Chapter I: Preface (1)

Before quitting England for a first visit to Spain in the Autumn of 1869, I made up my mind both to see and draw as much of the Architectural remains of that country as the time and means at my disposal would permit; and further determined so to draw as to admit of the publication of my sketches and portions of my notes on the objects represented, in the precise form in which they might be made. I was influenced in that determination by the consciousness that almost from day to day the glorious past was being trampled out in Spain; and that whatever issue, prosperous or otherwise, the fortunes of that much distracted country might take in the future, the minor monuments of Art at least which adorned its soil, would rapidly disappear. Their disappearance would result naturally from what is called "progress" if Spain should revive; while their perishing through neglect and wilful damage, or peculation, would inevitably follow, if the ever smouldering embers of domestic revolution should burst afresh into flame. Such has been the invariable action of those fires which in all history have melted away the most refined evidences of man's intelligence, leaving behind only scanty, and often all but shapeless, relics of the richest and ripest genius.

It is difficult to realise the rapidity with which, almost under one's eyes, the Spain of history and romance "is casting its skin." Travelling even with so recent and so excellent a handbook as O'Shea's of 1869, I noted the following wanton acts of Vandalism and destruction, committed upon monuments of the greatest archæological and artistic interest since he wrote. At Seville, the Church of San Miguel, one of the oldest and finest in the city, was senselessly demolished by the populace as a sort of auto-da-fé, and by way of commemoration of the revolution of September, 1867. In exactly the same way the fine Byzantine churches of San Juan at Lerida, and of San Miguel at Barcelona, have been "improved off the face of the earth." Church plate, Custodias and Virils of the D'Arfés, Becerrias, and other Art workmen, have vanished from the treasuries of all the great ecclesiastical structures; whether sold, melted down, or only hidden, "quien sabe?" The beautiful Moorish decorations of the Alcazar at Segovia had been all but entirely destroyed by fire, attributed to the careless cigar-lighting of the Cadets to whom the structure had been abandoned. The finest old mansion in Barcelona, the Casa de Gralla, probably the masterpiece of Damian Forment, and dating from the commencement of the fourteenth century, has been pulled down by the Duke of Medina Celi to form a new street. The beautiful wooden ceiling of the Casa del Infantado at Guadalaxara, the finest of its kind in Spain, in the absence of its owner, who I was told lives in Russia, is coming down in large pieces, and once fallen, I scarcely think it will be in the power of living workmen to make it good again. The exquisite Moorish Palace of the Generalife at Granada, second only to the Alhambra and the Alcazar at Seville, is never visited by its proprietor, and is now one mass of white-wash, a victim of the zeal for cleanliness of a Sanitary "Administrador." In short to visit a Spanish city now, by the light shed upon its ancient glories by the industrious Ponz, is simply to have forced upon one's attention the most striking evidence of the "vanity of human things," and man's inherent tendency to destroy.

One of the most painful sensations the lover of the Art of the Past cannot but experience in Spain, is the feeling of its dissonance from, and irreconcileability with, the wants and economical necessities of to-day. The truth is that at the present moment, amongst the many difficult problems which surround and beset the ruling powers, one of the most puzzling is to find fitting uses for the many vast structures which have fallen into the hands of the Government. Churches in number and size out of all proportion to the wants of the population, monasteries entirely without monks, convents with scarcely any nuns, Jesuit seminaries without Jesuits, exchanges without merchants, colleges without students, tribunals of the Holy Inquisition with, thank God! no Inquisitors, and palaces without princes, are really "drugs in the market;" too beautiful to destroy, too costly to properly maintain, and for the original purposes for which they were planned and constructed at incredible outlay they stand now almost useless. For the most part, the grand architectural monuments of the country are now like Dickens' "used-up giants" kept only "to wait upon the dwarfs." Among a few instances of such, may be noticed the magnificent foundation of the noblest Spanish ecclesiastic, Ximenez. His College at Alcala de Heñares (see etext transcriber note) is turned into a young ladies' boarding-school; the splendid Convent of the Knights of Santiago at Leon, the masterpiece of Juan de Badajoz, dedicated to Saint Mark, and one of the finest buildings in Spain, is now in charge of a solitary policeman and his wife, awaiting its possible conversion into an agricultural college; the grand Palace of the Dukes of Alva at Seville is let out in numerous small tenements and enriched with unlimited whitewash; the Colegiata of San Gregorio at Valladolid, another of the magnificent foundations of Cardinal Ximenez, and the old cathedral at Lerida, the richest Byzantine monument in Spain, are now both barracks;--the vast exchanges of Seville and Saragossa are tenantless and generally shut up; the beautiful "Casa de los Abades" at Seville is converted into a boy's school and lodging-house for numerous poor tenants, the Casa del Infante at Saragossa, containing the most richly sculptured Renaissance Patio in Spain, is chiefly occupied as a livery stable-keeper's establishment; Cardinal Mendoza's famous Hospital of the Holy Cross at Toledo is now an Infantry College; the great monastery of the Cartuja near Seville, with one of the finest Mudejar wooden ceilings in the country, is turned into Pickman's china factory; the "Taller del Moro" a model Moorish house with its beautiful decorations, at Toledo, is now only a carpenter's workshop and storehouse; the celebrated establishment of El Cristo de la Victoria at Malaga, with all its glorious associations with the "Reyes Cattolicos," is occupied as a military hospital; and so on '_ad infinitum_.'

Every record the pen and pencil of any accurate observer can preserve at this juncture of the fading glories of the past in Spain is, as it were, snatching a brand from the inevitable fire which has already consumed inestimable treasures upon its soil. It was to give a stamp of truth and authenticity to the few such records I might be enabled to make, that I determined to complete them in the actual presence as it were of the object illustrated, and to admit of no intervention between my own hand, and the eye of any student willing to honour my work with his attention. My sketches might no doubt have gained in beauty by being transcribed on stone or wood by some artist more skilful than I am, but as any such alteration would detract from their simple veracity, I preferred to make them at once upon the spot with anastatic ink, in order that they might be printed just as they were executed. Working with such ink in the open air is difficult, and the result capricious, I have therefore to ask for some indulgence, and to express a hope that any shortcomings in the drawings may be overlooked in the obvious interest of the subjects pourtrayed. Could I but have known, on leaving England, that my sketches could have been so successfully transferred to collodion, and printed therefrom by the beautiful Autotype mechanical process, as they have been since my return, I might have spared myself much extra trouble and anxiety, and have probably attained a much better result with less effort. In order to retain as much "local colour" as possible, I have preferred, even in the binding of this volume, to take its ornament in fac-simile from a beautiful little Mudejar casket of which I am the fortunate possessor, rather than to trust to my own powers to design something specially characteristic.

I have further to ask corresponding indulgence for any literary insufficiencies my text may present. Although for some years a not inattentive student of Spanish art and literature, I could not, and cannot but feel that my acquaintance with the country was, and is insufficient for writing worthy notes even upon its architectural monuments, after the excellent works which have been already written by such of my countrymen as Ford, Street, Stirling, and O'Shea. At the same time, considering that to publish my sketches altogether without explanatory letter-press would greatly detract from their interest and consequent usefulness, I have brought into their present shape the scanty notes made upon the spot, more or less directly illustrative of the subjects upon which my pencil found occupation.

It will be obvious, it is hoped, that in the selection of subjects for illustration, an endeavour has been made to avoid in any wise trenching upon or clashing with those already fully treated in the admirable work on Spanish Ecclesiastical Architecture by Mr. G. E. Street. Whilst he has turned from, I have turned towards, the Plateresque and later styles of Spain, and whilst he has sought specially for what might be useful to church-builders, my aim has been rather to collect hints for house-builders. Thanks to him, and others like him, we have now been left with more to learn in the latter direction than in the former.

The following was my line of tour, and as it comprises most of what is, I believe, best worth seeing in Spain in the way of Art, with the notable exceptions of Santiago, Oviedo, Murcia, Cuenca, Placencia, Alicante and Valencia, which want of time did not permit me to include, I do not hesitate to commend it to those, desirous, as I was, of seeing as much as possible of what was excellent or curious within a short space of time. It was as follows, from London via Paris, Bordeaux, and Bayonne to Spain, beginning with Burgos, then successively visiting Valladolid (rail), Venta de Baños (rail), Leon (rail), Zamora and Salamanca, (by "diligence" from Leon) Avila (by "diligence" from Salamanca) Escorial (rail), Madrid (rail), Segovia (by "diligence" from Madrid and back), Alcala de Heñares (by rail from Madrid and back), Toledo (by rail from Madrid and back), Cordoba (rail), Sevilla (rail), Cadiz (by the Guadalquivir steamer), Gibraltar (by steamer), Malaga (by steamer), Granada (rail and "diligence,") Andujar ("diligence,") Madrid (rail), a second time, Guadalajara (rail), Saragossa (rail), Lerida (rail), Barcelona (rail), and Gerona (rail), thence to the frontier by "diligence," and home by rail, viâ Perpignan, Carcassonne, Toulouse and Paris.

To preserve some sort of order, I have arranged my sketches as they were executed in point of time, and thrown my notes into a corresponding sequence.

To assert that Spain can teach the lessons to the architect which may be gained from Italy, or even from France would, I think, be to claim too much for her, but on the other hand, it should be remembered, that it is a mine which has been very much less exhausted. To the interest and grandeur of its Northern Gothic buildings, Mr. Street has done a justice long denied to them; while Girault de Prangey, and above all Owen Jones, have helped us to a right appreciation of the works of those masterly artificers, the Moors, who seem to have possessed an intuitive love for the beautiful in structure.

It is with no small pleasure that I have laboured to direct attention to other monuments, than those they have so satisfactorily illustrated, of a land from travelling in which I have derived great delight, and much instruction.

If asked what predominant sensation Spanish Architecture had produced in my mind, I think I should be inclined to say, that of the manifestation of an entire indifference to expense. No one appears to have counted the cost of the work upon which he engaged. Whether it was a mediæval architect entering upon the vast construction of Cathedrals, such as Seville, Toledo or Leon, a Renaissance architect dashing upon the immense laying out of buildings such as the Cathedrals of Salamanca or Granada, or an Herrera plunging into such stone quarries as the Escorial or the Cathedral at Valladolid, not a shadow of doubt ever seems to have crossed the mind of the beginners, that some one would complete what they began.

Such peculiarities of national character are apt to beget proverbs, and we accordingly find the grave ponderosity, and at the same time power, of the Spaniard in the undertakings of his palmy days, thus characterised in comparison with those of the other peoples of Europe.

"In their undertakings," says "Der curieuse Antiquarius durch Europam,"[1] the natives of different European countries are assumed by old legends to proceed thus:--

"Der Frantzose wie ein Adler,
Der Deutsche wie ein Bär,
Der Italianer wie ein Fuchs,
Der Spanier wie ein Elephant,
Der Engelländer wie ein Löw."[2]

To some, and but few, Spanish architects was it given to see ended what they commenced, and even such favourites of fortune generally suffered from a curtailment of their too ambitious designs.

I could not but feel, in looking at the works of Herrera, and indeed at those of several other men, such as Diego de Siloe, Gil de Ontañon, Henrique de Egas, Alonso Covarrubbias, and Juan de Badajoz, that there exists for architecture a just mean between their frequent extravagance, and the sordid and shabby spirit in which we from time to time approach the question of expenditure upon "public works." The economy which consists in sobriety and simplicity of parts, especially in structures destined to subserve ordinary uses, is as much to be admired, as the economy which aims at the combination of magnificence with "cheese-paring" is to be deprecated and despised.

CONTENTS

PLATE I. BURGOS.

The Arco de Santa Maria

PLATE II. BURGOS.

Casa de Miranda

PLATE III. VALLADOLID.

College of San Gregorio

PLATE IV. VALLADOLID.

Patio de San Gregorio

PLATE V. VALLADOLID.

Patio de San Gregorio

PLATE VI. VALLADOLID.

Small Patio, Colegio de San Gregorio

PLATE VII. VALLADOLID.

La Casa del Infantado

PLATE VIII. VALLADOLID.

Church of San Isidro

PLATE IX. LEON.

Convent of San Marcos

PLATE X. LEON.

Cloister of the Convent of San Marcos

PLATE XI. LEON.

Exterior of the Casa de Los Gusmanes

PLATE XII. LEON.

Patio of the Casa de Los Gusmanes

PLATE XIII. LEON.

Detail from a House in the Calle de La Tesoriera

PLATE XIV. SALAMANCA.

Exterior of the Casa de Las Conchas

PLATE XV. SALAMANCA.

Patio of the Casa de Las Conchas

PLATE XVI. SALAMANCA.

Staircase of the Casa de Las Conchas

PLATE XVII. SALAMANCA.

Window from the Casa de Las Conchas

PLATE XVIII. SALAMANCA.

Window in the Patio of the Casa de Las Conchas

PLATE XIX. SALAMANCA.

External Window of the Casa de Las Conchas

PLATE XX. SALAMANCA.

Exterior of the Casa Monterey

PLATE XXI. SALAMANCA.

Renaissance House opposite San Benito

PLATE XXII. SALAMANCA.

Renaissance House in the Calle del Aguila

PLATE XXIII. AVILA.

Entrance Gateway of the Casa Polentina

PLATE XXIV. AVILA.

The Patio of the Casa Polentina

PLATE XXV. AVILA.

Iron Pulpit in the Cathedral

PLATE XXVI. AVILA.

Iron Pulpit in the Cathedral

PLATE XXVII. ESCORIAL.

General view of the Escorial

PLATE XXVIII. SEGOVIA.

Gateway in the City Walls

PLATE XXIX. SEGOVIA.

Archway in the Hall of the Kings

PLATE XXX. SEGOVIA.

Detail from the Alcazar

PLATE XXXI. SEGOVIA.

Exterior View of the Monastery of El Parral

PLATE XXXII. ALCALA-DE-HENARES.

Exterior of the Colegio de San Ildefonso

PLATE XXXIII. ALCALA-DE-HENARES.

Window of the Arzobispado

PLATE XXXIV. ALCALA-DE-HENARES.

Detail from the Arzobispado

PLATE XXXV. TOLEDO.

View of the Remains of a Moorish Fortress on the River

PLATE XXXVI. TOLEDO.

Bridge of Alcantara

PLATE XXXVII. TOLEDO.

Bridge of San Martin

PLATE XXXVIII. TOLEDO.

Moorish Gateway by the Bridge of Alcantara

PLATE XXXIX. TOLEDO.

Entrance Archway of the Zocodover

PLATE XL. TOLEDO.

Interior of the "Taller del Moro."

PLATE XLI. TOLEDO.

Tower of the Church of La Magdalena

PLATE XLII. TOLEDO.

Moorish Tower of San Pedro Martire

PLATE XLIII. TOLEDO.

Tower of the Church of Sant' Iago de La Vega

PLATE XLIV. TOLEDO.

External View of the Hospital of the Holy Cross

PLATE XLV. TOLEDO.

Cortile of the Hospital of the Holy Cross

PLATE XLVI. TOLEDO.

Doorway from the Hospital of the Holy Cross

PLATE XLVII. TOLEDO.

Entrance Gateway to the Alcazar

PLATE XLVIII. TOLEDO.

Patio of the Hospital of Cardinal Tavera

PLATE XLIX. CORDOBA.

Exterior of the Casa Cabello

PLATE L. SEVILLE.

Church of La Feria

PLATE LI. SEVILLE.

Church of San Marcos

PLATE LII. SEVILLE.

Remains of Mudejar House near La Feria

PLATE LIII. SEVILLE.

Mudejar Window in the Fonda de Madrid

PLATE LIV. SEVILLE.

View in the Upper Story of one of the Patios of the Casa de Pilatus

PLATE LV. SEVILLE.

Detail from a Doorway in the Upper Floor of one of the Patios of the House of Pilate

PLATE LVI. SEVILLE.

One of the Arches of the Patio of the Casa Alba

PLATE LVII. SEVILLE.

Detail from the Patio of the Casa Alba

PLATE LVIII. SEVILLE.

Arches from the Casa de Los Abades

PLATE LIX. SEVILLE.

View in the Patio of the Casa de Los Abades

PLATE LX. SEVILLE.

A Peep into an Ordinary Patio

PLATE LXI. CADIZ.

Internal View of the Cathedral

PLATE LXII. MALAGA.

The Fountain of the Alameda

PLATE LXIII. MALAGA.

Renaissance House in the Calle Sant' Augustin

PLATE LXIV. MALAGA.

Old Window of the Ospedale de Santo Tomé

PLATE LXV. MALAGA.

Knocker of the Monastery of Sant' Jago

PLATE LXVI. GRANADA.

Remains of the Alhambra as seen from the Albaycin

PLATE LXVII. GRANADA.

Entrance to the Bosqué del Alhambra

PLATE LXVIII. GRANADA.

Puerta de Justicia

PLATE LXIX. GRANADA.--THE ALHAMBRA.

Sala de Embajadores

PLATE LXX. GRANADA.--THE ALHAMBRA.

Stucco Detail from the Hall of the Ambassadors

PLATE LXXI. GRANADA.--THE ALHAMBRA.

Detail of Glass Inlay from the Hall of the Ambassadors

PLATE LXXII. GRANADA.--THE ALHAMBRA.

Mosaic from the Hall of the Ambassadors

PLATE LXXIII. GRANADA.--THE ALHAMBRA.

Niche in La Sala de Las dos Hermanas

PLATE LXXIV. GRANADA.--THE ALHAMBRA.

Stucco Detail from the Sala del Tribunal

PLATE LXXV. GRANADA.

View of the Cathedral from the back of the High Altar

PLATE LXXVI. GRANADA.

The Reja of the Reyes Catolicos

PLATE LXXVII. GRANADA.

View of the Arzobispado

PLATE LXXVIII. GUADALAXARA.

Palacio de Los Duques del Infantado

PLATE LXXIX. GUADALAXARA.

Doorway of the Monastery of San Miguel

PLATE LXXX. GUADALAXARA.

Casa del Duqué de Ribas

PLATE LXXXI. GUADALAXARA.

Door Handle from the Calle del Barrio Nuevo

PLATE LXXXII. SARAGOSSA.

View of the Patio of the Palacio de La Infanta

PLATE LXXXIII. SARAGOSSA.

Detail of the Arcading of the First Floor of the Casa de La Infanta

PLATE LXXXIV. SARAGOSSA.

Exterior of the Exchange

PLATE LXXXV. SARAGOSSA.

Patio of the Casa de Comercio

PLATE LXXXVI. SARAGOSSA.

Patio of the House of the Marquis of Monistol

PLATE LXXXVII. SARAGOSSA.

Bronze Renaissance Knocker of a House in the Plazuela Aduana

PLATE LXXXVIII. LERIDA.

Tower of the Church of San Lorenzo

PLATE LXXXIX. BARCELONA.

Old House in the Calle de Santa Lucia

PLATE XC. BARCELONA.

Patio of the Casa de la Diputacion

PLATE XCI. BARCELONA.

Detail from the Casa de la Diputacion

PLATE XCII. BARCELONA.

Window from the Casa de la Diputacion

PLATE XCIII. BARCELONA.

Doorway in the Town Hall

PLATE XCIV. BARCELONA.

Knocker of an old House in the Calle Santa Lucia

PLATE XCV. BARCELONA.

Knocker to an old House in the Calle Santa Lucia

PLATE XCVI. BARCELONA.

Courtyard of an old House in the Calle de Moncara

PLATE XCVII. BARCELONA.

Staircase of an old House in the Calle de Moncara

PLATE XCVIII. GERONA.

Old House near the Estrella de Oro

PLATE XCIX. GERONA.

Upper Part of an old House and Spire of the Church of San Feliu

PLATE C. GERONA.

Old Walls near the Monastery of San Pedro

FOOTNOTES

ETEXT TRANSCRIBER NOTE

PLATE 1

BURGOS

THE ARCO DE SANTA MARIA

MDW 1869

BURGOS

THE ARCO DE SANTA MARIA

MDW 1869]

PLATE I.

_BURGOS._

THE ARCO DE SANTA MARIA.

IT is sad to notice how few traces beyond its magnificent Cathedral are left in this, the capital of old Castile, of those "Castellanos rancios y viejos," who once so splendidly represented the pride and power of Spanish chivalry. Of the sixteen golden castles the city bears upon its stately arms how insignificant are the relics? The remains of its walls and bastions attest the many centuries during which it held its own against all comers, Christian or Infidel. Of these walls, our sketch represents a portion in which there is little doubt the Renaissance frontispiece and archway replaced an older and sterner portal, better suited probably for defence than decoration. The legend runs that this façade was executed by the citizens, who had been exhibiting proclivities of far too Communistic a character to be agreeable to so high-handed a sovereign as Charles V., in order to propitiate that potentate, and to commemorate a visit, on his part at least, of a conciliatory character. It would seem, however, that in spite of the loyalty which induced the Burgalese to assign the post of honour (always under the invocation of the "Virgen sin pecado concebida)" to the statue of the King, they took good care to give him for companions Nuño Rasura, and Lain Calvo, whom they had themselves elected in the tenth century to rule over them, and protect their Communal rights. The maintenance of these had been somewhat interfered with by the King of Leon, Fruela II., who had invited the chief citizens to a banquet, and then quietly removed them out of his royal way by summarily putting them all to death. Amongst other statues which adorn this gateway are to be found those of Don Diego Parcelos, the founder of the city in 884, of the Cid--the pride of Spain and especially of Burgos, in which city he was born, and where his bones still rest--and of Fernan Gonzalez who redeemed the district from the yoke of the Kings of Leon, to whom it had been tributary, and who constituted himself and his family its protectors, under the style and title of Condes de Castilla.

The architecture of this frontispiece which gains great importance and much picturesque effect from its association with the bartizans and turrets of the mediæval gateway, has been attributed to Felipe de Borgoña, not apparently on any other grounds than the facts that he was an inhabitant of the city in whom his fellow-citizens felt great pride, and that he was employed upon the "Crucero" of the cathedral at about the period when this grand portal was probably erected.

BURGOS CASA DE MIRANDA

MDW 1869]

PLATE II.

_BURGOS._

PATIO OF THE CASA DE MIRANDA.

THIS plate introduces us to the most striking feature of all important Spanish houses, the Patio, or internal courtyard, answering to and perpetuating the Atrium of Roman architecture, with its impluvium and compluvium, and corresponding with the ordinary Cortile of the Italians. It is usually rectangular in plan, and entirely surrounded upon at least two stories by arcading, behind which run passages into which open the doors of every principal set of apartments of the house. There are rarely many windows in the walls of the Patios, as the rooms generally occupy the whole width intervening between the Patio walls, and the external walls of the house from which the light is mainly derived. There are, however, usually more windows on the lower story of the Patio than on the upper, since the chief saloons requiring most light were on the first floor, while much of the lower floor was occupied as was also usual in Italy, by retainers, servants, poor guests, mendicant friars and administradores--to say nothing of mules, and horses with stores and munitions of all sorts.

Nothing can be more picturesque or better suited to the climate than these Patios, since owing to the deep arcades which surround the open part (the Cavædium) of the court-yard upon more stories than one, there is always some portion of the arcade in which shelter can be obtained from sun, rain, or wind, and in which the occupants of the several apartments can sit and work, or lounge and smoke, in abundant but not unbearable light, and perfect comfort. This facility of outlet enables them, during the hours when the sun shines most fiercely, to keep their living and sleeping rooms dark and cool, and in exactly the state to make the midday meal and subsequent siesta truly luxurious and refreshing.

One open staircase usually connects the upper and lower arcades; admission is rarely given to the whole building at more than one point, the great door, adjoining which is almost always to be found the concierge, the janitor of the old Roman house, upon the model of which the Spaniards probably founded their notion of a residence at once noble and comfortable.

Little need be said concerning the particular house sketched. It is one of the few left in Burgos to bear witness to the grandeur of its old aristocracy. Though once the residence of the powerful Condes de Miranda of the family of the Zunigas, it is now but a half ruined and entirely dirty lodging-house for the lower classes in a poor and neglected part of the city. A fine dedication to the most illustrious "Señor Don Francisco de çuñiga y Avellaneda, Conde de Miranda, Señor de la Villa Daça, y de la Casa de Avellaneda, by Pedro Martinez the Printer of Seville, in 1565," sets forth the arms as well as the style and title of the nobleman by whom, or by whose next descendant the "Casa de Miranda" of Burgos was probably built.

The present representative of this family is no other than the Conde de Montijo, head of the house to which Her Majesty the Empress of the French belongs. The remarkable "Casa solar" of Peñaranda de Duero, within an easy excursion from Burgos, once a magnificent villa of the Zunigas, was one of the hereditary possessions of her sister the Duchess of Alba.

There are some few other old houses remaining in Burgos, the most remarkable, for oddity rather than beauty, being the "Casa del Cordon;" so called from its façade, which exhibits a gigantic rope representing the "Cordon" of the Teutonic order, encircling and uniting, the arms of the Velascos, Mendozas, and Figueras with those of Royalty. It was erected by a Count Haro, Constable of Castile, at the end of the fifteenth century. It is now the residence of the Capitan General of the Province, and the property of the Duca de Frias, a descendant of Count Haro.

The Casa de Miranda is to be found in Burgos, in the "Calle de la Calera," not far from the "Barrio de la Vega." No English visitor to Burgos should omit to see the Convent of las Huelgas, most interesting not only as founded by an English Princess, (Leonora, daughter of Henry II, married to Alfonso VIII), in 1180; but as evidencing in its design, which is exceptionally grave, simple, and well proportioned, an unquestionably English architectural influence.

Of the Cathedral, remains of the Castle, and the Convent of the Cartuja it is needless to speak here, since they are certain not to be overlooked by the traveller. Mr. Waring, who has so well drawn the marvels of the last mentioned building,[3] has given some pretty illustrations of ornamental detail from the fine Renaissance "Ospedal del Rey," which may be found not far from the Convent of las Huelgas.[4]

Valladolid. College of San Gregorio.

MDW 1869]

PLATE III.

_VALLADOLID._

COLEGIO DE SAN GREGORIO.

FROM early in the fifteenth century, through the reigns of Juan II. and his successors, until the elevation of Madrid into the Capital by Charles the Fifth, and into the only and official seat of the Court by Philip II. Valladolid was emphatically the Royal city of Spain. It is there, accordingly, that the traveller would naturally look for relics of Royal and courtly magnificence as displayed in the stirring times during which the over-elaboration of Gothic Art began to merge itself, in sympathy with the Medicean energies of Rome and Florence, into the style of the Renaissance as practised at a later date by many citizens of Valladolid, such as Antonio de Arphe, and Juan de Arphe y Villafañe, master-workers in gold and silver; as Juan de Juni, and Hernandez, the marvellous wood-carvers and sculptors, authors of the peculiar gilt painted groups for which the city became so famous; and as Alonzo Berruguete, Henrique de Egas, and Macias Carpintero "masters of works" of no mean repute. Of all the glorious objects these men and their disciples and contemporaries produced in Valladolid a few "disjecta membra" alone remain. Of the very building, an outlying fragment of which forms the subject of the sketch under notice, all but the actual structure was destroyed by the French under Napoleon I. in person, who in 1809 inaugurated a reign of terror in the city. "No where," in Spain, as Ford writes in 1845, "has recent destruction been more busy (than in Valladolid); witness San Benito, San Diego, San Francisco, San Gabriel, &c., almost swept away, their precious altars broken, their splendid sepulchres dashed to pieces; hence the sad void created in the treasures of art and religion which are recorded by previous travellers while now-a-days the native in this mania of modernising is fast destroying those venerable vestiges of Charles V. and Philip II. which escaped the Gaul." The situation of this city on the direct line of railway communication between France and Madrid has greatly helped forward this "modernising" and even as this is written, numerous old streets are being pulled down to make way for the convenient, but far from picturesque monotony in which the nineteenth century usually writes its date upon its street architecture. In one respect, especially, the glory of Valladolid has entirely departed. In this, the city of the Arphes, in which as Navagiero[5] says, (writing in 1525), "Sono in Valladolid assai artefeci di ogni sorte, é se vi lavora benissimo di tutte le arti, e sopra tutto d'argenti, e vi sono tanti argenteri quanti non sono in due altre terre," no gold or silversmith's work is to be found worthy a moment's attention. The "Plateria" still remains, and the shops of the Plateros still abound, but, with the exception of two or three little old fragments saved from the melting pot, the elegant types of the "Varia commensuracion" of Villafañe have disappeared, giving place to poor imitations of bad French work.

VALLADOLID

PATIO DE SAN GREGORIO.

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PLATE IV.

_VALLADOLID._

DETAIL FROM THE "PATIO DE SAN GREGORIO."

THE portion of the great Dominican Convent of Valladolid which formed the subject of the last sketch, is supposed to have been the commencement of a second Patio, or courtyard, around which were to have been arranged apartments, mainly intended for the reception of guests or visitors, lay as well as ecclesiastic. The arcading, of which Plate IV is a sketch, surrounds the great Patio of the monastic establishment of which the "Colegio" proper is the Church. Around this noble courtyard were grouped the apartments in which resided the powerful Black Friars--so called from their dress--worthy adherents to the traditions of the founder of the Order, himself an old Castilian, whose activity as Preachers, and still more as Inquisitors, made them, perhaps, even more powerful in controlling the destinies of the Peninsula than the political heads of the State. The first stone of this great establishment, dedicated to St. Gregory, and founded by Alonso of Burgos, Bishop of Palencia, was laid in the year 1488. Some idea of the rapid growth and elevation of the Dominicans about this period may be derived from an observation of the fact that this splendid Church and Monastery was the second great establishment of the Order in Valladolid completed within the space of about ten years. Cean Bermudez tells us that the Cardinal Don Juan Torquemada caused the Church of the Convent of St. Paul to be erected, which, with its façade of excellent architecture, was finished in the year 1463.

The work at Saint Gregory lasted about eight years, a very short time, considering not only the quantity and extent of labour involved in the mere construction, but the amount of intricate and elaborate sculpture which decorates the façade of the Church. Its architect, Macias Carpintero, of Medino del Campo, is placed by Llaguno y Amirola upon a footing, as to merit, with the celebrated architects Siloe and Cruz of Cologne, who introduced extraordinary elaboration into the ornamental carving of Spain. The fate of Macias was a sad one, since on the last Saturday in July, in the year 1490, while working himself, and directing this great architectural work, he committed suicide, infinitely to the surprise and regret of the monks and their fellow-citizens.

Some idea of the scale upon which the Patio of San Gregorio is worked out, may be derived from a knowledge of the facts, that the lower arcade is about twenty feet high, and the upper fifteen feet. The open space enclosed by the arcading is very large, and the distance from centre to centre of each of the pillars about nine feet.

VALLADOLID.

PATIO DE SAN GREGORIO.

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PLATE V.

_VALLADOLID._

SMALL PATIO DE SAN GREGORIO.

IN that material--stucco--which we of the nineteenth century affect to despise, and in the use of which both the Romans and the Great Masters of the Renaissance, under Raffaelle's guidance, excelled, the Moors delighted. By its use they were able, with speed and accuracy, to supply the redundancy of conventional ornament essential to contrast with the rigid geometrical setting out of lines and compartments which formed a fundamental law of their beautiful style of design. Their aptitude in the manipulation of this material did not desert them when their talents were called into operation by their Christian Masters. Of this the pretty window which forms the chief feature of the sketch under consideration, offers an agreeable proof. At the first glance, one might have fancied that this window was of earlier date than the gothic stone arch beneath, and indeed a relic of the Moorish occupation of Valladolid before the Christians reconquered the district, so different in style are its details from those of the arch. To have encountered the difficulties of constructing such an arch beneath, without destroying such a window, is, however, so contrary to all ancient precedents in similar cases, that any such theory must be dismissed on reflexion, and an explanation sought in some other direction. It is to be found in the fact, that about the middle of the fifteenth century, shortly after which date, both arch and window were probably constructed, the Christians had plenty of skilful artificers in stone, who possessed no aptitude for working in stucco, whilst the Moors executed but little ornament in stone, but much in brick and plaster. Hence the marked difference in style which is apparent between the window sketched, and the architectural detail of the rest of this pretty little court, which is shown on this sketch, and the one which follows it.

The rooms surrounding the Arcade of this Patio, and the Arcade itself, are now used as a "Corps de Garde" in connection with the Government offices of the great Patio of this "Colegio." They naturally, therefore, rejoice in the rapidly accumulating whitewash, which serves very generally in Spain, at once as a panacea against cholera and fever, and the obliterator of all useless excrescences in the nature of Architectural Ornament.

VALLADOLID

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PATIO COLEGIO DE SAN GREGORIO]

PLATE VI.

_VALLADOLID._

SMALL PATIO, COLEGIO DE SAN GREGORIO.

THE stucco upper-storey from which the last sketch (Plate V) was taken, rests upon a lower open storey, forming the usual recessed Arcade or Colonade of even very humble Patios. In this case, the columns, on two sides, (the upper parts of one of which are shown) including the coat-of-arms, are in stone; while the brackets easing the compression of the fibres, and shortening the bearing of the beams, the beams themselves, and the row of brackets above, being really only the moulded ends of the joists of the upper floor, are all in wood. They thus illustrate the combination of materials in construction so much affected by the Moors. At the same time the architectural details shown both in this sketch, and in the one which precedes it, exhibit certain ornamental features derived from Arabian models. That there should be no question in this structure, however, as to the ascendency of the Christian over the Moor, the proud founder has affixed his arms, in which the Church's sacred emblems of the fleur-de-lys and cross forcibly express the favourite tenets of the Spaniard.

Few cities of Spain more rejoiced in heraldic devices than did Valladolid, the especial seat of the Castilian nobility, at least until its removal to Madrid. Amongst all the beautiful fac-similes of finely-mantled and well-displayed escutcheons which adorn the works of early printers, given to us by Sir Stirling Maxwell, few excel those which issued from the presses of the Valladolid printers. The Germans who followed in the train, or, at any rate under the auspices, of Charles V., no doubt set the fashion at the commencement of the century at Seville, which was taken up by Spaniards towards the middle of the same century at Valladolid. Francesco Fernandez de Cordova appears to have been the great master of the craft there, and many and splendid are the heraldic frontispieces of his books from 1548 onwards. His style, at any rate, was maintained in his family till near the end of the century, as the title page of the celebrated "Quilatador de la Plata oro y piedras," by Joan Arphe, 1572,[6] displays the arms of the Cardinal Bishop of Siguenza, drawn by, and bearing the initials of, no less an artist than Arphe y Villafañe himself. The imprint of the volume bears no longer the name of Francisco, but the names of Alonzo y Diego Fernandez de Cordova.

The finest specimen of Francisco's work, given by Sir Stirling Maxwell, is the grand heading to a proclamation issued by Charles V., in 1549. It exhibits not only the Royal and Imperial escutcheon, Double-headed Eagle, and Columns, with the proud motto "plus ultra," but a quantity of pure Renaissance ornament from which all trace of Gothic has disappeared.

VALLADOLID LA CASA DEL INFANTADO

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PLATE VII.

_VALLADOLID._

LA CASA DEL INFANTADO.

AS in Italy, so in Spain, the architecture of the revival may be divided into at least two great schools, viz., the early, in which sculpture, and particularly sculptured arabesque, play a prominent part; and the late, in which regularity in the use of the orders and a system of rigidly proportioned plain architectural members form the main constituents of the most highly commended structures. Both merged into the extravagance which follows when architects learn to draw with facility rather than to think with steadfastness and propriety. As Italy had its Borromini, so had Spain its Churriguera.

The building from which my sketch has been taken, belongs to the second of these divisions of the architecture of the revival, as may be seen by the grave simplicity of the Ionic columns which support the massive but plain arches of both stories of a large and pretentious Patio. In this sketch I have chosen the point of view from the entrance loggia of the house, because looking from it I could well see, and therefore illustrate, the way in which a grand staircase, covered at the top, but open to the air upon one side, usually connects, in large houses, the upper and lower arcades of the Patios, and consequently the upper and lower floors of the mansion which open on to the two main arcades. The staircase is very rarely closed by iron-work or otherwise; consequently the visitor once obtaining access to the Patio was and is at liberty to ramble nearly all over the house unchecked. As front doors usually stand open from morning till night, access to Patios may generally be freely obtained; but where the house is inhabited by one family only, or by more than one family desiring privacy, iron or wooden doors usually close openings to the Patio such as are shown in the sketch. It is only when in answer to a bell, or knocker, attached to this or to an external doorway, a servant has appeared and ascertained that the visitor is an "amigo," that the door itself is opened, and access to the interior afforded.

It is a popular prejudice that gravity in Spanish architecture only came in with Herrera, after the middle of the fifteenth century in Spain, but in reality there were several other men who before him asserted their dissent from the plateresque redundancy of ornament, and designed works upon a careful study of Italian models of architectural proportion. Among such may be reckoned Pedro Machuca who in 1526 designed the palace of Charles V. at Granada, Alonzo Covarrubias who was architect for the noble staircase and cortile of the Alcazar at Toledo, and Diego Siloe who a few years later created the fine Cathedral of Granada.

LEON

SAN ISIDRO

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PLATE VIII.

_LEON._

CHURCH OF SAN ISIDRO.

THE antiquity of the city of Leon and its importance as a Roman station are well shown by its picturesque and strong walls, which in many places yet exhibit clearly Roman masonry in the substructure and general form. On other places, subsequent generations of artificers have left unmistakeable autographs inscribed in most legible and durable forms, attesting dates of construction, dilapidation, restoration, and then again dilapidation, through centuries of tempestuous existence. One of the most picturesque bastions of these old walls is the one shown in my sketch which groups exceedingly well with the fine Romanesque steeple of San Isidro, which stands on the west of the Church but altogether detached from it. Both Church and steeple date from about the middle of the twelfth century, and possess great historical and architectural interest. Their historical interest is due to their association with the fervidly pious Queen Sancha; and to the fact that in the Pantheon, or chapel dedicated to Santa Catilina at the north-west end of the Church, probably grouped around the body of the Saint, repose Kings and Queens of Spain from Fernando I. and Doña Sancha the founders of the Church, through eight generations. Their architectural interest is derivable from the constructional and ornamental details dwelt upon by Mr. Street, to whose excellent account of the building the reader may be referred.

LEON SAN MARCOS

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PLATE IX.

_LEON._

CONVENT OF SAN MARCOS.

ON the 3rd of September, 1512, a meeting took place between certain ecclesiastics of the Chapter of Salamanca, and nine of the most famous architects of Spain, the minute or "procès verbal" of which would form a model for what might often be done in this country with much advantage to all concerned in the initiation of any great architectural work. The object of the Junta was to settle the principal difficulties of the design of the new Cathedral of Salamanca, then about to be begun. Interesting as are all the conclusions arrived at upon this memorable occasion, it is not with them we have now to concern ourselves, but with the circumstance only that, amongst the signatures attached to the document[7] occurs that of Juan de Badajoz, the architect of the noble façade of the celebrated Convent of the Knights of Santiago at Leon, which forms the subject of our ninth sketch. In the following year to that of the meeting at Salamanca, Juan de Badajoz was summoned in concert with Juan Gil de Hontañon and Juan de Alava to report on the repairs necessary to the Cathedral at Seville. For this he was paid by the Chapter one hundred ducats, no mean sum in those days. Called from Seville to Leon, Badajoz seems to have immediately set in hand the Capilla Mayor of the Church of San Isidro. In Leon and elsewhere he appears to have been much employed, until in 1537 he commenced the Convent of San Zoil at Carrion (about twelve leagues from Leon,) for the Condes of that place. The taste for elaborate ornamental sculpture greatly increasing at that time, Juan de Badajoz seems to have taken pains to surround himself with the most skilful carvers of his days, and on all occasions to have pushed them forwards as their merits deserved. Hence, when called upon, shortly after setting in hand the works at Carrion, to commence the even more elaborate and important ones of San Marcos, he was able to carry on the two for a time concurrently, and ultimately to resign the charge of what he began and advanced considerably single-handed at Leon, to his deputy, Pedro di Castrillo.

On San Marcos, Juan de Badajoz appears to have worked pertinaciously, at any rate until the year 1543, when more than half the whole work was completed. In the sculpture, of which there is an enormous quantity, he had the assistance, as principal sculptor, of Guillermo Doncel. The ornamental details[8] are excellent, far better than those involving a knowledge of the proportions and forms of the human figure. The size of the building is enormous, and its general effect very picturesque. The works appear to have been suspended while still far from complete. They were not resumed until the year 1715.

MDW 1869 LEON SAN MARCOS]

PLATE X.

_LEON._

CLOISTER OF THE CONVENT OF SAN MARCOS.

IT used to be a proud old boast of the brothers of the Military Order of Sant' Iago that their Palace, or Convent, call it which you will, at Leon, was quite as fine and spacious as the palace occupied by the Kings of Spain at Madrid. Knowing this, I visited it with a certain amount of apprehension as to my reception by such successors to the magnates of old, as might still occupy the building. My fears were groundless, for I found after much knocking and ringing, that a solitary policeman was the only occasional tenant of its vast halls, and almost numberless rooms. It was indeed melancholy to see such a structure so evidently and entirely "out of joint with fortune" and "the times," as to be apparently inapplicable and inconvertible to any useful purpose.

With the impressions received from meeting with such a state of things, the traveller naturally feels a difficulty in realising the fact that the extent and splendour of this Convent actually represented what was once a vital principle of first importance to Spain. To her, until Mariolatry set in with full intensity, the name of Sant' Iago was a tower of strength. Not only did the possession of his shrine to which pilgrims flocked, even from beyond the seas in thousands, bring wealth to the Church; but the elevation of the Saint into an actual soldier of the Faith, a leader to material as well as to spiritual victory, supplied for Spain that fervour under arms which, when passing under the form of devotion to "the Prophet" had, as both Church and State in Spain wisely recognised, wrought such marvels in the consolidation of the power of her natural enemies, the Moors. By the creation of the religious orders of cavaliers, or rather of the military orders of priests, Spain at once nourished the spirit of chivalry and the Christian Faith, the union of which ultimately won for her the reconquest of all that Mahommedan Chivalry and Mahommedan Faith had conquered from her.[9] The very length and pertinacity of the struggle only served to quicken the devotion of the people to their "Gran Capitan," Sant' Iago, and to induce them to enrich to the utmost the order which bore his name.

Hence the magnificent scale of buildings, such as the Convent of San Marcos, the stately cloisters of which once sheltered those whose energy in council and skill in the field maintained that life and action for the warlike, and protection and repose for the peaceable, which were essential to the consolidation and upholding of the monarchy of Spain, and its supposed indispensable and inseparable adjunct the "Catholic Faith."

LEON CASA DE LOS GUSMANES

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PLATE XI.

_LEON._

EXTERIOR OF THE CASA DE LOS GUSMANES.

IN an ancient house which stood upon the site on which now stands the Palace which forms the subject of our sketch, there was born, in the year 1266, a "Cavalier," who, when arrived at manhood, followed the fortunes of Sancho the Brave. After many struggles, the King having taken Tarifa in Andalucia from the Moors in 1292, looked round amongst his followers for one willing to hold what he had won. All refused, owing to the danger of the position, until Alonso Perez de Guzman, the Cavalier in question, offered to keep possession of the town for a year. The story is thus condensed by Ford, from the "Romancero." The Moors beleaguered it, aided by the Infante Juan, a traitor brother of Sancho's to whom Alonso's eldest son, aged nine, had been entrusted previously as a page. "Juan now brought the boy under the walls, and threatened to kill him if his father would not surrender the place. Alonso drew his dagger and threw it down exclaiming, 'I prefer honour without a son, to a son with dishonour.' He retired, and the Prince caused the child to be put to death. A cry of horror ran through the Spanish battlements. Alonso rushed forth, beheld his son's body, and returning to his childless mother, calmly observed, 'I feared that the infidel had gained the city.' Sancho, the King, likened him to Abraham, from this parental sacrifice and honoured him with the 'canting' name 'El Bueno.' The good (Guzman, Gutman, Goodman.) He became the founder of the princely Dukes of Medina Sidonia, now merged by marriage in the Villafrancas." From this great head descended ultimately Her Majesty the Empress Eugénie of France. Gaining strength, riches and power, the original residence of El Bueno became too small for his aspiring family, and in 1560, Don Juan Quiñones y Guzman, Bishop of Calahorra, determined upon the erection, on the same site, of the present fine structure. The name of the architect does not seem to be known, but it is obviously the work of one who, rejecting the elaboration of the Plateresque style, followed the simpler and more chastened proportions recommended by the early Italian writers on architecture, such as Alberti and Serlio, and by the first Spanish student of Vitruvius, Diego Sagredo in his "Medidas del Romano," (Toledo, 1526.)

It is probable that the use of a large quantity of iron externally, as in the balconies and other parts of this Palace was somewhat of a novelty at the date of construction, since the story runs "that when Philip II. visited Leon, as his courtiers, some friends of the Bishops, were praising the building, and were mentioning in a friendly way the thousands of cwts. of iron employed in it, the King severely observed, punningly by the way, 'En verdad que ha sido mucho _yerro_ para un obispo.'"[10] The pun turns upon the word _yerro_ which means both iron, and a mistake. The joke would have been unworthy of Philip II. if it had not been grim.

LEON.

CASA DE LOS GUSMANES

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PLATE XII.

_LEON._

PATIO OF THE CASA DE LOS GUSMANES.

PALACES, such as supply our twelfth illustration, are now rarely occupied in Spain by one family only. Instead of serving as the place of general rendezvous for the dependants and intimate friends only of the aristocratic proprietor, the Patios are now usually peopled with men, women and children belonging to the numerous families, between whom the occupation of the Palace, sadly fallen from its high estate, is divided. Instead of the mansions being guarded by a grand inquisitor in the shape of a porter, with armed servants within hail, with almost more than Oriental jealousy, as in the old days, he who will, may usually find entrance or exit unheeded, passing but as one more or one less of the hundreds who go to and fro in the course of the day to the various apartments which are frequently let and sublet, at ridiculously low rents, to poor occupants who can afford to pay no other. Poverty, in fact, revels in halls where magnificence once reigned supreme.

It is no easy task for the imagination to repeople such grand old residences with the stately Hidalgoes and Señoras, who once occupied and maintained them with scrupulous care and princely dignity. Happily, the Countess d'Aulnois comes to our aid with her lively account of the dwelling at Madrid of the Duchess of Terra Nueva, appointed Camerera-Mayor to the young Queen, in 1679; and her picturesque sketch may be freely accepted as expressing the general style in which families of dignity, such as the Guzmanes, magnates of Leon, lived during the plenitude of Spanish wealth and power.