Paul (otherwise the Poor) has derived any + benefit from it. It is willingly conceded that Henry VIII bestowed + much of the wealth derived from the dissolution of the religious + houses on his own favorites, and recent disclosures in France show + as scandalous a diversion of some of the funds similarly obtained. + + + + +VI + +SEGOVIA + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA] + + Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault, + The pealing anthem swells the note of praise. + + _Gray._ + + +Once upon a time, long, long ago, in the days of the Iberians, there was +a city and its name was Segovia. It is now so old that all of it, with +the exception of the great heap of masonry which crowns its summit, has +practically crumbled into a mountain of ruins. The pile still stands, +dominating the plain and facing the setting sun, triumphant over time +and decay,--the Cathedral of Saint Mary and Saint Froila. Though Mary +was the holier of the two patrons, owing to whose protection the church +stands to-day so well preserved, still Froila was in certain respects no +less remarkable. The Segovians of his day saw him split open a rock with +his jackknife and prove to the Moslems then ruling his city, beyond all +doubt, the validity of his Christian faith. + +But long before saints and cathedrals, the Romans, recognizing the +tenacious and commanding position as a military stronghold of the rock +of Segovia, which rises precipitously from the two valleys watered by +the Erasma and Clamores, pitched their camp upon its crest, renaming it +Segobriga. The city was fortified, and under Trajan the truly +magnificent aqueduct was built, either by the Romans or the devil, to +supply the city with the waters of the Fonfria mountains. A beautiful +Segovian had at this early time grown weary of carrying her jugs up the +steep hills from the waters below and promised the devil she would marry +him, if he only would in a night's time once and for all bring into the +city the fresh waters of the eastern mountains. She was worth the labor, +and the suitor accepted the contract. Fortunately the Church found the +arcade incomplete, the devil having forgotten a single stone, and the +maid was honorably released from her part of a bargain, the execution of +which had profited her city so greatly. Segovia still carries on her +shield this "Puente del diabolo," with the head of a Roman peering above +it. + +The strong position of the city made it an envied possession to whatever +conqueror held the surrounding country. It lay on the borderland, +constantly disputed with varying fortune by Christian and Moslem. Under +the dominion of the early Castilian kings, and even under the triumphant +Moors, the youthful church prospered and grew, for in the government of +their Christian subjects, the Mohammedans here, as elsewhere, showed +themselves temperate and full of common sense. The invaders had, indeed, +everywhere been welcomed by the numerous Jews settled in Spanish cities, +who under the new rulers exchanged persecution for civil and religious +liberty. Prompt surrender and the payment of a small annual tax were the +only conditions made, to confirm the conquered, of whatever race or +religion, in the possession of all their worldly goods, perfect freedom +of worship and continued government by their own laws under their own +judges. + +In the eleventh century, Segovia was included in the great Amirate of +Toledo, but the Castilian kings grew stronger, till in 1085 they were +able to recapture Toledo. The singularly picturesque contours of the +city are due to the various races which fortified her. Iberians were +probably the first to strengthen their hill from outside attack,--the +Romans followed, building upon the foundations of the old walls, and +Christian and Moslem completed the work, until the little city was +compactly girdled by strong masonry, broken by some three to four score +fighting towers and but few gates of entrance. Alfonso the Wise was one +of the great Segovian rulers and builders. He strengthened her bastions, +added a good deal to the walls of her illustrious fortress, and in 1108 +gave the city her first charter. A few years later Segovia was elevated +to a bishopric. + +Long before the earliest cathedral church, the Alcazar was the most +conspicuous feature in the landscape, and it still holds the second +place. Erected on the steep rocks at the extreme eastern end of the +almond-shaped hill, it stands like a chieftain at the head of his +warriors, always ready for battle, and first to meet any onslaught. +Several Alfonsos, as well as Sanchos, labored upon it during the +perilous twelfth century. Here the kings took up their abode in the +happy days when Segovia was capital of the kingdom, and even in later +times it sheltered such illustrious travelers as the unfortunate Prince +Charles of England, and Gil Blas, when out of suits with fortune. + +The first Cathedral was erected on the broad platform east of the +Alcazar, directly under the shadow of its protecting walls. The +ever-reappearing Count Raymond of Burgundy was commissioned by his +father-in-law, the King, to repopulate Segovia after the Moorish +devastations, and he rebuilt its walls, as he was doing for the +recaptured cities of Salamanca and Avila. The battlements were repaired, +and northerners from many provinces occupied the houses that had been +deserted. + +To judge from the ruins as well as from well-preserved edifices, +Romanesque days must have been full of great architectural activity. One +is constantly reminded of Toledo in climbing up and down the narrow +streets, where one must often turn aside or find progress barred by +Romanesque and Gothic courtyards or smelly culs-de-sac. Everywhere are +Romanesque portals and arches, palaces and the apses and circular +chapels of the age, bulging beyond the sidewalks into the cobblestones +of the street. They seem indeed venerable. Some of the old palaces +present a curious all-over design executed in Moorish manner and with +Moorish feeling. It is carved into the sidewalk, showing in relief a +geometrical, circular pattern, each circle filled with a quantity of +small Gothic lancets, surely difficult both to design and to execute. +Some of the old parish churches stand with their deep splays, +round-headed arches and windows and broad, recessed portals almost as +perfectly preserved as a thousand years ago. The Romanesque style died +late and hard. Even in the thirteenth century, the city could boast +thirty such parish churches. To-day they seem fairly prayer-worn. Beyond +their towers stretch the plains in every direction, seamed by stone +walls and dotted with gray rocks. Olive and poplar groves cluster round +the small hillocks, rising here and there like camels' backs. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF SEGOVIA CATHEDRAL + + A. Capilla Mayor. + B. Choir. + C. Crossing. + D. Sacristy. + E. Cloisters. + F. Tower.] + +As long as the welfare and development of the city depended on strong +natural fortifications, Segovia remained intact. To the twelfth and +thirteenth centuries belongs her glory. Her power passed with the middle +ages and their chivalry, and in the sixteenth century she was a dead +city. + +Villages, convents and churches lie scattered over the plain, the houses +crowded together for protection against the blazing, scorching, pitiless +sun. Standing by itself is the ancient and severe church, where many a +knight-templar kept his last vigil before turning his back on the plains +of Castile, and apart sleeps the monastery where Torquemada was once +prior. They all crumble golden brown against the horizon. + +Many a bloody fray or revolution upset the city during the middle ages. +The minority of Alfonso XI witnessed one of the worst. The revolt which +broke out in so many of the Spanish cities against the Emperor Charles +V, proved most fatal to the Cathedral of Segovia. + +The first Romanesque Cathedral had been built in honor of St. Mary, +under the walls of the Alcazar, during the first half of the twelfth +century. It was consecrated in 1228 by the papal legate, Juan, Bishop of +Sabina. Some two hundred and fifty years later, a new and magnificent +Gothic cloister was added to it by Bishop Juan Arias Davila, and +likewise a new episcopal palace more fitting times of greater luxury and +magnificence. This palace, despite the coming translation of the +Cathedral itself, remained the abode of the bishops for the three +following centuries. In the new cloisters a banquet of reconciliation +was celebrated in 1474 by Henry IV and the Catholic Kings. It was held +on the very spot whence Isabella had started in state on a journey +proving so eventful in the history not only of Castile but of the entire +Peninsula and countries beyond. Three years after the furious struggle +which took place around the entrance of the Alcazar, Charles V issued +the following proclamation:-- + +"The King: To the Aldermen, Justices, Councillors, Knights, Men-at-arms, +Officials, and good Burghers of the city of Segovia. The reverend Father +in Christ, Bishop of the church of this city, has told me how he and the +Chapter of his church believe that it would be well to move the +Cathedral church to the plaza of the city on the site of Santa Clara, +and that the parish of San Miguel of the plaza should be incorporated in +the Cathedral church; and this, because when the said Cathedral church +is placed in a situation where the divine services may be more +advantageously held, our Saviour will be better served and the people +will receive much benefit and the city become much ennobled; it appears +to me good that this plan should be carried out, desiring the good and +ennoblement and welfare of the said city because of the loyalty and +services I have always found in it, therefore I command and request that +you unite with the said Bishop or his representative and the Chapter of +said church and all talk freely together about this and see what will be +best for the good of the said city, and at the same time consider the +assistance that the said city could itself render, and after discussion, +forward me the results of your combined judgment, in order that I +better may see and decide what will be for the best service of Our Lord, +Ourselves, and the welfare of the city. Dated in Madrid, the 2d day of +October, in the year 1510.--I, the King." + +While the discussion of the feasibility and expense of commencing an +entirely new cathedral upon a new site nearer the heart of the city was +at its height, the revolt of the Comunidades broke out, in 1520, and +swept away in its burning and pillaging course the Romanesque edifice. +This stood at the entrance to the fortress, where the fight naturally +raged hottest. Only a very few of the most sacred images, relics and +bones were carried to safety within the walls of the Alcazar before the +old pile had been practically destroyed. Segovia was without a Cathedral +church. + +In the centre of the city, on the very crest of the hill, lay the only +clearing within the walls. Here at one end of the plaza was the site of +the convent mentioned by Emperor Charles, which had long sheltered the +nuns of Santa Clara. They had abandoned it for other quarters, and the +adjacent convent of San Miguel had become unpopular and was dwindling +into insignificance. Both could thus in this most free and commanding +location give way to a new and larger cathedral, distant from what would +always prove the rallying point of civic strife. Following the mighty +wave of revolt which had swept the city, came a great receding wave of +religious enthusiasm to atone in holy fervor for the impious act +recently committed. Citizen and noble alike proposed to build an edifice +which would be much more to the glory of Saint Mary than the shrine +which they had so recently pulled down. Lords gave whole villages; +women, their jewels; and the citizens, the sweat of their brows. We find +in the archives of the Cathedral the following entry by the Canon Juan +Ridriguez[b]: + +"On June 8th, 1522, ... by the consent and resolution of the Lord Bishop +D. Diego de Rovera and of the Dean and Chapter of the said church, it +was agreed to commence the new work of the said church to the glory of +God and in honor of the Virgin Mary and the glorious San Frutos and all +saints, taking for master of the said work Juan Gil de Hontanon, and for +his clerk of the works Garcia de Cubillas. Thursday, the 8th of June, +1552, the Bishop ordered a general procession with the Dean and Chapter, +clergy and all the religious orders." + +The corner stone was laid and the masonry started at the western end +under the most renowned architect of the age. Juan Gil had already +worked on the old Segovian Cathedral, but had achieved his great fame on +the new Cathedral of Salamanca, started ten years previously, whose +walls were rising with astounding rapidity. His clerk was almost equally +skilled, always working in perfect harmony with his master and carrying +out his designs without jealousy during the "maestro's" many illnesses +and journeys to and from Salamanca. Garcia lived to work on the church +until 1562, and the old archives still hold many drawings from his +skillful hand. + +The two late Gothic Cathedrals are so similar in many points that they +are immediately recognizable as the conception of the same brain. +Segovia is, however, infinitely superior, not only in the magnificent +development of the eastern end with its semicircular apse, ambulatory, +and radiating apsidal chapels, as compared with the square termination +of Salamanca, but, throughout, in the restrained quality of its detail +and the refinement of its ornamentation. How far the abrupt and +uninteresting apsidal termination of Salamanca was Juan Gil's fault, it +is difficult to say, for we find records of its having been imposed upon +him by the Chapter as well as of his having drawn a circular apse. +Fortunately, the Segovian churchmen had the common sense to leave their +architect alone in most artistic matters and allow him to make the head +of the church either "octagonal, hexagonal, or of square form." Where +Salamanca has been coarsened by the new style, Segovia seems inspired by +its fidelity to the old. + +The similarity of the two churches is visible throughout. The general +interior arrangements are much alike. The stone of the two interiors is +of nearly the same color, and the formation and details of the great +piers are strikingly similar. There is the same thin, reed-like descent +of shafts from upper ribs, the same, almost inconspicuous, small leaves +for caps, and, in both, the bases terminate at different heights above +the huge common drum, which is some three feet high. Externally, there +are analogous buttresses, crestings, pinnacles and parapets, and a +concealment of roof structure, but there is none of the vanity of +Salamanca in the sister church of Segovia. The last great Gothic church +of Spain, though deficient in many ways, was not lacking in unity nor +sincerity. The flame went out in a magnificent blaze. + +Such faithfulness and love as possessed Juan Gil for his old Gothic +masters seems well-nigh incredible. He designed, and during his +activity there of nine years, raised the greater portions of Segovia in +an age when Gothic building was practically extinct, when Brunelleschi +was building Santa Maria del Fiore, and the classic revival was in full +march. Segovia and Spaniards were as tardy in forswearing their Gothic +allegiance as they had been their Romanesque. Not until the beginning of +the sixteenth century does the reborn classicism victoriously cross the +Pyrenees, and then only in minor domestic buildings. The last +manifestations of Gothic church-building in Spain were neither weak nor +decadent, but virile, impressive and logical. Segovia Cathedral may be +said to be the last great monument in Spain, not only of Gothic, but of +ecclesiastical art. Thereafter came the deluge of decadence or +petrification. What must not the power of the Church, as well as the +religious enthusiasm of the populace, have been during this +extraordinary sixteenth century! It is almost incredible that this tiny +city, in a weak little kingdom, and so few miles from Salamanca, had the +spirit for an undertaking of the size of this Cathedral church, so soon +after Salamanca had entered on her architectural enterprise. Either of +the two seems beyond the united power of the kingdom. + +Even more remarkable than the starting of Segovia in the Gothic style at +so late a date, was the fact that the architects succeeding Juan Gil, +who were naturally tempted to embody their own ideas and to employ the +new style then in vogue, should nevertheless have faithfully adhered to +the original conception and completed in Gothic style all constructive +and ornamental details everywhere except in the final closing of the +dome and a few minor exterior features. Naturally the Gothic of the +sixteenth century was not that of the thirteenth,--not that of Leon or +Toledo, nor even of Burgos,--it had been modified and lost in spirit, +but still its origin was undeniable. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA. + +From the Plaza.] + +In 1525 Segovia was fairly started. House after house that impeded the +progress of the work was destroyed, until up to a hundred of them had +been razed. Santa Clara was kept for the services until the very last +moment, when a sufficient portion of the new building was ready for +their proper celebration. + +It was unusual to start with the western end, the apse and its +surrounding arches being the portion necessary for services. In Segovia, +however, as well as in the new Salamancan Cathedral, the great western +front was the earliest to rise. Gil did not live to finish it, but it is +evident that, as long as he directed, the work drew the attention of the +entire artistic fraternity of the Peninsula. We find constant mention in +old documents of the visits and the praise of illustrious architects, +among them Alfonso de Covarrubias, Juan de Alava, Enrique de Egas, and +Felipe de Borgona. Gil's clerk-of-the-works, Cubillas, succeeded him as +"maestro," and under him the western front with its tower, the +cloisters, and the nave and aisles as far as the crossing, were +virtually completed by 1558. Aside from the manual labor, "it had taken +more than forty-eight collections of maravedis" to bring it to this +point. The magnificent old cloisters erected by Bishop Davila beside the +old Cathedral in 1470, had been spared the fury of the mob, and in 1524 +they were moved stone by stone to the southern flank of the new +Cathedral. This would have been a remarkable feat of masonry in our +age, and, for the sixteenth century, it was astonishing. Not a stone was +chipped nor a piece of carving broken. Juan de Compero took the whole +fabric apart and put it together again, as a child does a box of wooden +blocks. + +The 15th of August, 1558, when the first services were held in the +Cathedral, was the greatest day in Segovia's history. Quadrado, probably +quoting from old accounts, tells us, "The divine services were then held +in the new Temple. People came to the festival from all over Spain, and +music, from all Castile. At twilight on August 14th, 1558, the tower was +illuminated with fire-works, the great aqueduct, with two thousand +colored lights, and the reflection of the city's lights alarmed the +country-side for forty leagues round. The following day, the Assumption +of Our Lady, there was an astonishing procession, in which all the +parishes took part and the community offered prizes for the best +display. The procession went out by the gate of Saint Juan, and, after +going all around the city, returned to the plaza, where the sacrament +was being borne out of Santa Clara. There was a bull-fight, +pole-climbing, a poetical competition and comedies. The generosity of +the donations corresponded to the pomp of the occasion. Ten days +afterwards the bones were taken from the old church and reinterred in +the new one, among which were those of the Infante Don Pedro, Maria del +Salto, and different prelates." + +The bones of the two former were laid to rest under the arches of the +cloister. Don Pedro was a little son of King Henry II who had been +playing on one of the iron balconies in front of the Alcazar windows, +and, while his nurse's back was turned, pitched headlong over the +precipice into eternity and the poplar trees three hundred feet below. +The nurse, who knew full well it would be a question of only a few hours +before she followed her princely charge, anticipated her fate and jumped +after him. Maria del Salto ("of the leap") was a beautiful Jewess who, +having been taken in sin, was forced to jump from another of Segovia's +steep promontories. Bethinking herself of the Virgin Mary as a last +resource, she invoked her assistance while in mid-air, and the blessed +saint immediately responded, causing the Jewess to alight gently and +unharmed. It was naturally a great pious satisfaction to the Segovians +to carry to the new edifice such cherished bones. + +With services in the church, the building was well under way. Juan Gil's +son, Rodrigo Gil, had worked on Salamanca as well as very ably assisted +Cubillas. Upon the latter's death, in 1560, Rodrigo became maestro +mayor. Three years later, when the corner stone of the apse was laid, +the Chapter seems to have seriously discussed the advisability of +finally deviating from the original Gothic plans and building a +Renaissance head. It was, however, left to Rodrigo, who loyally adhered +to his father's original designs, and when he died in 1577, there was +fortunately but little left to do. Indeed, most of what followed in +construction, repair or decoration was rather to the detriment than +embellishment of the church. It was consecrated in 1580. Chapels were +added to the trasaltar by Rodrigo's successor, Martin Ruiz de Chartudi; +the lantern above the crossing was raised by Juan de Mogaguren in 1615; +five years later, the northern porch was erected and Renaissance +features invaded the edifice. Like most Spanish churches, it has been +constantly worked upon and never completed. + +The plan is admirable,--at once dignified and harmonious, and the +semicircular Romanesque termination is striking. The total length is +some 340 feet, its entire width, some 156; the nave is 43 and the side +aisles are 32 feet wide. It is thus logical, symmetrical, and fully +developed in all its members. Beyond the side aisles stretches a row of +chapels separated from each other by transverse walls. As the transepts, +which are of the same width as the nave, do not project beyond the +chapels of its outer aisles, the Latin cross disappears in plan. The +nave, aisles and chapels consist of five bays up to the crossing crowned +by the great dome. Beyond this comes the vault of the Capilla Mayor and +the semicircular apse surrounded by a seven-bayed ambulatory, or +"girola," and an equal number of radiating pentagonal chapels. The +chevet is clear in arrangement and noble in expression. Entrances lead +logically into the nave and side aisles of the western front and into +the centres of the northern and southern transepts, while cloisters +which abut to the south are entered through the fifth chapel. When +Segovia was built, Spaniards were thoroughly reconciled to the idea of +placing the choir west of the crossing and the Capilla Mayor east, and +consequently the latter was designed no larger than was requisite for +its offices, and a space was frankly screened off between it and the +choir for the use of the officiating clergy. The third and fourth bays +of the nave contained the choir. + +As one enters the church, there is a consciousness of joy and order. The +stone surfaces are just sufficiently warmed and mellowed by the +glorious light from above. The piers are very massive and semicircular +in plan; the foliage at their heads underneath the vaulting is so +delicate and unpronounced that it scarcely counts as capitals. The walls +of the chapels in the outer aisles, as well as round the ambulatory, are +penetrated by narrow, round-headed windows, as timid and attenuated as +those of an early Romanesque edifice; the walls of the inner aisle, by +triple, lancet windows; and the clerestory of the nave, by triple, +round-headed ones. Under them, in the apse, is a second row of +round-headed blind windows. None of them have any tracery whatever. The +glass is of great brilliancy of coloring and exceptional beauty, but the +designs are as poor as the glazing is glorious. In the smaller windows, +the subjects represent events in the Old Testament; in the larger, +scenes from the New. Around the apse much of the old, stained glass has +been shamefully replaced by white, so as to admit more light into this +portion of the building. + +There is no triforium, but a finely carved late Gothic balcony runs +around the nave and transepts below the clerestory. In the transepts, +this is surmounted by a second one underneath the small roses which +penetrate their upper wall surfaces. Both nave and side aisles are +lofty, the vaulting rising in the former to a height of about 100 feet +and, in the latter, to 80 feet, while the cupola soars 330 feet above. +The vaulting itself is most elaborate and developed. While the early +Gothic edifices have only the requisite functional transverse, diagonal +and wall ribs, we now find every vault covered with intermediate ones of +most intricate designs. Especially over the Capilla Mayor in its +ambulatory chapels and around the lantern, this ornamentation becomes +profuse,--everywhere ribs are met by bosses and roses. The general +effect of the endless cutting up of the vaults into numberless +compartments by the complicated system of lierne ribs is one of +restlessness. One misses the logical simplicity of the thirteenth and +fourteenth centuries and is reminded of the decadent surfacing of late +German work and the ogee, lierne ribs of some of the late English, in +which the true ridges can no longer be distinguished from the false. + +Looking up into the dome over the crossing, we see that the pendentives +do not rise directly above the four arches, but spring some fifteen feet +higher up above a Gothic balustrade which is surmounted by elliptical +arches pierced by circular windows. The dome, disembarrassed of the ribs +which still cling to some of its predecessors, is finely shaped,--a +thorough Renaissance piece of work. Light streams down through the +bull's eye under the lantern. + +There is considerable difference in the design as well as workmanship of +the many rejas. Tremendous iron rails, surely not as fine as those of +Seville, Granada, or Toledo, but still very remarkable, close the three +sides of the Capilla Mayor and the front of the choir. The emblematical +lilies of the Cathedral rise in rows one beside the other, as one sees +them in a florist's Easter windows. Rejas close off similarly all the +outer chapels from the side aisles. + +Among the very few portions of the old Cathedral which remained intact +after the fury of the Comunidades, were the choir stalls and an +exquisite door. The former were placed in the new choir and the latter +became an entrance to the transplanted cloisters. It was indeed +fortunate that these stalls were spared, for they are among the most +exquisite in Spain and excelled by few in either France or Germany. + +Wood-carving had long been a favorite art in Spain, one in which the +Spaniards learned to excel under the skillful tutelage of the great +masters from Germany and Flanders. The foreign carvers settled +principally in Burgos, where there grew up around them apprentices eager +to fill the churches with statues, retablos, choir stalls, and organ +screens executed in wood. The art of carving became highly honored. An +early ordinance of Seville referring to wood-carving, masonry and +building, esteems it "a noble art and self-contained, that increaseth +the nobleness of the King and of his kingdom, that pacifieth the people +and spreadeth love among mankind conducing to much good." In the +numerous panels of cathedral choir stalls, there was a wonderful +opportunity for relief work and the play of the fertile imagination and +childlike expressiveness of the middle ages. Curious freaks of fancy, +their extraordinary conceptions of Biblical scenes, the events and +personages of their own day, could all be portrayed and even carved with +wonderful skill. Leonard Williams, in his "Art and Crafts of Older +Spain," tells us that "the silleria consists of two tiers, the _sellia_ +or upper seats with high backs and a canopy, intended for the canons, +and the lower seats or _sub-sellia_ of simpler pattern with lower backs, +intended for the _beneficados_. At the head of all is placed the throne, +larger than the other stalls, and covered in many cases by a canopy +surmounted by a tall spire." + +Few of the many Gothic stalls are finer than those of Segovia. The +contrast with the work above them, as well as with that which backs onto +them, is doubly distressing. The tremendous organs above are a mass of +gilding and restless Baroque ornamentation, while their rear is covered +by multicolored strips of stone which would have looked vulgar and gaudy +around a Punch and Judy show and here enframe the four Evangelists. The +chapels and high altar are uninteresting, decorated in later days in +offensive taste. Apart from these furnishings, which play but a small +part, it is rare and satisfying to survey an interior in which there has +been so much decorative restraint, in which the constructive and +architectural lines dominate the merely ornamental ones, and where +harmony, severity and excellent proportions go hand in hand. Were it not +for the cupola and a few minor details, there would be added to these +merits, unity of style. + +The cloisters are rich and flamboyant, but nevertheless more restrained +than those of Salamanca. They are elaborately subdivided, carved and +festooned, and, in the bosses of the arches, they carry the arms of +their original builder, Bishop Arias Davila. Just inside their entrance +lie three of the old architects, Rodrigo Gil de Hontanon, Campo Aguero, +and Viadero. The old well in the centre is covered with a grapevine, and +nothing could be lovelier than the deep emerald leaves dotted with +purple fruit growing over the white and yellow stonework. + +Few Spanish cathedrals can be seen to such advantage as Segovia, its +situation is so unusual and fortunate. In mediaeval towns closely packed +within their city walls, there could be but little room or breathing +space either for palace or hovel, and the buildings adjacent to a +cathedral generally nestled close to its sides. The plaza of Segovia is +unusually large compared to the area of the little city. The clearing +away of Santa Clara and San Miguel and all the smaller surrounding +edifices condemned for the Cathedral site, left much room also in front +of the western entrance for a fine broad platform as well as an +unobstructed view from the opposite side of the square. Most of the +flights of granite steps leading to it from the streets below are now +closed by iron gates and overgrown with grass and weeds. The days of the +great processions are past, when the various trades, led by their bands +of musicians, filed up to deliver their offerings towards the +construction, and the staircases are no longer thronged by devout +Segovian citizens anxious to see the daily progress of the work. The +platform is paved with innumerable granite slabs which in the old +Cathedral covered the tombs of the city's illustrious citizens, whose +names may still be easily deciphered. + +Taken as a whole, the facade is bald and void of charm. It is neither +good nor especially faulty, of a certain strength, but without interest +or merit. It is logically subdivided by five pronounced buttresses +marking the nave, side aisles and outer row of chapels. Their relative +heights and the lines of their roofing are clearly defined. To the +north, a rather insignificant turret terminates the facade, while to the +south rises the lofty tower, three hundred and forty-five feet above the +whole mountain of masonry, the most conspicuous landmark in the +landscape of Segovia. It consists of a square base of sides thirty-five +feet wide, broken by six rows of twin arches; the first, the third and +the sixth are open, the last is a belfry. The present dome curves from +an octagonal Renaissance base, the transitional corners being filled +with crocketed pyramids similar to the many crowning buttresses and +piers at all angles of the church below. The dome and lantern are almost +exact smaller counterparts of those crowning the crossing. They were put +up by the same architect, Mogaguren, who certainly could not have been +over-gifted with artistic imagination. The tower had varying +fortunes,--much to the distress of the citizens, it has been twice +struck by lightning. The wooden structure and lead covering were burned +and melted by the fire which followed the first catastrophe, but +fortunately it was soon put out by the rain which saved the Cathedral +and city. After the second thunderbolt, in 1809, the surmounting cross +was replaced by a lightning-rod. + +The nave is entered by the Perdon portal, which, under a Gothic arch, is +subdivided into two elliptical openings. Peculiarly late Gothic railings +here, as elsewhere, crown the masonry and conceal the tiling of the +sloping roofs. + +Rounding the church to the south, we find the view obstructed by the +cloisters and sacristy; only the facade of the transept, ascended from +the lower ground by a flight of steps, remains visible. The southern +doorway is quite denuded, and even its buttresses rise without as much +as a corbel to soften their lines. When one has, however, dodged through +the tortuous, narrow, malodorous streets and come out opposite the apse +and northern flank, the whole bulk of the logical organic body of the +church becomes visible with its larger squat and higher lofty domes +towering into the blue. To the same Renaissance period as the two domes +belongs the classical portal of Pedro Brizuela, leading to the northern +transept. The view from the northeast is particularly fine. Every +portion of the structure is expressed by the exterior lines. One above +the other rise chapels, ambulatory, apse, transepts and lanterns, each +level crowned by its sparkling balustrade. The sky is jagged by the +crocketed spires which terminate the flying buttresses, the piers and +the angles of the wall surface. Here the Latin cross may be seen, and +the sub-divisions of every portion of the interior. There is no +deception nor trickery. It is simple and straightforward. Its artistic +merits may be small, the forest of carved turrets rising all around the +apse, tiresome, but this final impression of Spanish Gothic was +thoroughly sincere. + + + + +VII + +SEVILLE + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE + +The Giralda, from the Orange Tree Court] + + "Wen Gott lieb hat, dem giebt er ein Haus in Sevilla." + + +Seville is ever youthful, for the blood which courses in her veins +absorbs the sunlight. Venice is the city of dreamy love, Naples, of +indolence, Rome, of everlasting age, but Seville keeps an eternal youth. + +What picturesqueness, what color, what passion blend with memories of +Andalusia! + + All sunny land of love! + When I forget you, may I fail + To ... say my prayers! + +And Seville is the queen of Andalusia, of noble birth, proud and +beautiful. Distinctly feminine in her subtle, indefinable charm, like a +woman she changes with her surroundings, and her mutability adds to her +fascination. We never fathom nor quite know her, for she is one being as +she slumbers in the first chalky light of morning, another, in the +resplendent nakedness of noontide, overarched by the indigo firmament, +and yet another, in the happy laughter of evening when her mantle has +turned purple and her throbbing life is more felt than seen. The roses, +hyacinths and crocuses have closed in sleep, but the orange groves, the +acacia, and eucalyptus, jasmine, lemon, and palm trees and hedges of box +fill the air with heavy, aromatic perfume. To the exiled Moors she was +so sweet in all her moods that they said, "God in His justice, having +denied to the Christians a heavenly paradise, has given them in exchange +an earthly one." With the oriental languor of her ancestors, she keeps +the freshness and sparkle of the dewy morn. She is as gay and full of +youthful vitality as her Toledan sister is old and worn and haggard. +While Toledo is sombre and funereal, Seville is alive with the tinkling +of silver fountains, the strumming of guitars and mandolins, and the +songs of her women. She lies rich and splendid on the bosom of the +campagna, fruitfulness and plenty within her embattled walls. "She is a +strange, sweet sorceress, a little wise perhaps, in whom love has +degenerated into desire; but she offers her lovers sleep, and in her +arms you will forget everything but the entrancing life of dreams." + +Andalusia and Seville justly claim an ancient and royal pedigree, which +through all the vicissitudes of centuries has still left its stamp upon +them. Andalusia was the Tarshish of the Bible, whither Jonah rose to +flee. Her commerce is spoken of in Jeremiah, Isaiah, the Psalms, and the +Chronicles: "Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all +kind of riches, with silver, iron, tin, and lead they traded in thy +fairs" (Ezekiel xxvii, 12). + +In passing the Straits of Hercules, Seville and Ceuta alone caught +Odysseus' eye:-- + + Tardy with age + Were I and my companions, when we came + To the Strait pass, where Hercules ordain'd + The bound'ries not to be o'erstepp'd by man. + The walls of Seville to my right I left, + On th' other hand already Ceuta past. + + _Inferno_, xxvi. 106-110. + +The honor of founding the city of Seville seems to be shared by Hercules +and Julius Caesar. In the popular mind of the Sevillians, as well as +through an unbroken chain of mediaeval historians and ballad-makers, +Hercules is called its father. Monuments throughout the city bear +witness to its founders. On one of the gates recently demolished the +inscription ran,-- + + Condidit Alcides, Renovavit Julius urbem. + Restituit Christo Fernandus tertius heros. + +The Latin verses were later paraphrased in the Castilian tongue over the +Gate of Zeres:-- + + Hercules me edifico, + Julio Cesar me cerco, + de meno y torres altes + y el rey santo me gano, + Con Garci Perez de Vargas. + +"Hercules built me, Julius Caesar surrounded me with walls and high +towers, the Holy King conquered me by Garcia Perez de Vargas." Statues +of the founder and protector still stand in various parts of the city. + +In the second century B. C., the shipping of Seville made it one of the +most important trade centres of the Mediterranean. Phoenicians and +Greeks stopped here to barter. In 45 B. C., Rome stretched forth her +greedy hand, and Caesar entered the town at the head of his victorious +legion. Eighty-two years later the Romans formed the whole of southern +Spain into the "Provincia Baetica." With its formation into a Roman +colony, Seville's historical background begins to stand out clearly and +its riches are sung by the ancients. "Fair art thou, Baetis," says +Martial, "with thine olive crown and thy limpid waters, with the fleece +stains of a brilliant gold." The whole province contained what later +became Sevilla, Huelva, Cadiz, Cordova, Jaen, Granada and Almeria. +Seville, or Hispalis, became the capital and was accordingly fortified +with walls and towers, garrisoned and supplied with water from aqueducts +and adorned with Roman works of art. After the spread of Christianity +during the later Emperors, Seville was important enough to be made the +seat of a bishop. + +With the fall of Rome, Hispalis was overrun by hordes of Goths and +Vandals. They held possession of the country until they were conquered +in 711 by the Moors, who, after crossing the strait between Africa and +Europe, gradually spread northward through the Iberian peninsula. The +Goths made Hispalis out of the Roman Hispalia, and the Arabians in their +turn, unable to pronounce the p, formed the name into Ixbella, of which +the Castilians made Seville. + +To the Moors, Andalusia was the Promised Land flowing with milk and +honey. What was lacking, their genius and husbandry soon supplied. The +land which they found uncultivated soon became a garden filled with +exotic flowers and rich fruits, while they adorned its cities with the +noblest monuments of their taste and intelligence. They divided their +territory (el Andalus) into the four kingdoms of Seville, Cordova, Jaen, +and Granada, which still exist as territorial divisions. To-day the +three latter contain only the ruins of a great past. Seville alone +remains in many respects a perfectly Moorish city. Her courts, her +squares, the streets and houses, the great palace and the tower are +essentially Arabian and bear witness to the magnificence of her ancient +masters. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF SEVILLE CATHEDRAL + + A. The Giralda. + B. Royal Chapel. + C. Chapter House. + D. Sacristy. + E. Old Sacristy. + F. Colombina Library. + G. Portal of the Perdon. + H. Courtyard of the Orange Trees. + I. The Sagrario. + J. Portal of the Orange Trees. + K. Choir. + L. Capilla Mayor. + M. Portal of the Lonja (San Cristobal). + N. Portal of the Palos. + O. Portal of the Campanillas. + P. Portal of the Bautismo. + Q. Puerta Mayor. + R. Portal of the Nacimiento. + S. Trascoro. + T. Dependencias de la Hermandad. + U. Portal of the Sagrario. + V. Portal of the Lagarto. + X. Tomb of Fernando Colon.] + +They had lost all the rest of Spain except Granada before Cordova and +Jaen surrendered, and finally Seville fell into the hands of Ferdinand +III of Castile in 1248, and its Christian period began. Three hundred +thousand followers of the detested faith were banished from Seville, and +slowly the power of the Catholic Church began to rise and the +agricultural beauty and industry of the surrounding province to wane. + +The city was divided into separate districts for the different races, +the canals were dammed up, the water-works fell to pieces, the valley +was left untilled, and fruit trees were unpruned and unwatered. Hides +bleached in the sun and webs rotted on the looms, sixty thousand of +which had woven beautiful silk fabrics in the palmy days of the Moors. + +Ferdinand the Holy was a great king, of a saintliness and greatness +still acknowledged by the soldiers of Seville. After eight centuries +they still lower their colors as they march past the great shrine of the +Third Ferdinand, in the church which he purged from Mohammedanism and +dedicated to the worship of the Christians' God and the Holy Virgin. + +After him, Seville became the theatre of momentous deeds and events that +had a far-reaching influence on the history of the country. Into her lap +was poured the riches of the New World; within her halls Queen Isabella +laid the foundation of her united kingdom; from Seville came the +intellectual stimulus that revived the arts and letters of the whole +Peninsula. Here were born and labored Pedro Campana, Alejo Fernandez, +Luis de Vargas, the several Herreras, Francisco de Zurbaran, Alfonso +Cano, Diego de Silva Velasquez, Bartolome Esteban Murillo, and Miguel +Florentino. The riches of the western world made of Seville a second +Florence, where art found ready patrons, and literature, cultivated +protectors. She rivaled the great schools of Italy and the Netherlands, +but out of her secret council chambers came the Institution of the Holy +Office, the scourge that withered the nation. In the latter half of the +sixteenth century, forty-five thousand people were put to death in the +archbishopric of Seville. Finally, under Philip II, Seville and her +great church rose to stupendous wealth and power. + +"When Philip II died, loyal Seville honored the departed king by a +magnificent funeral service in the Cathedral. A tremendous monument was +designed by Oviedo. On Nov. 25th, 1598, the mourning multitude flocked +to the dim Cathedral while the people knelt upon the stones, and the +solemn music floated through the air. There was a disturbance among a +part of the congregation. A man was charged with deriding the imposing +monument and creating disorder. He was a tax-gatherer and ex-soldier of +the city named Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Some of the citizens +took his side, for there was a feud between the civil and the +ecclesiastical authorities in Seville. The brawler was expelled from the +cathedral,--but he had his revenge. He composed a satirical poem upon +the tomb of the King which was read everywhere in the city:-- + + _To the Monument of the King of Seville_ + + I vow to God I quake with surprise, + Could I describe it, I would give a crown, + And who, that gazes on it in the town + But starts aghast to see its wondrous size; + Each part a million cost, I should devise: + What pity 'tis, ere centuries have flown, + Old time will mercilessly cast it down! + Thou rival'st Rome, O Seville, in my eyes! + I bet, the soul of him who's dead and blest, + To dwell within this sumptuous monument, + Has left the seats of sempiternal rest! + A fellow tall, on deeds of valour bent, + My exclamation heard. "Bravo," he cried, + "Sir Soldier, what you say is true, I vow! + And he who says the contrary has lied!" + With that he pulls his hat upon his brow, + Upon his sword-hilt he his hand doth lay, + And frowns--and--nothing does, but walks away!"[16] + +Far more ineffaccable even than the record left by Philip's life upon +the history of Seville and Spain is that of this immortal soldier and +scribbler, who "believed he had found something better to do than +writing comedies." + +The soft, sonorous syllables of Guadalquivir (from the Arabic +Wad-el-Kebir, or The Great River) would picture to the imaginative eye a +river far more poetic than the sluggish stream that loiters across the +wide plain and fruitful valley until it pierces the amber girdle of +crenelated walls and embattled towers which enclose the treasures of +Seville. On its broad bosom have swept the barks and galleys of +Phoenicia and Greece, of Roman, Goth, and Moor. On its shores Columbus +lowered the sails of his caravel and presented Spain with a new world on +Palm Sunday, 1493; Pizarro and Cortez here first embarked their greedy +and daring adventurers; hither Pizarro returned with hoards of gold and +silver treasures from Mexico and Peru, for the Council of the Indies +restricted all the trade of the colonies to the port of Seville. The +valley through which the river descends is sheltered from the cold +tablelands lying northward by the Sierra Morena chain. Gray olive trees, +waving pastures, and fields of grain cover its slopes. A soft, tempered +wind whispers through the grassy meadows of La Tierra de Maria +Santissima, and the atmosphere is so dry and clear that far away against +the horizon objects stand out in clear silhouette. So vivid are the +colors that the smoky olive groves, the orange and lemon-colored walls, +the fir trees, the chalky white of the stucco, the fleshy, prickly +leaves of the cacti, and the tall standards of the aloes seem +photographed on the brain. + +In a fair and fruitful land lies the city, and her spires pierce a +smokeless, unspotted sky. + +In the heart of the city, set down in the very centre of her life of +song and laughter and childish simplicity, surrounded by crooked streets +and great airy courts, in the widest sunlit square, lies her Cathedral. + +The first impression made by a building is generally not only the most +distinct but the truest. That produced by Seville's Cathedral is its +immensity of scale. + + Toledo la rica, + Salamanca la fuerta, + Leon la bella, + Oviedo la sacra, + Sevilla la grande, + +runs the Spanish saying. The size is overpowering. Each of the four side +aisles is nearly as broad and high as the nave of Westminster Abbey, +while the arcades of Seville's nave have twice the span. To the +impressionable sensitiveness of Theophile Gautier it was like a mountain +scooped out, a valley turned topsy-turvy. Notre Dame de Paris might walk +erect under the frightful height of the middle nave; pillars as large as +towers appear so slender that you catch your breath as you look up at +the far-away, vaulted roof they support. + +Here are the first impressions of two early Spanish writers. Cean +Bermudez finds that, "seen from a certain distance, it resembles a +high-pooped and beflagged ship, rising over the sea with harmonious +grouping of sails, pennons, and banners, and with its mainmast towering +over the mizzenmast, foremast, and bowsprit." Caveda is struck by "the +general effect, which is truly majestic. The open-work parapets which +crown the roofs; the graceful lanterns of the eight winding stairs that +ascend in the corners to the vaults and galleries; the flying buttresses +that spring lightly from aisle to nave, as the jets of a cascade from +cliff to cliff; the slender pinnacles that cap them; the proportions of +the arms of the transept and of the buttresses supporting the side +walls; the large pointed windows to which they belong, rising over each +other, the pointed portals and entrances,--all these combine in an +almost miraculous effect, although they lack the wealth of detail, the +airy grace, and the delicate elegance that characterize the cathedrals +of Leon and Burgos." + +Such are the varying impressions of ancient critics. To the student's +question, "To what period of architecture does the Cathedral of Seville +belong?" we must answer, "To no period, or rather to half a dozen." +Authorities and writers will give completely different information, and +Seville has found more willing and loving chroniclers than any other of +Spain's churches. Gallichan classes it as the "largest Gothic cathedral +in the world," and Caveda calls it "a type of the finest Spanish Gothic +architecture." + +The interior of the main body of the church is pure, severe Gothic, the +sacristy major, highly developed Renaissance; the main portions of the +exterior are what might be termed for want of a better word "Spanish +Renaissance--plateresco"; other details are Moorish, classical, late +florid Gothic, rococo, and so forth. As if to add to the incongruity of +the architectural hodge-podge, it is surrounded by shafts of old Roman +columns as well as Byzantine pillars from the original mosque, sunk deep +into the ground and connected with iron chains. The total impression to +any student of architecture is one of outraged law and order, +composition and unity. Recalling the carefully membered and distinctly +developed plan of the great Gothic churches of France, the expressive +exteriors of the huge Renaissance cathedrals of Italy, the satisfying +perspective of English monastic temples, one feels the hopelessness of +attempting a comparison between this huge, impressive undertaking and +any accepted standards or schools. It is something so entirely different +and apart, a mighty and unbridled effort which cannot be classified nor +grouped with other churches, nor studied by methods of earlier +architectural training. It is full of romance,--a building romantic as +the Cid, a child of architectural fervor or even architectural furor. +Centuries of Spanish history and religion and the various temperaments +of different and inspired races have created it and fostered its +growth. Like many of its sister churches, the artisans that labored on +it were gathered from different lands and their work stretches through +centuries of time and architectural thought. There is the sparkling, +oriental fancy of the Mudejar, the classic training of the Italian, the +brilliant color and technique of the Fleming and Dutchman, the skilled +and masterful chiseling of the German, and the restless pride and +domination of the Spaniard. You find it expressed in every way,--on +canvas, in wood and clay and stone, on plaster and in glass. It is a +museum of art from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries, with +portions still waiting for the work of the twentieth. The artists range +from Juan Sanches de Castro, "the morning star of Andalusia," in 1454, +to Francisco Goya, the last of the great Spanish painters. + +It is colossal, incongruous, mysterious, and elusive. It breathes the +spirit of the middle ages with all their piety and loyalty to church and +crown, and their unparalleled ardor in building religious temples. +Gazing at it, you feel the same religious fervor that flung the arches +of Amiens and Chartres high into the northern air and rounded the dome +of Santa Maria del Fiore under Lombardy's azure vault. + +If you stand in the Calle del Gran Capitan, or better, the Plaza del +Triumfo, best of all, near the gateway of the Patio de las Banderas, +where the Cathedral and the Giralda pile up in front of you, +unquestionably you have before you Spain's mightiest architectural work, +a sight as impressive as the view from the marble pavement of the +Piazzetta by the Adriatic. + +The lofty tower is entirely oriental. The walls of the Cathedral which +rise from a broad paved terrace consist below of a classical screen, +whose surface is broken by a Corinthian order carrying a Renaissance +balustrade and topped by heavy, meaningless stone terminations. Windows +with Italian Renaissance frames pierce the ochre masonry. Above rises a +confusion of buttresses, kettle-shaped domes, and Renaissance lanterns, +simple, massive walls, some portions entirely bare, others overloaded +with delicate Gothic interlacings full of Spanish feeling; flowers and +rosettes, broad blazons and coats-of-arms,--above all, a forest of +Gothic towers, finials, crockets, parapets, and rails peculiarly Spanish +in carving and treatment. There is practically no sky line. The interior +of the nave and aisle vaulting are entirely concealed externally by the +parapets and walls. + +So lacking in sobriety is the first view!--but you are ready to echo the +Spanish saying,-- + + Quien no ha visto Sevilla + No ha visto maravilla.[17] + +or the words of Pope, "_There_ stands a structure of majestic fame!" + +The Spanish Christians in Seville, like those who obtained possession of +other Moorish strongholds, first appropriated the old Arab mosque for +their house of worship. Later, when it no longer sufficed, they and +their fellow-believers elsewhere built the new cathedral on, around, or +adjacent to, the old consecrated walls. Like all other churches from +which Islam had been driven, the great mosque of Seville was dedicated +to Santa Maria de la Sede. The famous Moorish conqueror, Abu Jakub +Jusuf, had laid the foundation stones of his mosque and tower in 1171, +building his walls with the materials left by imperial Rome, and laying +out orange courtyard and walls in a manner befitting his power and the +traditions of his race. It belongs to what architectural writers have +for convenience called the second period of the Spanish Arabs, between +1146 and about 1250, under the Almohaden dynasty. This was the period of +the Moors' greatest constructive energy,--they no longer blindly copied +the ancient architecture of Byzantium, but endeavored to create a bold +and independent art of their own. + +After the capture of Seville in 1248, Ferdinand at once consecrated the +mosque to Christian service, and it was used without alteration until it +began to crumble. Its general plan was probably very much like the one +in Cordova, a great rectangle filled with a forest of columns: its high +walls of brick and clay supported by buttresses and crowned with +battlements enclosed an adjacent courtyard with fountain and rows of +orange trees, abutted by the bell or prayer tower. The courtyard and +tower remain with but slight changes or additions; portions of the +foundation walls, the northeast and west porticos, decorative details +and ornamentation still to be found on the Christian church are all +Moorish. The plan and general structure have been restricted by the +lines of the old Moorish foundations. There are no documents extant that +give a trustworthy account of what portions of the old mosque were +allowed to remain when the Christians finally decided to rebuild, but +the most cursory glance at the outline of the Cathedral shows how +organically it has been bound by what was retained. The mosque must have +been built on as large and magnificent a scale as the one which still +amazes us in Cordova. The peculiar, oblong, quadrilateral form was +probably common to both. + +On the 8th of July, 1401, the Cathedral Chapter issued the challenge to +the Catholic world which to the more practical piety of to-day rings +with a true mediaeval fervor. Verily a faith that could remove mountains! +The inspired Chapter proclaimed they could build a church of such size +and beauty that coming ages should call them mad to have undertaken it. +And their own fat pockets were the first to be emptied of half their +stipends. The pennies of the poor, grants from the crown, indulgences +published throughout the kingdom, all went to satisfy the ever-grasping +building fund. + +In 1403 the work of tearing down and commencing afresh on the old +foundations was begun. These measured about some 415 feet in length by +278 feet in width. The old mosque or the present church proper is now +only the central edifice in a rectangle of about 600 by 500 feet. This +is the size of a village, with its courts, its tower, the great library +of the Cathedral Chapter where books were collected from all over the +lettered world by the son of Columbus, the parroquia or parish church, +the endless row of chapels, some larger than ordinary churches, the +sacristy, the chapter house and offices. It became the largest church of +the middle ages, covering 124,000 square feet; Milan covers only 90,000, +Toledo, 75,000, and Saint Paul's in London, 84,000. Among the churches +of all ages, Saint Peter's, with an area of 162,000 square feet, alone +exceeds it in size. + +In 1506, under the archbishops Alfonso Rodriguez and Gonzalo de Rojas, +the building was completed. For a century the work had been carried on +with such reckless haste that inferior building methods had been +employed, which led to subsequent disasters. On December 28, 1511, to +the consternation of the devout workmen, the great central dome fell in +during an earthquake, carrying with it or weakening many of the vaults +and much of the masonry below. After the earthquake, some of the large +piers supporting the great crossing as well as the adjacent ones were +found filled with the most carelessly laid rubble and earth, with no +carrying power nor resistance. About 1520 the building might in the main +be said to be finished. Externally it has never been completed, although +in the nineteenth century the west front was finished and its central +doorway ornamented. An extensive restoration which took place in 1882 +was interrupted by the second earthquake of 1888, during which the dome +again fell in. To-day it is all rebuilt. + +The entrance is at the west end. The plan, as I have said, was governed +by the old basilica-shaped mosque. The transepts do not project beyond +the chapels of the side aisles, and at the east end it differs from most +Spanish churches in having a square termination instead of an apse. Also +along the east wall chapels have been built between the buttresses +similar to those between the north and south sides. The central portions +of the east end open into the great Capilla Real. There are nine +doorways to the church. + +In studying the plan, it is interesting to note what Mr. Ferguson has +indicated, that similarly to what is found in the Indian Jain temples, +the diagonal of the aisle compartments has the same length as the width +of the nave. The original documents and accounts of the church, which +have disappeared, were probably burnt among Philip II's papers destroyed +by the great Madrid fire. + +Scarcely two of the Cathedral's many biographers agree as to its +architects, its historic precedents or what part of the work was +actually inspired by earlier Spanish architecture and national builders. +Naturally Spanish writers attribute workmanship, precedents and builders +all to their own Peninsula, while the different foreign authorities vary +in their estimates. Distinctly Spanish features of construction as well +as ornamentation are found side by side with others which unquestionably +came from masters trained beyond the Pyrenees. In various places +vaulting is found thoroughly German in its complexity and florid detail. +Several authorities point out the resemblances between Milan and +Seville, not that the ornamentation of the frosted and encrusted Italian +misconception can be intelligently compared with the Plateresque +carving, but there is a certain mixture of local and foreign feeling in +both. In Seville French and German feeling seems to be struggling under +Spanish fetters, just as in Lombardy the German seems to be laboring +with Italian comprehension of Gothic, finally abandoning the inorganic +scheme for a lovely, riotous, and marvelous attempt at carving to which +the material no longer placed any limitations. + +The Spanish architect of the middle ages was placed in a novel +situation, and his art had very peculiar and unusual influences bearing +upon it. Gothic methods of construction and ornamentation had slowly +spread over the country with the growing sovereignty of Aragon and +Castile, and in spite of the corresponding decline of the Arab kingdoms, +Moorish art began to work hand in hand, as far as was possible, with the +forms of the Christian invader, although the hostility between the races +hindered any extensive fusion of the two. They began, however, to +influence each other for good or bad and to flourish side by side. The +result might be called architectural volapuek. In Seville it is certain +that, whatever the nationality of the original architect and however +incongruous and expressionless the exterior may finally have become, the +interior is less exotic, less unquestionably a French importation, than +in either of the great Gothic churches of Toledo or Burgos. When we +recall the organic completeness, the truthful exterior expression, of +interior lines and construction in the greatest Gothic cathedrals of +France, we turn with sadness to the outer form of so fair a soul as that +of Santa Maria of Seville, the work of the most famous architects of her +age. Some attribute the original plans of the church to Alfonso +Rodriguez, others to Alfonso Martinez, who was Maestro Mayor of the +chapter in 1396, others again to Pedro Garcia; a long list of names +follows: Juan the Norman, Juan de Hoz, Alfonso Ruiz, Ximon, Alfonso +Rodriguez, and Gonzalo de Rojas, Pedro Mellan, Miguel Florentin, Pedro +Lopez, Henrique de Egas, Juan de Alava, Jorge Fernandez Alleman, Juan +Gil de Hontanon and the masters who after the earthquake hurried to +Seville from their buildings in Toledo, Jaen, Vittoria, and other +places. Casanova is the last of her many architects. + +Correctly speaking, there is no facade. The Cathedral runs from west to +east, the western or main entrance portal being pierced by three ogival +doorways, the Puerta Mayor with a modern relief of the Assumption, the +Puerta del Nacimento or de San Miguel to the south, and the Puerta del +Bautizo or de San Juan to the north. Saint Miguel has a relief of the +Nativity of Christ, Saint Juan, one representing Saint John baptizing. +In the moldings surrounding these, are very exquisite little figures of +early sixteenth-century work executed in terra-cotta. They are full of +the best Gothic feeling, splendidly fitted to their spaces, alive with +the expression of the imaginative period of their sculptor, Pedro +Millan. Above and around the door of San Juan is a Gothic tracery of the +most elaborate character. + +One cannot refrain from comparing the sculptural work of these three +doorways. Riccardo Bellver's modern Assumption over the central doorway +is as congealed as the terra-cotta sculptures above and around the side +portals are admirable. They are unquestionably among the most +interesting bits of relief as well as figure sculpture of their kind +produced in Spain during the fifteenth century. Pedro Millan stands out +as a great mediaeval master, not only from the consummate skill with +which the drapery is treated but from the living, breathing personality +and attitudes of the men and women around him, which we still gaze at in +the truth of their curious, naive, fifteenth-century light. + +As the whole western facade was not completed in its present form until +1827, much of its work is as poor as it is modern. + +There are two entrances to the eastern end, richly decorated with fine +terra-cotta statues and reliefs of angels, patriarchs, and Biblical +figures, attributed to Lope Marin. In the northern facade there are +three,--one classical and of very little interest leading to the parish +church; the second is the Puerto de los Naranjos. + +In the Puerta del Lagarto, where the Giralda abuts the Cathedral, there +hangs a poor stuffed crocodile, once sent by a Sultan of Egypt in token +of admiration to Saint Ferdinand. The beast, having died on his way from +the Nile, could never crawl in the basins of the Alcazar gardens, but +found a resting-place under the shelves of the Columbina library. + +On the opposite side of the orange-tree court is the Puerta del Perdon. +The Florentine relief above, representing the crouching traders as they +were driven from the Temple, naturally spoils the effectiveness of the +magnificent Moorish portal below. Its horseshoe curve, with delicate +Moorish interlacing, arabesques, frieze and bronze doors, is a curious +and striking note of a bygone age, leading as it does to the walled and +fragrant courtyard of its builders, and the fountain where they made +their ablutions. Later Renaissance statues of the Annunciation and Saint +Peter and Saint Paul, as well as Florentine pilasters and ornament, +flank the Moorish moldings in an utterly meaningless manner. + +On the south is the gate of San Cristobal, or of the Lonja, finished +only a few years ago. + +In and out of these many entrances the populace stream, to worship, to +whisper, to gossip, to rest, to bargain, to beg, and to make love. The +whole drama of life in its conglomerate population goes on within the +walls of the Cathedral. It is the most frequented thoroughfare, where +the people enter as often with a song on their lips as with a prayer. +The great edifice with all the ceremonial of its religious services is +woven into their life, as is the sound of the guitars and castanets that +echo within its portals and courtyards. The church and her children are +not strangers. The Sevillian does not approach her altars with religious +awe and fear, but with a childish trust; he kneels down before them as +much at home as when rolling his cigarette on the bench of his cafe. The +Cathedral, like the houses nestling and crumbling around it, opens wide +and hospitable gates that lead to the refreshing shade and comfort +within. + +The western front is practically the only one which presents the +Cathedral unobscured by adjacent buildings climbing up its sides or +struggling between the buttresses,--or which is not concealed by +enclosing screenwork. To the north the walls of the Orange Court block +the view; to the east, the high screen; and to the south, the chapter +house and the Dependencias de la Hermanidad and the sacristy. The mass +of domes with supporting flying buttresses, ramps and finials above it, +all remind one curiously of a transplanted and ecclesiasticized +Chambord. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE + +Gateway of Perdon in the Orange Tree Court] + +As the plan conforms to the conditions of the old rectangular mosque and +has neither projecting transepts nor semicircular chevet, it can +scarcely be called Gothic. It consists of nave and double side +aisles,--the nave 56 feet wide from centre to centre of the columns and +145 feet high, and the inner side aisles 40 wide and about 100 high. +Outside these is another aisle filled with various chapels. + +At the crossing of the nave and transept, we have the typical, small +Spanish octagonal dome,--in this instance covering possibly what was in +the original mosque a central octagonal court. It is a construction +rising some hundred and seventy feet above the level of the eye, +admitting light below its spring into what in the French Gothic edifices +would usually be the gloomiest portions of the building. + +The side aisles differ slightly in width, the two lateral ones being +filled with various chapels. There are nine bays, separated by +thirty-six clustered pillars, some of them perfect towers in their huge +and massive strength. Their detail and outline are excellent, all of the +greatest simplicity and restraint. The delicate engaged shafts which +surround the huge supports of fifteen feet diameter terminate below the +vaulting ribs in delicately interlaced palm-leaf caps. Nothing is +confused or intricate. Sixty-eight compartments spring from the various +piers with a loftiness reminding one of Cologne. The groining differs +very much. The greater portion is admirably plain, of simple +quadripartite design; other parts are fanciful and elaborate, recalling +florid German prototypes. The five central vaults forming the cross +under the dome alone have elaborate fan-vaulting; the geometrical design +is as excellent as its detail. The richness given this central and most +correct portion of the great roofing is all the more effective by +contrast with the plain, unelaborated groins of the surrounding vaults. +The petals of the flower, the very holy of holies, between the choir +and the Capilla Mayor, before the high altar, are what is most beautiful +and enriched. + +The lighting is very unusual, and better than either Leon or Toledo. +Ninety-three windows are filled with the most glorious glass. There are +two clerestories to light the body of the church, one in the walls of +the second side aisle, admitting light above the roofs of the chapels, +the second in the nave. Added to this come the huge lights of the five +rose windows. + +In Seville, as in Toledo and many of the other great Spanish cathedrals, +the general view of the interior is blocked, and the majestic +effectiveness of the columnar rows marred, by the placing of the great +choir in the centre of the edifice. + +But the interior effect is nevertheless one of the most inspiring +produced by the imagination and hands of man. All truly majestic +conceptions are simple and, though we may at times wonder at the secret +of their power, we always find their enduring grandeur due to a hidden +simplicity. This is true of the Parthenon, of the Venus of Milo, and the +Sistine Madonna. Whoever enters the Cathedral of Seville is struck first +of all by its simplicity. The tremendous scale of the interior is +unperceived, owing to the just proportion between all the parts. There +is height as well as width, massiveness and strength, boldness and +light. None of the detail is petty or too elaborate, but simple and +effective, making a harmony in all its parts. Even the furniture carries +out the tremendous boldness and grandeur of the edifice. Bells, choir +books, candles, altar chests, are all on the same grandiose scale. It +has true majesty in its simplicity of direct, honest appeal, and a +proud unconsciousness, because it is free from the artificiality which +is invariably vulgar. The truly beautiful woman needs none of the +devices of art. The shafts and vaults and string courses in Seville's +Cathedral need little ornamentation to bring out their beauty; they are +in fact as effective as the elaborate carving of Salamanca and Segovia. +Seville preaches a great lesson to our twentieth century, of peace, rest +and completeness. It has room for all its children; they may kneel at +eighty-two different shrines and find romance or encouragement or the +consolation they are seeking. Some churches are strangely secular in +their restlessness of feeling, while others breathe an atmosphere full +of poetry, exaltation and the infinite peace of the Gospels. Seville's +religion is for the humble and simple as much as for the grandee. It is +not only the great cathedral church of the archbishop and bishop, the +eleven dignitaries, forty canons, twenty prebendaries, twenty minor +canons, twenty veinteneros, twenty chaplains and the host of a choir, +but the beloved home of the poor, miserable, starving sons and daughters +of Santa Maria de la Sede. + +Although architecturally the injurious effect of placing choir and high +altar in the middle of the church cannot be overstated, from the point +of view of ritual, of closely uniting the officiating body with the +worshipers, it is undoubtedly a far happier arrangement than where the +prayers and psalms proceed from the extreme apsidal termination. In the +former case the religious guidance seems to emanate from the very soul +of the edifice, and to reach all humble worshipers in the remotest nooks +and corners. + +The Spanish nature craves the sensuous and theatrical in religious +rites, and not far-away but intimately, as part and parcel of it. In the +time of the great ecclesiastical power of the bishopric of Seville +20,000 pounds of wax were burned every year, 500 masses were daily +celebrated at the 80 altars, and the wine consumed in the yearly +sacrament amounted to 18,750 litres. Seville's children wished to be +close to the glare and flicker of the wax candles and torches and to +hear distinctly the unintelligible Latin service. Seek the shade of the +cathedral when the July sun is burning outside, or during one of the +nights of Holy Week, when the great Miserere of Eslava is sung, and you +will find it the most thronged spot in all Seville. In the words of +Havelock Ellis: "Profoundly impressive,--around the choir an impassive +mass, in the rest of the church characteristic Spanish groups crouched +at the bases of the great clustered shafts, and chatted and used their +fans familiarly, as if in their own homes, while dogs ran about +unmolested. The vast church lent itself superbly to the music and the +scene. It was a scene stranger than the designs of Martin, as bizarre as +something out of Poe or Baudelaire. In the dim light the huge piers +seemed larger and higher than ever, while the faint altar lights dimly +lit up the iron screen of the Capilla Mayor, as in Rembrandt's +conception of the Temple of Jerusalem. In the scene of enchantment one +felt that Santa Maria of Seville had delivered up the last secret of her +mystery and romance." + +If you enter the church from the west through the main portal, or the +Puerta Mayor, the whole length of the nave is broken by various +structures. On the axis, under the second vault, is the tomb of +Fernando Colon; the fourth and fifth vaults contain the choir; the sixth +comes under the dome; the seventh and eighth take in the Capilla Mayor +and Sacristia Alta; back of the ninth and terminating the eastern end, +rises the great Renaissance royal chapel (Capilla Real). Fernando Colon +deserves to live not only in Seville's history but in the memory of all +Spain, first and foremost for being his father's son (by his mistress +Beatrix Enrigues), and, secondly, for leading a most pious and studious +life and devoting his time and fortune while traversing Europe during +the first half of the sixteenth century, to the purchase of the most +valuable books and manuscripts of the time. These he united into the +famous Columbina Library and presented to the Cathedral Chapter. The +enormous wooden tabernacle erected every Passion Week over the great +Discoverer's son, to reach the very arches of the vaults overhead, is as +hideous as the inscription is touching. Three caravels are inlaid on the +slab, between which runs the legend, "A Castilla y a Leon mundo nuevo +die Colon"[a] (To Castile and Leon Columbus gave a new world), and the +following inscription: "Of what avails it that I have bathed the entire +universe in my sweat, that I have thrice passed through the new world, +discovered by my father, that I have adorned the banks of the gentle +Bati and preferred my simple tastes to riches, in order to gather around +thee the divinities of the Castalian Spring and offer thee the treasures +already gathered by Ptolemy, if thou in passing this stone in Seville, +dost not at least give a greeting to my father and a thought to me." + +Directly back of Fernando Columbus' tomb rises the rear surface or +trascoro of the choir. The choir, which occupies the fourth and fifth +bays, is enclosed by the most elaborate walls, except at the entrance to +the east, where it is screened by the remarkable iron reja. This, as +well as the rejas of the choir, is in design and workmanship a marvelous +example of mediaeval craft, quite as fine as the screens of Toledo and +Granada and the best work of the German forgers and guilds. The design, +from 1519, harmonizes splendidly with the ironwork facing it. Its +gilding must have improved as each century has toned it down. Now in the +evening hours when it catches the reflection of some light, the spikes +look like angels' spears rising flame-like out of the mysterious +twilight and guarding the holy places beyond. + +The choir, placed so nearly under the dome, naturally suffered greatly +by its fall. A portion of the 127 stalls has been so well restored that +it is difficult to distinguish the old from the new. "Nufro Sanchez, +sculptor, whom God guarded, made this choir in the year 1475." The +subjects are as usual from the New and Old Testaments, and the character +of the carving constantly betrays Moorish influence. The pillars as well +as the canopies and the figures themselves are possibly entirely Gothic, +but one glance at the gaudily inlaid backs shows Arab workmanship. Along +the outer sides of the choir around the four little stonework niches, +which serve as smaller chapels, the Gothic carving (some of it executed +in transparent alabaster), works more happily than usual in combination +with the later Plateresque or Renaissance, here containing the fine +feeling of the Genoese school. One piece of sculpture stands out from +all the rest, viz., the Virgin, carved by Montanes. Her hands are of +such exquisite girlish delicacy, of such immature and dimpled softness, +that one cannot pass them by without a feeling of delight. + +The organs, which form a part of the choir, have an incredible number of +pipes and stops. According to a remarkable old tale, they were filled +with air by the choir boys, who walked back and forth over tilting +planks placed on the bellows. Whether or no the boys still have this +happy outlet for their ecclesiastic activities, the music means little +to the Spaniard, and their design still less to the architect's eye. + +The Capilla Mayor faces the choir, merely separated from it by the space +lying directly under the dome and forming the intersection of nave and +transepts. As the church services constantly require the simultaneous +use of the choir and the high altar of the Capilla Mayor, a portion of +the intermediate space or "entre los dos Coros" is roped off during +service time for the clergy to pass from one to the other. The Spanish +taste for pomp and magnificence centres in all its extravagance about +the high altar, while a more subdued richness characterizes the +surrounding stone and iron work which encloses the sanctuary on all +sides. Not only on the front, complementing and balancing admirably the +facing reja of the choir, but on the western ends of the sides, immense +ornamental iron screens bar the way. The front one is quite overpowering +in size, rising some seventy-five feet above the altar. The Spaniard was +equal to any undertaking in the days of early Hapsburg splendor under +the pious Reyes Catolicos. With the aid of Sancho Munoz and Diego de +Yorobo, a Dominican Friar, Francesco de Salamanca designed them (1518) +and then superintended the welding, gilding and the final erection in +1523. + +The east end of the Capilla Mayor is formed by the magnificent retablo, +almost four thousand square feet in size. One is immediately struck by +its immense proportions and the infinite amount of carving bestowed on +it. Its great scheme was conceived in 1482 by the Flemish sculptor +Dancart, evidently a man of prolific and versatile imagination. If we +try to compare it with the work of English churches, we might best liken +it to the great altar screens. This and the retablo at Toledo are +probably the richest specimens of mediaeval woodwork in existence. +Portions of the execution are somewhat inferior to the conception, and +yet the artists who labored on it with loving skill until the middle of +the following century carried out all their work with a richness and +delicacy which make it not only a representative piece of late Gothic +sculpture but one of the most magnificent specimens of this branch of +Spanish art. Its various portions embrace the whole period of florid +Gothic from its earlier, more restrained expression to the very last +stroke of the art, when wood was mastered and carved into incredible +filigree work as if it had been as soft and pliable as silver leaf. +Everything that could be carved is there, figures, foliage, tracery, +moldings and mere conventionalized ornament. The central portions are of +the earlier fifteenth century, the outer ones, of the late sixteenth, +executed under Master Marco Jorge Fernandez. The wood is principally +larch, with minor portions of chestnut and pine. The whole field is +divided by slender shafts and laboriously carved bands into forty-four +compartments representing in high and low relief various scenes from the +life of Christ and the Virgin Mary. In the centre is Santa Maria de la +Sede, the patron saint of the church, surmounted by a Crucifixion with +Saint John and the Virgin on either side. + +Between the retablo and the rear wall enclosing the rectangle of the +Capilla Mayor, there is a dark space known as the Sacristia Alta, where +is preserved the Tablas Alfonsinas[18] brought from Constantinople to +Paris by Saint Ferdinand's son, Alfonso. + +Seville ranks high among the churches of Spain in the beauty of its +carving. The stone screen that forms the rear of the retablo is filled +with admirable Gothic terra-cotta statues, saints, virgins, bishops, +martyrs and prelates executed with a little of the curious rigidity of +the Dutch School still awaiting its Renaissance emancipation, but with +faces full of holy devotion. The modeling is correct and the treatment +of the drapery excellent. + +Within the enclosure of the Capilla Mayor, there is still to be seen at +certain times of the year, a ceremony which has been performed for +centuries, and which is certainly the most unique religious rite +celebrated in any Christian church. To the Saxon it is most +extraordinary. During the last three days of the Carnival or after the +Feast of Corpus Domini, we may see boys dressed in costumes perform a +dance before the high altar of the Cathedral. Children, so the tale +runs, danced, skipped and shouted for joy when the city of Seville was +finally taken from the Mohammedans, and these childish demonstrations so +touched the hearts of the clergy who entered the city with the +conquering army, that they resolved that succeeding generations of boys +should perpetuate them forever. Of all the festivals and religious +processions culminating in or outside Saint Mary's shrine, surely none +can give her so much pleasure as the sight of these little boys dancing +and singing in her honor. + +This naif and charming ceremonial is part of the Mozarabic Ritual, the +work of Saint Isidore, a metropolitan of Seville a hundred years before +the arrival of the Saracens. In his early years, when his elder brother +Leander ruled the Gothic Church with stern hand, Isidore had time and +talents to master in his cloistered seclusion so much art and science +that he became the Admirable Crichton of his day. His work on "The +Origin of Things" shows the profundity of his knowledge, his history of +the Goths is beyond doubt his most valuable legacy to us, but what +endeared him above all to his countrymen was the Mozarabic Rite, of +which he composed both breviary and music. The Benedictine monks of +Cluny, those architects and chroniclers, who had been obliged to +sacrifice their Gallican liturgy for the Roman, could not rest satisfied +until they had imposed it on the Peninsula. They were supported in this +truly foreign aggression by Constance of Burgundy, Queen of Alfonso VI, +and by the masterful Gregory VII, himself a Benedictine. And so Saint +Isidore's quaint old hymn with the accompanying melody was banished from +all but one or two favored chapels. Fortunately Cardinal Ximenez became +its enthusiastic and powerful protector. He endowed in the Cathedral of +Toledo a special chapel and had thirteen priests trained for the +service, "Mozarabes sodales." In Ximenez' time a German, Peter +Hagenbach, first printed "missale secundum regulam beati Isidori dictum +Mozarabes," what Saint Isidore called "those fleeting sounds so hard to +note down." His breviary was the first Roman one to be used in Spanish +churches. + +To enumerate the endless rows of chapels with their countless treasures +and chaste or tawdry architecture and decoration would be tiresome and +unprofitable,--with a plan and guide-book, one may pass them in review. +"Sixty-seven of the great sculptors and thirty-eight of the painters +here display to the astonished and incredulous eye the masterpieces of +their hand," says one. Here is almost every painter belonging to the +great Sevillian school of painting of the sixteenth and seventeenth +centuries. They form a veritable museum or a series of small museums, +each chapel being a separate room of masterpieces. But here, as in the +museum, there are good and bad paintings and statues, and only the +excellent are worth attention. They are better worth studying here than +elsewhere, for they have been left in the surroundings for which they +were intended and painted. Spain's great religious artist did not paint +his Madonnas so full of distracting and sensuous loveliness for the +walls of the Prado; their smiles, human and pathetic, were for the +altars and panels of sanctuaries. Here is the light in which they were +studied and for which they were colored; here are the walls and frames +which were intended to surround them; they are in the company they +would choose, and they were painted with the same religious devotion +that inspires the prayers now offered before them. The painter's +inspiration sprang from the fervor of his faith. + +Three of the paintings are lovely above all others. Two are Murillo's, +namely the Angel de la Guarda and the San Antonio of the baptistery; the +third is the Deposition from the Cross, by Pedro de Campana (or more +correctly Kempeneer), hanging in the great sacristy. This is the +painting, Spanish historians will tell you, Murillo loved so well that +whenever he was downhearted he would stand in front of it for hours, and +become lost to all around him, even forgetting his own Madonnas. One day +the sacristan asked him impatiently, why he so often stood there +staring. "I am waiting," Murillo answered, "till those holy men have +taken the Saviour down from the Cross." It hangs well lighted over one +of the altars of the Sacristy. Few faces have ever been painted which +convey depth and intensity of feeling in a more affecting way. The +agonized faces of the women at the foot of the Cross express all an +innocent human heart can feel of compassion, heart-wrung sorrow and +despair. The ecstasy with which Saint Anthony, who is kneeling in +prayer, gazes at the Child Jesus has seldom been surpassed in reality +and power. Entirely lifted beyond the earthly sphere, his features +kindle with ardent piety and divine love. The angels surrounding the +Infant Jesus have a simplicity of expression which never escapes those +who have loved and studied children. The coloring is unique and of a +truly penetrating softness. All the little details of the miserable cell +in which the saint is kneeling are rendered with the vigorous reality +so characteristic of the Spanish school, while in the upper part of the +painting one seems to see even the dust particles floating in the rays +of sunlight. The shadows have a marvelous transparency. + +The Angel de la Guarda, or Guardian Angel, is one of the master's very +best works. The purples and yellows of the angel's vesture have kept +their depth and richness through all the centuries in which the colors +have been drying. + +There might be a guide-book dealing with the paintings of the Cathedral +alone. How differently it is decorated from the great Gothic cathedrals +of the present Anglican Church! In Seville as in Florence, all the fine +arts seemed to flower and come to perfection during the sixteenth +century. Sculpture and painting were employed to embellish architecture, +as in the ancient days of Greece. The sister arts walked once more hand +in hand. The figures in stone and still more in terra-cotta which adorn +the exterior porches and the more decorative portions of the interior +are unusually fine. Many of the bishops, saints and kings have an +unmistakable Renaissance feeling. Take, for instance, such a statue as +the Virgin del Reposo, so dear to the Sevillians,--you feel in all the +handling the period of transition. Such sculptors as Miguel Florentin, +Juan Marin, and Diego de Pesquera must have been influenced by Italy +when they carved the statues which adorn the Cathedral of Seville. + +The contact with Italy and the many Italian workmen gradually induced +faithlessness to the earlier Gothic ideals of the founders and builders +of the church. The great Maestro Mayor of Toledo Cathedral, Henrique de +Egas, was among the first to introduce restraint in Spanish building +after the fanaticism of the later flamboyant. In the time of Ferdinand +and Isabella, a well-known Toledan published a Spanish abridgment of +Vitruvius; this in conjunction with the influence of many foreign +artists led the way to classical building. Granada was soon resurrected +as a Greek-Roman "Centralbau" and even the crossing of Gothic Burgos was +unfortunately restored by Borgona after classic models. + +The new foreign movement found expression in architecture, in sculpture +and in painting, often with the most extraordinary attempts to employ +the new without discarding the old. Grotesque and fantastic ornaments +crown illogical construction. + +The royal chapel, the chapter house, the sagrario and the great sacristy +are examples of the new-born style. The first two are magnificent +specimens of Spanish Renaissance. Each of them is a fine church in +itself, and they can only be classed as chapels because they bear that +relation and are proportioned to the immense mother church of Seville. + +The walls of the Capilla Real form the eastern termination to the +Cathedral, and the chapel is very properly planned upon the axe of the +church and entered through a splendidly decorated lofty arch. It is +about 81 by 59 feet in plan, and 113 feet high to the lantern crowning +the really fine dome. A round altar at its eastern extremity is closed +off by a typically impressive reja. The architecture is of the +magnificence of Saint Peter's in Rome, and not unlike it in detail. +Eight Corinthian pilasters support the dome, breaking the wall space +into panels and carrying the richest classical cornice surmounted by +fine statues of the Apostles, Evangelists and kings. The chapel takes +its name from being the burial place of the royal house. Along its walls +are the tombs of Saint Ferdinand's consort, of Alfonso the Learned and +his mother, Beatrice of Suabia, and the beautiful Dona Maria de Padilla, +the mistress of Pedro the Cruel. He himself is buried below in the vault +with many other of the royal princes. In the centre of the chapel Saint +Ferdinand lies in full armor with a crown on his head. Three times a +year he is shown to the soldiers of Spain, who march past with sounding +bugles and lowered banners. + +The chapel was planned and built by Martin Ganza during the reign of +Charles V. Shortly after the defeat of the Moors, an earlier royal one +was built upon the same site and added to the old mosque. When the great +new Cathedral was planned, the Chapter begged permission to remove +temporarily the bodies of the royal personages interred in the +chapel,--the holy King Ferdinand, his mother and son. This petition was +granted by Queen Joanna on condition that they would rebuild it on a +more fitting scale at as early a date as possible. The Chapter +preferred, however, to expend all its means and energies on the great +vaulting of the Cathedral rather than on the new royal sepulchre, and +this was not rebuilt until Charles V finally lost patience over the +negligent and disrespectful manner in which the remains of his forbears +were treated and wrote to the Chapter, in 1543, commanding them "to +start the work without any delay whatsoever, and to bring it to +completion as rapidly as possible, and to execute the work as +excellently as befitted its royal guests." That the workmen made no +delay in obeying the royal commands is shown by the fact that the walls +were well up as early as 1566 and finished shortly afterwards. + +None of the Spanish cathedrals have a better type of Plateresque +architecture and decoration than the sacristy, built during the first +half of the seventeenth century. The plan is that of a Greek cross, 70 +by 40 feet, and about 120 feet high. Its dome, spanning the great +central vault, is a distinct feature in any comprehensive exterior view +of the Cathedral. The Sacristy is filled with curious and priceless +relics, treasures, and vestments belonging to the church. As Santa Justa +and Santa Rufina are in a manner the patron saints of Seville, their +picture by Goya hanging here is of interest. Both of them hold vessels +of the character of soup dishes; and their faces, taken from Seville +models, are of decidedly earthly types. + +To the west of the facade as you enter, lies the large sagrario, or +parish church. It is a building entirely by itself, 112 feet long, with +a single nave spanned by a dangerously bold barrel vault. + +Here and there among the chapels you come suddenly on famous subjects by +great masters, names renowned in Spanish history or striking works of +art. Learning and statesmanship are honored in great Mendoza's monument: +the silent mailed effigies of the Guzmans commemorate the thrilling +exploits of Spanish arms. What sympathies are stirred as you stand +uncovered before the tomb of the great and deeply wronged Discoverer! We +hear again the passionate appeals and the vain pleadings of his +undaunted faith. The living head was left to whiten within prison +walls; its effigy is now proudly carried on the four gorgeous shoulders +of the Spanish states; the poor bones, after their weary travels from +Valladolid to the Carthusian monastery of Las Cuevas, from Hispaniola to +Havana, have finally found a resting-place within the very walls where +they were once treated with such contumely,--for here lies the Great +Admiral, Cristoforo Colon. + +You pass paintings by Alfonso Cano, Ribera, Zurbaran, Greco and +Goya,--Murillo's Immaculate Conception, better known than all his other +works; Montanez' exquisite Crucifixion, canvases by Valdes, Herrera, +Boldan and Roelas. There are subjects curious and out of keeping with +our present artistic sentiments, saints walking about with their heads +instead of breviaries under their arms, dresses more fitting for the +ballroom than the wintry scenery amid which they are worn, marriage +ceremonies of the Virgin, Adam and Eve, entirely forgetful of their lost +Eden in the contemplation of the Virgin's halo, keys with quaint old +Arab inscriptions: "May Allah render eternal the dominion of Islam in +this city," saints with removable hair of spun gold and jointed limbs, +others snatched from quiet altar service to plunge into the turmoil of +battle on the saddle bow of reigning kings. Verily a museum of +historical curiosities as well as of the fine arts, satisfying +sensational cravings as well as the finer artistic sense. + +The structure is revealed to us through a light of unearthly sweetness. +None of the Spanish cathedrals are more satisfactorily lighted, for +Seville has neither the brilliant clarity of some of the northern +churches, which robs them of a certain mystery and awe, nor has it the +sinister obscurity of some of the southern, where both structure and +detail are half lost in shadows, as in Barcelona. + +The light from the cimborio and from the two rows of windows as well as +the doors penetrates every chapel with its rainbow hues; it reveals the +whole majestic structure, the lofty spring of the arches, the glittering +ironwork of the screens, the titanic strength and simple caps of the +columns, and breathes celestial life into the army of saints and +martyrs. It gives a soul to it all. The effect produced by the early +morning and late afternoon light is very different. Santa Maria de la +Sede, like all her earthly sisters, has a variety of expressions. At +times she burns with animation, even a remnant of earthly passion may +glow in her holy countenance, and again she is cold, impassive and +nunlike in her gray garb of renunciation. + +According to an Andalusian proverb, the rays of the sun have no evil +power where the voice of prayer is heard. For this reason, only a few of +the highest windows are screened by semi-transparent curtains, and the +light pours in unbroken through most of their brilliant tints--down the +nave in deep blood reds and indigo blues. The greater portion of the +glass is unusually rich in coloring,--perhaps too florid, but typical of +the Flemish School of glass-painting. Ninety-three windows were stained +during the first half of the sixteenth century, for which the church +paid the painters the large sum of 90,000 ducats. The earliest ones are +by Micer and Cristobal Aleman, who in 1538 introduced in Seville real +stained glass. Aleman's, representing the Ascension of Christ, Mary +Magdalen, and the Awakening of Lazarus, the Entry into Jerusalem, the +Descent of the Holy Ghost and the Apostles, all in the transept, +together with those by his brother Arnao de Flanders, are the +best,--better than most Flemish windows of the time in any European +cathedral. True, they are somewhat heavy in outline and the coloring +lacks softness and restraint in tone, but they have great depth, +excellency of drawing and power of expression in faces and figures. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE + +Illustration: AND THE GIRALDA] + +The little chapel, the Capilla de los Doncelles, contains a magnificent +sheet of glass representing the Resurrection of Christ, painted by +Carlos de Bruges, one of the great Flemish artists. A whole school of +foreign painters seem to have gathered round these famous "vidrieros," +many of them working in their shops. Among the best known are Arnao de +Vergara, Micer Enrique Bernardino de Celandra and Vicente Menardo. + + * * * * * + +The Giralda is incomparable, a unique expression of feminine strength. +She is as oriental and mysterious as the Sphinx, or might be likened to +a great sultana in enchanted sleep. Though her majestic head has towered +for centuries beside her Christian sister, they still seem as +irreconcilable as their faiths a thousand years ago. It has been a +strange companionship. The oriental loveliness and splendor of the +Giralda, like that of Seville, are best felt at the twilight hour, when +her jewels sparkle in the last rays of the setting sun. With the waning +light the coloring becomes purple, then indigo, while the silhouette +still stands out in startling clearness and strength against the +spotless blue of the evening sky. You feel as if the whole mountain of +masonry were slowly but surely leaning more and more from its base and +about to bury you in its fall. The vermilion and ochre coloring are like +the petals of the rose. Nowhere is the surface uniform, but passes +gradually from light cream and buff through warmer amber to brilliant +orange and carmine and crimson lake, even to the color of the +pomegranate's heart. The exquisite surface of delicate tinting, mellowed +by the storms and suns of centuries, is everywhere relieved by the +brilliant sparkle, the delicate play of light and shade, of the Moorish +designs. When the low rays of the Andalusian sun illumine the Giralda, +just touched here and there with dots of molten gold like the orange +trees from whose green bed it rises, you see the boldest creation of +Moorish imagination in all its splendor. The great Cathedral itself +becomes a modest nun with rich, but sombre, cape over her shoulders, +beside this dazzling creature glowing with Saracenic fire. + +The Giralda is the greatest of all the monuments of that enlightened +civilization. She is so different from any other tower that comparison +becomes difficult. There is a robustness, an appearance of adequate +solidity and strength which are lacking in the Italian towers of Saint +Mark's, of Pistoja, or of Florence. This holds true even in relation to +other Moorish towers, or such edifices as the Mosque at Cordova, the +Alcazar at Seville, or the pillared halls of Granada; all other Moorish +work seems to have a certain feminine weakness, a timidity and +insecurity, when compared with the tower which dominates Maria +Santissima. The Giralda is your first and last impression of this +corner of the world, for it embodies all the grace and strength that can +be combined in architecture. Old Spanish authorities assert that it was +in the very year when believers throughout Christendom were anxiously +expecting the end of the world that the Moslem infidels began to build +their huge monument. More probably it was started about the year 1185, +as the prayer tower or minaret of the mosque which was then rapidly +progressing. The Spanish historian Gayangos says that it was completed +by Jabar or Gever in 1196, during the reign of the illustrious Almohad +ruler, Abu Jakub Jusef, the same monarch who erected the Mesquita at +Cordova. Other authorities insist that its original purpose was as an +observatory,--but although it may have been used for astronomical +purposes, it was certainly erected as a tower from which the muezzin +could call the faithful to prayer in the Mosque of Seville. While +building it, Gever claims to have invented algebra. + +The original tower has undergone skillful but of course detrimental +changes from the hands of later generations. We have descriptions and +representations of it prior to the changes made in 1500. The main Arab +structure was, like almost all Mohammedan prayer-towers, surmounted by a +smaller tower and capped by a spire. It was about 250 feet high, and on +its summit an iron standard supported, before the earthquake of 1395, +four enormous balls of brass. King Alfonso the Wise, in his "Cronica de +Espana," describing Seville in the thirteenth century, says that "when +the sun shone upon these balls, they emitted so fierce a light that they +might be seen a day's journey away from the city." When Seville was +taken by Saint Ferdinand in 1248, the tower was standing in the full +glory of its original conception. The thought that it might fall into +the hands of the conquerors so horrified its builders that they were +only prevented from destroying it by Saint Ferdinand's threat that, if a +single brick were removed, not an infidel in Seville should keep his +head. + +The Giralda had already lost the Byzantine crown which it had worn +proudly for five hundred years when, in 1595, it came near total +destruction, and was only saved during the terrible earthquake and storm +which almost destroyed the city by the interposition of its special +protectresses, the potter girls of Triana, Santa Justa and Santa Rufina. +There are pictures which show us these blessed Virgins supporting the +tower while the wind devils with distended cheeks are blowing on its +sides with all their might and main. We are not only grateful to them +for this timely intervention, but very glad it cost them so little +exertion, for we find them shortly afterwards holding the tower in their +hands as lightly as a filigree casket. The architects who restored it +about twenty years ago fortunately refrained from all attempts at +improving or renovating its sunburned, wind-swept surface. + +The Giralda is as strong as it looks. The huge walls have a thickness of +eight feet below, diminishing to seven feet in the upper stories. The +height to the very top of the crowning figure is 308 feet. In the +foundations are bricks, rubble, and huge blocks of earlier Roman and +Visigothic masonry; even Latin inscriptions are found immured. The +Moors, like all other builders, used the materials readiest at hand; +the rejected building stones of one generation become the corner stones +of the next. + +Below the Renaissance addition with which the tower was terminated in +1568, the broad sides of the shaft had been broken by the Arabs in the +simplest and most felicitous manner. The brickwork was treated in three +panels with the corner borders very properly broader and stronger than +the two intermediate ones. The panels, which could not be of a happier +depth, are filled down to eighty feet of the ground with varying Moorish +arabesque patterns; the figured diaper-work on all sides is broken in +the two outer panels by blind cusped arches, and in the central +patterns, by Moorish windows of the "ajuiez" variety. Their double +arches are subdivided by small Byzantine columns; these again are framed +within larger cusped and differently broken horseshoe curves. Small +Renaissance balconies have at a later date been placed below the +windows. The small niches comprising the total Moorish composition +sparkle throughout with life and charm, and, though no two are alike, +they form a harmonious whole. The Arab seemed to have an instinctive +aversion from tedious repetition. He would always vary the design just +enough to satisfy his imagination and creative faculty, but never +sufficiently to disturb the harmony of the general scheme. As with the +windows, so also with the arabesques. They begin at slightly varying +heights on the different sides of the tower, so that the windows may +properly meet the different elevations of the interior stair. Their +patterns are not quite the same, neither on the various sides of the +tower nor at different heights on the same side. The decoration +employed is admirably fitted to a large surface which would have been +weakened by strong cutting or deep relief. Considering what Arab art +achieved within prescribed limits, the student of Christian art may well +deplore that the Koran, in its abhorrence of idol-worship, forbade its +followers in any way to reproduce human or animal forms. Forever +debarred all the wider possibilities of movement and poetry these would +have given them for interior decoration, Moorish art necessarily +stagnated to mere conventionalization of floral and natural subjects. +These are well adapted to exterior mural surfacing. When we look at the +fancifully handled geometric patterns on the Giralda, we can only +rejoice that the frescoes added by the later Renaissance artists in the +upper arches and along some of the lower surfaces have been washed away +by time. They were ineffective; all that remains of Moorish is +magnificent. A small arcade, running the width of each side in its +single panel, terminates the Moorish work. + +It is almost to be regretted that the Renaissance top has been so well +done, for its barbarous exotism is sufficient to condemn it. It has +excellently fulfilled a dastardly purpose. + +The original Moorish termination was taken down by the architect, +Francisco Ruiz, who was commissioned by the Cathedral Chapter in 1568 to +give it a more fitting crown. His design consists of three stages +reaching to a height of about a hundred feet. The first, of the same +width as the shaft below, is pierced by openings "to let out the sweet +sounds of the bells inside." The second stage consists of a double tier +of considerably smaller squares pierced by wide arches. Around the four +sides of its upper frieze runs the inscription so legible that all +Sevillians who know how may read, "Nomen Domini Fortissima Turris" +(Proverbs, xviii, 10). The third stage consists of a double lantern +surmounted by a soaring Seraphim, bearing in one hand the banner of +Constantine and in the other the Roman palm of conquest. The +"Girardello" was cast in gilded bronze by Bartolome Morel in the year +1568. Intended to symbolize Faith, the name, a diminutive of Giralda, or +weathercock, is most inappropriate. Despite her enormous size and +weight, the faintest zephyr blowing down from the Sierra Morena sets her +turning on the spire she treads so lightly, whereupon the crowds of +hawks resting on Girardello disperse in noisy scolding. + +Dumas gazed at her in wonder and admiration. "C'est merveilleux," he +said, "de voir tourner dans un rayon de soleil cette figure d'or aux +ailes deployees, qui semble, comme un oiseau celeste fatigue d'une +longue course, avoir choisi pour se reposer un instant le point le plus +proche du ciel." + +The great bells of the tower, all baptized with holy oil, a custom very +frequent in Spain, are dear to the hearts of those whom they daily call +to rest and prayer. As they strike the hours, passers-by look up to see +their great tongues protrude. Their sweet peal is heard in the most +distant quarters of the city, and beyond on the waters of the +Guadalquivir and in the fertile valley through which it flows. The deep +resonant note of Santa Maria is the last sound we hear before falling +asleep. + +Inside you may ascend to the very summit by steps so broad and easy +that two horses abreast may go as far as the platform of the bells. +Below you lies the city with its scattered white buildings that once +housed half a million, and beyond, the valley that enfolded twelve +thousand villages. Though dwindled and changed, time has dealt gently +with Seville. There is gay laughter in her sunny streets and the olive +groves echo with rippling song. Just under your feet throbs the heart of +it all. Though repeatedly struck by lightning, the great Cathedral still +stands, an everlasting symbol of the Church, triumphant and eternal. + + + + +VIII + +GRANADA + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA + +West front] + + Kennst du das Land we die Citronen bluehn, + Im dunkeln Land die Goldorangen gluehn, + Ein sanfter Wind vom blauen Himmel weht, + Die Myrte still und hoch der Lorbeer steht? + + GOETHE'S _Wilhelm Meister_. + + Thus being entred, they behold arownd + A large and spacious plaine, on every side + Strewed with pleasauns, whose fayre grassy grownd + Mantled with greene, and goodly beautifide + With all the ornaments of Floraes pride. + + _Faerie Queene_, book 2, c. xii. + + +I + +The first stars shone pale in the fields of upper air over walls and +towers wrapt in the mystery of twilight which softened every outline and +cast a kindly veil over the decay of a thousand years. The air was +oppressively sweet with the fragrance exhaled by southern vegetation on +a summer evening. The roses had climbed to the top of the walls, where +they could cool their flushed cheeks on the marble copings of the +battlements. The myrtle and ivy trembled in the evening breeze, and +through the broken casements the aloes whispered to the sweet-breathing +orange trees in the courtyards. The martlet twittered in the branches. +On all sides was heard in cool silvery continuity the gurgle and plash +of streams which, issuing from mountain snows, had wound their loitering +way through fields of violets and forget-me-nots to the "large and +spacious plaine" of the Vega. The fairy palace of the Alhambra, the +Acropolis that once held forty thousand defenders of the faith, crowns +and encircles the hill. From its watch-tower the nightingales pour forth +lovers' songs, plaintive and passionate, heightening the enchantment of +a scene unsurpassed in natural loveliness and the charm of a romantic +past. + +The hillsides undulating from the vermilion ramparts of the Alhambra are +clad with graceful elms, with orange and pomegranate trees bearing deep +red and golden fruit and with the mulberry's glistening olive green. +Here and there are open spaces between the groves; fields of roses and +lilies. The Darro and the Xenil flow by the foot of the hill, and from +their banks for almost thirty miles stretches the Vega. At the base of +the fortress, between the rivers, lies the city of Granada,-- + + The artist's and the poet's theme, + The young man's vision, the old man's dream,-- + Granada, by its winding stream, + The City of the Moor. + +Out on the plain the settlement becomes gradually sparser, the houses +more scattered. White stucco walls are interspersed with plots of green +garden, the ochre houses are smaller shining patches amid the +yellow-flowering fig-cactus and the regularly planted olive groves, +until finally the eye must search for the farmhouse hidden among +vineyards, orchards and waving fields of corn. The gleaming villas and +farmhouses still look as they did to the Moor, like "oriental pearls set +in a cup of emeralds." + +The endless plain, once the fertile bosom of fourteen cities, +innumerable strong castles and high watch-towers, is shut in from the +outside world like a very Garden of Eden, by the mountain walls of the +Alpujarras and Sierra Alhama. Far away on the horizon the barrier is +broken at a single point, the Loja gorge. This was once guarded by +sentinels ever on the watch for the distant gleam of Christian lances to +light the fires that signaled approaching danger to the distant citadel. +Most Spanish cities were densely built within high walls, but Granada +felt so secure in her mountain fortress that her dwellings were strewn +broadcast over the plain. Behind the walls of the Alhambra, on a second +slope wooded with cypress, the brilliant towers of the Generaliffe gleam +against the dark foliage. Beyond, across the whole southern sweep, rises +the chalky, hazy blue of the Sierra Nevada, capped with glittering, +everlasting snow. Gazing up from the valley below, one might fancy it a +white veil thrown back from the lovely features of the landscape. + +Thus lies Granada, a verdant and perfumed valley wrapt in the soft +mystery of its hazy atmosphere,--"Grenade,--plus eclatante que la fleur +et plus savoureuse que le fruit, dont elle porte le nom, semble une +vierge paresseuse qui s'est couchee au soleil depuis le jour de la +creation dans un lit de bruyeres et de mousse, defendue par une muraille +de cactus et d'aloes,--elle s'endort gaiement aux chansons des oiseaux +et le matin s'eveille souriante au murmure de ses cascatelles."[19] + +More than any other spot on earth, Granada seems haunted by memories of +bygone glory. The wide plains, now inhabited by less than seventy-five +thousand, once swarmed with over half a million souls. The artist feels +poignantly the charm of those long centuries of Arabian Days and Nights +that were forever blotted out by the zeal of the Christian sword. The +ruined temples still attest the thrift and industry, the refinement and +learning of the vanished race; the squalid poverty that has replaced it +is deaf and blind to the records of ancient grandeur, but the traveler +and the historian may still be thrilled by the struggle that destroyed +"the most voluptuous of all retirements" and feel there as nowhere else +the relentless power of the most Catholic Kings, the pathos of the Moor. + +Granada is a very old city, and like Cordova and Seville, it was one of +the principal Moorish centres; in fact after their fall, the industries +and culture which had been theirs went to swell the inheritance of +Granada. Its name has always been associated with the scarlet-blossoming +tree which covers its slopes, whose fruit the Catholic sovereigns +proudly placed in the point of their shield, with stalks and leaves and +shell open-grained. During the Roman occupation, a settlement had been +made on the wooded slopes at the foot of the Sierra Nevada and called +Granatum (pomegranate). The Goths in their turn swept over the peninsula +until, in 711, they were driven out of the valley by the advancing Arab +hordes. These transformed the name given it by the Romans to Karnattah. +Seven hundred and eighty-two years passed before the Crescent set +forever on the Iberian peninsula. Dynasties had succeeded one another in +the various kingdoms formed of larger and smaller portions of southern +and central Spain, but in the north, hardy monarchs had founded more +stable thrones on the ruins of the Gothic Empire, and they were eagerly +watching the advancing decay, the domestic discord of the Mohammedan +power and grasping every opportunity for the aggrandizement of their own +states. + +[Illustration: KEY OF PLAN OF GRANADA CATHEDRAL + + A. Sagrario. + B. Royal Chapel. + C. Capilla Mayor. + D. Choir. + E. Door of the Perdon. + F. Door of St. Jeronimo. + G. Main Entrance.] + +In the tenth century, the Moorish power was at its zenith. During the +eleventh, Granada had become strong enough to break away from the +caliphate of Cordova. There the Almorvides and Almohades dynasties had +alternated while the Nasrides ruled in the kingdom and city of Granada +until the luckless Boabdil surrendered its keys. + +During the last three centuries of Moorish rule, the northern Cross cast +an ever longer shadow before it. Alfonso of Aragon advanced to within +the walls of the outer forts in 1125, and in the two and a half +centuries following, tribute was exacted by the crown of Castile. The +Moors of Cordova were more hardy and warlike than the Arabs of Granada. +The arts of peace flourished with this latter poetical, artistic and +commercial race, who as time went on became less and less able to defend +themselves against the fanaticism and skill of the Spanish armies. Like +Hannibal's soldiers on the fertile plains of Lombardy, they had become +enervated in the luxury of their beautiful valley. When their imprudent +ruler answered the Castilian envoys who had come to collect the usual +tribute, "that the Kings of Granada who paid tribute were dead, and that +the mint now only coined blades of scimeters and heads of lances," the +hour of Granada's destiny had struck. The smiling valley became for ten +years a field of blood and carnage, after which its devastation was +relentlessly completed by the Holy Office of the Inquisition. + +Ferdinand and Isabella entered the last stronghold of the Moors in the +very year when the history of the civilized world was changing its +course. Its helmsman, Columbus, was received in the Castilian camp +outside the walls of the beleaguered city. On the second of January, +1492, Hernando, Bishop of Avila, raised the Christian Cross beside the +banner of Castile on the ramparts of the highest tower of the Alhambra; +four days later, on the day of the Kings and the festival of the +Epiphany, Ferdinand and Isabella entered the city. + +"The royal procession advanced to the principal mosque, which had been +consecrated as a cathedral. Here the sovereigns offered up prayers and +thanksgivings and the choir of the royal chapel chanted a triumphant +anthem, in which they were joined by the courtiers and cavaliers. +Nothing could exceed the thankfulness to God of the pious King Ferdinand +for having enabled him to eradicate from Spain the empire and name of +that accursed heathen race, and for the elevation of the Cross in that +city where the impious doctrines of Mohamed had so long been +cherished."[20] + +Bells were rung and masses celebrated in gratitude throughout the +Christian world. As far away as Saint Paul's in London town, a special +Te Deum was chanted by order of the good King Henry the Seventh. Spain +had reached the summit of her glory, before which yawned the abyss. + +And now in the name of Christ the Inquisition was established and one of +its chief offices founded; in His name the Jews were driven out, +Christian oaths and covenants broken, and the peaceful Moorish +inhabitants hounded from their hearths. Under Philip III, in 1609, their +last descendants were banished from the realm. + +No scene of chivalry during the middle ages displayed a more brilliant +and bloody pageant than the battlefield of Granada. It was the +culmination of the work of Spain's greatest rulers,--the great crisis in +her history. + + Here gallants held it little thing for ladies' sake to die, + Or for the Prophet's honour, or pride of Soldenry. + For here did Valour flourish and deeds of warlike might + Ennobled lordly palaces in which was our delight.[21] + +Gazing over this famous plain, the Vega, that "Pearl of Price," with its +courtyards now desolate, its gardens parched and well-nigh calcined by +the sun, one recalls Voltaire's words: "Great wrongs are always recent +wounds!" and long years have passed since the iron heel of Austria set +its first impress on the soil. + +James Howell, the English traveler and busybody in the capital at the +time Prince Charles went surreptitiously wooing, writes home in 1623, +after visiting Granada: "Since the expulsion of the Moors, it is also +grown thinner, and not so full of corn; for those Moors would grub up +wheat out of the very tops of the craggy hills, yet they used another +grain for their bread, so that the Spaniard had nought else to do but go +with his ass to the market and buy the corn of the Moors." + +Only once more does Granada's name emerge from the oblivion of +ages,--when the Iron Duke occupied the city during the Peninsular War. +He covered with a kindly hand some of her barrenness, planting English +elms beneath her fortress. + + +II + +In the heart of a crumbling mass of chalky, chrome-colored walls and +vermilion roofs, rises the dome of the Cathedral. Here, as in Seville, +the ground once sanctified to Moslem prayer was cleansed by the +Catholics from the pollution of the Moor, and the Christian edifice was +reared on the foundations of the Mohammedan mosque. As already noted, +one of the first religious acts of the conquerors was the consecration, +in January, 1492, of the ancient mosque, which thereafter was used for +Christian worship under the direction of the wise and tolerant Talavera, +as first Bishop of Granada. The new building was not begun until the +year 1523, an exceedingly late date in cathedral-building,--a time when +the great art was slowly dying down, and, in northern countries, +flickering in its last flamboyancy. + +On March 25, 1525, the corner stone was laid of the new Cathedral of +Santa Maria de la Encarnacion. It was planned on a much more elaborate +scale than the previous mosque, which, however, continued to be +independently used as a Christian church until the middle of the +seventeenth century and was not demolished till the beginning of the +eighteenth, to make room for the new sagrario, or parish church, of +Santa Maria de la O. + +The old mosque was of the usual type of Moslem house of prayer, its +eleven aisles subdivided by a forest of columns and resembling in +general aspect the far greater mosque of Cordova. Prior to the actual +commencement of the new Cathedral, though not to its design, the Royal +Chapel was erected, between the years 1506 and 1517, and when the +Cathedral was built, it became its southern, lateral termination and by +far the most magnificent and interesting portion of the interior. It was +planned and executed by the original designer of the church, and even +after this was finished, the Royal Chapel remained, like the chapel of +Saint Ferdinand of Seville, an independent church with its own Chapter +and clergy and independent services. + +About a dozen master-builders, almost all working under foreign +influence, are known as the architects of the great Spanish cathedrals. +They seem generally to have worked more or less in conjunction with each +other, several being employed on the same building, or called in turn to +advise in one place or superintend in another. Sometimes a whole body of +them reported together, or several of them were jointly consulted by a +cathedral chapter. + +The original conception of the Cathedral of Granada was the work of +Enrique de Egas of Brussels, who, when he was commissioned by the new +Chapter to plan a fitting memorial to the final triumph of Christianity +over Islam in Spain, was among the most celebrated builders of his day. +He had already succeeded his father as Maestro Mayor of the Cathedral of +Toledo when, just before his death, in 1534, he executed the Royal +Chapel of Granada Cathedral, as well as built the hospital of Santa Cruz +in the same city. The Colegio de Santa Cruz at Valladolid was also his +work, and he had been summoned with other leading architects to decide +the best mode of procedure in Seville Cathedral after the disastrous +collapse of its dome. At times he was giving advice in both Saragossa +and Salamanca. Enrique de Egas' designs were accepted in 1523. He had +hardly proceeded further in two years than to lay out the general plan +of the Cathedral, when, either through misunderstanding or some +controversy, he was supplanted in his office by the equally celebrated +Diego de Siloe. Like Egas, his activity was not confined to Granada, but +extended to Seville and Malaga. + +In the year 1561, two years before Siloe's death, the building was +sufficiently completed to be opened for public worship, and consequently +on August 17th of that year it was solemnly consecrated. The foundations +and lower portion of the northern tower were executed about this time by +Siloe's successor, Juan de Maeda. The tower was completed and partially +taken down again during the following twenty years by Ambrosio de Vico. +Then follows the main portion of the exterior work, especially the west +facade (of the first half of the seventeenth century), by the +celebrated, not to say notorious, Alfonso de Cano, and Jose Granados. +The decoration of the interior, the addition of chapels and the building +of the sagrario were continued through the latter part of the +seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA + +The exterior cornices of the Royal Chapel] + +The building operations thus extended over a period of two hundred and +fifty years. Alfonso de Cano's reputation was of various kinds; the son +of a carpenter and a native of Granada, as soon as his talents were +recognized, he was apprenticed to the great Montanes. To judge from +contemporaneous accounts, he must have been as hot-headed and +quarrelsome as the Florentine goldsmith of similar talents and +versatility. He was always ready to exchange the paint-brush or chisel +for his good sword, and there was scarcely a day during the years of his +connection with the Cathedral in which he was not enjoying a hot +controversy with the Chapter. His favor with the weak monarch and the +powerful ruling Conde-Duc was so great that they had the audacity to +appoint him a prebendary of the Chapter after he had been forced to fly +from justice in Valladolid on a charge of murder, as well as for having +beaten his wife on his return from a meeting of the ecclesiastical body. +The Chapter deprived him of his office as soon as they dared, which was +six years after his appointment. + +Egas' original plan, like the work he actually carried out in the Royal +Chapel, was undoubtedly for a Gothic edifice, as this style was +understood and executed in Spain. From the fact that the original Gothic +intention was abandoned for a Spanish Renaissance church, many +authorities give the date of its commencement as 1529, when Diego de +Siloe's Renaissance work was under way. In the end of the fifteenth and +beginning of the sixteenth centuries, the great turning-point had come. +Italian influences were beginning to predominate over earlier styles and +the last exquisite flames of the Gothic fire were slowly dying out to +give place to the heavy Renaissance structure of ecclesiastical +inspiration. Spaniards who had returned fresh from Italian soil and +tutelage evolved with their ornate sense and characteristic love for +magnificence, the style, or rather decorative treatment, which marks the +first stage of Spanish Renaissance architecture called "Estilo +Plateresco." This is a happy name for it, its derivation being from +"plata," or silver plate, and indicating that architects were attempting +to decorate the huge superficial spaces on their churches with the same +intricacy and sparkle as the silversmiths were hammering on their +ornaments. There was evolved the same lace-like quality, the same +sparkling light and shade. Wonderful results were indeed obtained by the +stone-cutters of the sixteenth century. + +The Cathedral of Granada is not at all remarkable. Its interest is +derived from the city of which it is the chief Christian edifice and the +great bodies which it contains; to students of architecture it is in a +manner a connecting link between the Gothic building of the middle ages +and the modern revival of classical building methods. + +It is the death of the old and the birth of the new; it marks the advent +of stagnant, uninspired formalism in constructive forms. Its sarcophagi +and much of its decoration are both in design and execution most +exquisite and appropriate examples of Renaissance art in Spain. Its easy +victory in decorative forms was owing to the fact that there had +practically been evolved little or no Spanish ornamental design outside +of that produced by the ingenuity and peculiar skill of the Moors. The +influence of Moorish design is long traceable in Christian decoration. +The Spanish nature craves rich adornment in all material. The art of the +great sculptors who, like Berruguete, returned at the beginning of the +new century with inspiration gained in the workshops of the Florentine +Michael Angelo, soon found a host of pupils and followers. Not only in +stone, but in wood, metal, plaster, and on canvas, the new forms were +carried to a gorgeous profusion never dreamt of before. Charles V stands +out amid its glories in as clear relief as in the tumult of the +battlefield. The decline and frigid formality did not set in until the +reign of his unimpassioned and repulsive son. The grandest epoch in +Spain's history thus corresponds to the most inspired period of its +sculpture. The first architects of this period worked on Granada +Cathedral; the work of the greatest sculptor, the Burgundian Vigarny, is +found in inferior form on the retablo of the Royal Chapel. In Spain, +where the climate made small window openings desirable, the churches +offered great wall spaces to the sculptor. The splendid portals, window +frames, turrets and parapets, the capitals and string courses and niches +all became rich fields for Spanish interpretation of the exquisite art +of Lombardy. + +The new art first found tentative expression in decorative forms, then +in more radical and structural changes. The world-empire of which +Ferdinand had dreamed, and which his grandson almost possessed, placed +untold wealth and the art of every kingdom at the disposal of Spain. + +Granada Cathedral has a strange exterior, meaningless except in certain +portions, which are essentially Spanish. To the Granadines it is as +marvelous as Saint Peter's to the Romans. Its view is obstructed on all +sides by a maze of crumbling walls, yellow hovels, and shop fronts +shockingly modern and out of keeping. It is all very, very provincial. +The stream of the world has left it behind and its pageants and glories +had departed centuries ago. Donkeys heavily laden with baskets of market +produce stand--personifications of wronged and unremonstrating +patience--hitched to the iron rails before its main portals. Goats +browse on the grass in its courtyards, and are milked between the +buttresses. Immediately to the south of it lies the old episcopal +palace, where the archbishop preached the sermons criticized by the +ingenuous Gil Blas. + +The main entrance is to the west. This front is the latest portion of +the building with the exception of certain portions of the interior. +Though not as corrupt as some of the surgical decorations in the +trascoro, it is the heaviest and least interesting part of the church. +It bears no relation to the sides of the building, but seems to have +been clapped on like a mask. The central portion is subdivided into +three huge bays, the spring of the arch, which rises from the +intermediate piers, being considerably higher in the centre than those +of the two to the north and south. Diego de Siloe probably designed the +composition, intending that it should be flanked and terminated by great +towers. Three stages, rising to a height of some 185 feet, stand to the +north. Corinthian and Ionic orders superimpose a Doric entablature over +a plain and restrained base. Arches frame more or less meaningless and +unpierced designs between the pilasters and engaged columns of the +orders. The whole is as painfully dry as the transfer of a student's +compass from a page of Vignola. Old cuts and descriptions represent this +northern tower crowned by an octagonal termination with a height of 265 +feet. Despite the apparent massiveness of the substructure, this soon +made the whole so alarmingly insecure that it was pulled down. The +present tower scarcely reaches above the broken lines and flat surfaces +of the roof tiles and, particularly at a distance, has the effect of a +huge buttress. The southern tower was never erected, but in place of it +the front was supported by a makeshift portion of base. The northern +tower is the work of Maeda, the facade principally by Cano, although +much of the sculpture, such as the Incarnation over the central doorway, +and the Annunciation and Assumption over the side portals, are by other +inferior eighteenth-century sculptors. + +Statues, cartouches and ornamental medallions relieve the paneled +surfaces of the stonework, the masonry of which has been laid and +jointed with the utmost conceivable mechanical skill. The whole central +composition fizzles out in a meaningless mass of parapets and variously +carved stone terminations. One feels as if the original designer had +started on such a gigantic scale that he either had to give up finishing +his work proportionately or keep on till it reached the sky,--he wisely +chose the former alternative. + +In Granada, as in most of the Spanish cathedrals, the decoration of the +doorways and portals forms one of the principal features of exterior +interest. Their ornamentation, with that of the parapets crowning the +outer walls of chapels and aisles, is practically all that relieves the +huge surfaces of ochre masonry. The walls themselves indicate in no +manner the interior construction; the windows which pierce them are very +low and narrow and Gothic in outline. The north and south facades,--if +despite their many obstructions they may be spoken of as such,--differ +radically. The northern is to a great extent executed in the same +ponderous magnificence as the western. Two doorways pierce it, the +Puerta de San Jeronimo with mediocre sculpture by Diego de Siloe and his +pupil and successor, Juan de Maeda, and the Puerta del Perdon, leading +into the transept. The decoration of this doorway is as good pure +Renaissance work as was executed in Spain during the first quarter of +the sixteenth century. It consists of a double Corinthian order crowned +by a broken pediment. The shafts of both orders are wreathed. The +pilasters, the moldings of the arch, the archivolt and jambs are all, in +the lower order, most profusely covered with exquisite designs, +admirably fitted to their respective fields, full of imagination and +virility. They are as good as the best corresponding work in Italy. +Above the arch key of the main door, splendidly treated bas-reliefs of +Faith and Justice support from the spandrels an inscription recounting +the defeat of the Moors. The frieze band of both lower and upper orders +is profusely filled with ornament, while small cherubs in excellent +scale replace the conventional volutes of the Corinthian capitals. In +the upper order the niches have unfortunately been left uncompleted. A +bas-relief of God the Father fills the semicircle of the main arch; +Moses and David occupy the lunettes. + +The huge pilasters or buttresses of the church which run up east and +west of the entire composition are decorated with the enormous imperial +shields of Charles V, overshadowing in their vulgar predominance all the +exquisitely proportioned and delicate detail adjacent to them. + +Some of the bays on the southern side of the Cathedral can be better +seen, as a small courtyard separates them from the adjacent building, +the episcopal palace. The others are choked by the Capilla del Pulgar, +the Royal Chapel and the sagrario. + +This side of the church exhibits in its balustrades, its ornamentation +and the crocketed terminations and finials to the exterior buttresses, +what is far more interesting in the Plateresque style of Spain than the +purely borrowed and imitative features of the west and northern fronts. +Here appear in jeweled play of light and shade, in all their imaginative +and exquisite intricacy, those forms of carved string courses which were +developed by the Spanish Renaissance and were essentially Spanish and +national. You feel somewhere back of it the Moorish influence. It +presents all the richness, the magnificence and exuberant fancy which +characterizes the spirit in which its masters worked. The labor it +involved must have been enormous. The splendor of the solid lacework ten +to twelve feet high is thrown out by contrast with the naked walls which +it crowns. + +The Capilla del Pulgar, which blocks the most westerly corner of the +south elevation, was named in honor of Hernan Peres del Pulgar, the site +of whose brave exploit it marks. In 1490, during the last siege of +Granada, he determined on a deed which should outdo all feats of heroism +and defiance ever performed by Moslem warriors. At dead of night, some +authorities say he was on horseback, others that he swam the +subterranean channel of the Darro, he penetrated to the heart of the +enemy's city and fastened with his dagger to the door of their principal +mosque a scroll bearing the words "Ave Maria." Before this insult to +their faith had been discovered, he had regained Ferdinand's camp. + +A double superimposed arcade faces the southern side of the sagrario: +the lower story has been brutally closed and defaced by modern +additions, almost concealing its original carving. The upper story, +however, which forms a balcony, strongly recalls by its fancifully +twisted shafts, elliptical arches and Gothic traceried balustrade, +similar early Renaissance work at Blois, where the Gothic and early +Italian work were so charmingly blended. + +The Royal Chapel is entered through an Italian Renaissance doorway of +good general design and decoration, but the Spanish cornice and +balustrade crowning the outer walls are much more interesting in +details. The principal member consists of a band of crowned and +encircled F's and Y's, the initials of the Catholic Kings. It is broken +over the window by three gigantic coats-of-arms. To the left is +Ferdinand's individual device of a yoke, the "yugo," with the motto +"Tato Mota" (Tanto Monta) tantamount, assumed as a mark of his equality +with the Castilian Queen; to the right Isabella's device of a bundle of +arrows or "flechas," the symbol of union. In the centre is the common +royal shield, proudly adopted after the union of the various kingdoms of +the Peninsula had been cemented. The Eagle of Saint John the Evangelist +and the common crown surmount the arms of Castile and Leon, of Aragon, +Sicily, Navarre, and Jerusalem and the pomegranate of Granada. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA + +The reja enclosing the Royal Chapel and tombs of the Catholic Kings] + +The various roofs of the Cathedral are covered with endless rows of +tiles, which in the furrowed, overlapping irregularity of their surfaces +add to the general play of light and shade. Above them all spreads the +umbrella-shaped dome which crowns the Capilla Mayor. + +At the period when Gothic church-building was disappearing, we find not +a few edifices where the old and new styles are curiously blended. A +Renaissance facade added in later days might encase a practically +complete Gothic interior. In Granada, with the exception of the Royal +Chapel, very little of the interior contained traces of the expiring +style. In the Cathedral proper, it is principally found in a groined +vaulting of the different bays, which is covered with varying and most +elaborate schemes of ornamental Gothic ribs, which seem strangely +incongruous to the architect as he looks up from the classical shafts in +the expectation of finding a corresponding form of building and +decoration in the later vaulting. + +The general plan of the church is more Renaissance than Gothic, +exhibiting rather the form of the "Rundbau" than the "Langbau" of the +Latin cross. Its main feature is likewise the great dome rising above +and lighting the Capilla Mayor. The Spanish cimborio has at last reached +its fullest development in the Renaissance lantern. + +The church is divided into nave and double side aisles, outside of which +is a series of externally abutting chapels. East and west it contains +six bays. The choir blocks up the fifth and sixth bays of the nave, and +in the customary Spanish manner it is separated from the high altar in +the Capilla Mayor by the croisee of the transept. Back of this, forming +the eastern termination, runs an ambulatory. + +The vaulting, one hundred feet high, is carried by a series of gigantic +white piers consisting of four semi-columns of Corinthian order with +their intersecting angles formed by a triple rectangular break. The +vaulting springs from above a full entablature and surmounting +pedestals, the latter running to the height of the arches dividing the +various vaulting compartments. The church is about 385 feet long and 220 +feet wide. + +The choir is uninteresting; the carving of its stalls and organs in +nowise comparing with the "silleria" of Seville or Burgos. The Capilla +Mayor, the principal feature of the interior, is circular in form, and +separated from the nave by a splendid "Arco Toral." The dome, which +rises to a height of 155 feet, is carried by eight Corinthian piers. In +general scheme it is pure Italian Renaissance, of noble and harmonious +proportions and very richly decorated. At the foot of the pilasters +stand colossal statues of the Apostles. Higher up there is a series of +most remarkable paintings by Alfonso Cano and some of his pupils. Cano's +represent seven incidents in the life of the Virgin,--the Annunciation, +Visitation, Nativity, Assumption, etc. Though some of his carvings, and +especially the dignified and noble Virgin in the sacristy, are +admirable, still, to judge from this series, it was as a painter that he +excelled. They show, too, how essentially Spanish he was, like his great +master, Montanez. The careless, lazy quality of his temperament is +sufficiently apparent, but he cannot be denied a place among the great +masters of Spanish painting who immediately preceded the all-eclipsing +glory of Velasquez, Murillo, and Ribera. + +The lights of the dome which rises over the paintings are filled with +very lovely stained glass, representing scenes from the Passion by the +Dutchmen, Teodor de Holanda, and Juan del Campo. On the two sides of the +choir below are colossal heads of Adam and Eve carved by Cano and +kneeling figures of Ferdinand and Isabella. + +There are endless chapels outside the outer aisles, but, in spite of +some good bits of sculpture and painting here and there, one longs to +sweep them out of the way and free the edifice from their encumbrance. + +The interior of the great sagrario is an expressionless jumble of the +later Renaissance decadence,--and it is a shame that no more fitting +architecture surrounds the tomb of the good Talavera, here laid to rest +by his friend Tendilla, the first Alcaide of the Alhambra, with the +inscription over his tomb, "Amicus Amico." + +The general color scheme in the interior of the Cathedral is white and +gold. One feels that it is handsome, even harmonious and magnificent, +but that all the mystery and religious awe that pervaded the great +churches of the previous centuries have vanished forever. + +The Royal Chapel, although the oldest part of the building, should be +considered last of all, as it is by far the most interesting portion and +leaves an impression so vivid as to overshadow all other parts of the +great edifice. It is situated between the sagrario and the Sacristia and +is entered through the southern arm of the transept. The chapel itself +is the very last Gothic efflorescence from which the spirit has fled, +leaving only empty form. It consists of a single big nave flanked by +lower chapels. The ornamentally ribbed vaulting with gilt bosses and +keystones is carried by clustered shafts engaged in its side walls. The +shafts are too thin and the capitals too meagre. A broader and more +generous string course runs, at the height of the capitals, across the +wall surfaces between the upper clerestory and the lower arcades. +Portions of this reveal a strong Moorish influence, as the manner in +which the great Gothic lettering is employed to decorate the band. +Similarly to the invocations to Allah running round the walls of the +Alhambra, we read here that "This chapel was founded by the most +Catholic Don Fernando and Dona Isabel, King and Queen of the Espanos[d], +of Naples, of Sicily, and Jerusalem, who conquered this kingdom and +brought it back to the faith, who acquired the Canary Isles and Indies, +as well as the cities of Ican, Tripoli, and Bugia; who crushed heresy, +expelled Moors and Jews from these realms, and reformed religion. The +Queen died Tuesday, November 26, 1504. The King died January 25, 1516. +The building was completed 1517." Enrique de Egas had, at Ferdinand's +order, commenced building two years after Isabella's death. The grandson +enlarged it later, finding it "too small for so much glory." + +The high altar with its retablo and the royal sarcophagi are separated +from the rest of the chapel by the most stupendous and magnificent iron +screen or reja ever executed. Spaniards have here surpassed all their +earlier productions in this their master craft. Not even the screens of +the great choir and altar of Seville or Toledo can compare with it. With +the possible exception of the curious Biblical scenes naively +represented by groups of figures near the apex, which still tell their +story in true Gothic style, it is a burst of Renaissance, or Plateresque +glory. It is not likely that the crafts, with all their mechanical +skill, will ever again produce a work of such artistic perfection. It +represents the labor of an army of skilled artisans,--all the sensitive +feeling in the finger-tips of the Italian goldsmith, the most cunning +art of the German armorer and a combination of restraint and boldness in +the Spanish smith and forger. The difficulty naturally offered by the +material has also restrained the artisan's hand and imagination from +running riot in vulgar elaboration. The design, made by Maestro +Bartolome of Jaen in 1523, is as excellent as the technique is +astonishing. It may be said that in grandeur it is only surpassed by the +fame of the Queen whose remains lie below. The material is principally +wrought iron, though some of the ornaments are of embossed silver plate +and portions of it gilded as well as colored. Bartolome's design +consists in general of three superimposed and highly decorated rows of +twisted iron bars with molded caps and bases. Each one must have been a +most massive forging, hammered out of the solid iron while it was red +hot. The vertically aspiring lines of the bars are broken by horizontal +rows of foliage, cherubs' heads and ornamentation, as well as two broad +bands of cornices with exquisitely decorated friezes. Larger pilasters +and columns form its panels, the central ones of which constitute the +doorway and enclose the elaborate arms of Ferdinand and Isabella and +those of their inherited and conquered kingdoms. The screen is crested +by a rich border of pictorial scenes, of flambeaux and foliated +Renaissance scrollwork, above which in the centre is throned the +crucified Saviour adored by the Virgin and Saint John. The crucifix +rises to the height of the very capitals which carry the lofty vaulting. + +Inside the reja, a few steps above the tombs, rises Philip Vigarny's, or +Borgona's, elaborate reredos. To the Protestant sense this is gaudy and +theatrical, a strikingly garish note in the solemnity and grandeur of +the chapel. To the right and left of its base are, however, most +interesting carvings, among them the kneeling statues of Ferdinand and +Isabella. Behind the former is his victorious banner of Castile. The +figures are vitally interesting as contemporaneous portraits of the +monarchs, aiming to reproduce with fidelity their features and every +detail of their dress. There is also a series of bas-reliefs portraying +incidents in the siege of Granada,--the Cardinal on a prancing charger, +behind him a forest of lances, the lurid, flaming sky throwing out in +sharp silhouette the pierced walls and rent battlements. The Moors, very +much like dogs shrinking from a beating, are being dragged to the +baptismal font;--the gesticulating prelates hold aloft in one hand the +cross and in the other, the sword, for the tunicked figures to make +their choice. The scene has been described by Sir W. Stirling Maxwell, +who tells us "that in one day no less than three thousand persons +received baptism at the hands of the Primate, who sprinkled them with +the hyssop of collective regeneration." + +Again, in another, the cringing Boabdil is presenting the keys of the +city to the "three kings." Isabella is on a white genet, and Mendoza, +like the old pictures of Wolsey, on a trapped mule. Ferdinand is there +in all his magnificence; the knights, the halberdiers and horsemen, all +the details of the dramatic moment, full of the greatest imaginable +historic and antiquarian interest, perpetuated by one who was probably +an eye-witness of the scene. + +[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid + +CATHEDRAL OF GRANADA + +The tombs of the Catholic Kings, of Philip and of Queen Juana.] + +At the foot of the altar, in the centre of the chapel, stand the tombs +of Ferdinand and Isabella and of Philip and Joan. They are as gorgeous +specimens of sepulchral monuments as the reja is of an ecclesiastical +iron screen. Both sarcophagi are executed in the softest flushed +alabaster; that of Ferdinand and Isabella by the Florentine Dominico +Fancelli; that of their daughter and her son by the Barcelonian +Bartolome Ordenez, "The Eagle of Relief," who carved his blocks at +Carrara. The tomb of poor crazy Jane, and the unworthy, handsome husband +whom she doted on to the extent of carrying his body with her throughout +the doleful wronged insanity of her later years, is somewhat more +elevated than that of the Catholic Kings, though its general design is +very similar. Philip of Austria sleeps vested with the Order of the +Golden Fleece. + +Isabella's celebrated will begins with her desire that her body may be +taken to Granada and there laid to rest in the Franciscan monastery of +Santa Isabella in the Alhambra, with a simple tomb and inscription: "but +should the King, my lord, prefer a sepulchre in some other place, then +my will is that my body be there transported, and laid where he can be +placed by my side, that the union we have enjoyed in this world, and +which through the mercy of God may be hoped for again when our souls are +in heaven, may be symbolized by our bodies being side by side on earth." +The humble burying-ground designated by Isabella, and where she was +first laid to rest with the simple rites she desired, was, however, no +fitting place for the grandparents of Imperial Charles. Here, in the +Cathedral's principal chapel, he had them laid in the year 1525. + +The sarcophagus consists of three stages, containing the ornamental +motives so characteristic of the best sculpture of the Italian +Renaissance. No other form of statuary brought out their skill and +genius so fully as a sepulchral monument. Medallions, statues, niches, +saints, angels, griffins and garlands are all woven into a magnificent +base to receive the recumbent effigies. Apostles and bas-reliefs of +scenes from the life of Christ surround the base, while winged griffins +break the angles. Above are the four Doctors of the Church, the arms of +the Catholic Kings and the proud and simple epitaph, "Mahometic[=e] +sect[=e] prostratores et heretic[=e] pervicaci[=e] extinctores: +Fernandus Aragonium et Helisabetha Castell[=e], vir et uxor unanimes, +catholici appelati, marmoreo clauduntur tumulo."[22] In tranquil crowned +dignity above lie Ferdinand in his mantle of knighthood, his sword +clasped over his armored breast, and Isabella with the cross of her +country's patron saint. The recumbent figures are extremely fine; the +faces, which are portraits, convey all we know of their prototypes' +characteristics. Ferdinand's proud, pursed lips whisper his selfish +arrogance, his iron will, and the greatness and fulfillment of his +dreams. The hard, masterful jaw confirms the character given him by the +shrewd French cynic as one of the most thorough egotists who ever sat on +a throne, as well as that of his English son-in-law, who knew enough to +call him "the wisest king that ever ruled Spain." + +Beside Ferdinand sleeps his lion-hearted consort. It is her lofty soul +which broods over the sepulchre and heightens the feeling of reverence +already inspired by reja and sarcophagus. She is still the brightest +star that ever rose in the Spanish firmament and shone in clear radiance +above even the lights of Ximenez, of Columbus, or the Great Captain. Her +smile is now as cold and her look as placid as moonlight sleeping on +snow. + +Noble, tender-hearted and true, dauntless, self-sacrificing and +faithful, she rose supreme in every relation of life and the great +crisis of her people's history. "In all her revelations of Queen or +Woman," said Lord Bacon, "she was an honour to her sex, and the corner +stone of the greatness of Spain." + +Standing before her tomb, on the battlefield of her victorious armies, +the clear perspective and calm judgment of four centuries still declare +her "of rare qualities,--sweet gentleness, meekness, saint-like, +wife-like government, the Queen of earthly queens." + + + + +BOOKS CONSULTED + + +DE AMICIS, EDMONDO. _Spain._ + +BAEDEKER, KARL. _Spain (Guidebook)._ + +BERMUDEZ, CEAN. _Descripcion Artistica de la Catedral de Sevilla._ + +BERMUDEZ, CEAN. _Noticias de los Arquitectos y Arquitectura de Espana._ + +CAVEDA, JOSE. _Ensayo Historico sobre los diversos Generos de +Arquitectura._ + +DIDIER. _Annee en Espagne._ + +DUMAS, ALEXANDRE, PERE. _De Paris a Cadiz._ + +ELLIS, HAVELOCK. _Macmillan's_, May, 1903 (vol. 88). + +FORD, RICHARD. _The Spaniards and their Country._ + +FORD, RICHARD. _Gatherings in Spain._ + +GAUTIER, THEOPHILE. _Voyage En Espagne._ + +HARE, A. J. C. _Wanderings in Spain._ + +HAY, JOHN. _Castilian Days._ + +HUME, M. A. S. _The Spanish People._ + +HUME AND BURKE. _History of Spain._ + +HUTTON, EDWARD. _The Cities of Spain._ + +HUTTON, EDWARD. _Studies in Lives of the Saints._ + +IRVING, WASHINGTON. _Alhambra._ + +JUNGHAENDEL, MAX. _Die Baukunst Spanien's._ + +LAMPEREZ Y ROMEA, D. VICENTE. _Estudio sobre las Catedrales Espanas._ + +LAMPEREZ Y ROMEA, D. VICENTE. _Historia de la Arquitectura Cristiana +Espanola en la Edad Media._ + +LUND, L. _Spanske tilstande i nutid og fortid._ + +LYNCH, HANNAH. _Toledo, the Story of a Spanish Capital._ + +MEAGHER, JAMES L. _The Great Churches of the World._ + +MOORE, CHARLES HERBERT. _Development and Character of Gothic +Architecture._ + +NORTON, CHARLES ELIOT. _Church-building in the Middle Ages._ + +ORCAJO, DON PEDRO. _Historia de la Catedral de Burgos._ + +PEYRON, JEAN FRANCOIS. _Essays on Spain._ + +PRESCOTT, W. H. _Ferdinand and Isabella._ + +QUADRADO, D. JOSE MA. _Espana, sus Monumentos y Artes--su Naturaleza e +Historia_. + +RUDY, CHARLES. _The Cathedrals of Northern Spain_. + +ROSE, H. J. _Among the Spanish People_. + +ROSSEEUW DE ST. HILAIRE, E. F. A. _Histoire D'espagne_. + +ST. REYNALD. _La Nouvelle Revue_, 1881, "L'espagne Musulmane." + +SCHMIDT, K. E. _Sevilla_. + +SMITH. _Architecture of Spain_. + +STREET, G. E. _Gothic Architecture in Spain_. + +WORT, TALBOT D. _Brochure Series of Arch. Illustration_, 1903 (vol. 9). + +WYATT, SIR MATHEW DIGBY. _An Architect's Note-book in Spain_. + +(OFFICIAL PUBLICATION). _Los Monumentos Arquitectonicos de Espana_. + + + + +INDEX + + +Aaron, 54. + +Abel, 110. + +Abu Jakub Jusuf, 203, 231. + +Abraham, 153. + +Acropolis, 240. + +Acuna, Bishop of, 48, 49, 62. + +Adaja, 67. + +Adam, 227, 259. + +Adriatic, 201. + +Africa, 194. + +Aguero, Campo, 184. + +Alava, Juan de, 22, 177, 207. + +Alcides, 193. + +Alcaide, 127, 259. + +Alcantara, Bridge of, 123. + +Alcantara, Order of, 128. + +Alcazar of Avila, 84. + +Alcazar of Segovia, 169, 171, 172, 173. + +Alcazar of Seville, 209, 230. + +Alcazar of Toledo, 123. + +Alcazerias, Toledo, 129. + +Aleman, Christobal, 228. + +Alfaqui Abu Walid, 154. + +Alfonso, architect of Toledo, 135, 141. + +Alfonso I, 68, 127, 243. + +Alfonso III, 37. + +Alfonso IV, 129, 130, 156. + +Alfonso VI, 5, 7, 37, 61, 68, 69, 91, 96, 127, 220. + +Alfonso VII, 155. + +Alfonso VIII, 73, 154. + +Alfonso IX, 5, 6, 74, 96. + +Alfonso X, The Wise, 47, 70, 97, 169, 219, 225, 231. + +Alfonso XI, 36, 155, 171. + +Alfonso, King, 34. + +Alfonso de Cartagena, Bishop, 49, 52, 62. + +Alfonsinas, Tablas, 219. + +Alhambra, 240, 241, 244, 259, 260, 263. + +Alleman, Jorge Fernandez, 207. + +Almanzor, 95. + +Almeria, 194. + +Almohaden, 203, 243. + +Almorvides, 243. + +Alpujarras, 241. + +Alvarez of Toledo, Juan, 44. + +Alvaro, Maestro, 23. + +Amiens, Cathedral of, 25, 43, 93, 94, 124, 131, 163, 201. + +Andalusia, 122, 191, 192, 194, 201. + +Andino, Cristobal, 51. + +Angelo, Michael, 153, 251. + +Angers, Bishop of, 20. + +Angevine School, 40. + +Anna, Sta., 41, 48. + +Antonio, St., 222. + +Apostles, 144, 229. + +Aquitaine, 7, 10, 15. + +Aragon, King of, 48, 127. + +Aragon, Province of, 19, 122, 143, 207, 256. + +Arge, Juan de, 107. + +Arnao de Flanders, 229. + +Astorga, 20. + +Asterio, Bishop of, 61. + +Asturias, 34, 69, 70, 94, 95. + +Augustus, Emperor, 94. + +Avila, Cathedral of, 65-87. + +Aymar, 70. + +Ayuntamiento, Toledo, 129. + +Azeu, Bernard of, 91. + + +Bacon, Lord, 265. + +Badajoz, Juan, 22, 97. + +Bagdad, 127. + +Baetica, Provincia, 193. + +Baetis, 193, 215. + +Baldwin, Maestro, 107. + +Banderas, Seville, Patio de las, 201. + +Bandinelli, Baccio, 153. + +Barcelona, 228. + +Bartolome of Jaen, 261. + +Basle, Council of, 49, 62. + +Baudelaire, 214. + +Bautizo, Seville, door of, 208. + +Beatrice of Suabia, 53, 223. + +Beauvais, Cathedral of, 93. + +Belgium, 162. + +Bellini, Giovanni, 162. + +Bellver, Riccardo, 208. + +Benavente, Cathedral of, 142. + +Benedict, St., 5. + +Benedictines, 37, 220. + +Benilo, 70. + +Berenzuela, Queen, 92. + +Bermudez, Cean, 44, 45, 69, 134, 199. + +Bernard, Archbishop of Toledo, 7, 130, 154, 156. + +Berroquena, 138, 141. + +Berruguete, Alfonso, 79, 134, 151, 153, 250. + +Berruguete, Pedro, 79. + +Blanche of France, 47. + +Blas, Gil, 169, 252. + +Blasquez Dean Blasco, 74. + +Blois, 256. + +Boabdil, 243, 262. + +Boldan, 227. + +Bologna, University of, 6. + +Bordeaux, 93. + +Borgona, 224. + +Borgona, Juan de, 79, 134. + +Borgona, Philip, 151, 152, 177, 262. + +Boston, 18. + +Bourges, Cathedral of, 94, 134. + +Brizuela, Pedro, 187. + +Bruges, Carlos de, 229. + +Brunelleschi, 176. + +Brussels, 247. + +Bugia, 260. + +Burgos, Cathedral of, 30-63, 80, 81, 86, 93, 97, 101, 105, 106, 111, +131, 132, 134, 141, 177, 183, 199, 207, 224, 258. + +Burgos, Bishopric of, 122. + +Burgundy, School of, 10, 13. + +Burne-Jones, 50. + + +Cadiz, 194. + +Caesar, Julius, 193. + +Calderon, 6. + +Caliphs, 4. + +Calix, 157. + +Calatrava, Order of, 128. + +Calixtus III, Pope, 8. + +Campana, Pedro, 195. + +Campero, Juan, 22. + +Campo, Juan del, 259. + +Canary Isles, 260. + +Cano, Alfonso, 195, 227, 248, 258, 259. + +Cantabria, 70. + +Capulet, 138. + +Capitan, Calle del Gran, 201. + +Carlos de Bruges, 229. + +Carmona, 82. + +Carpentania, 124. + +Casanova, 208. + +Castanela, Juan de, 44, 45. + +Castile, Province of, 6, 19, 30, 33, 34, 68, 72, 74, 92, 95, 122, 127, +135, 136, 143, 159, 171, 172, 178, 207, 215, 219, 243, 244, 256, 264. + +Catalina, Toledo, Puerta de Sta., 145. + +Catarina, Burgos, Chapel of, 41, 60. + +Catharine Plantagenet, Queen, 159. + +Catholic Kings, 20, 128, 143, 172, 217, 242, 256. + +Caveda, 199, 200. + +Cebrian, Pedro, 97. + +Celandra, Enrique Bernardino de, 229. + +Cellini, 152. + +Cervantes, 196. + +Cespedes, Domingo de, 134, 150. + +Ceuta, 192. + +Chambord, 210. + +Champagne, 99. + +Charles V, Emperor, 45, 46, 71, 137, 153, 171, 172, 173, 225, 251, 254, +263. + +Charles, Prince of England, 169, 245. + +Chartres, Cathedral of, 40, 93, 94, 102, 109, 141, 201. + +Chartudi, Martin Ruiz de, 179. + +Chico, Patio, 18, 24, 25. + +Christopher, St., 162. + +Chronicles, 192. + +Churriguera, 28. + +Cid, Campeador, 33, 123, 127, 134, 200. + +Cisneros, Cardinal, 80. + +Cistercians, 40. + +Citeaux, 130. + +Clamores, 167. + +Clara, Sta., 172, 173, 177, 185. + +Clement, St., 102. + +Cluny, 5, 7, 10, 130, 131, 220. + +Cologne, 138, 211. + +Colonia, Diego de, 49. + +Colonia, Francisco de, 57, 60. + +Colonia, Juan de, 49, 60, 62, 101. + +Colonia, Simon de, 49. + +Columbina Library, 209, 215. + +Columbus, 197, 204, 215, 216, 227, 244, 265. + +Compero, Juan de, 178. + +Compostella, St. James of, 157. + +Compostella, Cathedral of, 96. + +Comuneros, 71. + +Comunidades, 127, 173, 182. + +Constable, Burgos, Chapel of, 41, 49, 57, 58. + +Constance, Queen, 130, 154, 156, 220. + +Constantine, 235. + +Constantinople, 219. + +Copin, 134. + +Cordova, Caliphate of, 5, 194, 195, 203, 204, 230, 231, 242, 243, 247. + +Cornelis, 83. + +Coroneria, Burgos, Puerta de la, 47, 56. + +Corpus Christi, Burgos, Chapel of, 41. + +Corpus Domini, Feast of, 219. + +Cortes, 36, 125. + +Cortez, 197. + +Council of the Indies, 197. + +Councils, 126, 157. + +Covarrubias, Alfonso, 22, 134, 177. + +Cristela, St., 86. + +Cristobal, Seville, Gate of St., 209. + +Cruz, Granada, Hospital of Sta., 247. + +Cruz, Valladolid, Colegio de, 247. + +Cruz, Santos, 79. + +Cubillas, Garcia de, 174, 177, 179. + +Cuevas, Monastery of Las, 227. + + +Dado, Chapel of Nuestra Senora del, 114. + +Damascus, 2. + +Dancart, 218. + +Daniel, 112. + +Darro, 240, 255. + +David, 3, 48, 112, 158, 254. + +Davila, Bishop Blasquez, 74. + +Davila, Juan Arias, 171, 177, 184. + +Davila, Sancho, 82. + +Denis, Abbey of St., 40. + +Dominican, 128, 218. + +Dominic, St., 6. + +Donatello, 152. + +Doncelles, Seville, Capilla de los, 229. + +Duenas, Convent of Las, 30. + +Duke, Iron, 245. + +Durham, 123. + +Dumas, Alexandre, 241. + + +Eden, Garden of, 241. + +Edward I, 33. + +Egas, Annequin de, 135. + +Egas, Anton de, 21, 22, 134. + +Egas, Enrique de, 135, 177, 207, 224, 247, 248, 249, 260. + +Egypt, 209. + +Eleanor of Castile, 33. + +Eleanor Plantagenet, 37. + +Ellis, Havelock, 214. + +Ely, Cathedral of, 148. + +England, 33, 124, 149. + +Enrique, Architect, 54, 60, 97. + +Enrique II, 70. + +Enriquez, Beatrix, 215. + +Erasma, 167. + +Eslava, 214. + +Esteban, Burgos, Church of San, 34. + +Esteban, Salamanca, Church of San, 30, 44. + +Estrella, 72. + +Eugenio IV, 74. + +Eugenio, St., 141. + +Europe, 162, 194, 215. + +Eve, 227, 259. + +Exodus, 153. + +Ezekiel, 192. + + +Fancelli, Dominico, 263. + +Fanez, Alvar, 123. + +Ferdinand I, 34, 95. + +Ferdinand III, St., 37, 48, 53, 61, 70, 92, 131, 193, 195, 203, 209, +219, 224, 225, 231, 232, 249. + +Ferdinand of Aragon, 20, 49, 82, 127, 128, 136, 137, 152, 244, 251, 256, +259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265. + +Ferdinand, Infante, 47. + +Ferguson, 206. + +Fernandez, Alejo, 195. + +Fernandez, Marco Jorge, 218. + +Fernandez, Martin, 60. + +Flanders, 183. + +Florence, 70, 196, 223, 230. + +Fonfria, 167. + +Fonseca, Bishop Don Juan Rodriguez de, 56, 136. + +France, 28, 44, 47, 69, 72, 92, 94, 109, 123, 132, 133, 149, 153, 162, +183, 200, 207. + +Francesco de Salamanca, 218. + +Francis, St., 137. + +Franciscan Monastery, 263. + +Frederic of Germany, 92. + +Friola, St., 114, 167. + +Front of Perigueux, St., 15. + +Frumonio, Bishop, 95. + +Frutos, St., 174. + + +Gallichan's Story of Seville, 197, 199. + +Gallo, Torre del, 15. + +Ganza, Martin, 225. + +Garcia, Alvar, 72. + +Garcia, Pedro, 207. + +Gautier, Theophile, 46, 122, 151, 199. + +Gayangos, 231. + +Generaliffe, 241. + +Germany, 93, 162, 183. + +Gever, 231. + +Ghiberti, 48, 152. + +Gibbon, Grinling, 27. + +Gil de Hontanon, Juan, 22, 23, 28, 174, 175, 176, 177, 179, 207. + +Gil de Hontanon, Rodrigo, 23, 179, 184. + +Giralda, 201, 209, 229, 230, 232, 234, 235. + +Giraldo, Luis, 83. + +Goethe, 239. + +Goliath, 3. + +Gomez, Alvar, 136, 141. + +Gonzales, Bishop, 97. + +Gonzales, Ferdinand, 33, 34. + +Gonzalo, Don, 53. + +Gorda, 142. + +Goya, 162, 201, 226, 227. + +Granada, Cathedral of, 182, 216, 224, 237-265. + +Granada, Province of, 122, 138, 152, 194, 195, 230. + +Granados, Jose, 248. + +Gray, Thomas, 167. + +Greco, El, 162, 227. + +Gredos, Sierra, 67, 121. + +Greece, 153, 197, 223. + +Gregory the Great, 126. + +Gregory VII, 91, 220. + +Guadalquivir, 197, 235. + +Guadarrama, Sierra de, 34, 67. + +Guarda, Angel de la, 222, 223. + +Guas, Juan, 135. + +Guzman, 226. + + +Hagenbach, Peter, 221. + +Hannibal, 5, 243. + +Hapsburg, 217. + +Hare, 264. + +Havana, 227. + +Hell, Toledo, Gate of, 143. + +Henry of Aragon, 159. + +Henry II, 53, 155, 160, 178. + +Henry III, 155. + +Henry IV, 172. + +Henry VII, 244. + +Henry VIII, 61, 164. + +Hercules, 192, 193. + +Hermanidad, Dependencias de la, 210. + +Hernando, 244. + +Herrera, 195, 227. + +Hispalis, 194. + +Hispania, Citerior, 68. + +Hispaniola, 227. + +Holanda, Teodor de, 259. + +Holando, Alberto, 80. + +Holy Office, 196, 243. + +Houssaye, La, 151. + +Howell, James, 245. + +Hoz, Juan de, 207. + +Huelva, 194. + + +Iago, Burgos, Chapel of St., 60. + +Iberian Peninsula, 136. + +Ildefonso, St., 108, 127, 143, 147, 157, 158. + +Ildefonso, Toledo, Chapel of St., 157. + +Indies, 128, 260. + +Innocent III, 20, 92, 93. + +Inquisition, 128, 243, 244. + +Irving, Washington, 160, 244. + +Isaac, 153. + +Isabella, 20, 62, 82, 127, 128, 131, 136, 137, 138, 152, 154, 195, 224, +244, 256, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264. + +Isabella, Granada, Monastery of Sta., 263. + +Isabella of Portugal, 160. + +Isaiah, 48, 106, 192. + +Isidore, 126, 220, 221. + +Islam, 202, 227, 247. + +Isle-de-France, 99, 102. + +Italy, 72, 93, 153, 196, 200, 223, 254. + +Ixbella, 194. + + +Jacob, 153. + +Jaen, 194, 195, 208, 260. + +Jain Temples, 205. + +James I, 136. + +James, St., 54. + +James, Professor, 87. + +Janera, Cathedral of, 153. + +Jeremiah, 112. + +Jeronimo, Granada, Puerta de, 254. + +Jerusalem, 29, 214, 229, 256. + +Jesse, Tree of, 162. + +John, St., 55, 57, 208, 219, 256, 262. + +John the Baptist, Toledo, Hospital of St., 153. + +John I, 155. + +John II, 159. + +Jonah, 192. + +Joshua, 112. + +Juan, Don, 134. + +Juan, Bishop of Sabina, 171. + +Juan, Toledo, chapel of St., 161. + +Juan, Seville, door of St., 208. + +Juana, Queen, 21, 225, 263. + +Judgment, Last, 126. + +Junta, Santa, 71. + +Justa, Sta., 226, 232. + +Jusquin, Maestro, 101, 110. + + +Karnattah, 242. + +Kempeneer, 222. + +Koran, 234. + + +Lagarto, Seville, door of, 209. + +Lamperez y Romea, Senor D., 9, 40, 76, 108. + +Lara, Bishop Manrique, 96. + +Latin, 126, 187, 193, 232. + +Lazarus, 229. + +Leander, 220. + +Leocadia, Sta., 157, 158. + +Leon, Cathedral of, 26, 36, 39, 43, 80, 81, 82, 86, 90, 117, 132, 134, +142, 177, 198, 199, 212, 256. + +Leon, Kingdom of, 5, 6, 19, 30, 34, 69, 127, 215. + +Lerida, Cathedral of, 133. + +Lerma, Bishop Gonzalvo da, 52. + +Lions, Toledo, gate of, 144, 161. + +Llana, Toledo, gate of, 145. + +Lockhart, 245. + +Loevgild, 94, 126. + +Loja, 241. + +Lombardy, 201, 206, 243, 251. + +London, 204, 244. + +Lonja, Seville, gate of, 209. + +Lopez, Pedro, 207. + +Lorenzana, 136. + +Louis, St., 47, 92. + +Lucas of Holland, 152. + +Luis, Fray, 6. + +Luna, Count Alvaro de, 159. + +Luther, 86. + +Lusitania, 5. + + +Madrid, 96, 128, 173, 206. + +Madrigal, Tostada de, 79. + +Maeda, Juan de, 248, 253, 254. + +Magi, adoration of the, 104. + +Malaga, 248. + +Mancha, La, 93. + +Manrico de Lara, Francisco, 23. + +Mans, Cathedral of Le, 148. + +Mantanzas, D. Juan Ruiz, 156. + +Maria, Burgos, gate of Sta., 60. + +Maria, de la Encarnacion, Sta., Granada, 246. + +Maria, Burgos, Sta. Maria la Mayor, 34, 57, 60. + +Maria, Leon, Sta., 92, 96, 98, 116. + +Maria del Fiore, Sta., 17, 176, 201. + +Maria, de la O., Sta., 246. + +Maria de la Sede, Seville, Sta., 203, 207, 213, 214, 219, 228, 230. + +Mary, Virgin, 104, 130, 157, 158, 167, 171, 173, 174, 179, 195, 217, +219, 220, 227, 258, 262. + +Mary Magdalen, 229. + +Marin, Juan, 223. + +Marin, Lope, 209. + +Marks, St., 12, 15, 230. + +Marmont, 30. + +Martial, 193. + +Martin, 214. + +Maurice, Bishop, 37, 46, 49, 54, 61. + +Maxwell, Sir W. Stirling, 262. + +Medina, Pedro de, 97. + +Mediterranean, 122, 193. + +Meister Wilhelm, 239. + +Mellan, Pedro, 207, 208. + +Menardo, Vicente, 229. + +Mendoza, Dona Mencia de, 50. + +Mendoza, 136, 138, 143, 155, 226, 262. + +Merida, 68. + +Mesquita, 231. + +Mexico, 197. + +Micer, 228. + +Michael, St., 86. + +Miguel, Florentino, 196, 207, 223. + +Miguel, San, 172, 173, 185. + +Miguel, Seville, Door of St., 208. + +Milan, Cathedral of, 138, 204, 206. + +Milo, Venus of, 212. + +Miserere, 214. + +Mohamed, 244. + +Molina, Juan Sanchez de, 60. + +Montagues, 138. + +Montanez, 217, 227, 249, 258. + +Moses, 54, 112, 254. + +Mogaguren, Juan de, 179, 186. + +Munoz, Sancho, 217. + +Murillo, 196, 222, 227, 258. + + +Nacimiento, Seville, doors of, 207. + +Nacimiento, Salamanca, door of, 25. + +Nantes, 93. + +Naples, 191, 260. + +Napoleon, 135. + +Naranjos, Seville, door of the, 209. + +Narbonne, 93, 157. + +Nasrides, 243. + +Navarre, 72, 92, 256. + +Navas de Tolosa, Las, 70, 93, 154. + +Netherlands, 196. + +Nevada, Sierra, 241, 242. + +Ney, 30. + +Nicholas, Church of, Burgos, 34. + +Nicholas Florentino, 14. + +Nile, 209. + +Norman, Juan de, 207. + + +Odysseus, 192. + +Oliquelas, 139. + +Ontoria, 42. + +Orazco, Juan de, 22. + +Ordonez, Bartolome, 263. + +Ordono, King, 95, 113, 114. + +Ouen of Rouen, Cathedral of St., 28. + +Oviedo, 34, 196, 198. + +Oxford, University of, 6. + + +Padella, 127, 225. + +Palazzo del Goberno Civil, Salamanca, 28. + +Pardon, Burgos, Door of, 61. + +Pardon, Granada, Door of, 254. + +Pardon, Segovia, Door of, 185. + +Pardon, Seville, Door of, 209. + +Pardon, Toledo, Door of, 126, 143. + +Paris, 219. + +Paris, University of, 6. + +Paris, Cathedral of, 25, 101, 105, 148, 163, 199. + +Parthenon, 212. + +Pater, Walter, 125. + +Paul, St., 30, 54, 62, 85, 142, 209, 164. + +Paul's, London, St., 204, 244. + +Pedro, Avila, Church of St., 71. + +Pedro, Bishop of Avila, Don, 72. + +Pedro de Aguilar, 155. + +Pedro el Cruel, 127, 225. + +Pedro of Castile, Don, 70. + +Pedro, Infante, Don, 178. + +Pellejeria, Burgos, Door of, 56, 58. + +Peninsular War, 246. + +Perez, 135. + +Perez, Juan, 60. + +Perez de Vargas, Garcia, 193. + +Perigueux, 7. + +Peru, 197. + +Pesquera, Diego de, 223. + +Peter, St., 30, 54, 62, 85, 142, 209, 164. + +Peter's, Rome, St., 205, 224, 251. + +Philip, 48. + +Philip I (of Austria), 263. + +Philip II, 23, 45, 128, 196, 197, 206. + +Philip III, 245. + +Philip of Burgundy, Sculptor, 44, 45, 48. + +Philip, St., 54. + +Phoenicia, 197. + +Phoenicians, 193. + +Piazzetta, Venice, 201. + +Pilayo, Bishop of Oviedo, Don, 69. + +Pituenga, Florin de, 69. + +Pius II, 160. + +Pius III, 23. + +Pistoja, 230. + +Pizarro, 197. + +Plaza del Colegio Viejo, Salamanca, 5. + +Pliny, 128. + +Plutarch, 125. + +Poe, 214. + +Poitou, 137. + +Porcello, Diego, 60. + +Poniente, 28. + +Portugal, 127. + +Prado, 221. + +Presentacion, Burgos, Chapel of, 41, 52. + +Presentacion, Toledo, Puerta de la, 145. + +Psalms, 192. + +Ptolemy, 215. + +Pulgar, Capilla del, 255. + +Pulgar, Herman Perez del, 255. + +Pyrenees, 93, 176, 206. + +Puy, Notre Dame de, 144. + + +Quadrado, 178. + +Quixote, 134. + + +Ramos, Alfonso, 101. + +Ramos, door of, 25, 29. + +Raphael, Angel, 155. + +Raymond, Count of Burgundy, 7, 8, 69, 70, 72, 170. + +Real, Seville, Capilla, 205, 224. + +Reccared, 126. + +Reloi, Toledo, gate of, 145. + +Rembrandt, 214. + +Rios, D. Demetrio de los, 96. + +Reposo, Virgin del, 223. + +Reye Nuevos, Toledo, chapel of, 161. + +Res, Juan, 83. + +Rheims, Cathedral of, 25, 39, 43, 93, 94, 148. + +Ribera, 162, 221, 258. + +Richard, papal legate, 156. + +Richelieu, 136. + +Ridriguez, Canon Juan, 174. + +Rodan, Guillen de, 97. + +Roderick, King, 126. + +Rodrigo, architect of Toledo, 135. + +Rodrigo, Archbishop, 93. + +Rodrigo de Ferrara, 107. + +Rodriguez, Archbishop of Seville, 205. + +Rodriguez, Bishop, 136. + +Rodriguez of Alava, Count Diego, 34. + +Rodriguez, Maestro of Seville, 22, 207. + +Rodriguez, Sculptor, 151. + +Roelas, 227. + +Rojas, Gonzalo de, 205, 207. + +Romano, Casandro, 69. + +Rome, 5, 93, 116, 130, 135, 142, 143, 191, 193, 197, 224. + +Roundheads, 61. + +Rovera, D. Diego de, 174. + +Royal Chapel, Granada, 247, 249, 251, 255, 256, 257, 259. + +Rubens, 162. + +Rufina, Sta., 226, 232. + +Ruiz, Alfonso, 207. + +Ruiz, Bishop Francisco, 80. + +Ruiz, Francisco, 234. + + +Sabina, St., 86. + +Sacchetti, 26. + +Salamanca, city of, 69. + +Salamanca, council of, 45. + +Salamanca, Cathedral of, 3-30, 44, 163, 170, 174, 175, 176, 177, 179, +184, 198, 213, 248. + +Salmantica, 5. + +Salisbury, Cathedral of, 131. + +Salto, Maria del, 178, 179. + +Salvador, Avila, Cathedral of San, 67, 71. + +Sancha, Countess, 114. + +Sanches de Castro, Juan, 201. + +Sanchez, Martin, 135. + +Sanchez, Nufro, 216. + +Sanchez, Bishop Pedro, 69. + +Sanchez, Architect Pedro, 53, 60. + +Sancho the Brave, 155. + +Sancho the Deserted, 155. + +Santander, Diego de, 53. + +Santiago, bishopric of, 122. + +Santiago, Burgos, chapel of, 41. + +Santiago, Leon, chapel of, 99, 107, 115. + +Santiago, order of, 128, 135, 159. + +Santiago, Toledo, chapel of, 147, 157, 159. + +Santo, Andrea del, 153. + +Sarabia, Rodrigo de, 22. + +Sarmental, Puerta del, 54. + +Sarmentos, family of, 54. + +Scriveners, Toledo, gate of, 143. + +Segovia, city of, 67, 69. + +Segovia, Cathedral of, 165-187, 213. + +Segundo, St., 86. + +Segundo, Avila, church of San, 71. + +Sens, Cathedral of, 40. + +Seville, Cathedral of, 24, 44, 96, 97, 138, 158, 182, 183, 189-236, 242, +248, 258, 260. + +Seville, bishopric of, 122. + +Sicily, kingdom of, 19, 143, 256, 260. + +Siena, 70. + +Sierra Alhama, 241. + +Sierra Gredos, 67, 122. + +Sierra de Guadarrama, 34, 67. + +Sierra Morena, 198, 235. + +Sierra Nevada, 241, 242. + +Siloe, Diego de, 49, 248, 249, 252, 254. + +Silva, Diego da, 195. + +Simon, architect, 97. + +Sistine Madonna, 212. + +Sofia, St., 12. + +Stevenson, R. L., 145. + +Suabia, 53, 225. + + +Tagus, 93, 122. + +Talavera, 246, 259. + +Tarragon, bishopric of, 122. + +Tarragona, Cathedral of, 133. + +Tarshish, 192. + +Tavera, 136, 141. + +Tecla, Sta., 41. + +Tendilla, 259. + +Tenorio, 136, 141, 163. + +Teresa, Sta., 86, 87. + +Theotocopuli, Jorge Manuel, 140. + +Thiebaut, 30. + +Thomas, convent of St., 71. + +Tierra de Maria Santissima, 198. + +Titian, 162. + +Toledo, Cathedral of, 36, 39, 42, 93, 96, 106, 108, 121-164, 170, 177, +182, 192, 198, 204, 207, 212, 216, 218, 223, 247, 260. + +Toledo, council of, 8, 126. + +Toledo, province of, 23, 169. + +Tome, Narciso, 155. + +Tornero, Juan, 22. + +Torquemada, 171. + +Trajan, 167. + +Triana, 232. + +Trinity, Boston, church of, 18. + +Triolan, San, 104. + +Tripoli, 260. + +Triumfo, Seville, Plaza del, 201. + +Tudela, Cathedral of, 133. + + +Urraca, Dona, 69. + + +Vaccaei, 68. + +Vadajos, Bishop of, 20. + +Vergara, Arnao de, 229. + +Vargas, Luis de, 195. + +Valdes, 227. + +Vallejo, Juan de, 44, 45, 60. + +Valencia, See of, 7, 93, 122. + +Valencia, Alonzo, 97. + +Valladolid, City of, 21, 23, 160, 227, 248, 249. + +Valladolid, Cathedral of, 36, 122. + +Vega, 240, 245. + +Velasco, Don Pedro Fernandez, Count of Haro, 49, 50. + +Velasco, Bishop Antonia de, 52. + +Velasquez, 196, 258. + +Venice, 191. + +Vergara, 134. + +Viadero, 184. + +Vicente, Avila, Church of, 71. + +Vico, Ambrosio de, 248. + +Vigarny, Philip (Borgona), 151, 153, 251, 262. + +Vignola, 252. + +Villalon, Cathedral of, 143. + +Villalpando, 134, 154. + +Villanueva, 82. + +Villegas, Fernando de, 52. + +Vincente, St., 86. + +Viscaya, 69. + +Visitacion, Burgos, Capilla de, 52. + +Visquio, Jeronimo, 7, 8, 10. + +Vitruvius, 224. + +Vittoria, 208. + +Voltaire, 245. + + +Wamba, 126. + +Wear, 123. + +Wells, Cathedral of, 99. + +Westminster Abbey, 149, 198. + +Wharton, Mrs., 103. + +Williams, Leonard, 183. + +Wolsey, 136, 262. + + +Xenil, 240. + +Ximenez, 136, 154, 156, 221, 261, 265. + +Ximon, 207. + + +Yorobo, Diego de, 218. + + +Zamora, cathedral of, 133. + +Zamora, See of, 7. + +Zaragoza, bishopric, 122, 248. + +Zeres, gate of, 193. + +Zimena Dona, 33. + +Zurbaran, 195, 227. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The precedence of Oxford was established by the decree of Constance +of 1414. + +[2] Ego comes Raimundus una pariter cum uxore mea Orraca filia Adefonsi +regis, placuit nobis ut propter amorem Dei et restaurationem ecclesie S. +Marie Salamantine sedis et propter animas nostras vel de parentum +nostrorum vobis domino Jeronimo pontefici et magistro nostro quatinus +saceremus vobis sicut et facimus cartulam donationis vel ut ita decam +bonifacti. + +[3] Though to the city itself, in which he had been married, he dealt +the death-blow when he moved his Court from Toledo to Valladolid and +established a bishopric at Valladolid (in 1593), which had previously +been subject to Salamanca. + +[4] According to Doctor Doellinger, "a faithless and cruel freebooter." +As a daring and successful "condottiere," he was dear to his +liberty-loving contemporaries, who protested against any encroachments +from Rome or curtailment of their civil rights by native rulers. + +[5] Married to Alfonso III of Castile. + +[6] Cean Bermudez, _Noticias de los Arquitectos y Arquitectura de +Espana_, vol. i, p. 208. + +[7] Avila santos y cantos. + +[8] Spain is divided into nine archbishoprics. In Castile are those of +Santiago, Burgos, Valladolid, and Toledo; in Aragon, Zaragoza; on the +Mediterranean, Taragon and Valencia; and in Andalusia, Seville and +Granada. + +[9] + + Ye men so noble and so bright, + Who from your elevated height + Do rule Toledo's avarice, + And govern fear and cowardice. + Of costly bed, the Lord of Hosts + Hath made ye to the corner posts. + Leave private interests behind, + Show truth and justice to mankind, + To common good yourselves do bind. + + + +[10] Poitou, _Spain and its People_. + +[11] The work of Jorge Manuel Theotocopuli, son of the great painter. + +[12] + + Bell of Toledo, + Church of Leon, + Clock of Benavente, + Columns of Villalon. + + +[13] He is also the sculptor of the marvelous tomb of Cardinal Janera in +the hospital of St. John the Baptist at Toledo. + +[14] The cost of this reja was 250,000 reales. + +[15] "Transparente," really meaning transparent, allowing the passage of +light. The composition took its name from the little closed glass or +crystal window placed directly back of the altar, and which thus pierced +a portion of the decorated wall surface behind the altar. + +[16] From William Gallichan's _Story of Seville_. + +[17] + + He who has not seen Seville, + Has not seen a marvel. + + +[18] The great astronomical work, performed by that wonder of learning, +Alfonso X of Castile, in concert with Arab and Jewish men of science. + +[19] _Impressions de Voyage_, Alexandre Dumas. + +[20] Washington Irving's _Granada_. + +[21] Lockhart's _Spanish Ballads_. + +[22] Hare's _Queen of Queens_. + + + + + * * * * * + + + +Notes of the transcriber of this etext: + +[a] Probably "A Castilla y a Leon mundo nuevo dio Colon" . + +[b] Probably Canon Juan Rodriguez. + +[c] Should be Puerta del Reloj. + +[d] Probably means Espanas. + + +Changes made: + +colonnettes => colonettes + +Narciso Tome => Narciso Tome {1} + +Vaccaei => Vaccaei {1 index} + +Perigueux =>Perigueux {1 index} + +Baetica => Baetica {1 index} + +Baetis => Baetis {1 index} + +Dean Blasco Blasques => Dean Blasco Blasquez {1 page 74} + +Guadalquiver => Guadalquivir {2 page 197 & 235} + +Juan Gil de Houtanon => Juan Gil de Hontanon {1} + +Bartolome of Iaen => Bartolome of Jaen {1 page 261} + +Pellegeria => Pellejeria {1 plan of Burgos Cathedral} + +Pintuenga => Pituenga {1 page 69} + +Reyos Nuevos => Reyes Nuevos {1 index} + +Reyos Catolicos => Reyes Catolicos {1 page 217} + +Demetrio de los Reos => Demetrio de los Rios + +Repiso, Virgin del => Reposo, Virgin del {1 index} + +Diego de Silhoe => Diego de Siloe {page 48 & index + +Philip Vigarni => Philip Vigarny {page 151, 153, 251, 262 index} + +Villalpondo => Villalpando {page 134 & 154} + +Ximenes => Ximenez {2 page 265 & index} + +Juan de Maedo => Juan de Maeda {1 page 248} + +Gayangoz => Gayangos {1 index} + +Guaz => Guas {1 page 135} + +Maria, de la Incarnacion => Maria, de la Encarnacion {1 index} + +Mugaguren, Juan de => Mogaguren, Juan de {1 index} + +Rez, Juan => Res, Juan {1 index} + +Rojas, Gonsalo de => Rojas, Gonzalo de {1 index} + +Sachetti => Sacchetti {1 index} + +Salamantica => Salmantica {1 index} + +Vaga, Luis de => Vargas, Luis de {page 195 & index} + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CATHEDRALS OF SPAIN*** + + +******* This file should be named 31966.txt or 31966.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/1/9/6/31966 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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