| By Author | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Title | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Language |
|
Download this book: [ ASCII ] Look for this book on Amazon Tweet |
Title: Sculpture in Spain
Author: Calvert, Albert Frederick
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.
*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Sculpture in Spain" ***
produced from images available at The Internet Archive)
THE SPANISH SERIES
SCULPTURE IN SPAIN
THE SPANISH SERIES
_EDITED BY ALBERT F. CALVERT_
TOLEDO
MADRID
SEVILLE
MURILLO
CORDOVA
EL GRECO
VELAZQUEZ
THE PRADO
THE ESCORIAL
SCULPTURE IN SPAIN
VALENCIA AND MURCIA
ROYAL PALACES OF SPAIN
SPANISH ARMS AND ARMOUR
LEON, BURGOS AND SALAMANCA
CATALONIA AND BALEARIC ISLANDS
VALLADOLID, OVIEDO, SEGOVIA,
ZAMORA, AVILA AND ZARAGOZA
SCULPTURE
IN SPAIN
:: BY ALBERT F. CALVERT ::
:: WITH 162 ILLUSTRATIONS ::
LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD
NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY. MCMXII
Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO.
At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION 1
EARLY SCULPTURE BELONGING TO THE NATIVE
IBERIAN, LATIN, BYZANTINE, AND VISIGOTHIC
PERIODS 14
THE CHURCHES OF THE ROMANESQUE AND
EARLY GOTHIC PERIODS 25
THE SCULPTURED PIECES AND TOMBS OF THE
ROMANESQUE AND EARLY GOTHIC PERIODS 37
THE ALTAR-SCREENS OR RETABLOS OF THE
ROMANESQUE AND GOTHIC PERIODS 50
THE RENAISSANCE, AND THE INFLUENCE OF
MICHAEL ANGELO ON THE SPANISH
SCULPTORS 70
THE RENAISSANCE, AND THE INFLUENCE OF
MICHAEL ANGELO (_continued_)--THE SCHOOLS
OF VALLADOLID AND MADRID 97
THE SCHOOL OF ANDALUSIA--JUAN MARTINEZ
MONTAÑÉS--SEVILLE AND ITS SCULPTORS 117
THE DISCIPLES OF MONTAÑÉS IN SEVILLE 142
THE SCHOOL OF GRANADA AND ALONSO CANO--THE
DECLINE OF SCULPTURE--FRANCISCO
ZARCELLO 151
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
TITLE PLATE
Visigoth Crowns found near Toledo 1
Byzantine Crucifix and the Virgin in the Gothic Style.
Provincial Museum of San Marcos, Leon 2
Wooden Crucifix with which the Troops of the Cid
were harangued. The smaller Crucifix the Cid
carried beneath his Armour. Salamanca Cathedral 3
Byzantine Chest. Toledo Cathedral 4
Roman Statue found in the Ruins of Salonica. Provincial
Museum, Burgos 5
El Santo Cristo, Burgos Cathedral 6
Façade of the Cathedral, Santiago de Compostella 7
Portico of La Gloria, Santiago de Compostella
Cathedral 8
Detail of Carvings of the Portico of La Gloria, Santiago
de Compostella 9
Colegiata de San Isidoro, Leon 10
Spandril of Gate of Pardon in the College of San
Isidoro, Leon 11
Two Statues in the Archæological Museum, Leon 12
San Vicente, Avila 13
Basilica of San Vicente, Avila, Principal West
Entrance 14
Zamora Cathedral 15
Cloisters of San Pablo del Campo, Barcelona 16
Cloisters of the Monastery of Las Huelgas, Burgos 17
Tarragona Cathedral 18
Portal, Tarragona Cathedral 19
Burgos Cathedral 20
Toledo Cathedral 21
Leon Cathedral 22
Detail of the Choir Stalls, Leon Cathedral 23
Detail of the Choir Stalls, Leon Cathedral 24
St. Mary Magdalene and Santo Domingo (Choir
Stalls), Leon Cathedral 25
San Celedonio and San Esteban (Choir Stalls), Leon
Cathedral 26
Noah, and Adam and Eve (Choir Stalls), Leon
Cathedral 27
Samson (Choir Stalls), Leon Cathedral 28
Esau (Choir Stalls), Leon Cathedral 29
Detail of Portico, Santiago de Compostella 30
San Francisco. San Marcos Museum, Leon 31
Various Statues from the Cross Aisle, Leon Cathedral 32
Our Lady del Foro and the Offerings of the Kings,
Cloisters, Leon Cathedral 33
A Sepulchre in the Convent of Las Huelgas, Burgos 34
Sepulchres in the Old Cathedral, Salamanca 35
Statues of the Portico, Tarragona Cathedral 36
Puerta Alta de la Coroneria, Burgos Cathedral 37
The Cloister Gate, Burgos Cathedral 38
The Cloisters, Burgos Cathedral 39
Detail of the Cloisters, Burgos Cathedral 40
Detail of the Cloisters, Burgos Cathedral 41
A Sepulchre, Las Huelgas, Burgos 42
Sepulchre of Archbishop Maurice, the Founder of the
Cathedral, Burgos 43
Sepulchre of Archbishop Maurice, the Founder of the
Cathedral, Burgos 44
Sepulchre of the Infanta Doña Berenguela, Daughter
of San Fernando, Monastery of Las Huelgas,
Burgos 45
Tomb of Jaime de Aragon, Tarragona Cathedral 46
Sepulchre of Martin, First Bishop of Leon, Leon
Cathedral 47
Sepulchre of Don Ordoño II., Leon Cathedral 48
Sepulchre of the Martyrs, Basilica de San Vicente,
Avila 49
Sepulchre of Archbishop Lopez de Luna, in the
Church of La Seo, Zaragoza 50
Our Lady la Mayor, Statue of Silver, Burgos Cathedral 51
Statue of Our Lady de la Vega, Salamanca 52
Statue of Our Lady de la Blanca, in the Principal
Porch, Leon Cathedral 53
St. Michael Slaying the Devil. Silver Statue by Juan
de Arfé. Provincial Museum, Salamanca 54
Diptych in the Camarin of Santa Teresa, Escorial 55
Detail of the Altar-screen of the Capilla de Santiago,
Toledo Cathedral 56
Altar-screen in the Capilla de Santiago, Toledo
Cathedral 57
Chapel of Santiago, containing the Sepulchres of Don
Alvaro de Luna and that of his Wife, Doña
Juana, Toledo Cathedral 58
Detail of the Altar-piece in the Capilla de la Trinidad,
Toledo 59
Altar-piece Carved in Wood, end of Fifteenth Century.
Valladolid Museum 60
Centre of a Wooden Altar-piece, end of Fifteenth
Century. Valladolid Museum 61
Chapel of St. Anne, Burgos Cathedral 62
Details of the Altar-Piece in the Chapel of St. Anne,
Burgos Cathedral 63
Sepulchre of Don Juan II. and Doña Isabel, La
Cartuja, Burgos 64
Sepulchre of Don Juan II. and Doña Isabel, La
Cartuja, Burgos 65
Detail of the Sepulchre of Don Juan II. and Doña
Isabel, La Cartuja, Burgos 66
Sepulchre of Infante Don Alonso, son of Isabella I.,
La Cartuja, Burgos 67
Sepulchre of Don Juan de Padella. Provincial
Museum, Burgos 68
High Altar, La Cartuja, Burgos 69
Detail of the High Altar, La Cartuja, Burgos 70
Detail of the High Altar, La Cartuja, Burgos 71
Choir Stalls, La Cartuja, Burgos 72
High Altar, Santa Gadea del Cid, Burgos 73
High Altar of the Church of Our Lady del Pilar,
Zaragoza 74
Bas-relief in the Altar-piece, Chapel Royal, Granada 75
Detail of the Sepulchre of the Catholic Sovereigns,
Royal Chapel, Granada 76
Sepulchre of the Infante Juan, only Son of Ferdinand
and Isabella, Church of Santo Tomás, Avila 77
Carvings of the Principal Chapel, by Borgoña, Burgos
Cathedral 78
Back Part of the High Altar, Burgos Cathedral 79
Tras-Sagrario, by Felipe de Borgoña, Burgos
Cathedral 80
Tras-Sagrario, by Felipe de Borgoña, Burgos
Cathedral 81
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, Carved by Berruguete
and Borgoña, Toledo Cathedral 82
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, Carved by Berruguete
and Borgoña, Toledo Cathedral 83
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, Carved by Berruguete
and Borgoña, Toledo Cathedral 84
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, Carved by Berruguete
and Borgoña, Toledo Cathedral 85
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, Carved by Berruguete
and Borgoña, Toledo Cathedral 86
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, Carved by Berruguete
and Borgoña, Toledo Cathedral 87
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, Carved by Berruguete
and Borgoña, Toledo Cathedral 88
Details of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 89
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 90
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 91
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 92
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 93
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 94
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 95
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 96
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 97
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 98
Detail of the High Altar, Chapel of the “Condestable,”
Burgos Cathedral 99
Altar-piece, by F. de Borgoña, in the Royal Chapel,
Granada 100
Detail of Altar-screen, Granada: King Ferdinand the
Catholic 101
Detail of Altar-screen, Granada: Queen Isabel the
Catholic 102
Boabdil giving up the Keys of Granada to the Catholic
Sovereigns. Fragment of the Altar-piece in the
Royal Chapel, Granada 103
Choir Stalls of San Benito, Valladolid 104
Back of a Choir Stall. Valladolid Museum 105
Fragments of Choir Stalls. Valladolid Museum 106
Several Fragments of Choir Stalls. Valladolid Museum 107
Fragments of Choir Stalls, by Andrés de Najera.
Valladolid Museum 108
Stalls of San Benito, by Andrés de Najera, Valladolid 109
Stalls of San Benito, by Andrés de Najera, Valladolid 110
Stalls of San Benito, by Andrés de Najera, Valladolid 111
Wooden Panels, Murcia Cathedral 112
Abraham’s Sacrifice and St. Sebastian, by Berruguete.
Valladolid Museum 113
Sepulchre of Archbishop Tavera, by Alonso Berruguete,
Hospital de Afuera, Toledo 114
Sepulchre, by Berruguete, San Jeronimo, Granada 115
Statue of St. Secundus, by Berruguete, Church of San
Secundo, Avila 116
San Benito. Valladolid Museum 117
The Transept, Cathedral of La Seo, Zaragoza 118
Sepulchre of the Marques de Villena and Retablo in
the Monastery del Parral, Segovia 119
Custodia, by Juan Arfé, Avila Cathedral 120
Statue of Don Cristobal de Rojas y Sandoval, Church
of San Pedro de Lerma, Burgos 121
Detail of the Statue 122
St. Jerome, by Caspar de Becerra, Burgos Cathedral 123
Altar-screen, by Juan de Juni, Segovia Cathedral 124
Christ in the Tomb, by Juan de Juni. Valladolid
Museum 125
Pietà, by Hernandez. Valladolid Museum 126
The Baptism of Our Lord, by Hernandez. Valladolid
Museum 127
St. Francis, by Hernandez. Valladolid Museum 128
The Crucifixion, by Gregorio Hernandez, Chapel of
the ex-monastic Church of “Conjo,” Santiago 129
Our Lady of Sorrows, Church of “Conjo,” Santiago 130
La Dolorosa, by Salvador Carmona, Salamanca
Cathedral 131
Flagellation of Christ, by Salvador Carmona, Salamanca
Cathedral 132
Head of St. Paul. Valladolid Museum 133
High Altar, Seville Cathedral 134
Oratory and Screen of Isabella la Catolica, Seville 135
Puerta del Perdon, Seville Cathedral 136
Virgin and Child, by P. Torrigiano. Seville Museum 137
St. Jerome, by Torrigiano. Seville Museum 138
Statue of Faith, Top of Giralda Tower, Seville 139
St. Ignatius Loyola, by Montañés. University Chapel,
Seville 140
St. Francis Xavier, by Montañés. University Chapel,
Seville 141
Our Lord Crucified, by Montañés. The Sacristy,
Seville Cathedral 142
The Immaculate Conception, by Montañés. University
Chapel, Seville 143
The Immaculate Conception, by Montañés, Seville
Cathedral 144
St. Bruno, by J. Montañés. Seville Museum 145
Our Lady de las Cuevas and Child, by Montañés.
Seville Museum 146
St. Bruno, by Montañés, Cadiz Cathedral 147
Justice, by Solis. Seville Museum 148
The Conception of the Virgin, by Martinez, Seville
Cathedral 149
The Crucifixion, at Triana, Seville 150
Our Lord, Sculpture in Wood, Hospital de la Caridad,
Seville 151
High Altar in the Chapel, Hospital de la Caridad,
Seville 152
Our Lady of Sorrows, by Luisa Roldan, Cadiz
Cathedral 153
Head of John the Baptist, Granada 154
Head of John the Baptist, Granada 155
Head of John the Baptist 156
Statue of St. Bruno, in the Chartreuse de Miraflores,
Burgos 157
St. Bruno, by Alonso Cano, in the Cartuja, Granada 158
Statue of the Magdalene, formerly in the Cartuja,
Granada 159
St. Francis, by Pedro de Mena, Toledo Cathedral 160
The Last Supper, by Zarcello, Ermita de Jesus,
Murcia 161
St. Veronica, by Salcillo, Ermita de Jesus, Murcia 162
SCULPTURE IN SPAIN
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The Spanish character has expressed itself in sculpture more forcibly
than in painting. In no other country, perhaps, do we find a people
whose native taste for carving in wood and stone is so deep-rooted, so
essentially an outgrowth of the strong life of the race. To understand
the art of Spain you must know her sculpture.
As far back as the prehistoric Iberian period we find traces of a
vigorous school of sculpture in Spain, which, though based on Greek and
Asiatic sources, yet attained a striking individuality of its own.
Professor Pierre Paris of Bordeaux says of these prehistoric carvings
that “the figures are simple and virile, while the women are
distinguished by dignity of attitude and nobility of face, expressive of
deep religious gravity.” The finest example--a supreme type of
primitive Iberian sculpture, very fascinating in its curious
originality--is the Lady of Elche, the bust in the Louvre, which Pierre
Paris, in agreement with Reinach, dates about 440 B.C. Of this wonderful
work Pierre Paris writes: “In her enigmatic face, ideal and yet real, in
her living eyes, on her voluptuous lips, on her passive and severe
forehead, are summed up all the nobility and austerity, the promises and
the reticences, the charm and the mystery of woman.... She is above all
Spanish, not only by the mitre and the great wheels that frame her
delicate face, but by the disturbing strangeness of her beauty. She is
indeed more than Spanish: she is Spain itself, Iberia arising still
radiant with youth from the tomb in which she has been buried for more
than twenty centuries.”[A]
This is true.
Sculpture has always been the most genuinely Spanish of the arts. The
Visigoths were attracted to sculpture; and though many of the credited
examples they were supposed to have left cannot be accepted, there are a
few Visigothic carvings, which bear witness to this predominant
expression of character.
Belonging to a later date we find a surprising wealth of carving in wood
and stone scattered throughout Spain in the cathedrals, churches,
cloisters, and palaces. There is no town in Spain which does not possess
some sculptured works.
Spain has given to the world few great sculptors; none of her carvers
stand on quite the high level of her most famous painters. Yet, if we
except the great names of El Greco, Ribera, Velazquez, and Goya, her
sculptors are at least equal in merit with her painters. Damian Forment,
Berruguete, Gregorio Hernandez, Juan de Juni, Pedro Millan, Montañés,
Alonso Cano, Roldan, Mena, as well as others, are worthy to take a high
place in the temple of Spanish art. And a fact of even greater
importance: they have impressed upon their work the national character
in a far stronger degree than any of the contemporary painters. It is
interesting to note that many of these sculptors were also painters;
and, in all cases, their carvings are more distinctly Spanish than their
paintings. Almost entirely sculpture escaped from the slough of
neo-Italian imitation, which did so much to ruin painting in the late
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Spanish sculpture is finely realistic
and imaginative. Sometimes fantastic to extravagance in its
naturalness, it is always vigorous, romantic, and religious in the
highest degree.
How is it, then, that sculpture is the branch of the national art least
known beyond the bounds of the country? Rare indeed are the writers who
have made a study of Spanish sculpture. A few good articles on the
subject have appeared in France and in Germany; in England none. Even in
Spain a quite inadequate attention has been given to this most important
branch of the national art. There are, it is true, several excellent
monographs, such as the works of D. José Gestoso y Perez on Pedro
Millan, and that of D. Manuel Serrano y Ortega on Montañés. Then there
is the very interesting study by D. José Marti y Monso on the artists of
Valladolid. But these writings were limited to one artist, or to the
works of one province. Until recently there was no work treating of
Spanish sculpture as a whole, except the _Diccionario_ of Cean Bermudez,
a book very excellent, but not free from error, and for the most part
unimportant in its critical estimates. Like most Spanish writers,
Bermudez praises work because it belongs to his own country, rather than
because of its true artistic worth. It is well that this indifference is
at an end. A critical study of Spanish carvings, entitled _La Statuaire
Polychrome en Espagne_, finely illustrated with beautiful examples of
the best carvings in the Peninsula, has now been written by M. Marcel
Dieulafoy. The book was published in Paris in 1908. We would take this
opportunity of gratefully acknowledging the help we have gained from
this excellent work.
But the question remains unanswered why the carvings of Spain have been
treated with such a want of interest. To find the answer it will be
necessary to consider briefly the circumstances which determined the
special character of Spanish sculpture.
Almost without exception statuary was executed for the religious uses of
the Catholic Church. Images were needed to increase the pious fervour of
the populace; they were used as altar decorations in the churches; often
they were carried in the religious processions; and many of them were
credited with miracle-working powers. The one thing necessary for a
Spanish statue was that it should be an exact imitation of life; the
more realistic the illusion the greater was the power of the statue to
fulfil the requirements of the Church.
It will readily be seen that marble--the substance most fitting for the
artistic rendering of form--would not comply with these demands. Thus
in Spain the classic marble was discarded, while wood and plaster were
employed in its place. These substances could be readily coloured, or
even covered with canvas resembling stone, and then painted to
counterfeit life. Thus out of the religious requirements--which in
Spain, so much more than in any other country, decided the expression of
art--was developed a natural employment of multi-colouring, whose
principle was the diversity of the various materials and the use of the
two arts of painting and sculpture in the same work.
This almost universal use of colour--a relic of very ancient art--has
really decided the fate of Spanish sculpture. For some centuries public
taste was firmly decided in condemning statue colourisation as “an
offence against good taste.” It is held that the true purpose of
sculpture is to depict form, and that painting an image in relief is
barbarous and shows a want of culture, because the sculptor, attentive
alone to the beauties of form, should observe the limits set by the
material in which he has to work, and should resist the seductions of
colour which belong to the painter. Coloured statues have even been
compared with the wax figures displayed in shows.
There is much to be said on both sides of the question. We shall not
here try to answer it, for to do so would be to anticipate all that we
hope to establish of the beauty of the polychrome statuary of Spain.
Rather we would ask the reader to look now at the illustrations at the
end of this volume. Great works are the only answer that can silence
criticism.
Those who have condemned polychrome sculpture have, almost without
exception, instanced its worst examples. This is absurd; it is like
giving a judgment of painting by the pictures exhibited each year in the
Royal Academy of London.
It must be remembered that polychrome statuary is a very ancient art;
moreover, it is a perfectly natural and spontaneous development, growing
out of the need for intensified expression. It was not an arbitrary
practice adopted as “a trick of the trade.” This is important. Those who
deny the use of colour to the sculptor have tried to prove that among
the Greeks sculpture was anterior to painting, and that in the case of
certain statues which we find coloured the painting was an injury added
at a later date. This is entirely erroneous, as M. Marcel Dieulafoy
proves by referring to the recent excavations made in Greece and Italy.
The most ancient of the statues carved by the Greeks were those on
which pigments were used. Carved out of wood, which lent itself readily
to encrustations of bronze, ivory, and precious stones, as well as of
colour, the figures were enriched in this way to give them a closer
relation to life. Such was the bas-relief at Olympia in the Treasury of
the Megarians, which represents a combat between Herakles and Acheloss,
where the figures are carved out of cedar-wood richly embellished with
gold; or the group of the Dioscuri, attributed by Pausanias to Dépoinos
and Skyllis, where again the figures were enriched with films of ebony
and of ivory placed upon the wood.
When wood gave way to marble and bronze, sculptors still continued the
use of encrustation; especially a paste of glass was used to form the
eyes of the figures. Often we find a gilded or silver necklace added.
Bronzers tinted their statues, and in this way bronze had the aspect of
colour. Silver was largely used. A very interesting example is furnished
by Silamin of Athens, who, wishing to represent Jocasta in her last
hour, silvered the face so skilfully as to give it the pallor of death.
Of even greater interest is a small bas-relief in the St. Angelo
Collection in the Museum of Naples. It represents a maiden dressed in a
double robe, the under one pale green, the outer one rose-coloured. She
wears besides an upper garment of a darker colour and a white fichu
bordered with red.
We find this custom of multi-colouring in the work of the greatest
masters. We know that Phidias made use of gems and gold to heighten the
beauty of his statues. Strabo wrote of his incomparable work in the
Temple of Zeus at Olympia: “What adds greatly to its success is that his
cousin the painter Panæus lent his talent in covering certain parts of
the statue with brilliant colours, notably the draperies.” How
significant is this statement to those who condemn the colouring of
statuary!
It is purely arbitrary to maintain that relief and colour may not be
united in art. Rather we may agree with M. Homobles when he declares
that “the Greeks harmonised colour and form so perfectly that for them
in the sixth century painting was a flattened bas-relief, and bas-relief
a painting with the paste laid on very thick.” It is the opinion of M.
Marcel Dieulafoy, founded, as he tells us, on researches pursued during
more than half a century, that “no matter what the material--wood,
stone, bronze, marble, terra-cotta--nor the epoch of production, the
Hellenes accentuated with coatings and sometimes with coloured enamels
the figures in bas-reliefs and alto-reliefs, unless in the case of
juxtaposition with other materials of different colour.” Thus we are
brought to the conclusion that those who condemn as barbarous the use of
colour in statuary must condemn also the statuary of Greece.
Nor was multi-colourisation confined to the Greek sculptors. It was a
natural development in the art of carving in every country, arising, as
we have seen, out of the desire of the artist to bring his work into a
closer relation with life. The Egyptians and the Chaldeans never limited
themselves to the use of form in their statues and in their
architecture, but sought for ways of rendering colour. The great Asiatic
races used enamel as the basis of their decoration. Here we find the
origin of the multi-coloured sculpture of Babylon, Assyria, and Susa,
and, at a later date, that of Medea and Persia. This art reached
Byzantium--a country which gained the highest skill in glass mosaic--and
also Rome. Persian artists, following in the train of the conquering
Arabs, brought the secrets and methods of their art to many European
countries, and among them to Spain and Portugal. The influence spread
also from Byzantium, and, in a lesser degree, from Rome, and soon
multi-colourisation was universally adopted, and all statues, whether of
wood, stone, or copper, were covered with colour.
Centuries passed before a reaction set in. It became a creed of artistic
faith that the use of colour to accentuate works in relief was
barbarous. The reason of the change is very simple. Many of the ancient
coloured statues had lost their colour by lapse of time, and those who
saw them were deceived, believing that as they were then, so they had
been created. Then pictures came to be painted more frequently, and
colour was allowed to them, while form alone was accorded to statuary.
But the tradition of polychrome statuary yet persisted, and at the
opening of the Renaissance still fought for life. Italy possessed some
great statue colourists in the fifteenth century. We know of coloured
statues and bas-reliefs by Donatello, by Mino of Fiesole, by Pisáno of
Luca, by della Robbia, and others. Even much later we find examples of
the continued use of colour. Such, for instance, are the equestrian
statues of the ducal family of Sabbroneta and the groups in the chapels
of the Sacromonte at Varullo. It is important to remember that the great
masters deplored the abandonment of statue colouring, and, among
others, Michael Angelo wrote an instructive and precious letter upon the
subject.
Coloured statuary was more persistent in the south than in the north.
Flanders, Germany, and afterwards France were converted from the custom.
Yet Jan van Eyck collaborated with the sculptor, as did also André
Beaunevau. The life-size statues which decorate the Château of Madrid
built for Francis I., and those in the Toulouse Museum, taken from the
Basilica of St. Sermin, prove that coloured statuary still persisted in
the sixteenth century. These last figures are of special interest from
their analogy with Spanish polychrome statuary.
It was in Spain that the art of polychrome lived and developed. The
finest of her coloured statues were wrought in the sixteenth,
seventeenth, and also in the beginning of the eighteenth centuries, a
period when the practice was dead in almost all other countries. For
this reason, even if for no other, Spanish carvings claim the attention
of the student of art. They are the crown of what has been achieved by
earlier civilisations.
What was it that kept Spain alone faithful to the old method of using
colour as well as form to give life to her statues? First, a respect
for tradition which has marked all things in this strong and stubborn
race. Then the Spanish carvers were in very close connection with
Mudéjar architecture, which was closely allied with the art of Persia,
in which colour ruled with such supreme insistence, and whose whole
strength lay in ornamentation. But deeper even than these outer reasons
was the Spanish character, which expressed itself in their altar
carvings and in their statues. The one thing the Spanish artist sought
for first was the reality of life; and this life was religious life, for
in Spain the divine life was not separate--a thing detached--but a real
living part of the human daily life of the people. The painted statues
were at once more life-like and spoke a more real language to the
people, than figures chiselled in white stone. The statuary of Spain was
not wrought, in the first place, to fulfil claims of art, but to satisfy
the needs of the people. It is still in the convents and churches of
Spain--not in the museums, if we except the museums of Valladolid and
Seville--that the masterpieces of polychrome statuary remain. It is
there that we must seek them.[B]
CHAPTER II
EARLY SCULPTURE BELONGING TO THE NATIVE IBERIAN, LATIN, BYZANTINE, AND
VISIGOTHIC PERIODS
The beginnings of sculpture in Spain take us back to the middle years of
the fifth century B.C. It is to this date, about 440 B.C., that the
beautiful sculptured bust of the Lady of Elche belongs. The figure was
discovered in August 1897 at Elche, one of the most ancient and
interesting of the old towns of Spain. Situated in the beautiful ravine
of the Vinalapó, twelve miles distant from Alicante, Elche still retains
almost unaltered its Arab character. It was the Roman Ilice, and
probably the Iberian Helike, where Hamilcar was defeated. The town is
especially fortunate in having possessed this treasure, which speaks so
splendidly of the power and strength of Spain’s ancient art. This is the
earliest and by far the most important of the antique statues of
Spain--the one supreme example of primitive Iberian work. But alas! the
Lady of Elche has been taken out of Spain and is now in the Louvre at
Paris.
It is a stone bust of a woman of life size. The lips and part of the
hair still retain traces of red colour. The expressive face, delicate
and yet strong, has suffered little. She wears enormous ear pendants of
Oriental style, and two great wheels frame her head. Around her neck
hangs a Greco-Phœnician necklace, such as women wore from the time of
the Peloponnesian War. It is this that fixes the date of the statue. It
would seem to be the work of a native artist who was under the combined
influences of Greece and Phœnicia. Only a Spanish artist could have thus
immortalised the character of Spanish womanhood. Indeed it is this
special Spanish quality which is the most interesting feature of this
remarkable work. Mr. Havelock Ellis has pointed out the resemblance
which the Lady of Elche bears to Velazquez’ “Woman with the Fan.” And
this is no fanciful idea. There is a strange likeness in all Spanish
art--a likeness which is at once its strength and also its weakness, and
which may be traced to the strong and persistent character of this race
that has altered so little in the passing of the centuries. It is this
marked individuality that speaks even more strongly in Spanish sculpture
than in Spanish painting. The Lady of Elche stands for all that is
Spain.
Apart from the Lady of Elche no important single example of Iberian art
remains to us. Statues have been found, such as the _Cirro de los
Santos_ and the _Llano de la Consolacion_, which certainly were painted.
M. Marcel Dieulafoy believes that this was also the case with the statue
of a bull facing a bearded man, in the Museum of Valencia; that of the
griffin and the anthropoid sarcophagus at Cadiz; and the interesting
heads of bulls in bronze, found at Costig, Majorca, which bear some
resemblance to the Susian bulls and Grecian bronzes, and, like them,
have some parts gilded. Then it will not do to neglect the strange stone
figures of bulls scattered in different places in Spain and Portugal,
one fine example being in the square of Avila. Little is known as to the
origin and purpose of these remarkable examples of Iberian art, but some
still bear traces of vermilion colouring. The existence of these works,
as well as many other notable fragments in different churches in Spain,
prove at least that the native Iberian carver had attained a skill
certainly remarkable at this early date.
But then followed, as is so often the case, a long night, of which
nothing of special interest is known. The Roman sculptures, which
follow chronologically those of the Iberian epoch, are not remarkable in
any way. They do not reveal any special character.
There are few sculptures left which can with any certainty be referred
to the Visigothic period. The fragments discovered at San Romano de
Hornija, at Toledo, and at Seville, though they bear vestiges of
Visigothic workmanship, belong in reality to the Christian period. It
would seem that the Visigoths for the most part limited their work to
restoring the Roman buildings and adapting them for Christian uses. The
ornamentation which they often added is usually of Byzantine origin, an
influence reaching Spain through France. Yet the sumptuous character of
their art is shown in the only important works of this period which
remain: the splendid votive crowns of Kings Recceswinth and Swenthila,
found in 1858 at Guarraza, near Toledo (Plate 1), and now in the Royal
Armoury, Madrid, and in the Musée de Cluny in Paris. But these crowns
are not Spanish works. Indeed many centuries separate the genuinely
Spanish carvings of the Iberian artists from any work that again
manifests the characters which belong to the native art.
It has been said by Professor Carl Justi, in a short but excellent
account of Spanish sculpture which is given in Baedeker’s “Guide to
Spain,” that “the existence of works in stone can hardly be proved
before the eleventh century.” This is a mistake. The early Christian
carvings are in stone; they must be sought in Asturias, the provinces
which first shook off the Moorish rule.
In 791 Alfonso II., known as the Chaste, made Oviedo the capital of the
then struggling kingdom of Asturias. He was a ruler of ability and
culture, and spent all his time when he was not fighting in building
both churches and palaces. On his return from his campaigns he
consecrated the spoils taken from the enemy to embellish his growing
city.
The most important of the buildings of Alfonso is the Cámara Santa of
the cathedral, once the Capilla San Miguel, which was part of the
original church of Alfonso, and was built in the eighth century by his
architect Favila. The room itself is small, without ornament, roofed
with low barrel vaulting, and lighted with one small window. But here
are guarded the relics in the Byzantine-Latin style, which are among the
most interesting examples that remain to us of the work of the period.
The Cruz de los Angeles, a work of the eighth century and the gift of
Alfonso II., and the Cruz de la Victoria, supposed to have belonged to
Pelayo, both resemble very closely the crowns of Guarraza; like them,
they are not typically Spanish work. That of the Angeles is of filigree
work of exquisite delicacy, and enriched in the centre with rare
encrusted rubies and other precious stones; while that of the Victory is
made of wood, but Alfonso III. had it overlaid with gold and ornamented
with jewels. A third relic, the cash-box of St. Eulalia, has its chief
interest in the inscription in Arabic and Cufic characters which
surrounds the cover. A special historical interest belongs to the relic
known as the Arca de los Santos. The cover, on which is engraved the
figures of the Apostles, and the Latin inscriptions belong, by the
character of the vestments, which are those described by St. Isidore,
and by the letters used, to the sixth or seventh centuries; while the
Saviour and angels on the box itself, the inscriptions in Cufic
lettering, as well as the general style of reliquary, have the
characters which belong to the Spanish works of the eleventh and early
years of the twelfth centuries. The explanation, of course, is that the
casket was restored and its character altered at a later date, and
probably in the reign of Alfonso VI. This mingling of different styles
and periods in one work of art meets us continually in Spain. It is due
in large measure to the custom by which the Spaniards used and borrowed
the arts of the Moors, even for long after they had conquered them.
There are a few works in the Madrid Archæological Museum which are in
the Latin-Byzantine style, and should be compared with the treasure of
the Cámara Santa, and to the same period belong other relics now in
different churches in the Peninsula.
In the reign of Alfonso the Chaste were built the churches of San Tirso
and San Tulliano or Julian, which, though unfortunately much restored,
may still be visited in Oviedo. Belonging to an even earlier date was
the Church of Santa Cruz de Canjas, which was built by the royal
architect Favila, in Alfonso’s reign, and which was the original church
on the Monte Santo, the site where the cathedral of Oviedo now stands.
This church was rebuilt by Alfonso II. in 830, and surrounded by
protecting walls. The ancient Spanish chroniclers expatiate on the
magnificence of these buildings of Alfonso, speaking of their columns of
marble, and wealth of decorations of gold and silver. Doubtless they
exaggerate; to-day there is very little of interest to be seen remaining
in the edifices.
Much more important are the buildings erected by Alfonso’s successor,
Ramiro I. (843-850), a king of unusual culture, who, in spite of
continual wars with the Moors, found time to carry further the
improvement of the royal city of Oviedo. During this reign, writes M.
Marcel Dieulafoy, “there was a veritable renaissance of the plastic
arts.” Two of these buildings that we owe to Ramiro I. are still in
existence, and though sadly neglected and disfigured by alterations,
they should be visited by all who take an interest in early Spanish
work. They stand together on the summit of the low mountain Naranco,
which is situated one and a quarter miles from Oviedo. The first, the
Church of San Miguel, is a basilica with nave and aisles. We recognise
in the heavy pillars with splayed capitals and massive polygonal bases,
as also in the frequently used cord and twisted fringe, so
characteristic of the period, a marked Byzantine character. Many
sculptured subjects occur among the foliage which decorates both the
bases and capitals of the columns. These heads must be attributed either
to the Roman traditions or, as is more likely, to the early French
schools. The other church is even more interesting. Santa Maria de
Naranco probably formed part of Ramiro’s palace, but the building was
converted into a church about the year 905. It consists of a
cellar-like nave, with waggon vaulting, opening by three arches into a
choir at one end and a presbytery at the other. Below is a crypt. Here
the work shows strong Roman influence, and most precious details of
ornament occur.
Another church of great interest belonging to this early period is that
of San Pedro in the ancient city of Zamora. True bas-reliefs are here
introduced among the leafy decorations of the capitals: one, still in
excellent preservation, represents the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham.
This is very remarkable--one of those surprises that meet the student so
often in Spanish art--for the Byzantine sculptors did not customarily
use the human figure in such circumstances.
This bas-relief brings us to the very few Spanish statues of this
period, when all the skill of the artists seems to have been spent in
buildings. There is the small ivory crucifix, formerly painted and
encrusted with gems, in the Museum of Leon (Plate 2), and the crucifix
of the Cid, now at Salamanca (Plate 3). Both are Byzantine in character.
The little-known statue of the Virgin and Child, preserved in the
sanctuary of Ujué, is a work of greater interest. The figure is
ninety-one centimetres in height, and dates, M. Marcel Dieulafoy
thinks, from the eleventh, or even the end of the tenth century. The
colouring, and also the primitive character of the work, has been
spoiled to some extent by added ornaments, and by the silver throne on
which the figure now sits. But there is real strength in the face of the
Virgin, and more individuality than is common in the Byzantine figures;
again we have a hint of Spanish work.
Figures in stone, dating back to the eleventh century, and earlier, may
be found on the portals, fonts, and tombs of many Spanish churches,
especially in the N.W. and in the district of the Pyrenees. Most of them
are of barbaric workmanship, but many are interesting. A painted
sculpture of the Saviour seated in the act of blessing, in the Byzantine
manner, was discovered in 1895 at Santander. M. Marcel Dieulafoy, who
mentions this work, places it in the tenth or the eleventh century.
These few statues, then, are all that we have of Latin-Byzantine art in
Spain. Rude as the figures undoubtedly are, falling far below the works
of the native Iberian art which preceded them, it will not do to neglect
them. Christian Spain was convulsed with ceaseless warfares, which gave
little time for the development of the arts. Native talent slept.
Christian monarchs employed Moorish sculptors, architects, decorators,
and goldsmiths. So it happened that there was developed in Spain a sort
of pseudo-Mozarabic style in which, for a time, the characteristic
Spanish work seemed lost.
CHAPTER III
THE CHURCHES OF THE ROMANESQUE AND EARLY GOTHIC PERIODS
At the close of the eleventh century a new and more vigorous life sprang
up in the art of Spain. The fresh impulse came from France; it expended
itself chiefly in building.
It is necessary to remember that the geographical barrier of the
Pyrenees forms no real ethnological separation between that country and
Spain; one and the same Iberian race dwells in Gascony, Navarre, and the
Basque provinces. Hence it is easy to understand that natural relations,
intimate and frequent, grew up between the two countries. Marriage
alliances united the two royal families, and the princes of France
crossed the frontier to fight against the Moors in Spain. With them came
priests and monks, more learned than their neighbours, many of whom
settled in the Peninsula. In this way the influence of the great orders
of Cluny and Citeaux spread and grew powerful. Then followed architects
and sculptors from Aquitaine, Languedoc, Toulouse, Burgundy, and
Normandy, to find work, and impress their separate influences on the
numerous churches that at this time were being built. The Romanesque
cathedrals are indeed the direct outcome of French mediævalism; and the
figure-statues of the numerous tombs and altars are full of
reminiscences, so that it is difficult to distinguish the native art.
Yet in the midst of these imported styles we shall find, do we seek
them, those distinct traits which belong to Spain.
It is in the province of Asturias that we find the greatest number of
Romanesque churches. These churches were of moderate size. Their style
was that of the basilica, with nave and aisles, a well-marked transept,
a trans-apsidal termination, and a lantern or dome over the crossing.
The roof was at first flat, but afterwards the nave was covered with
barrel vaulting, and the aisles with quadrant or semi-barrel vaulting.
The most important of the early Romanesque churches is Santiago de
Compostella (Plate 7), which was commenced and finished building during
the twelfth century. It is a somewhat simplified copy of St. Sernin at
Toulouse, and shows in its structure, as well as in its ornaments and
sculptures, very clearly marked, the influences of Cluny. This explains
the great excellence of the carvings (Plates 8 and 9); works that are
surprising at this period when so many figures are still barbaric. The
admirable Puerta de las Gloria, which was completed by the carver
Maestre Mateo in 1188, after twenty years’ work, is held by Mr. Street
to be “one of the greatest glories of Christian art.” It is a vestibule
or porch, divided into three sections, which extend across the entire
width of the nave. The quadri-partite vaulting of the roof is adorned
with elaborate carvings. Still more sumptuous are the carvings of the
doorways; one, the double doorway which opens on the nave, has
exquisitely delicate carvings. On the shaft dividing the doorway into
two is a seated figure of St. James, holding the _burdon_ or pilgrim’s
staff; while the shaft itself has carvings of the Tree of Jesse. The
shafts in the jambs have figures of the Apostles and Major-Prophets. The
main capital above represents the Temptation in the Garden and Angels
ministering to Christ. At the back of the middle pillar is a kneeling
figure, supposed to be the portrait of Maestre Mateo. Then in the
tympanum is a seated figure of Our Lord, with upraised hands; and round
Him are the Evangelists and eight angels with the symbols of the
Passion, while above are a company of the worshipping elect. The
archivolt shows figures of the twenty-four elders of the Apocalypse. The
general idea of the subject of the whole doorway is the Appearance of
Christ at the Last Judgment, but each of the series of small pictures is
in itself an independent work of art. The side doorways which lead into
the aisles are equally ornate. The shafts are adorned with figures of
the Apostles; above are representations of Purgatory and Hell. All the
figures are clearly painted. M. Marcel Dieulafoy does not think,
however, that the tones which now show are the original colours, but
that during the restoration in the seventeenth century some innovations
occurred.
The Colegiata de San Isidoro at Leon (Plate 10), an early Romanesque
edifice, resembles in many respects Santiago de Compostella. The actual
date of the building is difficult to establish. It was founded by
Ferdinand I. of Castile in 1065 as a royal mausoleum; and the building
is said to contain the tombs of eleven kings and twelve queens. It was
altered and rebuilt by Maestro Pedro Vitambeu, and was not consecrated
until 1149, while even then much of its decoration was probably
incomplete. Some subjects of sculpture and ornamentation are very
analogous to St. Sernin, Toulouse. The main façade is decorated with
quaint old reliefs in stone; above the right portal are the Descent from
the Cross (Plate 11) and the Deposition in the Tomb, with St. Paul on
the right hand and St. Peter on the left. Then in the tympanum of the
left portal is a very interesting Sacrifice of Abraham, placed under a
zodiacal frieze. But perhaps the most interesting parts of the building
are the chapel and cloisters of the eastern aisle, where the groined
vaults are covered with fresco paintings of admirable effect and
preservation. The paintings show strongly the influence of France,
curiously interpreted by the native art. C. Gasquoine Hartley writes, in
“A Record of Spanish Painting”: “In colour and certain peculiarities of
outline they are strongly French, but they are executed with a rugged
and original force which is entirely Spanish.... The Bible narratives
are executed with a direct and almost brutal baldness that at once marks
the frescoes as the work of a Spaniard.” We are, however, chiefly
interested with their colourisation, which is very important where so
much of the colourisation of statuary has disappeared. As M. Marcel
Dieulafoy points out, these frescoes give the range of tones usual to
this epoch in France and in Spain. We find red-brown, indigo,
yellow-ochre, and white; the black seems to have been obtained by a
mixture of three of these colours. It is interesting to note that these
are the colours, and of about the same shade, that we find used by the
Persian artists in their decorations.
San Vicente of Avila (Plate 13) is another admirable example of the
Romanesque churches. The nave, with its triforium and clerestory, is in
a pure Romanesque style; while the transept, choir, and three
semicircular apses are in the Transition style. Though the building was
begun in the twelfth century it was not finished until three hundred
years later, and for this reason it shows a more advanced art. M. Marcel
Dieulafoy holds it to be “the most beautiful specimen and the purest
example of Burgundian architecture in Spain.” The west portal (Plate 14)
is decorated with admirable statuettes in terra-cotta, unfortunately
much mutilated, whose style recalls that of St. Landre of Avallon. Very
curious are the heads of bulls, decorating the base of the pilaster by
which the tympanum is sustained. Here the analogy with the bicephalous
capitals of the Achemenide is very marked.
Romanesque churches are found in other provinces of Spain. One of the
most ancient is San Pedro of Huesca, which was begun in the eleventh
century and consecrated in 1241. The church is roofed with barrel
vaulting, and terminates in three semicircular apses. It contains many
sculptures characteristic of this period.
The cloisters of the Cathedral of Gerona, and those of the Monastery of
Santo Domingo at Silos, and of San Pedro, and the churches of Santa
Maria and Santiago at Corunna, are additional examples of the same
style.
The Cathedral of Zamora (Plate 15) is a more important edifice. This
ancient city had in succession two French archbishops--Bernard and
Jerome de Perigneaux. It is probable that the church was erected during
the episcopate of Jerome, who died in 1126. It was consecrated in 1174,
as is now known from that date discovered in an old epitaph during the
restoration in the eighteenth century. This makes impossible the old
belief that the church was built by Bernard de Perigneaux. M. Marcel
Dieulafoy believes that it is the work of an Aquitaine architect. Both
the exterior of the building, with its square tower, graceful cupolas,
richly decorated, and the interior are interesting, with a character
very rare in Spain. Of the carvings of this church M. Marcel Dieulafoy
writes: “From the sculptural point of view I would signalise in the
portal, the corinthian columns and niches, which both seem to come down
from a monument of the decadence of the Roman age. One will notably
remark the busts, bezel set in a sort of window, which has been seen in
the monuments of Roman Gaul, on the northern slope of the Pyrenees, and
which became a most common feature in the architecture of the Spanish
renaissance; also the laurelled flying-arch, and the bas-relief of the
spandril which crowns the busts.”
Two Romanesque churches, one belonging to the same period, the other to
a later date, with a more advanced art, are the church and fine
cloisters of San Pablo del Campo of Barcelona (Plate 16) and the
Cathedral of Sigüenza. This last church, which was begun in 1102 and
consecrated in 1123, was not completed until the thirteenth century. It
is the most important example of the late-Romanesque Transition style.
San Pablo was originally a Benedict convent, erected in 914 by Count
Guitardo, but the building was restored in 1117 by Guiberto Guitardo,
and is an excellent specimen of early Catalan architecture. Like San
Pedro of Huesca, it has three parallel apses. The nave and transept are
covered with barrel vaulting, and above the crossing rises an octagonal
cupola. On the chief portal are carved figures of St. John and St.
Matthew; and especially interesting are the carved capitals of the
columns, both those in the church itself and even more those in the
cloisters, where we find cusped arches in the Saracenic style, coupled
shafts, and richly decorated capitals.
In all the Romanesque churches the greatest wealth of the carver’s art
is lavished on the capitals of the columns. Here we see Bible scenes and
purely decorative designs, alternating, often very strangely, with
fantastic monsters, fables, and scenes from daily life. Almost all of
these carvings are truly Spanish in their sentiment, though the foreign
influences are always visible.
The Romanesque period lasted longer in Spain than in France; we do not
find the Pointed or Gothic style before the twelfth century, when the
Cistercian order introduced the severe and noble Burgundian type of
church. But many old churches, though begun in the Romanesque period,
assumed a Gothic character before their completion; we find this at
Tarragona, in the old Cathedral of Salamanca, and in those of Londa and
Tudela, as well as in many other churches. In the Monastery of Las
Huelgas, Burgos, celebrated as the church where Edward I. of England was
knighted by Alonso the Learned, the church, dating from 1279, is in
severe Gothic style; the cloisters, too, are Gothic, but in the earlier
Claustreo (Plate 17) there are fine Romanesque capitals and arches.
Again, the older and less-known Cistercian Abbey at Verula is a
Transition building, while the beautiful cloisters of the fourteenth
century are Gothic.
This mingling of styles, owing to the difference in time between the
building of different parts of the same church, has a real advantage to
the student of Spanish architecture and sculpture. The Cathedral of
Tarragona (Plate 18) especially furnishes an almost complete series of
examples of all the Spanish art-styles. For the church, built on the
site of a mosque, was begun about the year 1118, and dates mainly from
the end of the twelfth and first half of the thirteenth centuries, but
additions were made from the fourteenth century onwards as late as the
eighteenth century. Thus we have examples of early Christian art in a
sarcophagus of the façade, and that in the ancient window of the Capilla
Mayor with the three Byzantine columns. The main building is a brilliant
example of the developed Romanesque Transition style; the beautiful
cloisters, among the most perfect in Spain, and the earliest of the
side chapels are Gothic; the other chapels, added later, date from the
sixteenth to the eighteenth century, and are in the Renaissance and
baroque styles. Even Moorish art is represented in the _azulejo_ roofing
of the N.W. lateral chapels, and in the small Moorish window, said to be
a prayer niche or _mihrab_, with its Cufic inscription dating from the
year of the Hegira 347--that is, 958 A.D.--in the ancient Capilla de
Santa Maria Magdalena. The splendid doorway, with elaborate carvings,
which gives entrance to the cloisters is the most notable pre-Gothic
work in marble in Spain (Plate 19). But of this work we shall speak in
the next chapter.
Following these early Gothic buildings we have the developed French
cathedral style of the thirteenth century introduced into Spain. It is
first seen in the great cathedrals of Burgos and Toledo (Plates 20 and
21), and a little later in that of Leon (Plate 22), the most perfect of
the Gothic cathedrals in Spain. Very little of the national Spanish art
is visible in these buildings; built for the most part by French
architects, they recall in turn the cathedrals of Rheims, Beauvais,
Bayonne, and Amiens; some see in Leon a copy of the great cathedral at
Chartres. The truth is that the style of these buildings is eclectic;
they are all distinguished by the romantic magnificence of their
ornamentation. The elaborately carved choir-stalls of Leon Cathedral
(Plates 23-29) furnish a splendid example of the power of carving. They
are the masterpiece of John of Malines and the Dutch artist Copin. It
was from carvings such as these that the native artists drew their
inspiration.
CHAPTER IV
THE SCULPTURED PIECES AND TOMBS OF THE ROMANESQUE AND EARLY GOTHIC
PERIODS
During the Romanesque and, even more, in the early Gothic periods the
creative forces of art in Spain found its expression, after building, in
carving in stone and wood. A wealth of ornament meets us in every
building, for it must be remembered that the churches are the real
museums of Spain. We have in the last chapter spoken incidentally of
some of these carvings in connection with the churches for which they
were executed. It is now necessary to examine in detail the most
representative of these works. Among them we shall find many beautiful
examples of polychrome statuary.
All the statues of this time were coloured, for Spain, always tenacious
in her habits, never wavered from the custom of colouring her carvings
to resemble life. However, few pieces retain manifest traces of such
colourisation, the tints having been lost through the action of the
atmosphere, as well as through frequent washings. The statues in the
Gloria of Santiago de Compostella (Plate 30) are among the earliest
works that are clearly painted, and even in these, as we have seen, it
is very doubtful if the present tints represent the original colours
used.
For this reason a very special interest attaches to the fine font in
enamelled bronze, now in the Museum of Burgos, which came from the
monastery of Santo Domingo at Silos. This remarkable and fine work is
coloured and richly encrusted with gold and jewels, but of these
unfortunately many have disappeared. Seated on a throne, the figure of
God the Father occupies the centre, and ranged on either side are the
twelve Apostles. The figures are set in a kind of frame formed by
columns placed on a base of metal crossed by horizontal bars. Two winged
monsters are in the triangles on either side, and a dove is placed above
the figure of God. Small rectangular enamelled medallions are encrusted
in the frame. Colour is used for the robes of the figures, for the
winged monsters, the dove, and the medallions, the predominant tints
being dark blue or vivid green. The heads, the hands, and the feet, as
well as the architectural motives, are all in gold. Polished stones in
bezel settings alternate in the decoration of the frame with the
coloured medallions, and though many of the stones have disappeared this
rich setting helps the effect of the whole bas-relief, which is one of
great splendour.
Besides the altar font the old monastery of Silos possessed a rich
collection of religious furniture. Among those which have been saved are
a chalice, used under the Mozarabic ritual for celebrating the
communion, a very beautiful specimen of the _mudéjar_ goldsmith’s work;
an altar-screen of engraved copper with figures of the Apostles; and
several small cofferets or caskets. One of these, composed of an
elephant’s tusk, belonged to Rahman III., Khalif of Cordova, at the
beginning of the tenth century; another, made at Cuenca in 1026, is of
ivory, and represents a Mussulman: it was mounted in enamel at a later
date (about 1150).
The ancient Convent of San Marcos at Leon is another church which has
retained its ancient treasures; among them are several polychromes.
These do not seem to have been repainted. Unfortunately half of the
precious collection has been stolen: those that remain are now in the
Museum at Leon. The figures are carved in wood, and the head, hands, and
nude parts are coloured. The vestments, made of cloth, hardened by
means of a glaze, are also coloured, the tints used being very
harmonious. There is also a carved triptych in wood of the same date,
but the carving of the figures is not so good and the colours used are
cruder. The statue of San Francisco (Plate 31) belongs to a later date.
It is a most interesting polychrome, with splendid character in the
rendering of the head. In the Cathedral of Leon are various statues
which belong to the same period, while in the cloisters is an
interesting bas-relief, Our Lady del Foro and the Offering of the Kings
(Plate 33).
Some fine carvings, in the French style, come from the Portenda de San
Miguel, Estella. This style of carving spread over the whole of Spain,
and additional examples may be seen in the Cathedral of Sangüesa, in two
interesting and little-known churches at Olete, in the Cathedral of
Basque Vittoria, and in the old churches of Leon and Valencia.
Statues on tombs are very numerous, and we find them in almost every
church. At first the figures are rudely carved, the skill of the artist
being expended on the frames, and the cast of the features being largely
a convention. Indeed these early monumental figures cannot be regarded
as portraits. Among the first examples are the figures on the royal
monument at Najera, erected by Sancho III. 1157. Here the figures are
mere puppets. Another early tomb is that in the Convent of Las Huelgas,
Burgos (Plate 34). Even the sarcophagus of St. Eulalia, at Barcelona, of
as late a date as 1327, with its Pisan reminiscences, shows how easily
art was sometimes satisfied at this period.
But there are some really fine tombs belonging to the Romanesque period.
The Church of the Magdalena--formerly of the Templars--at Zamora
contains two knights’ tombs, one of which M. Marcel Dieulafoy considers
the finest Romanesque tomb in Spain. The figure, just expired and
resting on the death-bed, is placed beneath a portico of twin
balustrades which crown the structure. Fantastic animals are carved on
the spandrils, and the columns and capitals are richly decorated. The
couch stands against a wall, on which are sculptured seraphs, while two
angels bear away to Paradise the materialised soul of the dead man
wrapped in a winding-sheet. This device is common in Spain, where there
are many tombs of the same character, but, writes M. Marcel Dieulafoy,
“I do not know of one where the decorative sculpture is rendered more
boldly or with greater talent.”
The statues, once funeral monuments, but now set into the wall of the
old Cathedral of Salamanca, are important as being among the most
complete examples of the twelfth-century polychrome (Plate 35). The
sarcophagus, the reclining figures, and the niches containing them are
all painted--red, blue-black, and white being the predominating tints.
There are some traces of yellow, probably due, as M. Marcel Dieulafoy
suggests, to the sizing used in fixing the gilding; there are also some
green tints in the foliage which decorates the arch in one of the tombs.
Fortunately these statues have suffered very little from the hand of the
restorer. The statue of Diego de Anaya on the tomb in the Capilla de San
Bartolomé, to the south of the cloisters, is another work of importance
in the same cathedral. It is quite ideal in its treatment.
The Cathedral of Tarragona represents the same diversity in its statuary
as we have noted in its architectural styles. Thus the statuary of the
west façade may be divided into three distinct groups. The first, date
about 1278, consists of the beautiful sculptured figures of nine
Apostles, placed on the main portal, which were carved by the Catalan
artist Maestro Bartolomé (Plate 36). The Apostles and Prophets on the
buttresses were executed a century later by Jaime Castayls, another
native Catalan carver. They are clumsy and of ordinary character
compared with the delicate work of Maestro Bartolomé. The group of the
Virgin and Child which is placed above the pillars of the great door is
not native work, but comes certainly from France. The author is unknown.
The cloisters and portals of the Cathedral of Burgos offer another
example of an admirable museum of sculpture. The earlier carvings--such,
for instance, as the figures on the Apostles’ door (Plate 37), belonging
to the opening years of the thirteenth century--are somewhat stiff and
constrained in style and contrast with the graceful ease of the later
works of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries (Plate 38). The special
interest of the cloisters is that its carvings are coloured, and
fortunately up to the present they have not suffered from restoration
(Plates 39-41). The colours are faded, but we can see that the vivid
reds and blues, so much loved by the Moorish artists employed by the
Christians of this period, were used, as well as a preponderance of
gilding. Here, as at Salamanca, the general tone of the colourisation is
in the _mudèjar_ style.
The cloisters of Pampeluna are in the same style and little inferior to
those of Burgos. The statues and bas-reliefs are in stone; the most
beautiful, and one of the finest examples left to us from the fourteenth
century, is that which represents the Death of the Virgin. Unfortunately
the colouring of this piece and of all the statues at Pampeluna has been
ruined by restoration.
The Cathedral of Burgos is rich in Gothic tombs. The statues of St.
Ferdinand and Beatrice of Swabia, on the north wall of the cloisters,
are among the finest specimens of portrait sculpture. In the same place
is the late Gothic tomb of Don Gonzalo de Burgos. The monument of
Archbishop Maurice (died 1238), which is in the centre of the choir, is
also a work of special importance, showing, as it does, the skill of the
Spanish artists in enamelled copper (Plate 43). Of the same style is the
tomb of Jaime of Aragon (Plate 46), who died in 1334, in Tarragona
Cathedral, and two monuments in the Cathedral of Leon, that of Martin,
the first bishop of the city (Plate 47), the other of Don Ordoño II.,
who died 923 (Plate 48). All three monuments are of excellent
workmanship, and important as fine specimens of portrait sculpture. We
may mention also the sarcophagus of St. Vincent and his sisters, SS.
Sabina and Criseta, in the Church of San Vicente at Avila (Plate 49),
with notable reliefs of the thirteenth century, and surmounted by a
Gothic canopy of a later date--about 1465--resting upon coupled columns.
But indeed it is difficult to make a selection among the numerous
monuments that claim attention. One work stands out as a masterpiece.
The magnificent tomb of Archbishop Lopez de Luna, in the Seo of
Zaragoza, is the most splendid example of the French-Gothic style in
Spain (Plate 50). Even so calm a critic as Professor Carl Justi
pronounces this work “a masterpiece.” Mitre on his head, a cross in his
hand, and dressed in rich pontifical robes, the figure reclines on the
sarcophagus. The face, set in the calm of death, is modelled by a master
hand. Behind, placed in a niche which is cut in the thickness of the
wall, stand a company of monks and nuns, who weep for their benefactor.
Other figures are grouped along the inner face of the tomb; each is
marked with character, and is carved with fine skill. But it is not
possible to convey in words the effect of this splendid and simple work.
In its style it may be compared with the mausoleum of Philippe the Bold,
the masterpiece of Burgundian art. It is of the same date, and M. Marcel
Dieulafoy believes that the Spanish monument must have been executed in
Spain by Aragonese artists who had learnt the art of carving in France.
This opinion of French influence directing the native artists is
supported by the fact that the Tarragona monument is not a solitary
example. This French style of carving spread over the Peninsula; the
cathedrals of Burgos, Leon, and Toledo--to name a few out of many
churches--are rich in similar monuments. It is necessary to remember
this close connection between the arts of France and Spain. The great
ecclesiastical orders of France, and especially that of Cluny, gave
inspiration to the Romanesque and Gothic periods. It was not until the
last third of the fifteenth century, when a new art method came from the
Netherlands, that the French influence weakened. Spanish art was almost
invariably stimulated from without. But it was these imported
art-styles, naturally awakening imitation, which called into existence
the native schools of carving, and showed anew those distinct traits
which can be called Spanish.
There were at this time, in Castile and Aragon, a number of really
capable native artists; without doubt they learnt their art from the
French sculptors who had settled in Spain. The most skilful native
worker was Juan de la Huarte, of whose exquisite Virgin we shall speak
directly. But besides Juan de la Huarte, we know of Pedro de
Vallfongona, called Father Johan, who has left many fine carvings; and
Jordi Johan, doubtless his brother, commonly known as Maestro Jordi,
maker of images, the author, among other works, of the Sepulchre of
Juana, Countess of Asturias (1386), and of the Archangel Raphael, which
crowns the beautiful doorway of Barcelona Town Hall. Then there was
Pedro Oller, who carved, in 1450, the screen of the grand altar of Vich,
and, in 1442, the tomb of Ferdinand I. of Aragon. There were also
skilled goldsmiths such as Marcos Canzes and Francisco Vilardell; nor
must we forget the unknown author of the incomparable Custodia of Vich
Cathedral, a splendid example of the silver-work of the period.
Before closing this chapter it is left to notice a few isolated works
that are treasured in the different cities of the Peninsula. And first
must come the perfect statues and statuettes of the Virgin, which, as we
might expect in religious Spain, are to be found in almost all the great
churches. That known as the Virgin of Huarte, which was carved by Juan
de la Huarte, was brought to Pampeluna in 1349. The statue is of white
marble, and the face and vestments still bear traces of colour. Of a
noble simplicity, it is one of the most exquisite productions of art in
the fourteenth century. Of less ideal beauty, but more Spanish in its
sentiment, being without the French influence, is St. Ferdinand’s small
ivory statuette of the Virgen de las Batallas in the Capilla Real of
Seville Cathedral. This is one of the earliest works of the kind in
Spain. The Cathedral of Plasencia has several images of the Virgin. Good
examples--one in silver and richly jewelled--are found at Burgos and
Salamanca (Plates 51 and 52), besides figures carved in wood and
coloured, and also at Toledo, Sigüenza, Gandía, Segunto, and the
churches in many other cities. The Santo Cristo of Burgos Cathedral may
also be mentioned. Madonnas are to be seen over the altars of chapels,
in gateways, or in the great retablos, as for instance at Leon (Plate
53), or again at Tortosa and Palma, where, in the last church, a really
beautiful statue is hidden by a modern altar. Among these Madonnas are
works full of dignity and sweetness, of genuine beauty, and carved
without stiffness or looseness. They give a convincing defiance to those
who decry ancient polychrome.
Very different in character, but of equal merit, is the small statue,
silver painted, of St. George in the Audiencia Chapel at Barcelona. M.
Marcel Dieulafoy believes that we owe this fine work to a native
artist. The figure, standing fully armed, is carved with youthful
energy; the face, seen under the gilt visor, has lost none of its
freshness, and the original tints of colouring remain. The armour is of
oxidised silver, while the hinges, nails, belt, dragon, and pedestal are
of burnished gilt. Of this statue M. Marcel Dieulafoy writes: “Had
Meissonier painted the figure he could not have done it otherwise.”
Again we have a triumph of polychrome.
Other statues worthy of special mention are the busts, executed in
enamelled silver, of S. Valerius, S. Vincent, and S. Laurent, in the
Treasury of Zaragoza Cathedral; the figures of Don Gutierre de Cardenas,
Duke of Magueda, and of his wife, Doña Teresa Enriquez, each offering
respectively their son and daughter to the Virgin, and the finer praying
figure of Juan II. of Castile, who ruled from 1406 to 1454, and was the
father of Isabella the Catholic. These statues are in Burgos Cathedral.
Gems among smaller works of art are the plates in silver, showing scenes
in the life of the Virgin, which cover the high altar in the Cathedral
of Gerona. Their date is 1348.
CHAPTER V
THE ALTAR-SCREENS OR RETABLOS OF THE ROMANESQUE AND GOTHIC PERIODS
The altar-screens, of great size, and known in Spain as retablos, which
meet us in every church may be considered as the most entirely
characteristic expression of the country’s art. Nowhere has the
development of the altar-screen assumed such importance. The huge
retablos of Spain stand alone both in their dimensions and in their
magnificence. In these works were joined the common efforts of the
architect, the sculptor, and the painter. Of a size and with a wealth of
decoration so great that often an examination of their detail is
fatiguing, they represent the most exhaustive examples of the creative
thought and power of representation of the native artists.
Their evolution is interesting and curious. At first we find them as
screens of pagan and Roman origin, and dating back to the middle of the
twelfth century. But the pagan screens were adapted by Christians, who
gave to them the name diptycha of the Apostles, of the Martyrs, and of
the Saints, and used them as portable altars, and also largely as votive
gifts, their richness being in proportion to the wealth of the giver and
the importance of the subject depicted. We have several examples in the
Camara Santa of Oviedo Cathedral and in the Camarin of Santa Teresa,
Escorial (Plate 55). The Tablas Alfonsinas in the Sacristia Mayor of the
Cathedral of Seville is another and more important example. This
treasure is specially interesting, as it shows the actual use made of
these folding tablets. It was the altar of Alfonso the Learned, and was
presented by him to the cathedral in 1274 after he had used it in
battle; for in Spain these altar-screens were carried by Christian
generals travelling in the campaigns against the Moors. As the
Reconquest progressed their importance increased, and we have triptycha
and pentaptycha as well as diptycha; their number multiplied as they
became richer and grander in ornament. They were connected with the
deepest religious feelings of Christian Spain, being used by the
Paladins to pray to before plunging into battle. Later, from portable
altars they became fixed altars in churches. From this time their size
and magnificence increased, the religious sentiment associated with
them explaining, as we believe, both their frequency and their
importance in the art of the period.
A selection of the most admirable altar-screens alone would make a long
list. Almost every church and all the great cathedrals furnish examples;
they are especially numerous in the churches of Catalonia and Navarre.
The altar-screen in the Romanesque church of San Feliú, though less
known than those of Zaragoza, Barcelona, Tarragona, Pampeluna, and
Burgos, is important as a very beautiful and early example of these
retablos. It is in two distinct sections, which stand upon a widely
spreading base. The first or central part is in three storeys, which are
supported by Gothic pillars, and in the nine niches stand statues of the
saints. These, as well as the bas-reliefs and carvings on the pillars,
are of great vigour, and the effect is strengthened by the admirable
painting and gilding. The second part of the screen is composed of two
wings, on which are carved the figures of the prophets, surrounded by
rich foliage. These too are painted and gilded.
The creative power displayed in these retablos is often surprising. But
it must be admitted that their general effect is less satisfactory than
an examination of the parts in detail would lead us to expect. The
artists would often seem to have been hampered by the huge size they had
to ornament. Continuing the accustomed forms, evolved for use in screens
of more modest dimensions, they have gained the desired amplitude of
ornament by a multiplication of the same forms that is often wearying.
But granting this, it is among these works that many important and
beautiful statues will be found. For this reason they cannot be
overlooked by the student of Spanish polychromes.
No altar-screen in Spain is more beautiful or more worthy of study than
the one in the Capilla Mayor of Tarragona Cathedral. It illustrates the
life of St. Tecla, the disciple of St. Paul, and the tutelary saint of
Tarragona, who was martyred, according to legend, on this spot. We read
the story in the delightful _Légende Dorée_ of Jaques de Voragine:--
“St. Paul was seized and conveyed to prison, whither his disciple Tecla
followed him. The apostle and the maiden were judged together, and
together condemned: he to be beaten with rods and driven from the city,
she to be burned alive. She threw herself joyously on to the pyre, but
immediately a heavy shower of rain fell from the sky and extinguished
the flames; also a great earthquake occurred, in which perished a great
number of pagans. By this means Tecla was enabled to escape. She took
refuge in the house where St. Paul was living, and was overjoyed to meet
the inspirer of her conversion. She wished to cut her hair and travel
with him, disguised as a man. But this the apostle would not permit, for
she had great beauty.”
In the Tarragona screen charming pinnacles crown a bas-relief
representing the Virgin and her Child, to the right and left of which
stand St. Paul and St. Tecla, figures of heroic size, who regard the
group with pious emotion. Beside them are bas-reliefs, most minutely
executed, representing scenes in the saint’s life. In one we see her as
described by Voragine, with serene face, her body nude, and praying in
the midst of the flames which envelop without burning her. Angels
encourage and sustain her, while below are seen the grinning heads of
the damned. In another scene the saint is surrounded by reptiles and
wild beasts in the cave into which she was thrown; and in yet another
she stands beside a bull, destined to drag and crush her body among the
stones of the road. Between the bas-reliefs are statues of prophets,
apostles, and saints; and on brackets, in the midst of foliage, repose
female saints with smiling faces. All the figures are carved with great
skill, and besides there is a wealth of detail--flowers, foliage,
animals, and insects--all of which are treated with surprising ability.
The colourisation of the screen, like most marble and alabaster
monuments, has suffered from repeated and careless washings. But the
carvings preserve everywhere vestiges of paint and gilt, so that it is
possible to reconstruct the scheme of colour. This is curious--generally
blue and gold, with only a few touches of red and brown, which M. Marcel
Dieulafoy suggests may be due to the artist’s desire to surround St.
Tecla by the virginal and holy atmosphere which would be suggested by
this manifold and unusual use of blue tones. This realisation of the
spiritual expression of a legend is very characteristic of Spain, whose
artists possessed as their greatest gift the power of rendering a story
just as they felt it had happened.
We owe the Tarragona altar-screen to a native Catalan artist. It was
begun in 1426 by Pedro Juan de Vallfongona, who executed the bas-reliefs
and statues of the first two stages, while at the same time the artist
Guillermo de la Monta worked on the architecture and ornaments. But in
1436 Pedro Juan, gaining favour from the beauty of his work, was called
to execute an altar for Zaragoza Cathedral, after which he only retained
a sort of inspectorship over the work at Tarragona, which was finished
by Guillermo de la Monta.
Pedro Juan worked on the Zaragoza altar-screen until his death in 1447,
aided by Pedro Garces, Guillermo Monta, and Pedro Navarro. For some
reason the work was suspended for twenty-six years, when, on account of
the great age of the original collaborators, it was entrusted to Gil
Morlau, with Gabriel Gombao to aid him in the inferior parts. Finally
the screen was completed and gilded and painted in 1480.
The altar-screen of Zaragoza has some fine bas-reliefs; the most
important is that of the centre, which shows the Adoration of the Magi.
The Virgin, seated, presents her Babe to the Kings, figures of vigorous
life and great dignity, who bend in worship as they offer their gifts;
behind, a group of figures represent a crowd of onlookers. On either
side of this central composition are bas-reliefs representing scenes in
the Transfiguration, lives of the Virgin, and Ascension of Christ: these
are the work of Pedro Juan.
Another important retablo, which follows in date the work of Pedro Juan,
is that in the Capilla de Santiago (Plate 56) in the Cathedral of
Toledo. It is made of larch wood, and carved, gilded, and painted in the
richest Gothic style. The bas-reliefs represent scenes in the New
Testament; all the figures are life size. We owe this work to the
artists Sancho de Zamora, Juan de Segovia, and Pedro Gumiel, and it was
begun at the end of the fifteenth century. In the same chapel at Toledo
are the six magnificent Gothic tombs of Don Álvaro de Luna, the work of
Pablo Ortiz, one of the most famous carvers in the fifteenth century
(Plate 58). Another interesting altar-screen is that in the Capilla de
la Trinidad (Plate 59).
In the carvings of these later altar-screens and tombs a new influence
will be traced; for, in the last third of the fifteenth century, what
may truly be termed a revolution in style took place in Spanish
sculpture. A stronger realistic tendency, with a more marked
individuality in the portraits, will be seen. The characteristic
features are more emphasised, the gestures more free and more
individual. Waved lines give place to broken ones, rounded surfaces to
sharp-edged ones. This heightened vitality was due not only to a greater
mastery of the technical part of sculpture by the native artists, but to
a newly imported art inspiration, which now began to mingle with, and
even to replace, the influences of France and Burgundy.
Up till about 1400 Spain was loyal to France, and kept her artists as
her teachers and advisers. Afterwards Burgundy displaced France, and we
have the far-reaching influence of the great ecclesiastical orders. Now
followed the rule of the Netherlands and of Germany. In the fifteenth
century Spain was brought into close connection with the Low Countries.
The intermarrying of the royal houses of Burgundy and Hapsburg united
the Northern countries first with Portugal, and afterwards with Spain.
The result of this union was a great advancement in Spain’s art. The
first of the Northerners to come to Spain were painters, and we have the
visit of Jan van Eyck, in 1428, with its far-reaching consequences to
Spanish painting; then followed architects and sculptors. A Flemish
painter was adopted by the Count of Aragon about 1440; and the Cartuja
of Miraflores has a small altar-screen of which the wings were painted
by him. The archives of Toledo mention a great number of Flemish artists
of renown, who settled and worked in the city, among whom were Juan and
Bernardino of Brussels, whose names are often mentioned by Cean
Bermudez, and the four brothers Egas from Eycken, one of whom, Anequin,
was appointed architect of the cathedral by the chapter, and directed
the work of the sculptures of the Gate of the Lions, being assisted by
Fernandez de Liena and Juan Givas, also an architect of the cathedral.
Then we know that at Burgos worked the Colonia family, Juan, Simeon, and
Francisco, who carved the woodwork of the cathedral and that of the
Cartuja of Miraflores. There were also Northern artists in Seville.
Mateo and Nicolas were skilful goldsmiths, and Cristobal--all of whom
probably came from Germany--was a painter on glass. Juan Aleman, in
1512, finished the choir-stalls of the cathedral, George Fernandez
Aleman carved the retablo, while another artist of the same name,
Rodrigo Aleman, sculptured the wainscoting of Palencia Cathedral, whose
invention and humour, Professor Carl Justi says, recall the South German
masters.
These Northern artists, widely distributed over Spain, brought about the
transformation of art of which we have spoken. The native artists
readily absorbed their influence. We now meet a marked change in the
direction of realism. The Christs are long, lean, and emaciated, the
Virgins are older; we have sharply defined outlines, and the religious
scenes and legends are depicted with a stronger and more passionate
understanding.
The altar-screens were still the most important works that were
executed. An interesting example, which shows very clearly this new
expression of realism, is an altar-screen in the Museum of Valladolid,
which came from the Convent of San Francisco (Plates 60 and 61). It is
carved in walnut wood, and there are traces of painting. The figure of
Christ is strangely emaciated, the Virgin is older, while all the
figures are strongly characterised; there is a very considerable amount
of creative thought and power in the presentment of the scene. The
author of the work is unknown.
Among many other important examples of this over-accentuated realistic
type may be mentioned an anonymous Pietà from Salamanca, in which we see
the new tendencies expressed at their strongest point of accentuation.
An altar-screen in one of the chapels of Palencia Cathedral, the
bas-reliefs which ornament the spandril of the Puerta de la Piedad, the
south entrance of Barcelona Cathedral, and also the figures which crown
the door of the Hospice of Huesca, are further, though less striking,
examples. The altar of Santa Ana in Burgos Cathedral belongs to the same
period; but in this very charming example we have a work of a different
character. The figures, carved in wood and coloured, especially the
youthful and beautiful Virgin, have a grace and freedom of movement
absent from the more realistic works which were the outcome of the
Northern influences.
The greatest artist of this period was Gil de Siloe, whose works rank
among the most important sculptures in Spain. He was a native of Burgos,
and was born at the end of the fifteenth century. His masterpiece is the
monument of Don Juan II. and Doña Isabel, known as the Sepulcros de los
Reyes, in the Cartuja of Miraflores, Burgos (Plate 64). It was erected
by Isabella the Catholic, daughter of Juan II., and was begun in the
year 1489, when Gil de Siloe received 1340 _maravedis_ for the design.
It was finished four years later, and a further sum of 442,667
_maravedis_ for the sculpture and 158,252 for the alabaster were paid.
It is perhaps the finest monument of its kind in Spain, perfect both in
design and execution.
The monument, which stands in the centre of the church, is of a curious
shape, being octagonal, or rather sixteen-sided, a form very uncommon,
and Oriental in its origin. The recumbent figures of the King and Queen
lie side by side on a sumptuous bed, and between them is a low marble
railing. The King has a ring on the right hand and holds a sceptre, in
the Queen’s hand is a prayer-book and rosary. The sides are ornamented
with statues, placed under delicate canopies, of which some represent
the Cardinal Virtues, and each is a masterpiece of carving. There are
besides sixteen lions bearing escutcheons, and bas-reliefs of scenes
from the New Testament. Then around the top is a double cornice of
foliage--branches of vines and laurels--with birds and animals
splendidly carved (Plates 65 and 66).
Above the tomb, inlaid upon the wall, is the monument of their son,
Alfonso (Plate 67), whose death in 1470, at the age of sixteen, brought
Isabella the Catholic to the throne. This work is elaborately adorned
with carvings. Placed in a small elliptic arch, the Prince kneels before
a _prie-dieu_. He wears a mantle similar to the King. Above him are the
Virgin and the Angel Gabriel, bearing a vase in which blooms a lily as
the emblem of Purity, while St. Michael with the Dragon, the emblem of
Victory, is placed on the spandril between the flying-arch and the
accolade. Below on the sub-basement a charming group of angels hold the
battle-shield of the young Prince.
The tomb, now in the Museum of Burgos, of Juan de Padella (Plate 68) is
so similar to the monument of Prince Alfonso, not only in the general
design and style, but in the actual carrying out of the details, that it
seems right to attribute it to Gil de Siloe. Juan de Padella was a royal
page, killed in the siege of Granada; he is known to have been a great
favourite of Queen Isabella, who called him _mi loco_ (my fool), and it
is therefore quite probable that de Siloe, the royal artist, would be
employed to design and execute his tomb.
The retablo of the high altar at Miraflores (Plates 69-71) is also by
Gil de Siloe, but in this work he was aided by Diego de la Cruz. It was
begun in the year 1490; the date at which it was completed is not known.
It has numerous statues. In the centre is a Crucifixion, with a
realistic Christ. The Virgin and St. John, figures of great merit, wait
beside the Cross, and a band of angels press forward to receive the
drops of the Divine Blood. Above flies the symbolical pelican, feeding
its young with its own blood; below are the kneeling figures of Juan II.
and Isabella his wife, he being guarded by Santiago, Spain’s patron
hero, while she is protected by a saint. At either side of this central
composition are bas-reliefs representing scenes from the life of Christ,
and figures of the Apostles and Evangelists. Perhaps the best of the
carvings is the one of a female saint with a figure asleep at her feet.
The saint’s figure is exquisitely coloured--a perfect example of
polychrome. There are also interesting carvings in the choir-stalls
(Plate 72). With the Miraflores altar-screen we may compare the retablo
of the Church of Santa Gadea del Cid, also at Burgos (Plate 73). The
author of this important carving is unknown.
Among numerous works which deserve to take rank with the polychromes of
Gil de Siloe a few must be mentioned. One of the best is the funeral
monument of Doña Beatrice de Pacheco, Comtesse of Medellin, in the
monastery church of the Hyeronymites del Parral, near Segovia, which M.
Marcel Dieulafoy suggests is the work of Juan Eqas or his brother.
Unfortunately the barbarous treatment this monument has suffered
prevents its enjoying the reputation it deserves. Then there are the
bas-reliefs of Christ entering Jerusalem and Christ in Hades on the door
which leads from the nave to the cloisters of Burgos Cathedral, fine
specimens of Gothic carving; and other examples may be seen in the
cathedrals of Vittoria, Pampeluna, Avila, Valencia, Leon, and Toledo.
We have now examined the most important polychromes that were executed
up to the close of the fifteenth century. They present us with works of
great vigour, especially those later pieces, which show the influences
from the North. They were wrought at a time when the vitality of Spain
was at its highest and its growth in the art of carving was in full
development.
It may be well at this point, and before turning to new influences which
were again to alter the tendencies of the native work, to consider
briefly the technique of polychrome statuary.
The altar-screens, as we have seen, were the special activity of the
period. M. Marcel Dieulafoy gives an excellent and concise account of
the manner in which these important works were carried out by different
sets of workmen, for it was rarely that all the processes necessary to
the completion of a polychrome were undertaken by one artist. First and
most important there was the tracer, afterwards called the assembler,
the chief artist, who furnished the design both for the whole work and
its ornaments of statuary and bas-reliefs, and also superintended its
execution. To him the sculptors, ornamenters, master-masons, and
master-carpenters were subordinate, but the painters, damaskers, and
gilders were free from his control. Thus writes M. Marcel Dieulafoy:
“The intervention of four successive brotherhoods of artists was
required--1. _Tracers_, who later became known as _Architectural
Assemblers_; 2. _Imagers_, who were the sculptors and carvers; 3. the
_Eucaruadores_, the body-painters who coloured the flesh of the figures;
4. the _Estofadores_ and _Doradores_, who were respectively the
stuff-painters and the gilders.” Just as the tracer had ascendency over
and directed the work of the imagers--the sculptors and carvers--so the
Eucaruadore, or flesh-artist, was the head of the polychrome workers,
and directed the colourers of the stuff-painters and the gilders. His
position was one of supreme importance, which is proved by the fact that
it was not unusual for him to receive for his work as much as half of
the entire sum paid. This is an interesting proof of the high esteem in
which the art of polychrome was held. The Estofadores had not the same
importance; their work was to paint the stuffs of the garments,
generally on a background of gold, and also foliage and arabesques. The
Doradores or gilders were their collaborators, and their special work,
besides the gilding of the background, was to paint in “full-gilt”
armour, &c., and to enrich with jewels; to their share also fell the art
of damasking.
Almost all the great painters of Spain were polychromists, and we find
them collaborating with the sculptors. This custom continued far beyond
the period we have been considering. Zurbaran, Murillo, Valdés Leal, and
Pacheco coloured the statues of Gaspar Delgado and Montañés. Pacheco,
the great historian, who was also a painter, especially extols the art
of polychrome in several illuminating passages in his _Arte de la
Pintura_. In one place he writes:--
“May it please God in His mercy to exile from the world the vulgar
enamellers, and in the supreme cause of truth, harmony, and
enlightenment to establish for flesh-painting the use of the ‘mat’
colouring” (this ‘mat’ or dull colouring superseded the burnished
or polished colouring), “which approaches nearer to Nature, lends
itself to numerous retouches, and so permits the production of that
delicacy which to-day we so much admire. It is true that the
moderns--by whom I mean those between the ancient painters and
ourselves--began to employ this style, as we may gather from their
treatises on sculpture and from what we see on the old
altar-screens, but the merit of having revived the art in Spain,
and of giving, thanks to it, a better light and more of life to
good sculpture, I dare to say belongs in truth to me. At the least
I am the only one in Seville who since the year 1600 preached and
practised it. It is well to know that on the 17th of January in
that year I painted in ‘mat’ the Christ, executed by the goldsmith
Juan Bautista Franconio, after the model of the ‘four nails’
Crucifixion of Michael Angelo, which he brought from Rome. Since
then all artists have imitated me. It would take too long to
enumerate the remarkable works of Gaspar Nuñez Delgado and
Martinez Montañés which this city possesses, and in which I have
collaborated; but it would be unpardonable if I did not specify
some of them, as they are among the best of the number which have
proved the superiority of this invention.”
He then gives a list of polychromes which he has coloured, works which
we shall notice in a later chapter. Afterwards he continues:--
“Whence have they acquired the audacity, those who claim that
painting on flat surfaces dominates the arts, and that if they had
to paint the flesh of a statue they could do it better with their
feet than the specialists with their hands? They are very much
mistaken in that, for if they tried they would bring no grace, nor
lightness, nor freshness to the work. In the same way that when one
imitates Nature in a well-designed head, one renders the colour,
the delicacy of the eyes, of the mouth, the brilliancy and effect
of the hair, so even on good sculpture can admiration be exacted,
as has been proved by the enthusiasm of those who have seen the
works which I have painted in ‘mat.’ The fact is so public that I
need not insist on it.”
Pacheco, in another passage of equal illumination, also speaks of the
beauty of the art of damasking, giving a careful and full account of the
process:--
“Marvellous was the invention made by the old painters for the
ornamentation of figures in relief and the architecture of
altar-screens by gilding in burnished gold and damasking them. The
colours must be the same, and chosen with the same care as those
designed for illumination. They must be ground and prepared in
water with the same limpidity, but in lieu of gum paste one should
use the yolks of fresh eggs diluted in equal volume of water, fresh
and clear, beaten to a froth. This paste must be mixed with the
colours for damasking the burnished gold, taking care to size with
white lead all the parts to be painted, be it either of grotesque
figures or of vestments, of which the gold should serve as a
background for divers colours. It is always well to know that blue
does not require so strong a paste as carmine, vermilion, ochre,
and other colours of little body, and that if the paste be more
than a day old it is necessary to add with the egg a few drops of
vinegar to prevent spoiling.”
These significant passages may well end this chapter. It must be
accepted that polychrome was an art highly esteemed, that colouring of
statuary, and especially of the great altar-screens, was carried out
with extreme care, and was regarded as work not beneath the dignity of
the greatest artists. In Spain the sculptor and the painter were as
one.
CHAPTER VI
THE RENAISSANCE, AND THE INFLUENCE OF MICHAEL ANGELO ON THE SPANISH
SCULPTORS
The Northern influences of Flanders and Germany, though far-reaching in
their effects on Spanish sculpture, were not long-lived, and in the last
decade of the fifteenth century they gave way to a new influence from
Italy. Always responsive to newly imported art methods, her
architecture, sculpture, and painting were invaded by the forms of the
Italian Renaissance, and thanks to the flourishing condition of
architecture and sculpture, and to a taste refined by the busy practice
of these arts, the new influence found not only a willing, but an
intelligent following. The Renaissance influences were not harmful to
architecture and sculpture as they were to the sister art of painting.
For one reason, both architecture and sculpture were much more advanced
at this period than was painting. Then the new elements of taste made
their way slowly, and the old influences remained active side by side
with the new.
But it must be remembered that in Spain the Renaissance was never a
movement from within; rather its causes were external and political. In
1504 Naples had been conquered by Spain, and at the same time the
Sicilies had become an appanage of the House of Aragon. Many Spaniards
of position were attracted to Italy to take part in the wars, and with
them travelled native artists. At the same time Italian artists came to
Spain. Another influence was the close relation which at this time
existed between Spain and Rome. Then a thriving trade communication
arose between the cities of the two countries, and especially was this
so between the prosperous harbours of Barcelona and Genoa. The impulse
of art is curiously interbound with economic causes; interchange of
trade inevitably results in interchange of culture.
The charm of the new style arose from its novelty; it inspired imitation
and suggested new theories of art. It found an expression chiefly in the
direction of decoration, where the old sumptuousness was united with
elegance and delicacy of execution. Thus the Renaissance entered Spain
by numerous channels. We find many Spanish nobles employing Italian
workmen to decorate their palaces; for instance, Rodrigo de Mendoza
entrusted the ornamentation of the castle of Calahorra to Genoese
workmen in 1510. Italian marble-cutters were occupied in the production
of sumptuous monumental tombs, of which some were carved at Genoa, while
a still greater number were executed in Spain by Lombard and Florentine
artists summoned thither for the purpose. The mural monument of
Archbishop Mendoza in Seville Cathedral was executed by Miguel of
Florence about 1509, and by him too is the terra-cotta relief over the
Puerta del Perdon, representing the Expulsion of the Money-changers from
the Temple and the Annunciation, between the large figures of St. Peter
and St. Paul. The monument of P. González de Mendoza in the Capilla
Mayor of Toledo Cathedral, with the Madonna in the lunette, is
absolutely Florentine, and is perhaps the work of Andrea Sansovino. The
Marquis de Tarifa, while on a journey to Palestine in 1520, ordered at
Genoa the tomb-monuments of his parents, Enriquez and Catalina de
Ribera, the richest examples of Renaissance sculpture, which are in the
University Church of Seville. The altar of the Capilla de Exalas, in the
cathedral of the same city, which was erected by del Río in 1539, is
also of Genoese workmanship. The new style was adopted in decorative
sculptures applied to doorways, façades, windows, &c.; there are
numerous examples, and especially is this so in the Cathedral of Toledo,
which furnishes a museum of Renaissance work.
The Italian teaching was further assisted by the settlement in Spain of
a family of Italian artists, Leone Leoni, Pompeo his son, and Michael
the grandson, who for three generations were employed by Charles V. and
Philip II. They carved for the Escorial statues of the Emperor, of
Philip II., and members of the royal family, as well as the bas-reliefs
of the retablo of the high altar, which Herrera had designed, and two
groups in gilt-bronze placed under the tribunes to the right and left of
the altar. In addition these artists executed many statues in bronze and
in marble for the churches and royal palace. These works, by reason of
their purity of line and beauty, exercised a beneficial and widespread
influence on the native sculptors. Cean Bermudez, in Spain, unites with
Vasari, in Italy, in praising the Leoni family.
One of the first Spanish artists to frequent the schools of Italy, where
he is wrongly stated to have been a pupil of Donatello, was Damian
Forment, a native of Valencia, who lived and worked in the fifteenth and
first third of the sixteenth centuries. Donatello died in 1466, and as
Forment returned to Spain in 1509, when still young, he could not have
been the pupil of the great Italian. But whoever was his master, he was
a great artist, the most famous of the Aragonese sculptors, and his
works are the purest examples of the new Italian taste. That he esteemed
himself we know, for he calls himself “the rival of Phidias and
Praxiteles”; while the fact that he was allowed the unusual privilege of
inserting life-size medallions of himself and his wife at the base of
his great altar-screens at Zaragoza and Huesca shows how high a place he
held in the popular estimation.
There are four altar-screens which are known certainly to be the work of
Damian Forment, but of these only two are important. The first in date
is the retablo of the Virgen del Pilar at Zaragoza (Plate 74), which was
begun in 1509, the year in which Forment returned from Italy, and was
finished eleven years later, in 1520. It has three large bas-reliefs,
surrounded by a framing, and placed under a series of pinnacles and
divided by pilasters, while above is a predilla containing seven small
groups. In the centre of the three large groups is an exquisitely fine
Annunciation of the Virgin, and on either side are the Birth and the
Purification. Injudicious washings have ruined the polychrome, and no
traces of colour remain except on two figures placed on the right and
left of the altar. From these we can judge how fine the polychrome must
once have been. It is interesting to note that while the bas-reliefs and
statues, with their beautiful forms and great delicacy, so different
from the realistic emaciated types of the late Gothic artists, show very
clearly the influence Forment had experienced from his study of the
Italian masters; in the architectural decorations he remained faithful
to Gothic traditions. This mingling of styles is what we must expect in
Spain; it is at once the interest and the weakness of her art. Nor was
Forment alone in thus clinging to the old forms, while at the same time
using the new. We find the same crossing of influences in the work of
all the native artists, and in this way the Spanish Renaissance retained
in sculpture a certain native style of its own.
Damian Forment’s second important retablo, which was executed for the
celebrated Abbey of Mount Aragon, and is now in the parish church of
Huesca, is entirely Italian in sentiment and in execution. It has a
sensuous charm, such as is seen in scarcely any other work of Spanish
art.
Forment began the screen in 1520, worked at it for thirteen years, and
died, so tradition tells us, almost at once after its completion. Like
the Zaragoza altar-screen, it is of alabaster. It is in three registers,
and is adorned with bas-reliefs of the Bearing of the Cross, the
Crucifixion, and the Descent from the Cross. Between these bas-reliefs
and on the pilasters, crowned with elegant pinnacles, are figures of
women of incomparable beauty and grace. Some of the figures show traces
of colour, but here also the polychrome has been destroyed by washings.
The medallions of Forment and his wife are on the base of the altar.
The two remaining altar-screens of Forment are less important. San Pablo
at Zaragoza has a retablo carved in wood, which, though designed by
Forment, was probably carried out by his pupils. It was executed about
the years 1516-1520. The second altar-screen is in the parish church of
Velula de Ebro.
Besides these works, the retablo in the Cathedral of Santo Domingo de la
Calzada, a small town twelve miles west of Najara, has been attributed
to Forment. But this is a mistake. Not only the style of the carvings
but the records of the date of the work prove that it cannot be by
Damian Forment. The confusion has arisen from its author having the name
of Forment; he seems to have been an important _imagerio_, or
image-maker. We owe the clearing up of this error to M. Marcel
Dieulafoy, to whose admirable work we once more gratefully acknowledge
our debt.
The same learned authority thinks that the admirable tomb of the Marquis
Vasquez de Arco, which is in an annexe of the Sigüenza Cathedral, may,
in spite of certain difficulties about dates, be the work of Damian
Forment. For there seems no other artist working at this time who could
have executed it. Forment left a considerable fortune, which would point
to there having been many anonymous works of his; his four altar-screens
not being sufficient to account for the amassing of this wealth. The
Sigüenza tomb is one of the earliest monuments to show the decisive
influences of the Renaissance. The figure is represented reclining, the
attitude is new and free, the expression of the face is charming, and
all the details are carried out with great perfection. The only colour
that to-day remains is the crimson cross of Santiago. Behind the tomb an
inscription on a slab of marble inlaid into the wall gives the history
of the young hero, who was killed during one of the many sieges which
preceded the conquest of Granada.
There are some very curious and very interesting bas-reliefs in the
lower section of the retablo of the Royal Chapel of Granada (Plate 75)
belonging to this period, which show markedly the Italian Renaissance
forms. They depict the Surrender of the City and the Baptism of the
Moors. Unfortunately the author of these works is unknown.
In 1520, the same year in which Forment began the altar-screen of
Huesca, a Catalan artist, Bartolomé Ordóñez, went to Geneva to chisel
from Carrara marble the tomb of Cardinal Ximénez, which is now in the
Cathedral of Alcalá de Henares, but was formerly in the University
Chapel of the city. The tomb had been already designed by the Florentine
Domenico Alexandro, but on his death in 1520 Ordóñez was chosen to
complete it. With him worked two Genoese artists, Thomas Forne and Adam
Wibaldo, and Ordóñez assimilated so completely the Italian style that on
his return to Spain he became one of the chief channels for introducing
the new forms.
This explains how it is that the Spaniard’s chief works have been
ascribed to his Florentine master, Domenico Alexandro. These are the
funeral monuments of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic sovereigns,
in the Royal Chapel of Granada (Plate 76), and that of Don Juan, their
only son, which is in the Church of St. Thomas at Avila (Plate 77). This
last monument is of great purity and beauty of style. Domenico Alexandro
died in 1520, two years before the Granada tombs were executed. A recent
discovery noted by M. Marcel Dieulafoy of three names of those who
presided at the mounting of the monuments, all of whom belonged to the
studio of Ordóñez, gives further proof that we owe these splendid
funeral monuments to him. There is confusion about all the works of this
great sculptor. It is probable that he was the author of the tombs of
Philip the Handsome and Juana la Loca, which are also in Granada’s Royal
Chapel; while many anonymous sculptures of this date, as well as others
that have been assigned to the early Renaissance artists, may well be
his work. But the question of attributions, always difficult, is
especially so in the case of an artist who, like Bartolomé Ordóñez,
assumes a style typical of his period.
The most famous of the early Renaissance artists was Philip Vigarni,
better known by his surname Borgoña. He was of Burgundian origin, but a
native of Burgos, and he spent his life in the country of his birth. We
hear of him first in the year 1500, gaining a competition to execute the
great retablo of the Tras-Sagrario in the Cathedral of Burgos.
The Tras-Sagrario altar-screen is the largest retablo in Spain, probably
in the world (Plates 78-80). It is made entirely of larch wood, and is
in five storeys, each having four compartments, which are decorated with
elaborately carved bas-reliefs of the Passion and scenes from the life
of the Virgin. Above is a colossal crucifix. The numerous niches and
pinnacles contain a veritable crowd of prophets and saints. The style is
flamboyant Gothic, for, like Forment, Philip Borgoña did not use
Renaissance forms until later in his career. He had as his collaborators
Alfonso Sanchez, and his fellow-competitors Sebastian Almonacid, Peti
Juan, Diego Copin of Holland, and seventeen other sculptors of renown.
Enrique Egas, master architect of the cathedral, and Pietro Gumiel,
architect of the archbishopric, directed and looked after the
construction. The polychrome was entrusted to Juan de Borgoña, the
Toledan painter, and brother of Philip, and he was assisted by Francesco
di Amberos, Fernando del Rincon, and others. With the aid of these
numerous collaborators the altar-screen was completed in four years,
and was inaugurated in 1505. In spite of the merit of its carvings, its
great architectural merits, and the profusion and beauty of its colour
and gilding, the general effect of the retablo is disappointing. It is
too large. Standing near to it, the eye cannot embrace its multitude of
detail, while at a distance the parts become confused and lost. It is a
splendid and surprising monument, and it is very Spanish, but it is
unsatisfying as a work of art.
The real talent of Philip de Borgoña is seen best in the admirable
bas-reliefs in the Tras-Sagrario at the back of the Grand Altar. In the
first, Jesus goes out of Jerusalem to Calvary, accompanied by St.
Veronica, who dries his face, wet with drops of blood and sweat, and by
St. Simon, who helps to carry the Cross; the second depicts the
Crucifixion; the third is in two compartments, which show the Descent
from the Cross and the Resurrection (Plate 81). Two bas-reliefs on
either side are of a later date, belonging to the seventeenth century;
they are the work of Alonso de Rios.
It was after the execution of these works at Burgos that Philip de
Borgoña underwent his artistic evolution and embraced Italian forms.
Whence the influence came we do not know; perhaps it was from Alonso
Berruguete, for Philip de Borgoña would seem never to have left Spain.
The great work of his late years was carving the thirty-five stalls on
the Epistle side of the choir of Toledo Cathedral, the stalls on the
Gospel side being by Alonso Berruguete (Plates 82-98). The carvings of
Borgoña are more delicate and more finished, while those of Berruguete
show more creative talent and are more Spanish in their sentiment. Of
these truly marvellous choir-stalls Théophile Gautier says: “L’art
Gothique, sur les confins de la Renaissance, n’a rien produit de plus
parfait ni de mieux dessiné.” In his _Toledo Pintoresca_, Amardor thus
begins his description of the stalls: “Portent of Spanish art, in which
two great geniuses of our golden century competed, the victory to our
own times remains undecided, and astounded the judges who have
endeavoured to give their opinion on this matter.” The bas-reliefs
represent scenes from the Old and New Testament, and the single statues
are of prophets, apostles, and saints. They are carved of walnut wood,
separated by jasper and alabaster pillars.
M. Marcel Dieulafoy has pointed out the singular resemblance between the
figures in these choir-stalls and those in the altar-screen in the
Capilla del Condestable of Burgos Cathedral. It seems probable that we
owe this fine work to Philip de Borgoña, or at least that it was
produced in his studio. It is adorned with numerous reliefs and statues.
The scene of the central panel, with life-size figures, depicts the
Presentation in the Temple, and is charming by reason of its naïve
realism and the beauty of the heads. This altar-screen gains a further
importance from the richness of its polychromes.
Philip de Borgoña’s last work was the large retablo of the Capilla Real
at Granada, with the statuettes of Ferdinand and Isabella kneeling. The
reliefs, carved in wood in two sections, are of great historical
interest (Plate 103). To the left is Boabdil surrendering the keys of
the Alhambra, while that to the right represents the Baptism of the
Moors by Spanish monks. Philip de Borgoña died in 1543.
The Italian Renaissance became more universal and more strongly marked
in the works of the sculptors that followed. This was due to the
influence of Michael Angelo, which in the sixteenth century, in Spain,
attained a power elsewhere unknown outside of Italy. There was a special
reason for this. The great Italian’s work appealed to the Spanish
seriousness, to their strong dramatic instinct, and to the deeply
emotional character which has always marked their art.
Alonso Berruguete, sculptor, painter, and architect, stands as the
representative of this Michael-Angelesque influence, and his work is
typical of the manner of his period, especially of the grotesque style
which grew out of the Italian, and must be associated with his name.
Berruguete was born at Paredes de Nava about the year 1480. He was the
son of Pedro Berruguete, the king’s painter, from whom he received his
first lessons in art. On his father’s death he went to Italy, where he
at once became the pupil of Michael Angelo. Proof of his ability is
given by the fact that the Italian master confided to him the copying of
the celebrated Pisan cartoon which he had designed for the city. Later
Berruguete accompanied Michael Angelo to Rome. He made such progress
that Bramanti, following the advice of Raphael, chose him out of many
competitors to make a copy of the Laocoön to be cast in bronze. He also
completed a St. Jerome by Filippino Lippi.
This is all we know of Berruguete’s sojourn in Rome. In 1520 he returned
to Spain, when Charles V. appointed him royal sculptor and painter. This
position gave him great power. He worked for the emperor at Valladolid
and Madrid, and all the great towns of Spain--Toledo, Zaragoza,
Salamanca, Granada--competed for his services. In this way his influence
was widespread, and all that he had learnt in Italy became known to the
native artists. From Michael Angelo Berruguete acquired the power and
vigour that distinguishes all his best work, but at the same time he
retained his own personality and was faithful to national traditions. It
was his Spanish temperament, with its tendency to over-emphasis, and not
his imitation of Michael Angelo, which caused the violent attitudes and
exaggerated gestures which characterise many of his works.
Among the numerous altar-screens which Berruguete carved, either
entirely or in part, the most important was that of San Benito el Real
at Valladolid, some fragments of which remain in the museum of the city.
The choir-stalls of the monastery, also in the museum, which are often
mistakenly attributed to Berruguete, were carved by Andres de Najera in
1520, a contemporary sculptor, too little known, if we may judge by the
power and beauty of these choir-stalls (Plates 104-111). Carved in wood,
they do not appear ever to have been painted. Najera has also left
excellent carvings in the Cathedrals of Calahorra and of Santo Domingo
de la Calzada.
The contracts for the altar-screen of San Benito, signed in 1526, show
that Berruguete undertook “to carve and finish with his own hands the
heads and feet of the statues.” This gives special importance to these
works, for the execution of many of Berruguete’s carvings was left to
his pupils. The most beautiful of the figures is that of St. Sebastian
(Plate 113). It is one of the finest possible examples of polychrome.
The flesh-tints are subdued, the face somewhat warmer in colour than the
body, with skilful touches of carmine on the lips, nostrils, ears, and
eyelids. The eyebrows are light, the hair red-brown. Some drops of blood
show upon the wounds. The general effect is powerful and true to life.
There are some fine bas-reliefs; among them we may mention the Sacrifice
of Abraham and the Adoration of the Magi (Plate 113); the heads of the
Virgin and the Child Christ in the second panel are splendid examples of
Berruguete’s art. Two more panels show the Birth of Christ and the
Flight into Egypt, and in these again Berruguete’s special personality
makes strong appeal; and hardly less powerful are the panels, with gold
backgrounds, of the two Evangelists, St. Mark and St. Matthew. All
these bas-reliefs are coloured.
Berruguete has left many noteworthy tombs. The monument of Archbishop
Tavera, in the Afuera Hospital at Toledo, is generally accounted his
masterpiece (Plate 114). But this tomb, carved in his old age--it was
Berruguete’s last work--is not really finer than many of his other
monuments. The bas-reliefs on the sarcophagus are mannered, and suggest
an over-excited imagination. It seems probable that the Toledo tomb owes
its fame rather to its being better known than to the superiority of its
execution. A finer example of Berruguete’s works in marble, according to
M. Marcel Dieulafoy, are the tombs of Don Juan de Rojas and his wife the
Marquesa de Poza, in the Church of San Pablo at Palencia. The kneeling
figures of the Marquis and his wife, with the fine heads of strongly
marked character, prove Berruguete an accomplished carver of portraits
in marble. The bas-reliefs, and the numerous figures of saints,
evangelists, and angels, are vigorously carved; especially fine is the
form of God the Father, which dominates the whole. The monumental tomb
of San Jeronimo at Granada, which has been attributed to the Italian
Pedro Torrigiano, and also to Berruguete’s successor, Gaspar Becerra,
is almost certainly the work of Berruguete (Plate 115). This is the
opinion of M. Marcel Dieulafoy. It furnishes a different expression of
Berruguete’s powers, and is one of the most characteristically Spanish
of his works. Of a similar character to the Palencia tombs, and worthy
of notice, are the excellent portrait-bust of the engineer Juanelo
Turriano, in the Convent of San Juan de los Reyes at Toledo, the
statue-tomb of St. Secundus, Bishop of Avila, in the Church of San
Secundo in that city (Plate 116), and the busts of the archbishops which
adorn the retablo of the Colegio del Arzobispo at Salamanca. The student
of Berruguete should visit his native town Paredes de Nava, where
numerous carvings are preserved in the Church of Santa Eulalia, for in
these early works we see how carefully he studied the antique. In the
wooden panels in the sacristy of Mercia Cathedral we notice again the
over-excited imagination which was the defect of Berruguete’s work. Much
finer is the retablo of Santa Barbara in the sacristy of the Cathedral
of Avila. It is carved in alabaster and coloured; the finest of the
reliefs represents the Scourging of Christ, a subject specially suitable
to Berruguete’s power.
The influence of Berruguete was decisive and widespread, and a number
of native carvers and sculptors arose who were either his pupils or
imitated his style.
Gaspar de Tordesillas, born at the end of the fifteenth century, is
reputed to have been a pupil of Berruguete, and the vigour of his style,
shown chiefly in the attitudes and movements of his figures, and in the
folds of his draperies, supports this pupilship. He was first an
_entallador_, or carver in wood, and afterwards _escultor_--sculptor--an
artist of higher rank. He carved in wood a small retablo for the parish
church of Simancas, a small town near to Valladolid, which Antonio
Vasquez, another native artist, coloured in oils. As an escultor
Tordesillas executed many important works, among them the fine statue of
San Benito (Plate 117), now in the Museum of Valladolid, and also two
altar-screens for the old monastery of San Benito.
Many of the works of Tordesillas have been attributed to his
better-known contemporary Juan de Juni, the extravagant follower of
Berruguete’s style. The altar-screens in the Church of Santiago and the
Church of San Francisco at Valladolid--the first representing the
Adoration of the Magi and the other the Entombment of Christ--are all
the work of Tordesillas. M. Marcel Dieulafoy’s verdict of this little
known carver is that he was “a great artist.”
Francisco Giralte, a sculptor of Palencia, who, like so many of the
Spanish artists of this period, studied in Italy, was the principal
collaborator with Berruguete in carving the celebrated choir-stalls of
Toledo Cathedral. The last of the works which he executed alone is the
altar-screen, formerly in the chapel of the Obispo, Palencia Cathedral,
but now at Madrid. This screen is described and highly praised by Ponz
in his _Viage de España_. The polychrome was carried out by Juan de
Villodo, under the direction of Francisco de Vilalpando, an able
architect of Palencia. Giralte carved many other retablos, and was
assisted by Juan Manzano and other carvers. The most important of his
works are the altar-screen of Cardinal Ximénez, that of the Monastery of
Valbuena, the great altar at Espinar, another for the parish church of
Pozeido, and finally the retablo of the Corral’s chapel in the Church of
the Magdalena, Valladolid, remarkable for its bas-reliefs, but
unsatisfying in its whole effect on account of the poverty of
composition. Giralte died in 1576.
Esteban Jordan was the contemporary of Giralte. He was born at the
beginning of the sixteenth century and died in 1598 or 1599. We read
that Berruguete was the godfather of his son, which seems to suggest an
intimate relationship, if not pupilship, between the two artists. But
Jordan has very little of the vigorous style of Berruguete. Like
Giralte, he was a carver of second-rate merit, who attained fame in his
lifetime, but was afterwards forgotten. His best works are the retablo
of Santa Maria Magdalena at Valladolid and the tomb of Archbishop Don
Pedro Gasco in the same church.
Another Spaniard who learnt his art in Italy was Tudelilla, a native of
Tarragona. He was born at the end of the fifteenth century, and after
studying in Italy, in 1527 returned to Spain, in which year we find him
charged with the construction and decoration of the choir enclosure of
Zaragoza Cathedral (Plate 118). The style in which it is carried out is
known in Spain as Plateresque, a name derived from _plateros_, or
silver-work, and applied to this form of carving from its elegance and
delicacy of execution. The choir is composed of twelve highly ornamented
columns, which have a frieze and pediments of delicate workmanship. In
the centre is placed a Crucifixion, while between the columns and on
either side are statues of saints and four bas-reliefs representing
scenes in the lives of St. Vincent and St. Valere, the patrons of the
church. In Spain it is held in great estimation, but it must be admitted
that the decoration is mannered and of a professional stamp. Tudelilla
was largely employed by the nobility of Zaragoza in the decoration of
their palaces. We read in contemporary writers of the splendour of these
buildings, but almost without exception they have been destroyed. It was
the common custom at this period of artistic wealth to lavish large sums
on the decoration with statues and sculpture of both the outside and the
interior of private dwellings. Wherever these palaces remain they should
be studied, as they contain many fine examples of Spanish carving.
Among other carvers who were the contemporaries of Berruguete we may
mention Diego Morlanes, who completed the portal of the convent church
of Santa Engracia at Zaragoza, which was begun by his father Juan in
1505, while a further example of his sumptuous style is the chapel of
St. Bernard in the cathedral, with the monument of Archbishop Fernando
of Aragon and his mother. Juan de Talavere and Etienne Veray executed
the sumptuous portal of the Church of the Virgin at Calatayud; Diego de
Riaño and Martin Gainoza worked at Seville, and their carvings in the
Sacristia Mayor and in the Capilla Real of the cathedral illustrate the
elaborate and fantastic forms in which the native workers now took
increasing delight. Of greater importance are Juan Rodriguez and
Gerónimo Pellicier, who executed the retablo of the Monastery del Parral
at Segovia (Plate 119).
All these sculptors and carvers were in greater or less degree imitators
of Berruguete. We have in addition numerous anonymous works, some of
splendid merit. The enumeration of these carvings would fill a separate
volume. Burgos, Seville, and many churches are veritable museums of
polychrome sculpture; while many churches, such, for instance, as the
Convent of Poblet, now robbed and left bare, were formerly
treasure-houses of sculptures. The limit of space makes it impossible to
do justice to this multitude of work. The epoch was marked by a wealth
of production which shows the enthusiasm that then prevailed for the
plastic arts.
The history of Spanish sculpture would be incomplete did we omit to
mention the Custodias which almost no large church in Spain is without.
These idealistic tower-like structures, always wrought in silver and
finely carved, are the great architectural achievements of the
metal-workers. The first examples belong to the Gothic period. The
Custodia of the Cathedral of Gerona, richly adorned with enamels and
precious stones, is one of the most beautiful, while another of almost
equal merit is that of Barcelona. The sixteenth century was the great
period for the production of these silver works, and this was due mainly
to the talented Arfes, a Spanish family of German origin, who produced
Custodias for most of the important cathedrals. To Enrique de Arfe
(1470-1550), the first of the family, we owe the Custodias of Cordova
and Toledo; these works are in the late Gothic style. But the most
celebrated member of the family was Juan Arfes, the grandson of Enrique,
who was born about the middle and died at the close of the sixteenth
century. He was the creator of the celebrated Custodia of Avila (Plate
120). He also executed two Custodias for the city of Valladolid--one for
the Convent of Carmel and the other for the cathedral. This work bears
an inscription, “Juan de Arfe y Villafañe, f. MDXC.,” and the price paid
for it was 1,518,092 _maravedis_. At about the same time he made another
Custodia for the Cathedral of Burgos, and yet another for that of
Seville. Besides excelling as a silversmith, Juan was an excellent
carver of statues, though he always used the title _escultor de plata y
oro_ (sculptor of gold and silver). His skill as a sculptor is proved by
the group of Adam and Eve, which was executed to occupy the centre of
the first stage of the Valladolid Custodia, but is now on the pedestal.
His greatest sculptured piece was the kneeling statue of Cristobal de
Royas y Sandoval, Archbishop of Seville, in the Church of San Pedro de
Lerma at Burgos (Plates 121 and 122). Juan died before the completion of
the work, which was finished by Fernandez del Moral, under the direction
of Pompeo Leoni; and for this reason this splendid monument for long has
been wrongly attributed to Leoni.
With the silversmiths we may class the _orfrays_, or embroiderers, who
at this time attained a position of great importance. Cean Bermudez
praises especially Marcos Covarrubias, the master embroiderer of Toledo
Cathedral, who in 1514 carried out the beautiful decorations of Cardinal
Cisneros’ monument. Other celebrated “embroiderers” were Gabriel
Carvajal of Seville Cathedral, and a French Hieronimite monk named
Monserrate, who settled in Spain in the sixteenth century and worked for
the monastery of the Escorial. He was a master of the delicate art of
“needlework in stone.” Nor must we forget the Spanish metal-workers, who
wrought the exquisite railings in the cathedrals of Burgos, Seville,
Salamanca, Toledo, Pampeluna, and elsewhere, which are masterpieces of
art. These works, besides flowers, foliage, and decorations, contain
medallions of men’s and women’s heads, sometimes oxidised, but often
gilded and polychromed. For this reason, if for nothing else, these
church railings must be studied by those who wish to know the Spanish
polychromes. These small medallions are carried out with exquisite
delicacy and beauty.
CHAPTER VII
THE RENAISSANCE, AND THE INFLUENCE OF MICHAEL ANGELO
(_continued_)--THE SCHOOLS OF VALLADOLID AND MADRID
After the middle of the sixteenth century a change came, or rather, a
further step was taken in the use of Italian forms, and a style was
evolved which may be said with sufficient accuracy to correspond to the
developed Renaissance of Italy.
Gaspar Becerra was now the most prominent sculptor in Spain. Like
Berruguete, whose rival and true successor he was, he received his
artistic training in Italy; like him, too, he was a painter and
architect as well as sculptor. It is said that Becerra worked in the
studio of Michael Angelo, but Vasari, whose pupil he was, does not count
him among the disciples of the great Florentine. He was born at Baeza, a
small town in the kingdom of Jaen, in 1520. He was still quite young
when he went to Italy. In Rome he gained a position of importance
working under the leadership of his master, Vasari, and under Daniele da
Volterra in the Trinita de Monti, decorating in the Cancelleria. His
skill in drawing, especially the human figure, was great, and he
furnished the plates for Valverde’s “Anatomy,” printed in Rome in 1554.
We know also that he was married in Rome in 1556. Five years later he
returned to Spain, and like his predecessor he became painter and
sculptor to Philip II. Becerra worked at the decoration of the Pardo
palace, and painted frescoes in the Alcazar of Madrid, which were
destroyed in the fire of 1734; in addition he designed, sculptured, and
painted the altar-screen of the Convent of Dèscalzas Reales in the same
city, working for the Infanta Doña Maria, while for the Queen, Doña
Isabel de la Paz, he sculptured the statue of Nuestra Señora de la
Solitude, which is worshipped in the chapel of the Minime fathers. This
position as Court artist caused Becerra’s services to be eagerly sought,
and carvings and paintings of his will be found at Zamora, Valladolid,
Zaragoza, Burgos, Salamanca, and elsewhere. His masterpiece, and his
last work, is the retablo in the Church of Astorga, on which he worked
from 1550 to 1569. He died at Madrid in 1571, when still young and in
the height of his activity and power.
The merit of Becerra’s work is a feeling for ideal beauty, unusual in
Spain, united with dignity and, to some degree, with strength. All his
sculptures are in the style of Michael Angelo; and this has led to a
confusion between his carvings and those of Berruguete. But this is a
mistake. Berruguete, though a follower of Michael Angelo, was Spanish
with a strong national accent, while Becerra was an Italian, completely
renouncing the national traditions in favour of Renaissance forms. For
this reason his work is far less important than that of his predecessor;
it also opened the road for the degeneration of native sculpture.
Becerra made the study of Michael Angelo and the antique the substitute
for a study of nature, and possessing a happy knack of pleasing the eye,
he was content to be an imitator, and therefore added nothing to Spanish
sculpture.
A good example of Becerra’s art, and his best single carving, is the
small polychrome bas-relief of St Jerome in the Desert (Plate 123) in
the side altar of the Capilla del Condestable at Burgos. There are
several copies of this statue, for, like many imitators, Becerra
repeated his works; one, in white marble, is in the Church of San Pedro
at Huesca. On account of its likeness to the St. Jerome, M. Marcel
Dieulafoy attributes to Becerra the statue of the prophet Elias in Santo
Tomás at Toledo, the church that contains the masterpiece of El Greco.
The retablo at Astorga, Becerra’s most important work, is an imposing
erection, much praised in Spain. The effect is pleasing, but a closer
examination leaves the spectator unsatisfied; the statues and carvings
are all modelled on Renaissance types, and are without individuality.
Still this retablo must not be neglected; it is a good example of
_estofado_ sculpture.
Contemporary with Berruguete worked Juan de Juni, who carried the
Michael Angelo following to its furthest and most exaggerated
development. Little is known about this artist; even his nationality is
uncertain, some accounting him a Spaniard, others an Italian, or even a
Fleming. Bermudez thinks he was an Italian. But though a pupil and close
imitator of Michael Angelo, Juni, if not born in Spain, became a
Spaniard by temperament and adoption, as the style of his work proves.
In his carvings we find that search for expression at any cost, leading
to exaggerated gestures and an over-accentuation of detail, as for
example in depicting the sorrows of the Christ by gaping wounds and the
presence of blood--by which the Spanish artists sought to give dramatic
reality to their religious representation. It is this that has caused
Juni to be so highly estimated in Spain.
The details of Juni’s life are fragmentary and contradictory. For long
he was said to have been born during the second half of the sixteenth
century, and to have died at the beginning of the seventeenth century.
In reality he lived earlier, and was born in 1507, while he died at
Valladolid in April 1577. We hear of him first about the middle of the
sixteenth century, when the Archbishop of Portugal summoned him from
Rome to superintend the building and decoration of the Episcopal palace
at Oporto. This he did, as well as constructing other buildings in the
city. Afterwards he went to Osuna, then to Santoyo, and finally to
Valladolid, where he settled, and remained until his death.
Juni has left a great amount of work, and his statues and bas-reliefs,
always easily recognised, will be found in the churches and convents of
Osuna, Segovia, Valladolid, Santoyo, Aranda de Douro, and Salamanca. His
best-known altar-screen is the Descent from the Cross in Segovia
Cathedral (Plate 124). In this surprising work we have well displayed
both the qualities and defects of Juni’s talents. Instead of the
decoration being carried out in compartments, the carvings are in
isolated groups, a change in construction which was the greatest service
that Juni rendered to Spanish sculpture. The figures are all life-size;
the finest is that of the Christ, which has real dignity, and is without
exaggeration. The agitation and grief of the Virgin and the holy women
is too much emphasised, while the attitudes of the fantastically attired
soldiers placed on either side are so accentuated that one is left with
a consciousness of insincerity. The dramatic power becomes theatrical
and unreal. Contrast this Descent from the Cross with Berruguete’s
rendering of the same scene in San Geronimo at Granada, and this becomes
abundantly evident. The restraint in the latter work is strength, while
Juni’s scene, with its over-acclamation, ends in weakness. But in Spain
the Segovia screen is highly treasured. It is brilliantly coloured. We
have no proof that Juni himself polychromed his statues, but we know
that he was a painter of great talent, and the harmony which exists
between his models and the colouring seems to prove that he must have
superintended the polychrome. Documentary evidence shows that in some
cases, at any rate, the colourisation was done in his studio, under his
direction, and that he himself painted the faces, the hands, and the
feet of his figures.
The same model of the Segovia Christ can be recognised in another work
of Juni’s, the Burial of Christ, executed for the Convent of San
Francesco at Valladolid, and now in the city museum (Plate 125). Here we
have an even stronger example of Juni’s art, in which the conception of
woe is depicted with greater extravagance, and with what appears to us
as futile exaggeration of the details of sorrow. Death is shown with
startling reality in the body of the Christ, which is rigid with the
muscles already contracted, and the reality is carried further by the
colouring; the limbs and the face are mottled with livid stains. Blood
flows from the wounds, which are laid open. The body is horrible with
the sense of human corruption. The figures of the Virgin, St. John, and
the Magdalen all express passionate and over-emphatic sorrow. But the
work is perfectly sincere; to doubt this is to misunderstand the nature
of Spanish art. It is the quality that meets us so often; a too
dramatic, too emphatic effort to realise a scene exactly as it happened.
Another carving in the same style, with the same faults and the same
qualities, is the Virgin of the Swords in the monastery Capilla de
Nuestra Señora de las Agustinas, also at Valladolid. It must be
remembered that these works can be appreciated only by the student who
understands Spanish art. Certainly Juni is more Spanish than Italian.
Juan de Juni opened the way for his successor Gregorio Hernandez, the
sculptor who may be said to have inherited, and afterwards personally
expressed, all that his predecessors had accomplished. For the great
difference between Juni, Becerra, and even Berruguete and the great
master of Galicia is that they, in greater or less degree, were content
with imitation, while he, warned possibly by their extravagances,
studied nature with patient care, and said what he had to say for
himself, and in this way he purged the plastic art of scholastic
mannerisms. This is why Gregorio Hernandez occupies the most important
position in the history of Northern Spanish sculpture.
Gregorio Hernandez did not study in Italy, indeed it has been said that
he never went from Valladolid. But this is a mistake. He studied and
worked in that city, but we know that he was married in Madrid, and that
in 1604 he was in Vittoria, executing the altar-screen for the Church of
San Miguel. No actual mention is made of Hernandez’ residence in
Valladolid before the year 1605, when in certain contracts we find that
he acted as assistant sculptor to the Italian artist Millan Vilmercati.
M. Marcel Dieulafoy places the date of his first coming to Valladolid
about 1601, the year in which a number of famous artists were summoned
to the royal city by Philip II. and the Duke of Lerma.
Of the life of Hernandez we know few details. He was born in Galicia in
1570, a date furnished by the inscription on his portrait, now in the
Museum of Valladolid. He died in 1636 at the age of sixty-six, as is
shown by the register in the archives of the Church of San Ildefonso. It
would seem that he never left Spain. His first known work undertaken as
a sculptor was the altar-screen of San Miguel at Vittoria, but he must
have executed earlier carvings, as is proved by the payments made for
this work--4208 reals for the sculpture, and over 604 reals for the
statues in relief--and also by the importance of the position he
occupied. Hernandez directed the whole work, choosing as his assistants
the master-carpenter Cristobal Velazquez, and the painters Francesco
Martinez and Pedro de Salazar.
The activity of Hernandez was very great. From the date of this
altar-screen we have a vast number of carvings executed, or supposed to
have been executed by him. His studio became the centre of the artistic
activities of his day, for the amount of his work necessitated the
employment of assistants. This has led to confusion, and there are many
carvings attributed to Hernandez which cannot be accepted as the work of
his own hand. It is fortunate that the distinctive qualities of his work
make it possible to recognise at once those carvings and statues that
have been fathered on his name. Hernandez placed special importance on
the colourisation of his statues. In an interesting contract made with
his habitual polychromist, Diego Valentin Diaz, we find the most minute
details laid down, enforcing the care with which the work is to be
carried out. The colours chosen “are to be those which are permanent”;
“the flesh must be _mate_,” as, it will be remembered, was enforced by
Pacheco, and “in each case the colouring must be suitable to the model
painted,” as, for example, “Jesus the tint of an infant, the Virgin that
of a young woman, St. Joseph that of a man,” while “the hair and eyes
must also be in harmony.” Also, “gilded stuffs and damasked are to be
avoided,” and “gold is to be used sparingly on laces and fringes only.”
The effect to be aimed at is harmony and truth to nature. It is by this
restriction to a sombre and quiet scheme of colour, so different from
the startling and tumultuous effects, glittering with gold, of Juni, for
instance, that the polychromes of Hernandez may be recognised. His
colours, always quiet, give an effect of having been worked on silver or
ivory. The polychromes that do not manifest these tones are not by
Hernandez; when they bear his name they must have been executed by his
pupils apart from his direction. Examples of such spurious works are the
immense and highly coloured Sta. Teresa in the Valladolid Museum, and
also the _Pasos_, or groups from the Passion, highly praised by the
Spanish writers and used in the religious processions of Valladolid,
which have been attributed, certainly erroneously, to Hernandez.
Authentic works of Hernandez may be seen, first in the churches,
convents, and museum of Valladolid, and also at Madrid, Palencia,
Vittoria, Salamanca, Zamora, Pontevedra, Medina del Campo, and other
towns. But in no case must the attribution to Hernandez be accepted
without an examination of the works themselves. Those which do not
display his qualities, especially in their colourisation, must be
accounted as the work of his pupils.
Hernandez continued the practice of Juni in carving his statues as
separate figures or in isolated groups. Almost without exception he used
wood as his material.
The Museum of Valladolid contains at least three authentic statues by
Hernandez. The most important is the Pietà, executed for one of the
dispersed convents of the city, a beautiful example of polychrome (Plate
126). The Virgin, whose sorrow is genuinely expressed, with dignity and
without exaggeration, supports the dead Christ, a pallid figure finely
suggesting death. She wears a red-brown robe partly covered by a blue
mantle. The winding-sheet and her veil are white, and also the band
attached to the Cross, and are coloured so skilfully that the texture of
the stuffs is clearly discernible. M. Marcel Dieulafoy justly says: “The
grace and freedom of the modelling is only equalled by the variety and
discreet harmony of the painting.” The bas-relief of the Baptism of
Christ (Plate 127), though very different, is a work of equal merit, but
it has suffered greatly from the damage of time, which has especially
injured the beauty of the polychrome. The St. John is a splendid figure
of energy and savage strength, and in strong contrast with the Christ,
and the contrast is emphasised by the skilful colouring, the complexion
of the prophet being browned by exposure to the sun, while that of the
Christ is of delicate harmony. The third statue represents St. Francis
(Plate 128), a fine and harmonious work. It is coloured in sombre
shades, almost monochrome, which speaks for Hernandez’ authorship.
To Hernandez also is attributed the reliquary bust of St. Elizabeth in
the museum. It is a work of supreme merit, but the polychrome is too
brilliant to make it easy to accept it as the work of Hernandez. The
vivid orange-brown of the cape with the blue lining, the violet-purple
of the turban, the gleaming white of the veil, and the gold tracery of
the breast ornament are not the accustomed tones of the Galician master.
But though the statue is probably not by Hernandez--and this is the
opinion of M. Marcel Dieulafoy--it is a splendid example of polychrome.
The most famed work of Hernandez is the Mater Dolorosa, preserved and
most carefully guarded in the Capilla de la Cruz at Valladolid. The
representation is very Spanish in its frank and detailed statement of
sorrow. Probably no one who is not Spanish can wholly appreciate the
statue. The tears, made of glass set in wood, the reflected stains of
blood on the yellow robe and on the sleeves, the pallid face and
colourless lips, the deep-set eyes made tragic with bistre rings, the
emphasised attitude especially of the hands, do not appeal to those to
whom the divine tragedy represented is not a living reality--a part of
human life, not an incident of belief. It is necessary to take notice of
these things in judging the most Spanish of Spanish sculptures. In this
Virgin Hernandez is nearer to Juan de Juni, but his representation of
the Mother of Sorrows is much simpler, much nearer to nature--Spanish
nature, not our nature, let it be remembered--and therefore his work
leaves a deeper and more lasting impression. The Christ at the Column in
the Convent of the Carmelites at Avila is another statue of a similar
character which is attributed to Hernandez.
The influence of Gregorio Hernandez was far-reaching, and the native
sculptors of the seventeenth century, not only in Valladolid but also in
the newly-founded school of Madrid, followed in his traditions.
Certainly it was his work, with its strong national accent, its
sincerity and close following of nature, which in the Northern schools
saved Spanish sculpture in large measure from the degradation which, at
the close of the seventeenth century, fell upon the sister art of
painting.
Gregorio Hernandez had many pupils. We have mentioned Cristobal
Velazquez, the master-carpenter who worked with him on the altar-screen
of Vittoria. It is probable that he became the pupil of the Galician
master. To Cristobal Velazquez must be attributed the beautiful
altar-screen of the Church of Las Agustinas at Valladolid, which has
been falsely ascribed to Berruguete and to Pompeo Leoni. The references
made to Cristobal Velazquez in the contracts for the work, and the fact
that he was charged with the “looking over and passing” of the screen
after it had been set up, prove his authorship. No mention either of
Berruguete or Pompeo Leoni is given, an omission unaccountable if these
great artists had participated in the work, when the painters and
sculptors are all carefully named. This altar-piece proves that
Cristobal Velazquez was a great artist. In the central bas-relief of the
Annunciation the Virgin kneels, while the Angel Gabriel, a figure of
supreme beauty and nobility, stands upon her right side. Above is a fine
Pietà, and to the right and left are the figures of St. Augustin and St.
Laurent; while beneath are statuettes of the Evangelists, with two
small panels on either side, one of St. Joseph and the Child Jesus, the
other of St. Ursula. The architecture, the ornaments, and figures are
all finely executed, and the work is one of great beauty and harmony.
Unfortunately the colouring, which was carried out by the painter Prado,
an artist of great local celebrity who had already decorated the Chapel
of Las Huelgas, Burgos, has become so blackened with age that it is
difficult to judge its primitive merit.
Two sculptors intimately associated with Gregorio Hernandez were Luis de
Llamosa, who completed many of his master’s unfinished works, and Juan
Francisco de Hibarne, his favourite pupil, to whom he gave his daughter
Damiana in marriage. Carvings by these artists will be found in several
of the churches of Valladolid.
But of greater fame was the Portuguese sculptor Manuel Pereyra, who,
though reported to have studied in Italy, must certainly have been the
pupil of Hernandez, if we may judge from the testimony of his works.
They show no trace of Italian influence, and are inspired by the
earnestness of Spanish devotion. We first hear of Pereyra in May 1646,
when he carved in stone the statue of San Felipe for the convent of the
saint at Valladolid. His reputation grew rapidly, and his statue of St.
Bruno, executed for the Hostel of the Chartreuse del Paula, set the seal
to his fame. The statue was so greatly admired that it is said that King
Philip IV. ordered his coachman, on passing the door, to slacken the
pace so that he might admire it at leisure. There is a fine replica of
the St. Bruno in the Chartreuse of Miraflores. Like Hernandez, Pereyra
used quiet colours, without gilding or damask effects. In his last years
Pereyra became blind, but this calamity does not seem to have interfered
with his carving. He died in 1667.
It would seem to be by the aid of Manuel Pereyra that the influence of
Gregorio Hernandez was carried to Madrid. But in this work he was
supported by Alonso de los Rios, a carver of intelligence, taste, and
skill, who was born in Valladolid about 1650, and who early went to
Madrid. In his studio worked Juan de Villanueva and his two sons Juan
and Alfonso Rios, who directed the art of carving in the capital during
the first years of the eighteenth century. Afterwards in the studio of
Rios worked Luis Salvador Carmona, whose talent was so marked that on
the death of his master he became its director. Under his guidance the
Madrid school became so famous that Ferdinand VI. in 1752 transformed it
into the Royal Academy of San Fernando. The greater number of Carmona’s
carvings are at Madrid. They are single statues and bas-reliefs. He does
not appear to have carved an altar-screen. For altar-screens, that had
been required by the churches, had now fallen in the popular esteem, due
to a weakening of the strong religious impulses that for so long had
directed the expression of art. Carmona also executed forty-two small
statues for the parish of Seguro in Biscay. But his finest works are his
two statues at Salamanca. Both are in the cathedral--one, a Pietà, known
as La Dolorosa, in the Capilla de San José (Plate 131); the other, a
Flagellation of the Christ (Plate 132), is in the sacristy. These
realistic and emotional groups are the works by which Carmona must be
judged. They witness that he had through his masters inherited the
traditions of Gregorio Hernandez, though his work is less sincere and
without the Galician master’s fine truth to nature. In Spain Carmona is
accounted a master, but this praise is too high. This much may be
granted to him: his works have great, even surprising, merit when we
take into consideration the period at which they were executed.
If the influence of Gregorio Hernandez speaks in the artists we have
just considered, it is to the influence of the impassioned and dramatic
Juan de Juni we must turn to account for those tragic representations of
severed heads of martyrs, depicted with such strange delight in all the
details of horror and putrefaction, of which we find many examples
belonging to the late seventeenth century. Such heads, representing most
frequently St. John the Baptist, St. Paul, or St. Anastasius, may be
seen in many places--Nuestra Señora del Pilar at Zaragoza, the cathedral
and hospital church at Granada, and the Monastery of Santa Clara at
Seville are a few examples. The Museum of Valladolid possesses two heads
of St. Paul. The finer one, taken from the Convent of St. Paul, is the
work of Alonso Villabrille, a sculptor of Madrid who lived at the end of
the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries. It is perhaps
the best example of these astonishing heads (Plate 133). The polychrome
is carried out with great care, and the horror of the dissevered head is
lessened by the beard which shields the severed neck.
The influence of Gregorio Hernandez did much to stay the deterioration
which now, at the end of the seventeenth century, threatened the plastic
arts of Northern Spain. The baroque style was introduced with
disastrous results, and we find the ugly, overloaded, exaggerated
decoration known as Churriguera. Perhaps the greatest evil was the
destruction of many of the old Gothic and classic altar-screens, with
their beautiful polychrome statues. Images were carved with apparatus
for moving the head and eyes, and the mouth. These figures were really
wooden dolls, with real hair and real dresses, in which only the head
and hands were carved: they mark the lowest level of the plastic arts. A
notorious example is the Transparente in the Cathedral of Toledo,
executed by Narciso Tomé in 1752.
It is remarkable that side by side with these degraded works we find a
number of bas-reliefs and statues in which the earnestness of the
Spanish religious spirit has inspired the baroque form. We may mention
as especially worthy of study, a Conception in Palencia Cathedral, and a
superb monument let into the wall on the right of the great altar; a
beautiful Virgin in the Chapel of Ayuntamiento, Pampeluna; the Madonna
over the high altar of Cuenca; the kneeling figure of an archbishop in
San Andrés at Avila; and the magnificent tomb of Cardinal Valdés in the
Church of the Sala, Oviedo. This last work is a masterpiece.
CHAPTER VIII
THE SCHOOL OF ANDALUSIA--JUAN MARTINEZ MONTAÑÉS--SEVILLE AND ITS
SCULPTORS
The Andalusian school of sculpture was an offshoot from the school of
Castile and Aragon, though in some respects its history was different.
The reason of its late development is not difficult to find. In Southern
Spain the Moorish influence was stronger and more enduring than in the
North; and for all their secular buildings the Spaniards adopted Moorish
designs and Moorish methods of decoration. The Alcázar of Seville, in
its original state before alterations, and the Casa de Pilatos, are very
pure _mudéjar_ monuments. There was no abrupt transition between the
Persian architecture and the classic style of the Renaissance. It was in
the churches alone that opportunity arose for the development of
Christian architecture. We find Roman or Gothic structures according to
the epochs of their building. But even the churches retained the minaret
in the form of clock-towers, and other Moorish features, as, for
instance, the Puerta del Perdon of the Cathedral of Seville.
It was the erection of these Christian edifices that brought the
opportunity for the opening of studios of sculpture. Native carvers
arose, who at first drew their inspiration from the more advanced art of
the North. Then the fifteenth century opened with the building of the
great Cathedral of Seville, an event which drew foreign artists to the
Southern capital from Flanders and also from Italy. These foreigners
trained worthy native pupils, and from this time we may date the rise
and importance of the Sevillian school.
One of the first foreigners to arrive was Lorenzo de Mercadante, a
Breton, whose power speaks in the monument of Cardinal Cervantes, in the
cathedral, the earliest perfect portrait-statue in Southern Spain. In
the cathedral, which is a veritable museum of polychrome art, we find
graceful and charming statues, which show the influence of Mercadante.
We may mention the beautiful Virgen de Madroñe (Virgin of the arbutus
flower) and the Virgen del Reposo; both statues are polychromed, but the
latter work has been to a large extent ruined by injudicious
restoration. These Virgins are fine examples of the ideal treatment,
expressing genuine beauty with dignity and sweetness, which the native
artists achieved in representing the Mother of God. Spain is the land of
the Blessed Virgin.
To the teaching of Lorenzo Mercadante we owe the native artists Nufro
Sánchez and Maestro Dancart, the earliest of the Sevillian carvers, who
were appointed master sculptors to the cathedral at an annual salary of
10,000 _maravedis_. Their first work was the choir-stalls, which were
begun in 1475 by Sánchez, and finished by Dancart in 1479. Of this work
Professor Carl Justi says “its vein of invention and humour recalls the
South German masters.”
Four years later Dancart was entrusted with the important work of
erecting the grand altar of the cathedral (Plate 134). He executed the
design, but the work was carried out by his pupils Marco and Bernardo de
Ortega. The latter artist worked at the screen until his death in 1505,
when the completion of the work was left to his son Francesco and to his
grandson Bernardino. Gomez Oroco, George and Alexis Fernando Aleman, and
Andres de Covarrubias also worked at different parts of the screen. In
1519, when the work was completed, the canons, for some reason not
known, employed a pupil of Fernando Aleman named Moya to modify the
design. He was three years over the work, which he finished in the
autumn of 1564. Some years later two wings were added, and the screen
was finally completed in 1564. This mixed authorship was a mistake, and
has resulted in a want of continuity in the design which has marred to
some extent the beauty and harmony of the work.
Of more importance are the carvings of Pedro Millan, a pupil of Nufro
Sánchez, who takes rank as the first really important master of the
Sevillian school. The date of his birth is unknown. We hear of him first
in the year 1505, when he executed the statues for the cimborium of the
cathedral, which unfortunately were destroyed when the copula fell on
December 28, 1512. Pedro worked in the style of the Burgundian masters,
and his carvings show a genuinely creative talent, united with a true
study of nature. To him we owe the statues in terra-cotta known as the
Baptismo and the Nacimiento, which are outside two of the cathedral
doors. The heads and hands are most beautifully modelled and the
draperies are skilfully handled to display the figures. The bas-relief
inserted in the pointed spandrel between the first ribs of the
flying-arch, which represents the Adoration of the Magi, is also the
work of Pedro Millan. But his best-known statue is the noble Virgen del
Pilar, in the Capilla de Nuestra Señora del Pilar. M. Marcel Dieulafoy
believes that this is an earlier work than the terra-cotta bas-reliefs.
Its importance is great on account of the polychrome, the original
colours having been most carefully preserved. The flesh-tints are
beautiful, delicate rose-shades on the cheeks, lips, and ends of the
fingers. The robe shows reflections of pale gold, and the mantle, of the
same tint, has arabesques of brown, while the veil is in full gilt.
Besides these works in the cathedral, there are two statues of Pedro’s
in private collections in Seville, and one is a masterpiece. This is the
small polychromed statuette of St. Michael in the possession of Don Jose
Gestoso y Perez. Like most of this artist’s works, it is executed in
terra-cotta. It bears the signature of Pedro Millan in Gothic
characters. The other statue group is a Pietà, in which the Virgin, Mary
Magdalen, and St. John mourn over the body of Christ. It is in the
gallery of Don Lopéz Cepero, y 7, Plaza de Alfaro. Unfortunately it has
been painted a horrible stone colour and quite disfigured. Pedro Millan
also furnished the models for the small terra-cotta figures on the
beautiful portal of Santa Paula, which were executed by Niculoso of
Pisa, the author of the curious altar in terra-cotta in the Alcázar.
It was about this period that the Italian influences of the Renaissance
began to be felt in Andalusia. Artists were attracted to Seville by the
growing opulence of the city. Besides this, Italian works of art were
brought to decorate the palaces of the nobles. Vasari, for instance,
tells us Luca del Robbia sent several of his works to the Spanish king
for his Southern capital, and he speaks also of a large bronze
bas-relief, representing a fight between nude men, the work of Antonio
Pallando, which had the same destination. But the old Flemish traditions
were very deeply rooted, and remained longer active here than in the
Northern schools of Castile and Aragon. Thus a style arose that united
the two sources of inspiration.
The oratory and screen of Isabella la Catolica in the Alcázar are
interesting examples of the expression of this double influence (Plate
135). They are the work of Francisco Niculoso Pisano, an Italian artist
who settled in Seville, and whose work was of importance in directing
the art of the sixteenth century; the altar bears his inscription,
“Francisco Niculoso me fecit,” with the date 1503. The principal parts
of the altar and also the screen are in very pure Italian style, but
the panel above the altar, as well as some details of the decoration,
show clearly the old Spanish traditions founded on the Flemish methods.
This may be explained as M. Marcel Dieulafoy suggests, if we accept the
theory that the Italian master employed his colleague Pedro Millan to
assist him in the execution of the work.
Another foreigner who helped in the introduction of Italian art to the
native workers of Seville was Miguel, known as “the Florentine,” who
worked with the wood-carvers in the cathedral. Afterwards, in the last
years of the fifteenth century, Miguel executed the tomb of Mendoza,
Archbishop of Seville. After the completion of this work, which gained
much admiration, Miguel was constantly employed by the chapter, and he
remained working in Seville until his death in the middle years of the
century, when his position was taken by his son Micer Antonio
Florentine, an artist of even greater talent than his father. Among
Miguel’s works are the statues of St. Paul and St. John at either side
of the Puerta del Perdon, and the bas-relief above representing Christ
turning the Money-changers out of the Temple (Plate 136), and also the
life-size terra-cotta statues on the enclosure of the Capilla Mayor.
But the most famous of the Italian sculptors of Seville is Pietro
Torrigiano, the disciple and rival of Michael Angelo. Torrigiano was
born at Florence in the year 1470, and his work early proclaimed him a
master. It is recorded that in a fit of rage he broke his rival’s nose
with his fist, and as a result of this act of jealousy he had to flee
from Italy. For a time he adopted the calling of a soldier, but, angered
at not gaining promotion, he again took up his chisel. We hear of him
next in England, where he gained fame and wealth by his chapel of Henry
VII. in Westminster Abbey. But Torrigiano’s roving disposition again
sent him wandering, and he went to Spain, first to Granada, where he
competed for the order to execute the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella,
but, being unsuccessful, he came to Seville, in which city he finally
settled. He died in 1522 in a dungeon of the Inquisition, which Vasari
says was due to his smashing in a fit of rage a statue of the Virgin,
ordered by the Duke of Arcos, because he considered the payment
insufficient. But Cean Bermudez, though he does not deny the story,
states that Torrigiano was charged with heresy.
The influence exercised in Seville by this great Italian was
far-reaching, and his statues, though few in number, were the models
from which the native workers drew their inspiration. In style
Torrigiano closely resembled Michael Angelo. We owe to him the statue of
the Madonna (Plate 137) and that of St. Jerome (Plate 138), which were
executed for the Convent of San Jerónimo, but are now in the museum. The
figures are in terra-cotta, and are splendidly modelled, and both are
polychromed. The tints used are simple, and harmonious to the model. The
face and hands of St. Jerome are a brownish tone, as we should expect in
one exposed to the action of the sun; the draperies are of a light red
brown. The flesh tints of the Madonna and her child are charming; she
wears a rose-coloured robe with a mantle of light blue, grey lined, and
with a gold border. To Torrigiano we owe also the fine medallion in
marble on the front of the Church of La Caridad, and another on that of
the Jesuits. M. Marcel Dieulafoy ascribes to Torrigiano the statue of
St. Jerome, now at Granada, in the Church of Santa Ana. It is a fine
piece of sculpture, but the polychrome has been destroyed through want
of care.
After the death of Pedro Millan and Torrigiano we find in Seville a band
of capable artists, though none are equal in merit to Gregorio
Hernandez, who at the same time was working in Valladolid. At their
head stands Micer Antonio Florentine, who, on the death of his father
Miguel, took charge of his studio, and continued to direct the
activities of the Sevillian sculptors. The best known of his own works
was the Good Friday monument for the cathedral which he designed,
modelling its statues with his own hands. His contemporary, Bartoloméo
Morel, was the author of the statue of Faith Triumphant which crowns the
Giralda Tower (Plate 139), and also of the celebrated Tenebrario of the
cathedral of which Cean Bermudez says “that it is of its kind the finest
piece of sculpture in Spain.” In this work collaborated Pedro Delgado, a
capable artist, and the favourite pupil of Antonio Florentine. Pedro
Delgado himself had many pupils. Among them were Juan Bautista Vasquez,
one of the many artists who worked on the altar-screen of Toledo
Cathedral, and Juan Giralte, a Flemish carver, who seems to have
executed much work, but whose history is unknown.
Jerónimo Hernandez was an artist of higher merit. Though he was a pupil
of Pedro Delgado, he drew his inspiration from Torrigiano. This explains
the attribution of the St. Jerome of the cathedral to the Italian
master. But this fine sculpture is undoubtedly the work of Jerónimo
Hernandez. He was also the author of the beautiful Jesus, and a
Resurrection in the possession of the Dulce Nombre Brotherhood; of a
lost work, a group of the Virgen del Rosario with the Infant Jesus in
her arms and St. Domenico and St. Catherine kneeling at her feet; and of
the altar-screen of the Convent of San Leandro. These statues prove that
Jerónimo Hernandez was a carver of distinguished merit. In the
altar-screen of San Leandro he was assisted by Juan de Sancedo and Vasco
de Pereyra, a celebrated Portuguese painter, who carried out the
painting and gilding of the statues.
A pupil of Jerónimo Hernandez was Gaspar Nicolas Delgado, who also
studied with his uncle Pedro Delgado. He gained a higher reputation than
his masters, and in Seville is accounted as one of the greatest
sculptors. This estimate is misleading. His chief work, the St. John the
Baptist in the Desert, which is in the chapel of the Nuns of St.
Clemente though a bas-relief of real merit, the landscape especially
being well represented, does not justify his position as a master. The
merit of the work has gained from the fine polychrome, which was
carried out by the artist Pacheco.
A third artist who worked at this period, and a carver of more personal
talent, was Capitan Cepeda, a native of Cordova, who, like Torrigiano
was in turn a soldier and artist. He served in Italy and afterwards came
to Seville, being summoned there by the goldsmiths of the city for the
special work of arousing a devotion for the Crucified Christ. With this
object Cepeda modelled the Cristo de la Expiracion which now stands on
the altar of the small chapel of the museum. It is a work of Spanish
realism, finely executed, with every detail of sorrow expressed and
accentuated by the violent attitude and gesture. Again we would
emphasise the fact that such a work can only be estimated truly by
remembering the Spanish religious spirit. Cepeda represents in Seville
the style which Juan Juni made popular in the Northern schools. Like
that artist, his interest rests in the individuality of his work, which
is national and wholly Spanish, while his contemporaries, Jerónimo
Hernandez and Gaspar Nicolas Delgado, followed the newer influences from
Italy.
The Sevillian school had not yet produced a master. But the time was now
ripe. In the closing years of the century there came to Seville the man
who raised polychrome sculpture to its highest rank, and who was the
greatest carver of Spain. His name was Juan Martinez Montañés.
Of the early life of this great artist we know almost nothing beyond the
fact that he was the pupil of Pablo Rojas, a sculptor of Cordova. We
first have definite information about him in the year 1582, when he with
his wife came to the Monastery of Dulce Nombre de Jesus at Seville,
where we learn they were granted free residence for life in recognition
of an Image of the Virgin executed for the brotherhood. Two years later,
in 1590, Montañés was at work for the Carmelite nuns. Nothing further of
the artist’s life is known until the year 1607, when he completed a
Jesus for the Santísimo Brotherhood of the cathedral. The record of this
work proves that Montañés was then living in the Arquillo de Roelas with
Catalina Salcedo y Sandobal. Thus he must have lost his first wife and
again been married. He was at this time fifty years old. Such is the
scant record of the first half of this great artist’s life. In truth he
came late to the fruition of his genius, for it was after these fifty
years of living, when the work of most men is already accomplished,
that Montañés created the greatest of those works which are the glory
of Spain.
It is fitting to say a few words about his art. Montañés occupies the
same position in the Southern school that Gregorio Hernandez held in the
North. Like that master, he drew his inspiration directly from Nature.
He had the same respect for truth, the same simplicity, and, stronger
even than these qualities, the same Spanish religious sentiment and
noble idealism. It is true that he used and made his own the methods of
the Italian Renaissance, which were dominating the Sevillian artists,
and which he would seem to have imbibed from a study of the classical
models in the Casa de Pilatos of the Duke of Alcala; but with this
outside influence he retained a powerful personality. Thus his work is
entirely removed from the Italian style, as it expressed itself in the
Peninsula with its fantastic mingling of Christianity and paganism. In
nobility of form and religious sentiment the statues of Montañés surpass
all other works of their class. Once again, and more emphatically than
the carvings of any other artist, unless indeed we except Gregorio
Hernandez, they give an answer to those who would discredit the beauty
of polychrome statuary.
From the year 1607 onwards, up to his death in 1649, Montañés carried
out numerous orders for the churches, convents, and religious
brotherhoods of Seville; the greater number of these works still remain
in the city. But of some it must be said that, though doubtless executed
in the master’s studio and bearing his name, they were the work of his
pupils. Fortunately it is not difficult to distinguish these spurious
pieces which have been fathered upon Montañés. We have in the archives
of the churches an exact record, usually with dates, of most of his
works. Thus we are able to follow chronologically the evolution of his
talent.
The earliest undertakings of Montañés after the execution of the infant
Jesus for the Santísimo Brotherhood were two portrait-statues of St.
Ignatius Loyola and St. Francis Xavier (Plates 140 and 141) which were
commissioned in the year 1610 on the occasion of the beatification of
the former saint, and which are now in the University Chapel. Of these
idealised portraits Professor Justi writes that they are “marked by
noble severity of character and pathos of expression.”
The period between 1610 and 1612 was occupied with an important work,
the designing and carving of the altar-screen and statues for the old
monastery of San Isidoro at Santiponce, in the suburb of Seville.
Montañés is noteworthy as a carver of altar-screens, and in this he
returned to the methods of earlier artists. Seville owes to him three
great retablos; those of Santa Clara and San Lorenzo in the city itself,
and the one at Santiponce, which of the three is perhaps the most
beautiful. It is in two registers with an attic. In the centre of the
first portion stands the magnificent statue of St. Jerome, one of the
finest figures of Montañés; placed on the right and left are St. John
the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, and two bas-reliefs of the
Adoration of the Magi and of the Shepherds. The last group is especially
beautiful. San Isidoro, Archbishop of Seville and patron of the church,
occupies the centre of the second register, while the bas-reliefs on
either side represent the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ. In the
attic are figures of the Cardinal Virtues and an Assumption of the
Virgin, which surmount a Crucifix and two kneeling angels.
In this great work it seems certain that Montañés must have been aided
by his pupils. The St. Jerome, however, was carved entirely by himself.
It was coloured by Pacheco, who was for many years the collaborator of
the Sevillian master. The work is perfectly executed, indeed it is
impossible to say more of this magnificent polychrome than that it
merits the praise which has been lavished upon it.
There are also in the Church of Santiponce the tombs of Don Alonso Perez
de Guzmán el Bueno and his wife Doña Maria Coronel, who founded the
monastery. They are carved in marble and polychromed. Cean Bermudez
attributes to Montañés the figure of the hero of Tarifa. This is an
error; both monuments are clearly by the same hand, and the style is not
that of Montañés. But they are fine works, harmonious and simple, and
the polychrome is very good indeed. It is unfortunate that their author
is unknown.
The masterpiece of Montañés, and the work by which he is most widely
known, belongs to the year 1614: it is the Crucifix now in the sacristy
of the cathedral (Plate 142), but originally executed for the
Carthusians of Santa Maria de las Cuevas, and given to the monastery
with the stipulation that the figure was never to be removed. This
statue, once seen, can never be forgotten. What impresses us is the
dignity of the nude figures, wonderfully carved, without any violent
attitudes, and the colouring, perfectly harmonious; it is the
incomparable refinement, the sobriety with which the divine drama is
represented, that moves us so profoundly. Montañés expresses perfectly
the deep religious feeling which animated Spain in the seventeenth
century. A passage in the _Arte de la Pintura_ tells us that the
polychrome was done by Pacheco in the “_mat tone_” which he used with
such splendid effect.
Five years later, in 1619, Montañés executed the first of his Christs of
the Passion for the Cofradia de Cristo del Grand Poder Santísimo y Madre
de Dios Trespaso, an order founded in Seville by the Dukes of Medina
Sidonia in the middle of the fifteenth century. The statue bears the
name _El Señor del Gran Poder_ (The Being of Great Power). A good
replica of this work belongs to the parish church of San Ildefonso. The
original statue is now in the Church of San Lorenzo. It is placed in a
dark side-chapel, where it is difficult to see it in the unequal light
of the candles. The Christ bears the Cross in an unusual attitude, the
upper part resting upon His shoulders. The face has splendid dignity.
But the statue has been disfigured by the barbarous custom of dressing
the figure in elaborate robes entirely out of harmony with the subject.
Nobody sees the figure as it originally was, vigorously carved, and
wearing nothing but a loin-cloth. These representations of Christ with
the Cross appealed strongly to the Spaniards, and were greatly
venerated. Montañés cared much for them, and we read that a replica of
_El Señor del Gran Poder_, known as _El Señor de la Pasion_, which he
carved for the Convent of La Merced Calzada, was more esteemed by him
than any of his works. It is even reported that when in Holy Week the
Christ was carried in procession, he would wait to watch it pass,
overcome with joy and surprise at what his hand had been able to create.
This Christ is now in the parochial church of San Salvador, where is
also a group of St. Anne and the Virgin attributed to Montañés.
As well as interpreting the story of Christ’s Passion, Montañés created
statues of the Virgin, whose dignity, beauty, and feeling won for him
the popular admiration of his contemporaries. The worship of the Mother
of God had always made deep appeal to the religious heart of Spain;
then, in the year 1617, a papal edict was issued, at the earnest
instigation of Philip IV., declaring the immaculate nature of Mary. No
dogma had ever been accepted so readily, or believed in so fervently, in
Spain. The worship of the people in Montañés’ life was, in point of
fact, practically centred in adoration of the Virgin Mary; the many
different religious orders, while venerating their respective founders
and saints, were all united in their devotion to the Virgin. Art, still
the servant of religion, was summoned to give expression to this
passionate worship. Every artist was engaged in depicting the Virgin
Mother. In the North, the artists, working under the inspiration of the
Flemish masters, had delighted in representing those Virgins of Anguish
where the Mother mourns at the foot of the Cross for her Son. But now
Mary took a new form; she symbolises grace and beauty instead of the
severity and asceticism of the older ideal. This was especially the case
in Seville, the joyous city of the South. Here in exquisite images and
paintings we see her young and happy, the sinless Virgin-Mother of the
Lord. Montañés in sculpture and Murillo in painting were the great
masters of this new ideal. They interpreted the favoured subject with
that combination of naturalism and mysticism which found its way direct
to the heart of the Andalusian religionists. They share together the
claim of being the creators of the Spanish Virgins.
Seville contains several Conceptions by Montañés. There is one in the
cathedral, another of equal merit is in the Segrario Chapel of San
Julian. The Conceptions of Santa Clara and San Clemente are also fine
examples; they have greater merit than the better-known and much-praised
Virgin of the University (Plate 143). It will suffice if we describe one
of these Conceptions.
Montañés was already old when in 1630 he executed the statue, which was
the earliest of his Immaculate Conceptions, now in the cathedral (Plate
144). Her type is Andalusian, and she is shown in the full bloom of her
beauty. She appears to be meditating on the Immaculate Birth, and what
we note especially is the dignity and grace of her attitude and the
serene expression. The folds of the robe and mantle follow, but do not
accentuate, the beautiful figure. Angels hover around her feet, which
are hidden by her robe, as is commanded by the Church. The polychrome of
the statue has been renewed, owing to damage having been done to the
original painting by the removal of the vestments, with which, up to the
year 1779, the figure was barbarously clothed. But the work has been
carefully done, with due regard to the design of the primitive
polychromists. The flesh tints are warm and glowing, and the hair is
black with brown reflections. The robe is white over a red dress, of
which only the sleeves appear, and is covered with a pattern of gold
inset around with a brown fillet. This black mantle is also enriched
with a design of golden palm-leaves. We do not know who was the original
painter of this work. It was not Pacheco, for before 1630, the date of
the Conception, the father-in-law of Velazquez had, after the lawsuit in
1622, severed his connection with Montañés, who wished to exercise a
closer superintendence in the carrying out of the polychrome of his
statues than Pacheco would submit to. Montañés does not seem to have
undertaken the polychrome himself; his works were too numerous to permit
this. An interesting contract dated 1641, and relating to the colouring
of the altar-screen of San Miguel at Xeres, names Jacinto Soto as the
polychromist, and besides furnishes strict injunctions that he must
accept and follow in the work the directions of Montañés. From this
document we may assume that Jacinto Soto succeeded Pacheco.
The consideration of these Christs of the Passion and the Conceptions
has carried us away from the chronological order of Montañés’ work. The
years 1615 to 1622 were occupied with the execution of the screen of the
high altar and four altars in the nave of the Church of Santa Clara, of
which the statues and the sculptures are the work of Montañés. The
carvings are of great merit, but unfortunately the screen of the high
altar was redecorated after the death of the master and almost ruined.
It has fine statues of Santa Clara, of the Christ and God the Father, as
well as a Conception, which formerly was on one of the side altars, four
bas-reliefs and a number of statuettes, among which special attention
should be given to the very beautiful group of angels, who carry the
lamps of the Holy Sacrament. On the side altars are the figures of St.
Francis, St. John the Baptist, and St. John the Evangelist.
The third important altar of Montañés is that of the Church of San
Lorenzo. It belongs to a later period of his art, having been undertaken
about the year 1639. The statue of St. Lawrence and the four
bas-reliefs, though probably not entirely the work of the master, are
carvings of excellent taste and distinction.
The carvings attributed to Montañés are very numerous, and, as we have
stated already, it is necessary to make a distinction between his own
work and that of his pupils. The statues of St. Bruno, the Virgin, and
St. John the Baptist (Plates 145 and 146), which were executed for the
Carthusians of Santa Maria during the period between 1617 and 1620, and
which are now in the Museum of Seville, are examples of carvings which,
though executed in the studio of Montañés, must not be accounted his
personal work. Probably their author was his favourite pupil Solis, who
for many years was the devoted collaborator of the master. This is also
the opinion of M. Marcel Dieulafoy. The Virgin is a very beautiful
polychrome, which speaks of the high skill of the carver. The original
colouring has been well cared for, and there is great delicacy in the
rose-coloured robe and blue mantle, which is covered with flowers and a
network design in gold. The child Jesus wears a robe of pale blue
relieved with delicate gold damasking.
In the museum is also the celebrated statue of Santo Domingo, which was
brought from the high altar of the Church of Santo Domingo de
Portacelci. It belongs to the year 1627. It is a fine work, but though
much prized in Seville, its merit is not so great as the St. Jerome of
Santiponce, the statue with which it should be compared.
In the year 1635, when Montañés was at least seventy-five years old, an
age when the activity of most men is over, he was called to Madrid by
the Grand Duke of Tuscany, to execute an equestrian statue of Philip IV.
He modelled a masterpiece, but the mould being sent to Italy to be
cast, was by some mischance lost. However, the master’s design served as
a model for the sculptor Pietro Tacca, whose work now stands in the
Plaza del Oriente, at Madrid.
It was during this two years’ sojourn in Madrid that Montañés renewed
his friendship with Velazquez, and sat for that incomparable portrait
which is one of the masterpieces of the great painter.
The last work of Montañés was an altar-screen for the Church of San
Miguel at Cadiz. The commission for the work had been given as early as
1609, but Montañés had been occupied with the altar-screens of
Santiponce and other commissions in Seville, and the work had been
postponed. There was a second commission signed in 1613, but the work
was not undertaken until much later, and was not finally achieved until
1640, after the visit to Madrid. The statue of St. Bruno which dominates
the altar is very fine; the figure is seated, an unusual position for
Montañés. The polychrome was executed by Jacinto Soto.
Montañés died in 1649. He left a number of able pupils, and though none
inherited his genius, they carried on his work with merit, and sustained
the high renown of the school of Seville. It will be well to consider
their works in a separate chapter.
CHAPTER IX
THE DISCIPLES OF MONTAÑÉS IN SEVILLE
It is the fate of the followers of a great master that their talent is
almost always expressed in imitation, rather than in original work.
Occupied with the glory that has been achieved, they forget that
personality is the only living quality in art; that, however capably
they may follow, they cannot reach the height that has already been
gained. Thus the result of imitation must always be decay.
But the renown of the Sevillian school was for a time maintained by a
band of really capable sculptors, who, had they lived earlier, before
Montañés instead of after, might have been masters and not merely
followers. We must now consider their work.
The sculptors most immediately connected with Montañés were Solis, of
whom we have spoken already; the Abbot Juan Gomez, one of his earliest
pupils; Alonso Martinez, an architect and master carpenter of Seville
Cathedral; Luis Ortiz, a sculptor of Malaga; and Alonso de Mena, who
came from Granada. These five men all worked as pupils in the studio of
Montañés, and to a greater or less extent adapted their talent to
copying the qualities of their master. Indeed Solis and the Abbot Juan
Gomez appropriated so well his style that considerable confusion as to
the authorship of their works has arisen.
Born in Jaen, Solis came to Seville in the year 1617, and assisted
Montañés in the execution of the statues of St. Bruno, the Virgin, and
St. John the Baptist for the Carthusians of Santa Maria de las Cuevas,
which are now in the Museum of Seville. It is probable, as we stated in
the last chapter, that the statues were carved by Solis from the wax
models of Montañés. La Justicia (Plate 148) and the Four Cardinal
Virtues, executed for the same monastery, and now also in the museum,
were the personal work of Solis: in this work he shows that, apart from
his power of imitation, he possessed talent of his own which entitles
him to recognition. It is a polychrome of real merit, well conceived and
well executed.
Even greater confusion has arisen with regard to the authorship of the
works of the Abbot Juan Gomez, of which Seville has numerous examples.
Even Cean Bermudez places among the original works of Montañés a Jesus
of Nazareth of the Convent of San Agustine, which to-day is in the
Priory Church, although the archives prove the Abbot Gomez to be its
author. This work is proof of the capability of the pupil. He does even
greater credit to his master in his life-size Crucifixion, executed in
1616 for the town of La Campaña. M. Marcel Dieulafoy says of this work:
“It is a faithful copy of those of Montañés, and like them extremely
beautiful.” Unfortunately the carving has suffered greatly from bad
restoration.
Alonso Martinez carved, with Francisco de Ribas, the altar-screen of the
Chapel of San Pablo in the cathedral, and it is to his hand we owe a
very beautiful polychromed figure of the Virgin (Plate 149). Alonso de
Mena, a sculptor whose fame has been overshadowed by his son Pedro, the
disciple of Alonso Cano, carved many works for the churches of
Alpujaras; in addition he executed for the Chapel of the Kings two large
buffets of which the folding doors are ornamented with eight excellent
medallions of the Queens and Kings of Spain.
To Luis Ortiz we owe the earliest of the cathedral stalls at Malaga,
which were carved by him in 1630 in collaboration with Josef Micael. He
was also the author of the altar-screen of the royal chapel of Nuestra
Señora de los Reyes. The two brothers Francisco Ruiz and Juan Antonio
Gixon were taught their art by Alfonso Martinez. Antonio Gixon was
professor, and later director, of the Academy of Seville, founded by
Murillo. Francisco Ruiz remodelled, after Montañés, the dying Christ
(Plate 150) which is in the church at Triana, a suburb of Seville. It is
a very beautiful carving, which bears comparison with the master’s
Crucifixion in the cathedral. The polychrome also is harmonious, equal
to the finest work of the masters of that art. Indeed the merit of this
unknown statue is surprising when the late period at which it was
undertaken is remembered.
But the art of sculpture still had strong life in Seville, and the
school was to produce another master to continue the traditions of
Montañés. Pedro Roldan was born in Seville in 1624, and he learnt his
art in the studio of Montañés, working afterwards in the Academy of
Seville. He is the pupil who did the master the greatest credit: he may
even be said to have surpassed him in the art of composition. No one
else among the Southern sculptors had his power of grouping a number of
figures. His two masterpieces--one in the parish church of the
cathedral, the other in the Hospital de la Caridad--are veritable
pictures in relief. They are the finest altar-screens in Seville, and
must be compared with the works of Gregorio Hernandez and Juni, the
masters of the Northern schools.
The cathedral altar-screen is a bas-relief representing the Descent from
the Cross. The Virgin supports the body of the Christ, and around them
are grouped St. John and several disciples, the Magdalen, and the holy
women. The figures are larger than life-size. In the background are the
two thieves outlined against the Temple, which is seen in the distance.
Around this central composition are beautiful angel figures carrying the
instruments of the Passion. Then on the base of the altar is outlined
the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
In the execution of this work Roldan was aided by Francisco de Ribas, a
master carpenter, who was the son of Gaspar de Ribas, the first
collaborator with Alonso Cano. Francisco Ribas began the altar in 1669,
when he contracted for the price of 88,000 reals, with the condition
that all the figures were to be carved by the hand of Roldan. We do not
know how much Roldan received for his work. He was always indifferent
as to the payments made to him.
The altar-screen of the chapel of La Caridad is even finer than that of
the cathedral. The subject (Plate 152) is the Burial of Christ. The
figures placed around the Divine Body, which is being lowered into the
tomb, are splendidly grouped, and there is great unity in the
composition of the scene. The polychrome was carried out by Juan de
Valdés Leal, while Murillo aided that painter with his counsel and
possibly with his brush. The architect Bernardo de Puieda contracted for
the work, receiving for it 12,500 ducats. Of this sum 11,000 ducats went
to Valdés Leal, but we have no knowledge as to the amount appointed to
Roldan, though a contemporary writer remarks that “it was very little.”
This is what we should expect, for we read of Roldan as being entirely
engrossed in his art. He lived in a country house outside Seville, where
he enjoyed the beauties of nature, only going to the city when
compelled. Then he rode on a small donkey, and occupied his time while
journeying in making small models in clay or wax, which he always
carried with him.
Besides his large altar-screens Roldan executed many small bas-reliefs,
which give further proof of his talent. The best examples are in the
Cathedral of Jaen. These bas-reliefs are carved in marble, and, like his
larger works, are remarkable for the beauty of their composition. The
subjects are the Flight into Egypt, the Marriage at Cana, and Christ’s
Argument with the Doctors, which are in the interior of the church set
over the principal doorway. Then on the exterior of the building are
statues of St. Ferdinand, the Doctors, and the Evangelists.
Some of Roldan’s sculptured statues in Seville have been attributed to
Montañés. This has been the case with the striking Ecce Homo of the
Hospital de la Caridad. To complete Roldan’s work we must mention his
groups of the “Pasos,” which he carved for the Holy Week procession. In
these he appealed most forcibly to the people of Seville. Christ’s Agony
in the Garden is the best known; it is as fine as any of the “Pasos” of
Montañés.
Roldan left a daughter, Doña Luisa, known as Roldana, who has the honour
of being the one renowned woman sculptor of Spain. She was born in the
year 1556, and was trained by her father, assisting him in his work. She
inherited his talent, with less strength but more grace. Legend states
that a statue of St. Ferdinand carved by Roldan was refused acceptance.
The daughter retouched the work, and gave it more life, when it was
received by the purchaser without knowing it was the same statue.
Probably the story is untrue, but it proves the estimation in which
Roldana was held by her contemporaries. Roldana married a king’s
chamberlain, and went to reside in Madrid, where her works and also her
person gained admiration. In 1695 she was appointed sculptor to the
Chamber. But she died in 1704, when still young, only four years after
her father.
Roldana’s best work is the Virgin, known as Nuestra Señora de las
Augustias, which is at Cadiz (Plate 153), where it is greatly esteemed.
This praise is deserved. The group is cleverly composed, and is
remarkable for the originality displayed in the placing of the figures;
the body of the dead Christ rests between the knees of the Virgin
instead of across them. The Christ is excellent, the Virgin is less
good; but the angels who hold up the arms of the Divine Sufferer are
very beautiful. The way in which they are grouped is masterly. The
Escorial has one work by Roldana, a statue of St. Michael, who is shown
dancing, and is dressed in the armour and Roman costume of the century
of Louis XIV. This statue is less noteworthy.
Roldan had, besides his daughter, one pupil who deserves mention, Pedro
Duque Cornejo. He was the last sculptor of the Sevillian school. Among
his contemporaries he gained great success, and for twenty-five years he
was sculptor to the Queen’s Chamber--a success which his works certainly
do not merit. All his carvings suffer from exaggeration and an
overloading of ornament and gilding--the faults of the decadent period
in which he lived. He executed many commissions for the Cartuja del
Paula at Seville. He carved in mahogany the stalls of Cordova Cathedral,
and also the fine Silleria, which was brought from the Cartuja of
Seville to the Coro of Cadiz Cathedral. Cornejo died in 1757, and was
buried with princely state in Cordova Cathedral.
CHAPTER X
THE SCHOOL OF GRANADA AND ALONSO CANO--THE DECLINE OF
SCULPTURE--FRANCISCO ZARCELLO
The school of Granada was an offshoot from the school of Seville, and it
owes its glory chiefly to one man, who must be considered as the pupil
of Montañés.
Alonso Cano was born at Granada, on the 17th of March 1601, and was
baptized in the parish church of San Ildefonso, where the register of
his baptism may still be seen. His father, Miguel Cano, was a carver of
retablos, and it was with him that the young Cano learnt the rudiments
of his art. Before long his talent gained the notice of the painter Juan
del Castillo, who recommended the removal of the Cano family to Seville
for the sake of better instruction. Cano entered for eight months the
studio of Francisco Pacho, where he learnt painting, having for his
fellow-student Velazquez. Afterwards he became the assistant of Juan del
Castillo. In sculpture he was the pupil of Montañés, and for several
years he worked under his guidance. There seems to have been a great
friendship between the master and pupil. Cano’s debt to Montañés was
very great, and his early works in Seville, executed under the direction
of the master, are proof of how completely he assimilated his style.
Cano’s earliest sculptured works were three retablos, designed, carved,
and painted, one for the College of San Alberto, and two for the
Conventual Church of Santa Paula. Zurbaran and Pacheco were employed
with Cano in executing the altar-screen of San Alberto, and Cean
Bermudez tells us that his work surpassed theirs in merit. In the
execution of the two altar-screens for Santa Paula he was helped by
Gaspar de Ribas, who worked with him under the direction of Montañés.
These screens remain in the Church of Santa Paula--one over the altar of
St. John the Baptist, the other over that of St. John the Evangelist.
They are pieces of harmonious work, altogether praiseworthy, which show
Cano’s combined power as architect, sculptor, painter, and damask
worker. The finer is the altar of St. John the Baptist. The statue of
the prophet and a bas-relief representing the Baptism of Christ are at
either side, and between a beautiful representation of figures carrying
the head of St. John on a charger; then to right and left, between the
columns, are placed statues of the Saints, and these surmount figures of
the Virtues and Cherubim. The hand of a master is seen everywhere.
Besides the altar-screens of Santa Paula, there are a few good carvings
that belong to this period of Cano’s youth. There is a Conception in the
nunnery of Santa Paula, placed over the doorway, and a second, and
perhaps finer, Conception is in the parish church of San Andrés, and
there is also in the same church a very beautiful Child Jesus,
unfortunately dressed in a satin robe which quite hides the body. These
statues are all good, and indeed might be ascribed to Montañés except
for a weakness in the modelling of the nude portions, a fault which Cano
afterwards overcame. The few other carvings in Seville that are ascribed
to Cano are less certainly by him, and are works of little interest.
An important undertaking belongs to the year 1628. Miguel Cano had been
employed to erect a new high altar for the church at Lebrija, a small
town situated forty-five miles from Seville on the way to Jeréz. The
altar was already designed, but the actual carving was not started, when
Miguel Cano died. It fell to his son to complete the work. Four pieces
of sculpture were executed; a Crucifixion to be placed above the altar,
colossal statues of St. Paul and St. Peter for its second storey, and a
small and exquisite image of the Virgin enshrined within a curtained
niche above the slab of the altar. This last is perhaps the most
pleasing sculpture of this early period; it is one of those really
beautiful pieces which cause us to forgive much of Cano’s commonplace
work.
It was soon after this that Cano left Seville. He could not bear any
superior in his art except his master to be near him, and he challenged
a fellow-painter, Sebastian de Llano y Valdés, whose success had enraged
him. He stabbed and wounded him, and, to escape the action of the
ecclesiastical authorities, he fled to Madrid. Here he renewed his
friendship with Velazquez, and through his influence gained an
appointment to work in the royal palaces, besides having the honour of
being professor to Prince Baltasar Carlos.
During this period, and in the years that followed, Cano did more
painting than modelling, and we have many pictures from his hand, some
of which may be seen in the Prado Museum. In 1643 we find Cano at Toledo
soliciting work in the cathedral. He did not obtain it, and returned to
Madrid, where, soon afterwards, he was accused of murdering his wife.
This was the beginning of a period of turmoil and wandering. Cano fled
to the city of Valencia and afterwards took refuge in the Cartuja of
Portacali. But later on, returning to Madrid, he fell under the tribunal
of the Inquisition. After suffering the torture, he was adjudged
innocent of the crime with which he was charged, and appointed Majordomo
of the Brotherhood of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores. This was a source
of fresh trouble, and Cano was fined a sum of a hundred ducats for
refusing to assist in the procession in Holy Week beside the _alguazils_
of the court--a characteristic incident, for Cano was a man who never
crossed his own wishes. Cano again left Madrid, and we find him in
Toledo, employed by the chapter to inspect the works in the octagon
chapel. Afterwards he must have gone to Valencia and Malaga, then he
appears again at Madrid. But he seems to have sought an opportunity to
leave the royal city, and a canonry being vacant in the Cathedral of
Granada, he petitioned the post from Philip IV., which was granted by a
royal decree, dated September 11, 1651, under conditions that he should
take orders within a year. But the year passed and Cano was not
ordained, and his prebendaryship was declared vacant. Whereupon Cano,
who was still governed by self-will, took his grievance to the courts. A
chaplaincy was conferred on him by the Bishop of Salamanca, and the
artist was ordained a sub-deacon. Then the king ordered, by a decree
dated April 14, 1658, that the Granada prebendaryship should be restored
to him, with the condition that he adopted ecclesiastical dress, which
hitherto he had refused to wear. At last, in 1659, Cano returned to
Granada, and took possession of his prebendaryship, which he occupied in
peace for the remaining eight years of his life.
This was the period of Cano’s greatest activity. The only sculptured
works achieved during these turbulent years were the design for the Holy
Week monument of the Church of St. Gines, Madrid, and also the design
and the superintending of the building of the triumphal arch erected at
the Guadalajara gate for the entry of Queen Mariana on her marriage with
Philip IV. But now the restless artist had found a fixed home in the
city of his birth, with unhindered opportunity for the exercise of his
facile gifts.
Granada, and especially the cathedral--in the bell tower of which
building his studio was--owe much to these years of Cano’s residence.
His activity seems to have been unwearying. But, indeed, it must be
granted that the city possesses more works than Cano could possibly have
accomplished in a period of eight years. It has been usual to attribute
to him every good piece of polychrome statuary in Granada. This is not
surprising, for it is often impossible to distinguish with certainty
between his work and that of his pupils Josef de Mora and Pedro de Mena,
who imitated his style and made copies of many of his works. And the
confusion is increased by the habit which Cano had of himself working on
the carvings of his assistants; were they in difficulty, he would finish
their work with his own hand. Thus it is impossible to pronounce with
certainty as to the authorship of many of the reputed Canos in Granada.
Among the statues in the cathedral that are ascribed to Cano, and are
certainly his work, we may place first the Purissima, which is kept in
the sacristy. It is a small and very beautiful statuette which has the
qualities that belong to Cano’s paintings. Even more interesting is the
group of the Virgin and Child, with Santa Ana, also in the cathedral,
where it is hidden in the gloom of a dark side-chapel. Quite unknown,
this beautiful statue is almost certainly Cano’s work; it has all the
qualities that belong to his art. The Virgin, who is seated on the knee
of Santa Ana, holds the Child Jesus. The figures are half life-size; the
three faces and the hands are of exquisite delicacy. The Virgin
resembles the Purissima in her sweetness. What a dainty fairness is
here; with what exquisite taste the veil and the robe are arranged! The
polychrome, too, is very beautiful, and fortunately it has not been
restored. The Virgin wears a white tulle turban, which is black striped
and gold fringed; her robe is light red, damasked in gold, and partly
covered by a drapery of indigo blue, which is fastened with gold clasps
at the shoulders and waist. Santa Ana’s robe is black, gold embroidered,
while her cloak is a deeper shade of the same red-brown as the Virgin’s
tunic.
In these two statues we see Cano’s power in expressing tender human
emotions. It is the quality that marks his works--both his painting and
his carvings--among the Spanish masters. His art never touches the
passionate Conceptions of Ribera or Zurbaran in painting, or of
Hernandez in sculpture: it is on a lower level than the ecstatic emotion
of Murillo or the beautiful carvings of Montañés. Cano is mild and
touching; he neither excites nor thrills us. His Virgin is the happy
earthly Mother who takes sweet pleasure in her Child, not the Mater
Dolorosa, suffering for the sorrows of her Divine Son. She has the
fairness which he gives to all women. It was this understanding, so
uncommon in Spanish art, whose object was “to persuade men to piety and
to incline them to God,” of the joy of life with its human
relationships, that was Cano’s special gift. He changed the dramatically
serious religious compositions common to his country into scenes that
speak charmingly of tender joyousness born of earthly love. To him
alone, it would seem, it was given to find joy, and not sorrow, in the
divine drama from which the Spanish artists drew their inspiration.
Other carvings in the cathedral that are ascribed to Cano, though his
authorship in some of the pieces is disputed, are the colossal busts of
Adam and Eve placed very high to the right and left of the entrance to
the Capilla Mayor, and the heads of St. Paul and St. John the Baptist,
which are hidden in the darkness of the Chapel of Nuestra Señora del
Carmel. These carvings, and especially the bleeding heads of the saints,
are subjects that do not properly belong to Cano’s art, but were
undertaken by him to meet the popular taste of his day, and for this
reason they are of less interest. Yet their importance is great on
account of the excellence of the polychrome. The Adam and Eve, larger
than life-size, are carved in oak, and harmoniously coloured with
excellent care. Unfortunately the height at which they are placed makes
it very difficult to see them. The head of St. Paul and that of the
Baptist--if this is Cano’s work, and the skill of the craftsmanship
points to its being so--must be classed with the similar head of St.
John the Baptist in the Church of Santa Paula, which is also ascribed to
Cano. This last piece seems to have been copied from the head of the
Prophet sculptured by Montañés for the Church of Santa Clara. There is
also a most excellent Head of St. John the Baptist in the Camarin of the
Chapel of San Juan de Dios, which must certainly be Cano’s work (Plates
154-156). None but a master could have carved this head; it is the
finest example in Spain of a polychrome of this subject. The livid face,
which shows the death-marks, is surrounded with tumbled locks of black
hair and a beard of the same colour. Both it and the bleeding neck are
faithfully and splendidly rendered: there is beauty in the horror. The
charger on which the head is placed is of gold, and forms a sort of
aureole around it. At the top an eagle has seized it in its beak to
carry the relic to heaven; the bird is painted a deep warm black with
beautiful reflections.
The cathedral has other works which it owes to the years of Cano’s
residence. The beautiful frescoes of the Capilla Mayor, illustrating
scenes from the life of the Virgin, were his work. The lower stage of
the west façade we owe largely to him. He designed and superintended the
execution of two silver lamps for the principal chapel; he carved the
elaborate lectern of the choir, formed of fine woods, bronze, and
precious stones; and executed new portals for the sacristy. Two
medallions on copper of great delicacy were wrought for the Chapel of
the Trinity. Here the figures recall the Virgin in the group of Santa
Ana and Virgin and Child. In addition several important pictures were
painted for the dome of the Capilla Mayor, and others as altar-pieces
for the chapels. Some of these canvases disappeared when Granada was
stripped of so many of its treasures by the French. But a few fine
pictures remain. The Trinity in the chapel of that name, the Way of the
Cross in Nazareno Chapel, and the Virgen de la Soledad, which hangs over
the altar of San Miguel, are the most important.
This last-named painting is especially interesting to us, for there are
two pieces of sculpture certainly copied from it, one in the parish
church of Santa Ana, the other in the Church of Santa Paula. Both are
excellent. The Virgin has the delicacy and beauty that we expect from
Cano. The polychrome is subdued; the flesh of the face and the beautiful
folded hands are a dull pallor, befitting grief; the eyes and the tears
are formed by crystals, after the custom used by Gregorio Hernandez and
Juan de Juni. The dress, which is white, and the mantle, of bluish
black, are perfectly harmonious. These colours are a repetition of the
cathedral picture. And the question arises, are the sculptures also by
Cano? That of Santa Paula has always been ascribed to Josef de Mora. If
we accept this, we must account the Soledad of Santa Ana as the work of
Cano, and the Santa Paula as a splendid copy. But both statues are so
equally good, especially in the colouring, that the pupil’s work must
have been touched by the hand of the master. It is impossible to believe
that Josef de Mora could have achieved this masterpiece unaided.
The same difficulty of authorship between the master and the pupil
confronts us in the two statues of St. Bruno, both in the Cartuja
(Plate 158). One, life-size, is in the sacristy, and this work is
reported to have been ordered from Josef de Mora; the other, a
statuette, which is placed over the high altar, may with little question
be ascribed to Cano. At least, if it is not his work, then it is a copy
of a lost original. Josef de Mora could not by himself have designed so
exquisite a work. The statuette exceeds the statue in beauty. Both the
carving and colouring are equally fine; the latter is a triumph of
polychrome. The monk’s pale face and hands, his white robe, and his
scapular of the same colour, are perfectly transcribed, a richness being
given to the white of the dress, in contrast to the pale flesh, by the
device of the old damask workers of painting over a gold ground. This
small work is another masterpiece which Cano achieved. It takes rank
with the St. Anthony in San Nicolas of Murcia, a better known work,
which belongs to an earlier period of Cano’s art. The Cartuja formerly
contained a fine statue of the Magdalen, which is ascribed to Cano
(Plate 159). It was taken away, with many works of art, during the
invasion of the French.
There is almost hopeless uncertainty with regard to the remaining
commissions carried out by Cano for the religious orders of Granada.
Cean Bermudez catalogues many paintings and sculptures that have
disappeared. For the Convent of the Angel we read that Cano carved in
marble a figure of the Guardian Angel to be placed over the portal, and
designed an elaborate altar-screen, which was carved by Pedro de Mena,
though Cano chiselled several of the statues with his own hand. He also
painted a picture of our Lord parting from the Virgin in the Via
Dolorosa. Other pictures were painted for the Convent of San Diego, and
a series of half-length figures of the Apostles were designed and
executed for the Dominican Monastery of Sta. Catalina. Then Cano worked
for private patrons. Palomino tells of a statue of St. Anthony of Padua,
carved for the Auditor of the Chancery, which Cano, becoming enraged
with his client about the payment of the work, dashed to pieces: a
characteristic incident, which recalls the action of Torrigiano.
Unfortunately the disappearance of many of these churches and
monasteries with all their contents, and the change of the names of
others, makes it impossible to estimate these works or to hazard an
opinion as to their present whereabouts.
Cano closed his activity with a series of works for Malaga Cathedral. He
designed the Capilla Mayor, and undertook to carve new stalls for the
choir, but a dispute arising about the payment, he threw up the work
with his usual impetuosity and returned to Granada. A group of important
pictures were also painted in these last years.
Cano died in his house in the Albaicin quarter on the 5th October 1667;
he was then sixty-six years old. His body rests in the Pantheon of the
Canons beneath the choir of the cathedral.
It is worth noting that Cano died in poverty. His disposition was
generous, and the old Spanish writers tell us that his gains, as soon as
he won them, were divided among his friends and among the poor. We find
numerous anecdotes of his life, and one story of his death is too good
not to be recorded; moreover it helps to complete our knowledge of the
man. The priest summoned to offer extreme unction to the dying Cano was
accustomed to labour among penitent Jews, towards whom the artist had
always displayed a curiously passionate antipathy. The sick man
recognised the priest. “Go, Señor Licenciado,” he cried, “go with God
and do not trouble to call again: the priest who administers the
Sacraments to Jews shall not administer them to me.” A fresh priest was
summoned. The new-comer placed an old-fashioned crucifix in the hands
that had carved so many beautiful pieces. Impatiently Cano pushed it
aside. “My son,” gently remonstrated the priest, “what dost thou mean?
This is the Lord who redeemed thee and must save thee!” “I know that all
very well,” was Cano’s answer, “but do you want to provoke me with this
wretched ill-wrought thing in order to give me over to the devil?”
Cano was a gallant soul storming through life, who in spite of his
violence and restlessness was loving and charitable, displaying
boundless graciousness towards his friends and his pupils. No master
ever took greater interest in his pupils; he gave freely to them of his
knowledge and his work. These contradictions in Cano’s temperament
explain his art.
Among Cano’s pupils special mention must be made of Josef de Mora and
Pedro de Mena; both imitated their master so closely that, as we have
seen, their works have been confused with his. This is perhaps the best
praise that can be accorded to the pupils. Joseph de Mora was born at
Majorca in 1638, where he passed his youth learning his art from his
father. The fame of Cano brought him to Granada, and he at once became a
pupil in the studio of the master. He acquired considerable skill as a
carver, and a few years later he went to Madrid, where he was appointed
sculptor to the king. But the climate of the capital being unsuited to
his health, he returned to Granada. From this time Mora became wholly
the imitator of Cano. He had a curious habit that is worth recording; no
one ever saw him at work, for when in his studio with his model the door
was always kept bolted. This explains perhaps why he was able to copy so
successfully the carvings of Cano. We have pointed out the various
statues in which confusion has arisen between the authorship of the
master and that of the pupil. The St. Bruno of the Cartuja and the
Virgen de la Soledad of Santa Ana cannot be given to Mora as wholly his
own work; a Conception in the Cartuja, if it is by his hand, must also
be considered as a copy of Cano. Fortunately for Mora’s personal
reputation there is in the Church of Santa Ana a statue by him of St.
Pantaleon, which reveals some individual characteristics. The figure of
the young martyred saint was modelled from a woman, and the spiritual
effect gained by this means is increased by the unusual device of
placing the statue in a glass case. The figure is very graceful and
delicate, which contrasts with the severity of the face. But there is a
weakness in the modelling of the legs and feet, and also in the folds
of the vestments, which the artist has striven to hide by the
polychrome. This is good, in the style commended by Pacheco, made in
subdued tones and with no gilding. The personal qualities of this statue
make us regret the practice of imitation of his master in which Mora
lost his own talent, which must have been considerable.
This is even more true of Pedro de Mena, Cano’s second pupil, who had
much greater originality and talent. A native of Alpujaras, where, in
collaboration with his father Alonso de Mena, he had established a
considerable local reputation, like Mora he came to Granada, attracted
by the renown of Cano. It is reported that when he saw the master’s
works in the cathedral his enthusiasm was so great that he determined to
do no more carving until he had become a pupil of Cano. He brought his
family to Granada and at once entered the studio of the master. Cano
recognised his talent, and passed over to him all the work which he did
not wish personally to execute. Under these conditions Mena gained the
commission, refused by Cano, to carve forty statues of the saints for
the choir of Malaga Cathedral. The work occupied four years, 1658-1662,
and for it Mena received payment of 40,000 reals. These statues prove
the great talent of Mena. The figures are carved in cedar-wood and are
not coloured. What is remarkable is the individuality which Mena has
succeeded in giving to the different saints; each is a living character.
Professor C. Justi says of these statuettes: “They are among the most
singular and startling products of Spanish art, if not of all modern
sculpture.” Mena had the Spanish gift of impressive rendering of
character, and it is for this quality he claims recognition.
In 1667 Mena was appointed sculptor to the Chapter of Toledo. Probably
it was at this time that he carved the statuette of St. Francis (Plate
160), now in the Cathedral Treasury, which has erroneously been ascribed
to Cano. This ascetic figure, so Spanish in its conception, could never
have been carved by Cano. The popularity of Mena increased, and on the
death of Cano he took his place, fulfilling many commissions for the
different religious orders. The city still contains several of his
works. The equestrian statue of St. James and the praying statues of the
Catholic Kings in the cathedral are the best known. But these works are
of much less merit than the saints in the choir of Malaga. Certainly
they have some individuality, but Mena here relies too much on what he
had learnt from Cano; or perhaps popularity had made him careless.
But Mena’s fame spread, and he was called by Prince John of Austria to
Madrid to execute a Virgen del Pilar with St. James at her feet. The
success of this work gained a second commission, and Prince Doria
ordered a Crucifixion which was sent to Italy, where it gained much
praise--a rare honour for a Spanish sculptor.
Mena did not remain in Madrid, and after a period of residence in
Cordova, Malaga, and Salamanca, where he carved a statuette of St.
Francis which is still in the city, he returned to Granada, where he
died in 1693.
* * * * *
The last years of the seventeenth century saw the death of the great
sculptors of Spain, and with the opening of the eighteenth century we
may say that the art of sculpture itself was dead. A corruption in taste
had become general; it was evident in painting and in architecture as
well as in sculpture. Churriguera was the great offender, but his
contemporaries, following his lead, had sought by bad taste, displayed
in excessive decoration and vivid colour, “to correct” the simplicity of
art. The decline of sculpture in the South was more rapid and perhaps
greater than in the Northern schools. Many of the old altar-screens
were replaced by modern works of the new false art. A popular desire
arose for works of the coarsest materialisation. The custom grew of
dressing the statues in real garments. Then eyes of glass and real hair
were in many instances added, and apparatus was invented for moving the
head, mouth, eyes, and limbs of the statues. Many pieces of fine
sculpture were actually destroyed to meet this degraded demand. The
Virgins, and notably the las Doloras, were subjected to this treatment.
One example of these “dressed images” is a Virgin in Seville Cathedral.
The limbs of this carved doll move at the joints, while a contrivance in
the body enables the head to turn to the right or the left. The body is
covered with rose-coloured taffeta which is glued to the wood, the hair
is of silk plaited with gold threads, and shoes of white kid encase the
feet. Sometimes the figure sits, and sometimes stands, and the Child
Jesus is placed in the arms or upon the knees according to the position
of the mother.
There is little more to add. A dying tradition of art with no master to
reanimate its life--that is the record of the eighteenth century.
One artist alone claims remembrance. Francisco Zarcello was the son of
an unimportant Neapolitan artist, who had settled in Murcia at the close
of the seventeenth century. It was from his father that Francisco
Zarcello gained what training in art he had. It is said that he purposed
going to Italy to study, but the project was not carried out. Probably
Zarcello gained from thus pursuing his art alone, as he was saved from
the error of imitation, especially baneful in this period of decadence.
And though the renown he gained must be admitted to be in excess of the
merit that his works claim, he did possess a considerable talent, with
real feeling and something of the old Spanish religious sincerity. Had
he lived in a different epoch, with conditions more favourable to art,
he might have been a great artist.
Zarcello executed numerous works: indeed a greater number of statues and
statuettes--no less than eighteen hundred--than several men’s lives
could have sufficed to have produced are catalogued to his name. Many of
these present really admirable qualities. He was especially successful
in the grouping of his figures, many of which, though showing
exaggerated attitudes, are true works of art. His retablos in the
churches of Murcia, and the realistic groups of the “Pasos,” guarded in
the Ermita de Jesus (Plate 161), are remarkable examples of his power.
We are able to forget the materialistic devices used--such, for
instance, as the embroidered velvet robes which the Christ wears--by
reason of the truth and religious passion which has inspired the artist.
But all Zarcello’s figures display his faults, excited gestures,
confused drapery, and a want of care in the modelling of the
extremities.
Among his single statues we may mention the St. Jerome in the Cathedral
of Murcia, of which there is a replica in the convent of the saint,
three miles from the city. This statue is said by Antonio Alix, the
latest historian of Zarcello, to be equal to Torrigiani’s St. Jerome, an
estimate of praise which is surely excessive. Then there are the two
busts of St. John the Baptist in the Church of San Juan, a St.
Anthony--copied from Cano’s statue--a St. Francis, a Conception, and a
Purissima, as well as numerous representations of the saints. Every
church in Murcia contains some work of Zarcello. The statue of St.
Veronica (Plate 162) in Ermita de Jesus is the best single figure that
he achieved.
Zarcello stood alone. He was assisted in his studio work by the members
of his family, but no one of them inherited his talent. He seems to have
had no outside pupils. With his death, which occurred in the year 1748,
the history of ancient Spanish sculpture closes.
[Illustration: PLATE 1
Visigoth Crowns found near Toledo]
[Illustration: PLATE 2
Byzantine Crucifix and the Virgin in the Gothic Style. Provincial Museum
of San Marcos, Leon]
[Illustration: PLATE 3
Wooden Crucifix with which the Troops of the Cid were harangued. The
smaller Crucifix the Cid carried beneath his Armour. Salamanca
Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 4
Byzantine Chest, Toledo Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 5
Roman Statue found in the Ruins of Salonica. Provincial Museum, Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 6
El Santo Cristo, Burgos Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 7
Façade of the Cathedral, Santiago de Compostella]
[Illustration: PLATE 8
Portico of La Gloria, Santiago de Compostella Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 9
Detail of Carvings of the Portico of La Gloria, Santiago de
Compostella]
[Illustration: PLATE 10
Colegiata de San Isidoro, Leon]
[Illustration: PLATE 11
Spandril of Gate of Pardon in the College of San Isidoro, Leon]
[Illustration: PLATE 12
Two Statues in the Archælogical Museum, Leon]
[Illustration: PLATE 13
San Vicente, Avila]
[Illustration: PLATE 14
Basilica of San Vicente, Avila, Principal West Entrance]
[Illustration: PLATE 15
Zamora Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 16
Cloisters of San Pablo del Campo, Barcelona]
[Illustration: PLATE 17
Cloisters of the Monastery of Las Huelgas, Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 18
Tarragona Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 19
Portal, Tarragona Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 20
Burgos Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 21
Toledo Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 22
Leon Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 23
Detail of the Choir Stalls, Leon Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 24
Detail of the Choir Stalls, Leon Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 25
St. Mary Magdalene and Santo Domingo (Choir Stalls), Leon Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 26
San Celedonio and San Esteban (Choir Stalls), Leon Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 27
Noah, and Adam and Eve (Choir Stalls), Leon Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 28
Samson (Choir Stalls), Leon Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 29
Esau (Choir Stalls), Leon Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 30
Detail of Portico, Santiago de Compostella]
[Illustration: PLATE 31
San Francisco. San Marcos Museum, Leon]
[Illustration: PLATE 32
Various Statues from the Cross Aisle, Leon Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 33
Our Lady del Foro and the Offerings of the Kings, Cloisters, Leon
Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 34
A Sepulchre in the Convent of Las Huelgas, Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 35
Sepulchres in the Old Cathedral, Salamanca]
[Illustration: PLATE 36
Statues of the Portico, Tarragona Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 37
Puerta Alta de la Coroneria, Burgos Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 38
The Cloister Gate, Burgos Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 39
The Cloisters, Burgos Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 40
Detail of the Cloisters, Burgos Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 41
Detail of the Cloisters, Burgos Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 42
A Sepulchre, Las Huelgas, Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 43
Sepulchre of Archbishop Maurice, the Founder of the Cathedral, Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 44
Sepulchre of Archbishop Maurice, Founder of the Cathedral, Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 45
Sepulchre of the Infanta Doña Berenguela, daughter of San Fernando,
Monastery of Las Huelgas, Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 46
Tomb of Jaime de Aragon, Tarragona Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 47
Sepulchre of Martin, First Bishop of Leon, Leon Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 48
Sepulchre of Don Ordoño II., Leon Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 49
Sepulchre of the Martyrs, Basilica de San Vicente, Avila]
[Illustration: PLATE 50
Sepulchre of Archbishop Lopez de Luna in the Church of La Seo,
Zaragoza]
[Illustration: PLATE 51
Our Lady la Mayor, Statue of Silver, Burgos Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 52
Statue of Our Lady de la Vega, Salamanca]
[Illustration: PLATE 53
Statue of Our Lady de la Blanca, in the Principal Porch, Leon
Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 54
St. Michael slaying the Devil, Silver Statue by Juan de Arfé. Provincial
Museum, Salamanca]
[Illustration: PLATE 55
Diptych in the Camarin of Santa Teresa, Escorial]
[Illustration: PLATE 56
Detail of the Altar-screen of the Capilla de Santiago, Toledo
Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 57
Altar-screen in the Capilla de Santiago, Toledo Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 58
Chapel of Santiago, containing the Sepulchres of Don Alvaro de Luna and
that of his wife Doña Juana, Toledo Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 59
Detail of the Altar-piece in the Capilla de la Trinidad, Toledo]
[Illustration: PLATE 60
Altar-piece carved in Wood, end of XVth Century. Valladolid Museum]
[Illustration: PLATE 61
Centre of a Wooden Altar-piece, end of XVth Century. Valladolid Museum]
[Illustration: PLATE 62
Chapel of St. Anne, Burgos Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 63
Details of the Altar-piece in the Chapel of St. Anne, Burgos Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 64
Sepulchre of Don Juan II. and Doña Isabel, La Cartuja, Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 65
Sepulchre of Don Juan II. and Doña Isabel, La Cartuja, Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 66
Detail of the Sepulchre of Don Juan II. and Doña Isabel, La Cartuja,
Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 67
Sepulchre of Infante Don Alonso, son of Isabella I., La Cartuja,
Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 68
Sepulchre of Don Juan de Padella. Provincial Museum, Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 69
High Altar, La Cartuja, Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 70
Detail of the High Altar, La Cartuja, Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 71
Detail of the High Altar, La Cartuja, Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 72
Choir Stalls, La Cartuja, Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 73
High Altar, Santa Gadea del Cid, Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 74
High Altar of the Church of Our Lady del Pilar, Zaragoza]
[Illustration: PLATE 75
Bas-relief in the Altar-piece, Chapel Royal, Granada]
[Illustration: PLATE 76
Detail of the Sepulchre of the Catholic Sovereigns, Royal Chapel,
Granada]
[Illustration: PLATE 77
Sepulchre of the Infante Juan, only son of Ferdinand and Isabella,
Church of Santo Tomás, Avila]
[Illustration: PLATE 78
Carvings of the Principal Chapel, by Borgoña, Burgos Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 79
Back Part of the High Altar, Burgos Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 80
Tras-Sagrario, by Felipe de Borgoña, Burgos Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 81
Tras-Sagrario, by Felipe de Borgoña, Burgos Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 82
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, carved by Berriguete and Borgoña, Toledo
Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 83
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, carved by Berruguete and Borgoña, Toledo
Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 84
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, carved by Berruguete and Borgoña, Toledo
Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 85
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, carved by Berruguete and Borgoña, Toledo
Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 86
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, carved by Berruguete and Borgoña, Toledo
Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 87
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, carved by Berruguete and Borgoña, Toledo
Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 88
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, carved by Berruguete and Borgoña Toledo
Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 89
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by Ferdinand and
Isabella, Toledo Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 90
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by Ferdinand and
Isabella, Toledo Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 91
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by Ferdinand and
Isabella, Toledo Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 92
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by Ferdinand and
Isabella, Toledo Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 93
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by Ferdinand and
Isabella, Toledo Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 94
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by Ferdinand and
Isabella, Toledo Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 95
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by Ferdinand and
Isabella, Toledo Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 96
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by Ferdinand and
Isabella, Toledo Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 97
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by Ferdinand and
Isabella, Toledo Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 98
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by Ferdinand and
Isabella, Toledo Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 99
Detail of the High Altar, Chapel of the “Condestable,” Burgos
Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 100
Altar-piece, by F. de Borgoña, in the Royal Chapel, Granada]
[Illustration: PLATE 101
Detail of Altar-screen, Granada: King Ferdinand the Catholic]
[Illustration: PLATE 102
Detail of Altar-screen, Granada: Queen Isabel the Catholic]
[Illustration: PLATE 103
Boabdil giving up the Keys of Granada to the Catholic Sovereigns.
Fragment of the Altar-piece in the Royal Chapel, Granada]
[Illustration: PLATE 104
Choir Stalls at San Benito, Valladolid.]
[Illustration: PLATE 105
Back of a Choir Stall. Valladolid Museum]
[Illustration: PLATE 106
Fragments of Choir Stalls. Valladolid Museum]
[Illustration: PLATE 107
Several Fragments of Choir Stalls. Valladolid Museum]
[Illustration: PLATE 108
Fragments of Choir Stalls, by Andrés de Najera. Valladolid Museum]
[Illustration: PLATE 109
Stalls of San Benito, by Andrés de Najera, Valladolid]
[Illustration: PLATE 110
Stalls of San Benito, by Andrés de Najera, Valladolid]
[Illustration: PLATE 111
Stalls of San Benito, by Andrés de Najera, Valladolid]
[Illustration: PLATE 112
Wooden Panels, Murcia Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 113
Abraham’s Sacrifice and St. Sebastian, by Berruguete. Valladolid
Museum]
[Illustration: PLATE 114
Sepulchre of Archbishop Tavera, by Alonso Berruguete, Hospital de
Afuera, Toledo]
[Illustration: PLATE 115
Sepulchre, by Berruguete, in San Jeronimo, Granada]
[Illustration: PLATE 116
Statue of St. Secundus, by Berruguete, Church of San Secundo, Avila]
[Illustration: PLATE 117
San Benito. Valladolid Museum]
[Illustration: PLATE 118
The Transept, Cathedral of La Seo, Zaragoza]
[Illustration: PLATE 119
Sepulchre of the Marques de Villena and Retablo in the Monastery del
Parral, Segovia]
[Illustration: PLATE 120
Custodia by Juan Arfé, Avila Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 121
Statue of Don Cristobal de Rojas y Sandoval, Church of San Pedro de
Lerma, Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 122
Detail of the Statue]
[Illustration: PLATE 123
St. Jerome, by Gaspar de Becerra, Burgos Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 124
Altar-screen, by Juan de Juni, Segovia Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 125
Christ in the Tomb, by Juan de Juni. Valladolid Museum]
[Illustration: PLATE 126
Pieta, by Hernandez. Valladolid Museum]
[Illustration: PLATE 127
The Baptism of Our Lord, by Hernandez. Valladolid Museum]
[Illustration: PLATE 128
St. Francis, by Hernandez. Valladolid Museum]
[Illustration: PLATE 129
The Crucifixion, by Gregorio Hernandez, Chapel of the ex-monastic Church
of “Conjo,” Santiago]
[Illustration: PLATE 130
Our Lady of Sorrows, Church of “Conjo,” Santiago]
[Illustration: PLATE 131
La Dolorosa, by Salvador Carmona, Salamanca Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 132
Flagellation of Christ, by Salvador Carmona, Salamanca Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 133
Head of St. Paul. Valladolid Museum]
[Illustration: PLATE 134
High Altar, Seville Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 135
Oratory and Screen of Isabella la Catolica, Seville]
[Illustration: PLATE 136
Puerta del Perdon, Seville Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 137
Virgin and Child, by P. Torrigiano. Seville Museum]
[Illustration: PLATE 138
St. Jerome, by Torrigiano. Seville Museum]
[Illustration: PLATE 139
Statue of Faith, Top of Giralda Tower, Seville]
[Illustration: PLATE 140
St. Ignatius Loyola, by Montañes. University Chapel, Seville]
[Illustration: PLATE 141
St. Frances Xavier, by Montañes. University Chapel, Seville]
[Illustration: PLATE 142
Our Lord Crucified, by Montañes, The Sacristy, Seville Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 143
The Immaculate Conception, by Montañes. University Chapel, Seville]
[Illustration: PLATE 144
The Immaculate Conception, by Montañes, Seville Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 145
St. Bruno, by Montañes. Seville Museum]
[Illustration: PLATE 146
Our Lady de las Cuevas and Child, by Montañes. Seville Museum]
[Illustration: PLATE 147
St. Bruno, by Montañes, Cadiz Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 148
Justice, by Solis. Seville Museum]
[Illustration: PLATE 149
The Conception of the Virgin, by Martinez, Seville Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 150
The Crucifixion, at Triana, Seville]
[Illustration: PLATE 151
Our Lord, Sculpture in Wood, Hospital de la Caridad, Seville]
[Illustration: PLATE 152
High Altar in the Chapel, Hospital de la Caridad, Seville]
[Illustration: PLATE 153
Our Lady of Sorrows, by Luisa Roldan, Cadiz Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 154
Head of John the Baptist, Granada]
[Illustration: PLATE 155
Head of John the Baptist, Granada]
[Illustration: PLATE 156
Head of John the Baptist, Granada]
[Illustration: PLATE 157
Statue of St. Bruno, in the Chartreuse de Miraflores, Burgos]
[Illustration: PLATE 158
St. Bruno, by Alonso Cano, in the Cartuja, Granada]
[Illustration: PLATE 159
Statue of the Magdalene, formerly in the Cartuja, Granada]
[Illustration: PLATE 160
St. Francis, by Pedro de Mena, Toledo Cathedral]
[Illustration: PLATE 161
The Last Supper, by Zarcello, Ermita de Jesus, Murcia]
[Illustration: PLATE 162
St. Veronica, by Salcillo, Ermita de Jesus, Murcia]
FOOTNOTES:
[A] Pierre Paris, _Essai sur l’Art et l’industrie de l’Espagne
Primitive_, 1830-4, vol. ii. p. 308. Mr. Havelock Ellis has chosen
the Lady of Elche, on account of this symbolic character, as the
frontispiece of his illuminating book, “The Soul of Spain.”
[B] For a fuller account of the history of polychrome sculpture we
refer the reader to M. Marcel Dieulafoy’s _La Statuaire Polychrome en
Espagne_, from which many of the facts in this chapter have been taken.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Sculpture in Spain" ***
Copyright 2023 LibraryBlog. All rights reserved.