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Title: Madrid
Author: Calvert, Albert Frederick
Language: English
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THE SPANISH SERIES
MADRID
THE SPANISH SERIES
_Edited by ALBERT F. CALVERT_
GOYA
TOLEDO
MADRID
SEVILLE
MURILLO
CORDOVA
EL GRECO
VELAZQUEZ
CERVANTES
THE PRADO
THE ESCORIAL
ROYAL PALACES OF SPAIN
SPANISH ARMS AND ARMOUR
GRANADA AND THE ALHAMBRA
LEON, BURGOS, AND SALAMANCA
VALLADOLID, OVIEDO, SEGOVIA, ZAMORA, AVILA, AND ZARAGOZA
_In preparation_
GALICIA
SCULPTURE IN SPAIN
CITIES OF ANDALUCIA
MURCIA AND VALENCIA
TAPESTRIES OF THE ROYAL PALACE
CATALONIA AND BALEARIC ISLANDS
SANTANDER, VIZCAYA, AND NAVARRE
MADRID
AN HISTORICAL DESCRIPTION
AND HANDBOOK OF
THE SPANISH CAPITAL,
BY ALBERT F. CALVERT,
WITH 453 ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD
NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY MCMIX
TURNBULL AND SPEARS, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.
PREFACE
Madrid is but a nursling among the cities of Spain. Marius Fulvius laid
siege to Toledo nearly two centuries before the birth of Christ, and it
is not until a thousand years later that we find the first historical
mention of Madrid. London, under the title of Augusta, was one of the
most important towns of Britain more than five hundred years before Don
Ramiro II. of Leon razed Majerit, as it was then called, in 939. This is
the first authoritative reference we have to Madrid. In 1540, Charles V.
abandoned the time-honoured capitals of Valladolid, Seville, Zaragoza,
and Toledo, to nurse his gout in the brisk, rarefied air of Madrid. In
1560 the city was declared “the only Court” by Philip II., and styled
“Imperial y Coronada, muy noble y muy leal”; Ferdinand VII., in 1814,
added the words “y muy heroica.”
Despite the flattering and dignified official epithets that have been
bestowed upon it, Madrid possesses many natural features which militate
against its popularity as a residential centre; but, despite its
isolated and elevated position and the treacherousness of its climate,
the city has not deserved the strictures that have been passed upon it
by captious and prejudiced critics. For Madrid is a city of broad
thoroughfares, magnificent public buildings, and handsome houses; and,
since it has been rescued from its geographical remoteness by being made
the centre of the Spanish railway system, it has become one of the most
accessible and prosperous capitals of Europe.
In devoting a volume to an historical and descriptive account of Madrid,
I am not only fulfilling a duty which could not be neglected in any
serious attempt to make this Spanish Series useful and comprehensive,
but I am also inspired with a hope of being able to dissipate many of
the erroneous and defamatory impressions that are current with regard to
the Spanish capital. I have approached the task from the standpoint of a
resident writing for visitors to the city, and if my notes are biassed
in favour of my subject, I can only say that I have a sincere liking and
admiration for the city, and I have spoken of its people as I have found
them. The Spanish metropolis is modern; it is imbued with the
principles of modern progress; and while one never ceases to rejoice in
the unfaltering, unchanging adherence to an immemorial past,
characteristic of Toledo, one may feel an interest, equally keen and
appreciative, in the spirit of new Spain which is to be found in Madrid.
Not the least pleasant part of an author’s privilege in penning a
preface is the opportunity it affords him of acknowledging the
assistance and courtesy he has received in the accomplishment of his
task. To Mr W. Gallichan my thanks are due for assistance received in
the compilation, and I am also grateful to Señor Don J. Lacoste and
Messrs Hauser y Menet for their kindness in permitting me to reproduce
many of the illustrations that adorn this little book.
A. F. C.
CONTENTS
PAGE
I. GENERAL IMPRESSIONS OF MADRID 1
II. HISTORY OF THE CITY 18
III. THE COURT AND SOCIETY IN MADRID 32
IV. ART IN MADRID 47
V. LITERATURE AND THE DRAMA 60
VI. CHURCHES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS 72
VII. ALCALÁ DE HENARES 128
VIII. THE BULL-FIGHT 136
IX. THE ART OF THE BULL-FIGHTER 145
X. CAFÉ LIFE OF THE MADRILEÑOS 166
ILLUSTRATIONS
TITLE PLATE
Plan of Madrid 1
Arms of Madrid 2
General view of Madrid 3
View of Madrid from the Teja 4
General view of Madrid 5
View of Madrid from San Isidro 6
The Fountain of Cybele and Calle de Alcalá 7
The Northern Railway Station and Royal Palace 8
Puerta del Sol 9
Puerta del Sol 10
Calle de Alcalá 11
Calle de Alcalá 12
Calle de Alcalá 13
Calle de Alcalá 14
Carrera de San Jerónimo 15
Calle de Alcalá 16
Calle de Sevilla 17
Calle de Alcalá 18
Plaza de Castelar 19
Calle de Toledo 20
In old Madrid 21
Paseo de Recoletos 22
Paseo de Recoletos 23
Paseo de Recoletos 24
Paseo de Recoletos 25
Calle de Alcalá and Statue of Aguirre 26
Paseo de la Castellana 27
Plaza de Isabel II. 28
Plaza de Oriente 29
Plaza Mayor 30
Plaza Mayor 31
Plaza Mayor and Statue of Philip III. 32
Calle de Serrano 33
Calle de la Princesa on Good Friday 34
Entrance to the Park of Alfonso XIII. 35
Casa de Campo. The Lake 36
Toledo Bridge 37
Toledo Bridge 38
Toledo Bridge 39
Segovia Bridge 40
Entrance to the Retiro 41
Entrance to the Retiro 42
Principal Entrance to the Retiro 43
Retiro. The Parterre 44
Retiro. The Lake 45
Retiro. The Crystal Palace 46
Retiro. Arab Pavilion 47
Retiro. Arab Temple 48
Gate of Alcalá 49
Gate of Hierro 50
Gate of Toledo 51
Chamber of Deputies 52
The Cortes. Two bronze lions in front of the Palace 53
Interior of the Chamber of Deputies 54
Interior of the Chamber of Deputies 55
Reception Room at the Chamber of Deputies. Decorated
by Don A. Mélida 56
Reception Room at the Chamber of Deputies. Decorated
by Don A. Mélida 57
Façade of the Hospital. Calle Fuencarral 58
La Latina 59
Portal of the Hospital of the Conception or “La
Latina” in the Calle de Toledo 60
Staircase of La Latina 61
Portal and Staircase of the Hospital de la Latina 62
Arabian Palace of the Prado 63
Arabian Palace of the Prado 64
Lujanes Tower 65
The Aguirre School 66
The Spanish Theatre 67
The Royal Theatre 68
The Treasury Office in the Calle de Alcalá 69
Palace of the Marqués de Portugalete 70
Palace of the Marqués de Linares 71
The Bank of Spain 72
The War Office 73
Southern façade of the Museum and the Statue of
Murillo 74
The Prado Gallery. North façade 75
The Prado Gallery 76
The New Exchange 77
The Town Hall 78
The Northern Railway Station 79
Círculo de Contribuyentes 80
The Senate House 81
Hispano-American Bank 82
The Spanish Academy 83
The Atocha Station 84
National Library 85
The National Library and Museum 86
National Library. Detail of the façade 87
National Library and Museum. East façade 88
National Library. Sphinx 89
The Equitable Buildings in the Calle de Alcalá 90
Statue of María Cristina and Museum of Reproductions 91
Interior of the New Exchange 92
The Home Office 93
Astronomical Observatory 94
The Exchange 95
The War Office 96
The Town Hall 97
Ministerio de Fomento 98
Hermitage of San Isidro 99
Refuge of Our Lady of Mercy 100
Church of San Francisco el Grande 101
San Francisco el Grande. General view from the
Choir 102
San Francisco el Grande. The Concession of the
Jubilee of the Porciúncula 103
San Francisco el Grande. Left side of the Cupola 104
Crypt in the Almudena Cathedral 105
The Cathedral. Partial view of the Crypt 106
Church of Las Calatravas 107
Las Calatravas 108
Church of El Buen Suceso 109
General view of the Church El Buen Suceso 110
Church of San José 111
Church of San Isidro el Real 112
Interior of the Church of San Isidro 113
Church of La Virgen del Puerto 114
Church of Las Salesas. The Suffering Christ 115
Church of San Cayetano 116
Altar-piece in the Bishop’s Chapel 117
Door in the Bishop’s Chapel 118
The Bishop’s Chapel. Left side of the door 119
The Bishop’s Chapel. Right side of the door 120
The Bishop’s Chapel. Upper part of the door 121
The Bishop’s Chapel. Sepulchre of the Bishop of
Plasencia 122
The Bishop’s Chapel. Sepulchre of Don Francesco de
Vargas 123
The Bishop’s Chapel. Sepulchre of Doña Inés de
Carvajal 124
Parish Church of St Andrew. Sepulchre of San
Isidro, Patron Saint of Madrid 125
Interior of the Church of San Jerónimo. From a
picture in the Prado of the Prince of the Asturias
(Ferdinand VII.) taking the Oath of Allegiance
in 1789 126
View of the interior of the Church of San Jerónimo 127
San Antonio de la Florida 128
Church of San Antonio de la Florida 129
Interior of the Church of San Antonio de la Florida 130
Fresco in San Antonio de la Florida, by Goya 131
Fresco in San Antonio de la Florida, by Goya 132
Fresco in San Antonio de la Florida, by Goya 133
Fresco in San Antonio de la Florida, by Goya 134
Group of Angels in San Antonio de la Florida, by Goya 135
Group of Angels in San Antonio de la Florida, by Goya 136
Interior of the Church of San Antonio de la Florida 137
San Antonio de la Florida. Painting in the principal
Chapel, by Goya 138
San Antonio de la Florida. Paintings on the centres
of the intrados of the Choir and principal Chapel
Arches, by Goya 139
San Antonio de la Florida. Paintings on the springings
of the intrados of the principal Chapel Arches,
by Goya 140
San Antonio de la Florida. Paintings on the springings
of the intrados of the Choir Arches, by Goya 141
San Antonio de la Florida. Paintings on the intrados
of the Chapel Arch, left side, by Goya 142
San Antonio de la Florida. Paintings on the intrados
of the Chapel Arch, right side, by Goya 143
San Antonio de la Florida. Triangles formed by the
Dome adjoining the principal Chapel, by Goya 144
San Antonio de la Florida. Triangles formed by the
Dome adjoining the Choir, by Goya 145
San Antonio de la Florida. Paintings at the left sides
of the windows of the Dome, by Goya 146
San Antonio de la Florida. Paintings at the right
sides of the windows of the Dome, by Goya 147
San Antonio de la Florida. First group on the Cupola
to the left of the centre, by Goya 148
San Antonio de la Florida. Second group on the
Cupola to the left of the centre, by Goya 149
San Antonio de la Florida. Centre of the composition
on the Cupola facing the entrance, by Goya 150
San Antonio de la Florida. First group on the Cupola
to the right of the centre, by Goya 151
San Antonio de la Florida. Second group on the
Cupola to the right of the centre, by Goya 152
The Prado 153
The Prado 154
The Prado Gallery 155
The Prado. The Velazquez Gallery 156
Madrid Picture Gallery. Lower plan 157
Madrid Picture Gallery. Chief plan 158
Scene in the Life of Santo Domingo de Guzman, by
Pedro Berruguete. Prado 159
Ecce Homo, by Luis de Morales. Prado 160
The Baptism of Christ, by Navarrete. Prado 161
Portrait of Don Carlos, son of Philip II., by Alonso
Sánchez Coello. Prado 162
The Infantas Isabel Clara Eugenia and Catalina
Micaela, daughters of Philip II., by Alonso
Sánchez Coello. Prado 163
Jacob receiving the Blessing of his father Isaac, by
Ribera. Prado 164
Vision of St Peter the Apostle to St Peter Nolasco, by
Zurbaran. Prado 165
Los Borrachos, by Velazquez. Prado 166
The Forge of Vulcan, by Velazquez. Prado 167
The Surrender of Breda, by Velazquez. Prado 168
Philip IV., by Velazquez. Prado 169
Queen Isabel of Bourbon, by Velazquez. Prado 170
Don Baltasar Carlos, by Velazquez. Prado 171
Philip IV. in Hunting Costume, by Velazquez. Prado 172
Don Baltasar Carlos in Hunting Costume, by Velazquez.
Prado 173
Duke of Olivares, by Velazquez. Prado 174
Æsop, by Velazquez. Prado 175
St Antony Abbot visiting St Paul, by Velazquez.
Prado 176
Las Hilanderas, by Velazquez. Prado 177
Las Meninas, by Velazquez. Prado 178
Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, by Murillo.
Prado 179
El Tiñoso: St Elizabeth of Hungary tending the sick
in her Hospital, by Murillo. Prado 180
Father Cabanillas, by Murillo. Prado 181
The Child Jesus as Shepherd, by Murillo. Prado 182
Detail of Plate 179, by Murillo. Prado 183
The Vision of St Bernard, by Murillo. Prado 184
The Virgin of the Rosary, by Murillo. Prado 185
The Child St John, by Murillo. Prado 186
The Children, Jesus and St John, known by the name
of “Los Niños de la Concha,” by Murillo. Prado 187
The Holy Family and the Bird, by Murillo. Prado 188
Head of the Holy Shepherd (fragment), by Murillo
Prado 189
La Porciúncula (the Vision of St Francis), by Murillo.
Prado 190
The Martyrdom of St Andrew the Apostle at Patras,
by Murillo. Prado 191
The Dream of the Roman Senator and his wife, which
produced the Church of St Maria Maggiore at
Rome, by Murillo 192
The Roman Senator and his wife telling their dream
to Pope Liberius, by Murillo 193
The Annunciation, by El Greco. Prado 194
The Holy Family, by El Greco. Prado 195
The Crucifixion, by El Greco. Prado 196
The dead Christ in the arms of God the Father, by El
Greco. Prado 197
Charles IV., by Goya. Prado 198
Queen Maria Luisa, by Goya. Prado 199
The nude Maja, by Goya. Prado 200
The draped Maja, by Goya. Prado 201
The Family of Charles IV., by Goya. Prado 202
Goya at the age of 80, by V. López. Prado 203
Jesus and Mary Magdalene, by Correggio. Prado 204
The Holy Family and the Lamb, by Rafael. Prado 205
A Cardinal, by Rafael. Prado 206
Madonna and Child, with St Bridget and St Hulpus,
by Titian. Prado 207
The Crown of Thorns, by Domingo Tiepolo. Prado 208
Portrait of Albrecht Dürer, by himself. Prado 209
Queen Artemisia, by Rembrandt. Prado 210
Village Fête, by Teniers. Prado 211
Gallery of the Archduke Leopold in Brussels, by
Teniers. Prado 212
The Three Graces, by Rubens. Prado 213
The Holy Family, by Rubens. Prado 214
Van Dyck and Count Bristol, by Van Dyck. Prado 215
The Last Supper, by Juan de Juanes. Prado 216
The Catholic Sovereigns adoring the Virgin, by Juan
de Borgoña. Prado 217
A Gothic King, by Alonso Cano. Prado 218
The Water from the Rock, by Juan de las Roelas,
El Clérigo. Prado 219
A Soul in Pain, by Ribalta. Prado 220
Portrait of Philip II., by Pantoja de la Cruz. Prado 221
Portrait of Pedro Berruguete. 15th century. Collection
of Don José de Lázaro Galdeano 222
Architecture, Painting, and Sculpture, by G. Suñol.
Allegoric group intended for the façade of the
Prado 223
The Emperor Charles V. Prado Museum 224
The Empress Isabel of Portugal, wife of Charles V.
The Prado 225
A Satyr and children dancing. The Prado 226
Marble relief. Life-size figures. The Prado 227
Marble relief. Bacchantes. Life-size figures. The
Prado 228
Bronze heads. The Prado 229
Tapestry. The Baptist taking leave of his parents to
devote himself to penitence 230
Tapestry. The Virgin enthroned, Gideon showing the
lamb’s skin, and other scenes 231
Effigy of St Ferdinand, King of Spain. Chapel Royal 232
(1 to 5) Crowns and votive crosses of Guarrazar. (6)
Remains of St Ferdinand’s robe. (7) Moorish
spurs of St Ferdinand. Royal Armoury 233
C 1. Spanish man-at-arms, 15th century. Royal
Armoury 234
C 4. Spanish crossbowman, 15th century. Royal
Armoury 235
C 2. Spanish halberdier, 15th century. Royal Armoury 236
Mace-bearer of the 16th century with surcoat displaying
the Arms of Castile and Leon 237
A 26. Tilting harness of Charles V. Royal Armoury 238
A 112. Armour presented to Charles V. by the Duke
of Mantua. Royal Armoury 239
Armour of Charles V. made by Desiderio Colman.
(1849 Catalogue.) Royal Armoury 240
A 231. Armour made for Prince Philip (II.) by Wolf
of Landshut (1550). Royal Armoury 241
Armour of Charles V., Augsburg or Nuremberg make.
(1849 Catalogue.) Royal Armoury 242
A 37. Tilting harness of Charles V. made by Desiderio
Colman, Helmschmied. Royal Armoury 243
A 65. Tilting harness of Charles V. Royal Armoury 244
A 149. Armour of Charles V. (1541). Royal Armoury 245
A 243. Equestrian armour of Philip II. made by
Sigmund Wolf of Landshut. Royal Armoury 246
Armour of King Philip II. Royal Armoury 247
Armour of Philip II., engraved with the Royal Arms
of England. Royal Armoury 248
A 290. Armour of King Sebastian of Portugal. Royal
Armoury 249
A 290. Armour of King Sebastian, back plate (details).
Royal Armoury 250
A 291. Armour of Philip III. made by Lucio Picinino
of Milan. Royal Armoury 251
Armour made at Pamplona for the Duke of Savoy
(1620). Royal Armoury 252
Half armour of Philip IV. Royal Armoury 253
Milanese brigantine which belonged to Charles V.
Royal Armoury 254
B 1. Boy’s half armour made in Italy for the Infante,
afterwards Philip III. Royal Armoury 255
D 1. Boy’s half armour made for the Infante, afterwards
Philip III. (Second view.) Royal Armoury 256
B 4. Half armour presented to the Infante, afterwards
Philip III., by the Duke of Terranova.
Royal Armoury 257
B 18. Boy’s half armour made for the Infante Fernando,
son of Philip III. Royal Armoury 258
Half armour belonging to Prince Philip, afterwards
Philip IV. Royal Armoury 259
A 434. Gorget. Subject: The Siege of Ostend,
1601. Royal Armoury 260
A 434. Gorget of Philip II. Subject: The Battle of
Nieuport. Royal Armoury 261
Helmet of Philip II. made at Augsburg in 1549. Royal
Armoury 262
A 243. Helmet of Philip II. made by Wolf of Landshut
in 1554. Royal Armoury 263
A 290. Burgonet of King Sebastian of Portugal.
Royal Armoury 264
A 292. Burgonet made for Philip III. by Lucio
Picinino. Royal Armoury 265
A 350. Helmet for the Duke of Savoy (side view).
Royal Armoury 266
D 3. Burgonet of Charles V. designed by Giulio
Romano. Royal Armoury 267
M 5. Helmet of Francis I. of France, taken at the
Battle of Pavia. Royal Armoury 268
1511. Satin and velvet turban found in the palace of
Mustafa Bey of Oran, in 1722.--1533. Steel
turban of Ali Pasha, Turkish admiral at Lepanto.
Royal Armoury 269
D 63. The “Plus Ultra” shield designed by Giulio
Romano. Royal Armoury 270
D 10. Shield, early 17th century. Design: Warriors
in Combat. Royal Armoury 270
D 69. Italian shield, 16th century. Design: The
Triumph of Love. Royal Armoury 271
D 68. Shield of Augsburg make, 16th century. Royal
Armoury 271
D 79. Shield presented to Philip III. by the Duke of
Savoy in 1603. Royal Armoury 272
D 86. Moorish leather shield, end of 15th century.
Royal Armoury 273
M 6. Shield and sword of Francis I. of France, taken
at the battle of Pavia. Design: The Gallic Cock
attacking a warrior and putting him to flight.
Royal Armoury 274
A 242. Pommel and cantle of saddle of Philip II.
Royal Armoury 275
A 291. Cantle-plates of saddle made by Lucio Picinino.
Royal Armoury 276
Turkish saddle given to Charles III. Royal Armoury 277
Trophy formed of several pieces of armour of Philip II.
Royal Armoury 278
Armour of a greyhound. Royal Armoury 279
1987, 1992. Spanish arquebuses, end of 16th
century.--1955. Petronel, 16th century.--1961. Spanish
arquebus, with octagonal barrel inlaid with mother
of pearl and ivory, 16th century.--1972, 1977,
1946. Keys or cranks to cock the arquebuses.
Royal Armoury 280
Double breech-loading cannon, in bronze, used in
Spain at the end of the 15th century. Royal
Armoury 281
Sedan chair of Philip V. (from the coach-houses of the
Royal Palace, Madrid). Royal Armoury 282
Sedan chair of Ferdinand VI. (from the coach-houses
of the Royal Palace, Madrid). Royal Armoury 283
Sedan chair of Charles IV. (from the coach-houses
of the Royal Palace, Madrid). Royal Armoury 284
Sedan chair of Philip V. (from the coach-houses of the
Royal Palace, Madrid). Royal Armoury 285
Sedan chair of Charles III. (from the coach-houses
of the Royal Palace, Madrid). Royal Armoury 286
Campaign litter of the Emperor Charles V. Royal
Armoury 287
Carriage given by Napoleon I. to Charles IV. (from
the coach-houses of the Royal Palace, Madrid).
Royal Armoury 288
The Crown coach (from the coach-houses of the
Royal Palace, Madrid). Royal Armoury 289
General view of the interior of the old Armoury 290
General view of the interior of the old Armoury 291
General view of the interior of the old Armoury 292
Royal Academy of History. Exterior of the triptych-reliquary
from the stone monastery in Aragon 293
Royal Academy of History. Part of the triptych-reliquary
from the stone monastery in Aragon 294
Royal Academy of History. Paintings on the exterior
of the triptych-reliquary from the stone
monastery in Aragon 295
Statue of Philip III. in the Plaza Mayor 296
Statue of Philip IV. in the Plaza de Oriente 297
Statue of Espartero the Peace-maker 298
Statue of General Concha, Marqués del Duero 299
Statue of Velazquez 300
Statue of Murillo 301
Retiro. Statue of Goya 302
Statue of Cervantes 303
Cervantes 304
Statue of Calderón de la Barca. (The work of J.
Figueras) 305
Isabel the Catholic. Bronze group in the Castellana.
(The work of Oms) 306
Monument to the memory of Columbus in the Paseo
de Recoletos 307
Monument to the memory of Columbus in the Paseo
de Recoletos 308
Monument to the memory of Columbus in the Paseo
de Recoletos 309
Monument to the memory of Columbus in the Paseo
de Recoletos 310
Monument to the memory of Columbus in the Paseo
de Recoletos 311
Monument to commemorate the 2nd of May 312
Fountain of Neptune in the Prado 313
The Fountain of Cybele 314
The Prado, with the Fountain of the Four Seasons 315
The Royal Palace from the Casa de Campo 316
Royal Palace. The changing of the Guard (Halberdiers) 317
The Palace 318
The Palace from the Plaza de Oriente 319
The Royal Palace 320
Façade of Palace 321
Palace and Plaza de la Armeria 322
The Queen Mother leaving the Palace 323
Principal Staircase 324
Detail of Throne Room 325
General view of Throne Room 326
The Throne 327
Room of Charles III. 328
The Queen’s Room 329
Room of Mirrors 330
Gasparini Room of Charles III. 331
Hall of Columns 332
The Wedding. The King and Queen leaving the
church and entering the Royal coach 333
A Battle of Flowers 334
His Majesty the King of Spain 335
H.M. Queen Victoria of Spain 336
The King and Queen of Spain 337
H.M. Queen Victoria 338
Her Majesty the Queen Mother 339
Don Carlos of Bourbon 340
Medal struck in honour of the Royal Marriage 341
A Lady with a Mantilla 342
Mantillas 343
An out-door Pelota Court, with six players, three
against three 344
A Pelota Court 344
A Tartaña 345
The Harvest Cart 345
Sketches in Spain 346
Sketches in Spain 347
A Dancer 348
An Orange Seller 348
The Counsellor of the village 349
Full list of lottery results 349
Bull-fighters at the tavern 350
A Spanish girl 350
View of the Monastery of the Escorial 351
View of the Monastery (east side) 352
The Colonnade of the Monastery 353
Upper Cloister of the Monastery 354
Lower Cloister of the Monastery 355
The Evangelists’ Court 356
Principal Staircase of the Monastery 357
Interior of the Church 358
Panteon of the Kings 359
Panteon of the Infantes 360
Chapter Room. (Monastery) 361
Sacristy. (Monastery) 362
Altar-piece of the Santa Forma, painted by Claudio
Coello. (Sacristy of the Monastery) 363
Retablo of the High Altar. (Basilica of the
Monastery) 364
Left side of the High Altar: Interment of the Emperor
Charles V. 365
The Tabernacle in the Escorial Church 366
Choir Stalls. (Basilica of the Monastery) 367
Library of the Monastery 368
Apollo and Mercury, by Peregrino Tibaldi. (Fresco
on the arch of the Escorial Library) 369
Reception Hall. (Palace) 370
Hall of Ambassadors. (Palace) 371
Dining-Hall. (Palace) 372
Pompeian Hall. (Palace) 373
“Casa del Principe” or Lower Lodge 374
Coffee-Room. (Casa del Principe) 375
The Last Supper, by Titian. (The Escorial) 376
The Holy Family, by Rafael. (Casa del Principe at
the Escorial) 377
St Maurice and other Martyrs, by El Greco. (Chapter
Hall of the Escorial) 378
The Dream of Philip II., by El Greco. (Chapter Hall
of the Escorial) 379
Country Dance, by Goya. (Tapestry in the Dining
Hall of the Palace) 380
The Washerwomen, by Goya. (Tapestry in the
Escorial Palace) 381
The China Merchant, by Goya. (Tapestry in the
Escorial Palace) 382
The Grape-Sellers, by Goya. (Tapestry in the
Escorial Palace) 383
Children picking Fruit, by Goya. (Tapestry in the
Escorial Palace) 384
The Kite, by Goya. (Tapestry in the Escorial
Palace) 385
A Smoker, by Teniers. (Casa del Principe at the
Escorial) 386
The Story of the Passion. Diptych, in ivory, of
the 13th century. (From the Camarín of St
Theresa) 387
Egyptian Bronzes. Amon-Ra and Isis. (National
Archæological Museum) 388
Egyptian Bronzes. Osiris and Osor-Api. (National
Archæological Museum) 389
Alcalá de Henares. Paseo de Cervantes 390
Alcalá de Henares. General Central Archives 391
Alcalá de Henares. General Central Archives 392
Alcalá de Henares. Façade of the Archives 393
Court of the Alcalá de Henares. General Central
Archives 394
Alcalá de Henares. Chapel of the “Oidor.” Actual
state of the north wall 395
Alcalá de Henares. Actual state of the south wall 396
Alcalá de Henares. Chapel of the “Oidor.” Actual
state of the frieze round the north wall 397
Alcalá de Henares. The University 398
Alcalá de Henares. Façade of the University 399
Alcalá de Henares. Longitudinal section of the
Chapel of San Ildefonso in the University 400
Alcalá de Henares. Details of the façade of the
University 401
Alcalá de Henares. Details of the façade of the
University 402
Alcalá de Henares. Paseo de la Estación 403
Alcalá de Henares. Moorish Palace 404
Alcalá de Henares. Interior of the Cathedral 405
Alcalá de Henares. Interior of the Cathedral 406
Alcalá de Henares. The Cathedral. Nave 407
Alcalá de Henares. Sepulchre of Don Alonso Carrillo,
Archbishop of Toledo 408
Alcalá de Henares. Sepulchre of Cardinal Francisco
Ximénez de Cisneros 409
Alcalá de Henares. Sepulchre of the Archbishop of
Toledo, Don Alfonso Carrillo de Acuña 410
Alcalá de Henares. Details of the Sepulchre of
Cardinal Francisco Ximénez de Cisneros 411
Alcalá de Henares. Chapel of Santiago in the Church
of Santa María 412
Alcalá de Henares. Chapel of Santiago in the Church
of Santa María 413
Alcalá de Henares. Staircase in the Archbishop’s
Palace 414
Alcalá de Henares. Details of the Western Court
and Entrance Court, Archbishop’s Palace 415
Alcalá de Henares. Longitudinal section and details
of the Archbishop’s Palace 416
Alcalá de Henares. Frontispiece of a book called
“Vita Cristi Cartuxano” 417
Muñoza bulls, the property of the Duke of Veragua,
by Joaquín Díez 418
Testing a “Becerro,” or young bull, at Tablada, near
Seville, by Joaquín Díez 419
Selecting bulls from the herd of the Duke of Veragua
at “La Muñoza,” by Joaquín Díez 420
The Toilet of the Toreador before the Bull-fight, by
V. Esquivel 421
Before the Bull-fight, by B. Ferrandiz 422
Toreadors preparing to enter the Arena, by J.
Agrasot 423
Entertaining the Bull-fighter, by Alarcón 424
“Here comes the Bull!” by P. Francés. National
Exhibition of Beaux-Arts, 1887 425
“The Uninvited Guest,” by E. Mélida 426
Head of a Bull, by Joaquín Díez 427
Principal façade of the New Plaza de Toros 428
Principal Entrance to the New Plaza de Toros 429
Interior of the New Plaza de Toros 430
Bull-fight. Entrance of the “Cuadrilla” 431
Bull-fight. A Picador inciting the bull 432
Bull-fight. The Picador 433
Bull-fight. The Picador 434
Bull-fight. A “Quite” 435
Bull-fight. A “Quite” of El Gallo 436
Bull-fight. Lagartijo after a “Recorte” 437
Bull-fight. The Banderillas 438
Bull-fight. Frascuelo irritating the bull with a cloak
before killing him 439
Bull-fight. Lagartijo irritating the bull with a cloak
before killing him 440
Bull-fight. The bull being dragged out of the Arena 441
Ladies at the bull-fight 442
The Procession 443
Entrance of the bull 443
The Picador 444
At close quarters 444
A turn with his back to the bull 445
Fixing the Banderillas 445
The Matador 446
The final stroke 446
Bull-fight. Leap over the bull’s neck 447
Bull-fight. Leap with the pole 448
Bull-fight. Banderillas 449
Toreador wounded during a bull-fight, by Lizcano 450
Guerrita. Banderillero 451
Antonio Fuentes 451
Luis Mazzantini and Cuadrilla 452
Bull-fight. Last moments of a Toreador after being
attacked in the Arena, by R. Novas 453
MADRID
I
GENERAL IMPRESSIONS OF MADRID
“From Madrid to heaven, and in heaven a spy-hole to look at Madrid” is
the vaunt of the inhabitants of the Spanish capital. This pride has its
justification, for Madrid is a fine city, remarkable for its position on
a plateau over two thousand feet above the sea, famous for its progress
during the eventful eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and interesting
by reason of the great names in the arts and literature inscribed upon
its records. Madrid for the writers of the Romantic school was as
charming as all other things Spanish; for de Musset it was “princesse
des Espagnes” and “blanche ville des sérénades.”
Few towns in Europe are situated amid so many natural hindrances to
development as Madrid. It stands south and east of the bleak mountains
of central Spain, upon one of many exposed and almost treeless uplands,
where the winds of winter and early spring sting and bite, and the sun
in summer sheds pitiless heat, which dries up the blood and disposes to
languor. So fickle is the climate of this lofty region that, even in the
height of August, it is never quite safe to discard the _capa_ after
sundown, for, during the hottest day, a sinister and gelid breath may
assail one at the street corner with a menace of chill to the lungs. Yet
Madrid is not unhealthy. It is dry, invigorating, swept by mountain
breezes, bathed for long periods in brightest sunlight, and free from
the contamination and depression of smoke. With proper provision against
the variations in temperature, one may enjoy a full measure of health
and live to an advanced age in this city of the hills. The more
dangerous kinds of fever are uncommon in Madrid; the chief risk to
health is in the sudden keen air that brings a shiver when the body has
been scorched by the sun, and one turns to seek the shady side of the
street.
Rio and Cabarras, two Spanish historians, speak of the bad odours and
the dirt of Madrid in the seventeenth century. This reproach was,
however, removed in the time of Henry Swinburne, an intelligent
traveller, who visited the city in 1776. “The appearance of Madrid,”
writes Swinburne, “is grand and lively; noble streets, good houses, and
excellent pavement, as clean as it was once dirty.” In earlier days it
was not thought necessary to wash the thoroughfares, because the purity
of the air was an effective antidote to the evil of the filth and the
smells. Rio, for example, advances the opinion that the invigorating
mountain breezes are a sufficient purification.
The clear quality of the Madrid sunshine is a compensation for the
treachery of its winds. There are but few sunless days. “The sky at
Madrid is almost always clear and serene,” wrote Laborde, in 1809. The
heights of the Guadarrama are too far from the city to throw their shade
upon it, and the brilliant sunlight pours down and floods the streets
and squares, and penetrates every dwelling. Looking upon the wide,
rolling, hillocky country from the outskirts of the city, you have a
marvellous vista, full of colour, glow, and the grandeur of huge
sunlight spaces. The sky is almost perennially deep blue; but at times
there are vast masses of purple cloud above the horizon, whose passing
shadow produces changing effects of light and darkness upon the
far-stretching landscape, and adds a sternness to the sierra.
For a long period this part of Castile was ravaged by the fellers of
trees. The farmers aimed besides at the extinction of all kinds of
birds, under the delusion that every bird is harmful to crops; and in
the conduct of this warfare the axe was laid to the roots of millions of
trees, so that no harbour for small birds might remain. This clearing of
the forests destroyed the natural barriers against icy winds, deprived
the land of all shade, made deserts in place of groves, and affected the
climate and rainfall. A wiser policy was instituted in later years, and
now a number of large plantations have grown up in the environs of the
town, and the once denuded hillocks and bare gullies are here and there
clothed with shady coppices. For the rest, the herbage of these grey
uplands yields moderate pasturage for sheep in summer.
Madrid lacks the dignity and beauty which a wide river lends to a city.
The little Manzanares is not an imposing flood. It can scarcely rank as
a river. The handsome Puente de Toledo spans the stream, and gives a
touch of the picturesque to its muddy flow; and there is also the
well-constructed Bridge of Segovia, with many arches. These gave rise to
the now venerable joke that it would be better to sell the bridges and
buy some water with the proceeds.
Several writers have declared that the seat of the Spanish Court is not
typical of the cities of Spain. This may be accepted as true in the
sense that it has very little to show in the nature of antiquities.
Segovia, Toledo, Avila, Burgos, Seville, Cordova, and Granada possess
more interesting and romantic memorials of the past than the city of
Madrid. Nevertheless, the Castilian capital has associations with days
of immense moment in the history of Spain, and it is moreover one of the
handsomest towns in the Europe of to-day; and whatever else is wanting
in Madrid, it boasts of a priceless collection of some of the world’s
masterpieces of painting. Only here can one realise the greatness of
Velazquez, and appraise the genius of Goya. Its Royal Armoury, too, is
the finest in the world.
That Madrid has modelled itself upon Paris is not to its discredit. The
city manifests the modern spirit in Spain rather than the mediæval
atmospheres. It does not live upon its past like Cordova and Toledo.
Madrid aspires to be a progressive modern municipality. The streets are
broad, the system of lighting is modern, there are electric tramcars,
motor-cars, and London and Parisian vehicles in the thoroughfares. The
streets are deluged with the fire-hose three times a day, and the
nuisance of the dust is thereby abated.
A good supply of wholesome water is a boon in this arid district, but it
must be admitted that Madrid is not too well off in this respect. The
plazas are adorned with trees, and there are public parks, gardens, and
open spaces. The Englishman, the Frenchman, and the German feel at home
in this cosmopolitan centre; and yet everywhere there are the signs of
Spain, the essential characteristics of a Southern people, as shown in
courtly manners, mode of living, amusements, dress, and racial
temperament.
To say that Madrid is an attempted replica of Paris is scarcely a fair
description of the city. Madrid has an aspect and a character of its
own. Its gaieties are tempered with Castilian restraint. The business of
the city is conducted without bustle; the diversions are matters of
importance, and they are keenly enjoyed; but the Madrileño is not so
vivacious and hilarious as the Parisian. Even here, in the hub of modern
Spain, the Spaniard exhibits his placidity and patience. He is not given
to hurry. The express train, which travels at a speed of twenty-five
miles an hour, is fast enough for him, and he will get up in the early
morning to catch it. Yet life in Madrid is decidedly animated, even if
it is the pursuit of pleasure and not of wealth that occupies its
inhabitants.
And yet there is trading and speculating in the city, and merchants
contrive to build up businesses, and shopkeepers thrive, and
occasionally make large fortunes. But the aim is rather to enjoy life
than to “push” and “hustle” in the hope of accumulating dollars by
middle age. In fine, the art of contented enjoyment is discreetly
cultivated in Madrid by all classes. Valdés, in his novel “Froth,” tells
us how the “smart set” and the fashionable idlers of the city pass their
days, and the picture is not unlike the life of our own West End
society. But sentiment is a luxury for which the rich are prepared to
pay a high price. You may see beautifully furnished houses deserted and
allowed to fall into ruin by the owner, because his loved wife or child
drew their last breath there, perhaps years ago.
No, despite the tramcars, the modern air of the streets, and the London
and Parisian fashions in dress, you cannot fail to realise that this is
a Spanish city. Look at the workman, in his canvas blouse and drill
trousers, with the _boina_ on his head and hemp-soled canvas shoes upon
his feet; or the work-girl, with a rose in her hair and a fan in her
hand. These are types of Spain, distinctive in their social ideals,
their garb, and their physiognomy. Now and then, a peasant from the
provinces is seen rubbing shoulders with a grandee, clad in the costume
of Piccadilly. The contrast is sharp; the man about town and the
field-toiler might be natives of two different countries, for the wear
of the peasant is more African than European. His feet are in sandals,
his legs bound with linen, his head tied up in a kerchief, and his body
clothed with white cotton. And around his waist is a broad, gay silk
sash, in whose voluminous folds he conceals his money and his
keen-edged, long-bladed _navaja_.
How antiquated, too, in British eyes is the ox-cart, heavy and
ramshackle, with its squeaking wheels, and pair of bullocks under the
carved wooden yoke! And the mule-teams--the gaunt, bony beasts, in
Moorish-looking harness, with jangling bells around their necks, and the
quaint devices of the clipper upon their coats, attended by swarthy men
in knee-breeches and short jackets, with the peaked Castilian hat upon
their cropped heads--these surely are of the days when Don Quixote rode
on the great grey wastes of La Mancha, accompanied by his loyal Sancho.
Old Madrid is rapidly disappearing. One of its confines was formerly the
Puerta del Sol, which is now almost in the centre of the city. The gate
is no longer in existence, but the place in which it stood still bears
its name, and is the focus of the city’s life. Ancient purlieus were
situated to the east of the royal palace; to-day scarcely any of the
alleys and small squares remain, though here and there you may note a
quaint corner or an old house.
From the Puerta del Sol the chief thoroughfares of Madrid radiate. The
Calle de Alcalá, the Calle del Arenal, the Calle Mayor, and the
fashionable Carrera de San Jerónimo branch from this central square. In
the Puerta del Sol stands the Ministerio de la Gobernación, a large, but
not architecturally notable, edifice. Here also are the chief hotels,
cafés, and restaurants. In the Calle de San Jerónimo are the best shops.
Every one comes to stroll, lounge, and “to take the sun” in this bright,
busy space in the heart of the city. It is the Piccadilly Circus of
Madrid. All the types of Madrid’s population may be seen here from the
bull-fighter to the great legislator. American and English tourists
mingle with the throng; German commercial travellers talk business to
their customers on the seats outside the cafés; and one hears several
languages spoken in the hotels.
In the Buen Retiro and the Parque de Madrid you may study the _beau
monde_ of the city from the shade of the trees during the afternoon
parade. Here there are over two hundred acres of pleasure grounds, more
or less unkempt, but containing a fine avenue, paths, and umbrageous
trees. The upper classes of the city delight in riding and driving. It
is necessary to own a carriage and pair in order to figure in Madrid
society, and the hobby of motoring is on the increase here as elsewhere
in Europe. In former times the Buen Retiro was a royal demesne. Kings of
Spain from Philip II. to Charles III. resorted to this pleasaunce, and a
palace stood in the gardens. Nowadays, the Parque is a public pleasure
resort, used by high and low, and often merry with a carnival or a
battle of flowers. The Royal Palace overlooks the Manzanares, and
dominates the city. It is in form a huge quadrangle, designed by
Sachetti. The views from its windows are wide and impressive, and an
idea of their beauty may be gained from the balcony near the Royal
Armoury. Behind the palace is the Campo del Moro, a lovely garden on the
spot where Ibn Yusuf besieged the old Alcázar. Only the privileged are
permitted to enter this verdant sanctuary.
In an interesting book, “A Year in Spain,” written by a young American
in 1831, there is a picture of the daily life of Madrid which may serve
to illustrate the day’s round among the leisured in the city of to-day:
“The first thing in the morning was to arrange and order everything for
the day. Then each took the little _higada_ of chocolate and
_panecillo_, or small roll, of the delightful bread of Madrid. This meal
is not taken at a table but sitting, standing, or walking from room to
room, and not unfrequently in bed. This over, each went to his peculiar
occupations; the old woman, with her Diarios and Gacetas, to open her
reading-room in the entry; Florencia to ply her needle; and Don Valentin
to play tinker overhead, having first taken out his flint and steel, and
cigar and paper, to prepare his brief cigarillo, which he would smoke,
with a sigh between each puff, after those days of liberty when a cigar
cost two _cuartos_ instead of four. Towards noon he would roll himself
in his _capa parda_--cloak of brown--and go down into the Puerta del
Sol, to learn the thousand rumours which there find daily circulation.
If it were a feast day, the Mass being over, he would go with his
daughter to the Prado. At two the family took its mid-day meal,
consisting, beside some simple dessert, of soup and _puchero_,
well-seasoned with pepper, saffron, and garlic. If it had been summer,
the _siesta_ would have passed in sleep; but it being winter, Don
Valentin took advantage of the short-lived heat to wander forth with a
friend, and in the evening went to his _tertulia_, or friendly reunion.
In summer, one, or even two o’clock, is the hour of retiring; but in
winter it is eleven. Always the last thing before going to bed was to
take a supper of stewed meat and tomatoes, prepared in oil, to sleep
upon.”
Although this is a fair account of the inactive life of Madrid, it must
not be supposed that no business is done in the city. There are
comparatively few manufactures; but there are many shops, and a great
share of the produce of Spain is brought into the capital. Tobacco and
metal ware are the principal manufactures, and there are a large number
of craftsmen who work independently at various trades. Madrid is more a
centre of merchants and shopkeepers than of manufacturers.
George Borrow came to Madrid, on his Bible-distributing mission, and
lodged in the Calle de la Zarza, “a dark, dirty street, which, however,
was close to the Puerta del Sol, the most central point of Madrid.”
Borrow went to see two criminals strangled, and gathered some vivid and
lurid impressions of the life among the manolos, “the rabble of Madrid.”
He declares that the walls of the city enclose “the most extraordinary
vital mass to be found in the entire world,” and claims Madrid as
essentially Spanish. This is true only if we have regard for the fact
that the metropolis of Spain has still a character of its own, and is in
many respects more “European” and modern than Seville, Cadiz, Malaga,
and Granada. In Cordova and Toledo we are reminded at every step of the
influence of the Morisco, but in Madrid we recall the Spain of Charles
V. and of the Bourbons.
Since 1836, Madrid has been a University city. The academy founded at
Alcalá was transferred here at that time, and to-day there are about
eight thousand students. The Real Academia de Bellas Artes was founded
here towards the middle of the eighteenth century. Several fine examples
of the art of Murillo are in the gallery of the Academy, and there are
also works by Ribera, Rubens, Zurbaran, and Alonso Cano. Besides these
institutions there are the Academy of History, the Academy of Science,
the Academy of Medicine, and a number of other learned societies.
The Museum of Modern Art contains only a few paintings of importance,
but there are some notable pictures by Fortuny, and a few pieces of
modern sculpture. The great treasury of art, the Prado Gallery, is fully
described in a separate volume of this series. It is the greatest glory
of Madrid.
The Naval Museum will recall the past maritime supremacy of Spain. In
the National Library there are nearly a million books and a large number
of manuscripts, including the beautiful, illuminated Gothic work dating
from the tenth century, a thirteenth-century Bible, and the Siete
Partidas of Alfonso the Learned. The National Museum of Archæology
contains a very interesting collection of Roman, Gothic, and Moorish
antiquities.
It would be difficult to find a word which would convey a true
impression of a town, but if we were limited to the employment of a
single term to describe Madrid, _rococo_ would suggest itself. The
capital is elegant, fanciful, and yet stately. It does not smile like
Seville, nor frown like Toledo, and yet it is neither sad nor stern.
Granada and Cordova sleep. Madrid never seems to slumber; it is one of
the most restless places upon the earth. It has the dignity of Castile
and the frivolity of Paris; it exhibits the congestion of London in
parts within its gates, but it has no dingy, sunless slums, and few
signs of an ugly indigence.
There is the luxurious Madrid of the aristocracy and the hidalgo, the
Madrid that lives for fashion and pleasure, and there is the Madrid of
the shopkeeper and the lower middle class. Beneath these strata are the
wage-earners, the mechanics and labourers, a frugal and usually
industrious community. There is also the Madrid of a large nondescript
class composed of mendicants, thieves, hawkers, and the rabble and
derelicts of society.
There is the Madrid of the casinos, some intellectual, others merely
social or sporting. The city has its coteries of ardent politicians,
military men, financiers, reformers, freethinkers, revolutionaries, and
its societies of the scientific, learned, and artistic. There is no
specific character which one can point to as typical of Madrid. One
passion is, however, manifest throughout all classes--the love of
bull-fighting. Seville is the school of the torero; Madrid is the scene
of his valour in the arena. The bull-fighter is the idol of the
populace. In the cafés of the Puerta del Sol, or in the ring of the
Plaza de Toros, his figure is one that arouses the deepest interest and
warmest admiration. An eminent jockey in England has his host of
admirers, but he cannot command that universal respect which is accorded
to the _espada_ in Spain. The great bull-fighter is the pet of Madrid
society, the demi-god of the populace, the model of the “sports” of the
city.
It is just as easy to lead the studious, contemplative life in Madrid as
in London, if one elects to be aloof. On the other hand, there is every
opportunity for gaiety, social amenities, and dissipation. Madrid offers
almost every kind of life to its inhabitants. Its 540,000 natives,
forming Borrow’s “extraordinary vital mass,” are quite as motley as the
population of Manchester. Madrid is therefore neither a purely
commercial, fashionable, pleasure-seeking, nor cultured centre. Bilbao
and Barcelona are the busy marts of Spain; Burgos, Salamanca, and
Cordova subsist, as it were, upon the grandeur of the past, and you
wonder how the people live. But Madrid throbs with life, and manifests
the new ideals and views of the country in the domain of politics, in
social reforms, in the arts and sciences, and in the diversions of
society. In the realm of thought, the new Spain has its impulse and its
centre in Madrid. Barcelona has been called “the life of Spain,” and in
the commercial sense this is true. Yet Barcelona boasts of a strong
affinity with France, and a great part of its trade is in the hands of
foreigners. It is from Madrid that one may expect the impetus of a
patriotic, national, and racial advancement, based upon culture and the
recognition of the principles of social liberty.
II
THE HISTORY OF THE CITY
The records of Madrid before the tenth century are extremely scanty, and
the early history of the city is largely conjectural. There is no doubt
that the Moors established a fortress here, and called it Majrît; but
the Romans were in possession before the Arab conquest of the Peninsula,
as certain tablets, discovered in the city by Fernandez de Oviedo, serve
to prove.
Upon the disruption of the Khalifate the town became subject to Toledo.
Whether it was reconquered before or after the fall of that city, by
Alfonso VI., is a vexed question. The credit of taking the town is
assumed by the people of Segovia. At this time (1085) Madrid was
encompassed by a strong wall, stretching from the Moorish Alcázar, now
the Royal Palace, to the Church of our Lady of the Almudena; thence to
the street of Segovia by the Cuesta de los Ciegos to the Puerta de
Moros, and through the Calle Mayor and the Plaza de Oriente to the
Alcázar.
According to an old tradition, still accepted by a part of the populace
of Madrid, an image of the Virgin of the Almudena, now in the possession
of the nuns of the Sacramento Convent, was concealed by the zealous
Christians, during the Moorish occupation, in a tower of the city wall.
Three hundred years after the sacred image was discovered and restored
to the Church. There is a similar legend concerning the sculpture of the
Holy Mother found at about the same date.
Upon the victory of Alfonso, the mosque was purified and dedicated to
the Vírgen de la Almudena, and on the site is the fine new Cathedral. A
mixed population of Christians, Jews, and Moors lived within the city
walls at this period, and the staple industries were the making of hemp,
linen, and cloth. One of the regulations of that day referred to the
muzzling of dogs, as may be seen from an inspection of the curious Fuero
de Madrid, which is preserved by the municipal authorities.
The city is mentioned only occasionally in Castilian annals. Sancho el
Bravo in vain sought health and strength from its bracing air.
Under Ferdinand IV. the Cortes first assembled in Madrid, to meet there
again in 1335 under Alfonso XI. The townsmen warmly espoused the cause
of Peter the Cruel. In 1403, Henry III. sent from the city an embassy to
Persia, under Gonzalez Clavijo, to negotiate with the potent warrior
sovereign Tamerlane. The emissaries were absent from Spain for two
years, and during the journey they visited Constantinople and Samarkand.
John II. and Henry IV. lived in the Royal Palace, and encouraged many
poets of Castile who were of their retinue. It is proved by municipal
documents that Madrid was not then so insanitary and neglected as some
writers have stated, for there were rules for the disposal of refuse,
and an order was made for the paving of some of the chief streets.
Upon the death of Henry IV., a faction supporting his daughter, Juana
(who is said to have been born here), seized the Alcázar, and held it
for several weeks against the Duque del Infantado. Isabella, however,
bore the town no grudge, and during her brilliant reign its prosperity
increased by leaps and bounds. It remained loyal to the crown during the
Comuneros rising, and was rewarded by a visit from Charles V. in 1524.
He had taken a fever, and at the advice of his physicians, came to
Madrid to regain health in this elevated, bracing region of Castile. A
year after, he was in conflict with Francis I. of France, and the French
king was a captive in Madrid. Attended by a few members of his Court,
Francis occupied a room in the old palace, then known as the Alcázar.
There is no doubt that he suffered keen humiliation during this
detention, and that he was harassed by fears for the future. His gaoler
was Alarcon, the valorous commander of the Spanish infantry, who appears
to have treated his royal prisoner with courteous consideration.
When Francis heard that the Emperor desired that he should relinquish
all claim to Italy and yield Burgundy, he seized his dagger, and swore
that he would rather die than consent to the terms. And although Alarcon
restrained him from plunging the dagger into his body, the King avowed
that he would sooner suffer lifelong imprisonment than bear the disgrace
of gaining freedom by the loss of power and dignity.
Lying on his bed, surrounded by counsellors, the French sovereign sank
into a condition of fever and extreme depression. At length he declared
his willingness to yield.
By the famous Treaty of Madrid, which was signed in 1526, Francis I.
abandoned his rights over parts of Italy and certain portions of
Holland and Belgium. The compact was solemnly celebrated at a religious
service, and the French and Spanish monarchs passed a few days together
before Francis crossed the frontier of Spain.
No sooner had he passed over the Bidassoa than Francis cried: “I am yet
a king!” Never had he intended to keep to the terms of the Treaty of
Madrid. His breach of faith alarmed Charles, who sent Lannoy and Alarcon
to France as his emissaries. Their errand was unavailing; Francis
offered a sum of money to the Emperor, but refused to cede Burgundy. And
so the bitter feud between Charles and Francis was continued.
Charles V. was a singular example of weakness, of obstinacy, and of
reason, with a bias for right and justice. He delighted in the quietude
of Aranjuez, and was fond of directing the work of the gardeners. The
emperor was athletic in his early manhood, and addicted to field sports.
He loved the sights and sounds of wild nature, and took pleasure in
roaming the forests. During his visits to Italy, he went to see many
famous pictures, and paid homage to Titian. His versatility was also
exhibited in his great taste for music and his knowledge of the
technique of the art.
He it was who first conceived the project of elevating Madrid to the
rank of capital. It was left, however, to his son to promulgate the
decree declaring the town to be _unica Corte_. The document, dated 1561,
has unfortunately been lost. Madrid had this advantage over Toledo,
Valladolid, and the other old capitals, that it was not identified with
any one in particular of the kingdoms that made up Spain, but with Spain
in general.
Philip II. held his Court at Madrid in 1561, but he preferred the
solitude of his palace of the Escorial. Under this monarch’s rule the
city was enlarged, the streets widened, and several squares built. At
this time a number of the surrounding forests were felled in order to
raise money for the royal exchequer. Don John of Austria, the natural
son of Philip IV. by the beautiful actress Calderona, lived in the Buen
Retiro. In “The Lady’s Travels into Spain,” written in 1679, we read
that it was against the custom to permit the illegitimate sons of
royalty to enter Madrid. Don John was therefore confined in the Buen
Retiro, “which is the Royal Seat at one of the farthest Parts of Madrid,
a little without the Gate.” Here the prince led a secluded existence.
“And he shew’d himself so little that he was never seen at any publick
Feast during the Life of the late King: but since, Times have changed,
and his Fortune stands on a different bottom.”
According to this very entertaining authoress, Don John was of middle
height, handsome, with “a most manly countenance.” His address was
polished and kindly, and he was reputed to be well learned in the arts
and sciences. He “took a great pleasure in the Mathematicks.” Madrid at
this time was renowned for the purity of its air and water. The water
was “so good and so light that the Cardinal Infante would drink no other
when he was in Flanders; and he caus’d it to be brought by Sea in
Earthen Jars well stop’d.” The streets of the city were poorly paved, so
that the horses often sank up to their knees and the coaches to the
butts of the wheels. There were no fortifications to Madrid at this
period, and the gates were not defended. Still, even at this time, there
were long and wide streets and many great houses. Eating houses
abounded, where the chief dishes were beans, garlic, leeks, and broth.
There was very little drunkenness. Men drank less than half a pint of
wine during the day, and the majority of women abstained altogether.
At this date it was the fashion to retain a large number of domestic
servants. The Duchess of Osuna kept about eight hundred attendants, and
every room seemed full of them. Only titled persons were allowed to
drive teams of four mules. If a commoner dared to appear on the streets
with such an equipage, he was liable to a fine, and the traces of his
carriage would be cut. The king’s team consisted of six mules.
The daughters of high families in Madrid were often placed in a sort of
service to friends of their relatives, who employed them in embroidery
and other needlework, for if the young women remained at home they spent
their time in idle chatter. The farthingale was worn, and it was often
of a huge size, and exceedingly troublesome to the wearers and to other
persons. Some women of fashion wore as many as a dozen skirts and
petticoats, except in the hot months, when they contented themselves
with seven or eight, some being of satin and others of velvet. As the
dresses were cut low, it was the custom to rouge the shoulders as well
as the cheeks.
The ladies of Madrid society used at this time to sit upon the floor,
with their legs crossed in the oriental fashion. They played ombre, took
but little outdoor exercise, toyed with their needles, and read very
little. At Mass the women carried enormous muffs, and each one had a
fan, which was used both in hot and cold weather.
The author who records these impressions of Madrid was the Countess
d’Aulnoy. It is the opinion of some modern Spanish chroniclers that her
accounts of the manners and customs of that period are over-coloured and
often incorrect.
It was in the reign of Philip III. that the first part of Cervantes’
“Don Quixote” was printed in a house in the Calle de Atocha, by Juan de
la Cuesta, and the great satire was published in 1605. Philip III.
removed the Court to Valladolid, where it was maintained for about four
years and then reinstated at Madrid. During the rule of Philip, the
Plaza Mayor was built.
The reign of his successor was inaugurated by the public execution of
the unfortunate Calderon, whose fall has been the theme of many
romances.
The marriage of the Infanta Maria, sister of Philip IV., to Charles of
England was arranged to be celebrated in Madrid, in March 1623. Charles
stayed in the Convent of San Jeronimo, and afterwards at the Royal
Palace, where he remained for five months, and was entertained with
bull-fights, _fêtes_, and balls. The English prince was, however,
prevented from marrying the Princess Maria through hindrances of a
political nature.
Philip IV. built the Palace of the Buen Retiro at Madrid, inspired by
the example of Fontainebleau. In this new royal residence many balls
were held, and much money expended upon festivities of a very luxurious
character. Meantime, the scaffolds of Madrid flowed with noble blood, as
a result of the abortive conspiracy to place the House of Braganza on
the throne of Spain and the Duke of Medina Sidonia on that of Andalusia.
Madrid suffered from the general distress which spread over Spain at
this period. In the surrounding villages the people were at the point of
starvation, and the food supply in the city was seriously threatened.
The outlook was so menacing that, in 1664, the President of Castile was
sent with a military force to compel the farmers to send their produce
to Madrid. In 1680 there was much destitution and suffering in the city,
and the people rose and formed bands for the purpose of pillage. Beggars
swarmed in Madrid, and desperate gangs of robbers prowled in the
surrounding country.
The change from the Austrian to the Bourbon rule proved the salvation of
Madrid. Charles III. was an enlightened sovereign, honest in his
convictions, and vigorous in his measures of reform. He improved the
army, and raised the position of Spain to a first-rate power. His policy
in regard to the American colonies was liberal and conciliatory. Charles
repealed unjust taxes, stood champion to the poor man, and advocated
humane principles of government. He encouraged the sciences, art, and
letters of Spain, he protected the press, and gave printers immunity
from military service. During the rule of Charles III. schools and
colleges were founded. He improved and adorned Madrid, though at one
time he entertained the idea of transferring the seat of government to
Seville; and caused parks and promenades to be laid out. Under the
direction of this monarch, canals were constructed, roads made, waste
lands reclaimed, and industries stimulated.
The people of Madrid have every reason to respect Charles III. To his
initiation they owe the fine Customs’ House, the Prado Gallery, the
General Hospital, the Alcalá Gateway, the Observatory, the Botanical
Gardens, and the Natural History Library. These and other institutions
and public buildings were established and erected during the reign of
this excellent king.
The history of Madrid becomes merged in that of the kingdom. The lead
taken on the “Dos de Mayo,” 1808, when the Puerta del Sol and the
adjoining streets were held with dauntless but futile courage by the
people of Madrid against the French, was the signal for the uprising of
the whole country against the intruder. The capital had well deserved
its headship by its vindication of the nation’s dignity and
independence. Every episode in its troubled history since that memorable
day has been described vividly and inimitably by the great epic
novelist, Galdós. Throughout the nineteenth century, the city had its
full share in the vicissitudes and discord, which so happily terminated
with the accession of King Alfonso XII. and the establishment of the
strongest and most enlightened government Spain had known for centuries.
The Chevalier de Bourgoanne, who recounted his “Travels in Spain” in
1789, said that Madrid contained at that time eighteen parishes,
thirty-five monasteries, thirty-one convents, thirty-nine colleges,
fifteen gates, and about 140,000 inhabitants. The number of inhabitants
now approaches 600,000. Since the eighteenth century Madrid has extended
its confines on all sides, and grown into a modern city of the first
rank.
The walls, never a very formidable defence, were taken down in 1868 to
enlarge Madrid. At this time the new Plaza de Toros was erected, the
Puerta del Sol widened, and the viaduct built across the Calle de
Segovia. The streets are now well paved with stone or asphalte, and
illuminated with gas and electric light. The chief market is in the
Plaza de la Cebada, built in 1870.
In several of the squares and promenades there are fountains, statues,
and monuments. One of the finest of the monuments is that erected in
memory of the heroes of the Dos de Mayo (the Second of May). It is of
granite, in the shape of an obelisk, surrounded by symbolical figures.
This monument was designed by Isidro Velazquez. A marble group in front
of one of the façades of the Museo del Prado represents Daoiz and
Velarde, the gallant artillery officers who fell on that occasion in
defence of the throne and country.
Madrid has always been a city of craftworkers and small traders, and
even to-day there are very few large industries or factories. There are
many small employers of labour and many persons trading with their own
plant and stock, and finding employment for their own families. The
number of well-appointed shops is steadily increasing, and there is an
effort to compete with the large shops of Paris and London, as will be
seen during a stroll through the chief thoroughfares radiating from the
Puerta del Sol.
The arms of the city are a tree in leaf, with a bear climbing up the
stem, and the escutcheon is surmounted by a crown. Madrid bears the
title, “Imperial y coronada, muy noble y muy leal y muy heroica.”
III
THE COURT AND SOCIETY IN MADRID
Since the reign of Philip II. Madrid has been the _unica Corte_, or seat
of the Court of Spain. Before the twelfth century, a Moorish Alcázar
stood on the site of the present royal palace, which was built by Henry
IV., added to by succeeding monarchs, and considerably enlarged by
Philip III. The original architects were Herrera, Toledo, and other
famous designers of the day; but this structure was burned down, and, in
1738, Giovanni Sachetti planned a still larger palace, which is said to
have cost £3,000,000 in the building and embellishment.
The modern Palacio Real is rectangular, and stands on an eminence
commanding a wide view of the undulating tableland and the distant
mountains of Castile. It is built of granite and has wide wings. The
chief façade is on the south side. The Princes’ Entrance is one of the
several doorways of the fine façade. On the north is another portal of
admirable design, leading to the great _patio_ or inner court. The court
is surrounded by a piazza on thirty-six arches with the same number of
arches above, forming a gallery; and in the square are statues of the
Roman Emperors who ruled in Spain.
The grand staircase is of white and black marble, with an allegorical
ceiling painting by the Italian Giacinto. In the sumptuous Throne-Room
the appointments and decorations are resplendent, and on the ceiling is
a picture representing the Majesty of Spain, painted by Tiepolo.
Gasparini designed the beautiful hall that bears his name, where the
ceiling is of porcelain, and the walls decked with satin upon which
flowers are worked. The State Dining-Room of marble contains fresco
paintings. The Royal Chapel has columns of marble, and above the altar
is a painting by Mengs. Near the Sacristy are stored the holy relics;
and in the Tapiceria there is a very fine collection of tapestries after
Dutch artists. Attached to the Royal Palace are the Armoury, of which
something will be said later, the Royal Stables, excellently appointed,
and the sequestered and beautiful gardens.
Such is the principal residence of King Alfonso of Spain. The royal
ceremonial is under the direction of the Master of the Household and the
Lord High Steward. These officers are always persons of high birth, who
are invested with the honours of the Order of Charles III. and the
Golden Fleece. The Chief Equerry of the royal household takes the
position of Master of the Palace when that functionary is absent, and
controls the King’s hunt, and directs several minor officials of the
Court.
The Chief Chaplain to the King is the Archbishop of Toledo. One of the
principal members of the household is the Keeper of the Queen’s
Wardrobe. Then come the Lords of the Bedchamber, Maids of Honour, and
the Mayordomos de Semana (of the Week). The military officer in command
is the General of the Royal Halberdier Guards, and this functionary
presides over the ceremony of opening the palace doors at six in the
morning and closing them at eleven at night. In Spain the royal
residences are regarded as fortresses, and protected by troops.
The Intendant-General of the Royal House and Patrimony holds a
responsible post, and administers the King’s estates and incomes. Other
officials are the Private Secretaries, the Director of the Royal
Stables, the Chief Physician, the Chief Chemist, the Chief Architect,
the Secretary of the Signet, the Secretary of the High Chamber, Keeper
of the Archives, the Chief Librarian, the Director of the Royal
Armoury, and the Chief of the Tapestry Collection. The gentlemen of the
Royal Household wear a badge of office in the form of a silver key, and
are clad in special uniforms for various occasions.
Pomp and ceremony attend the movements of the Spanish sovereign, and
there is an elaborate “Court Guide” embodying all the ordinances and
regulations governing the life at the palace. The rigidity of etiquette
in the Court of Spain has, however, been exaggerated in the accounts
written by strangers since the time of the Countess d’Aulnoy, for a
modern Spanish writer asserts that the Court is “more democratic than
most European Courts.”
This writer says: “Almost all the points of etiquette observed at
present by the persons who have access to the King and Queen and members
of their family are merely formulas of pure courtesy, with which those
who are aware of them comply, but which are not imposed at the Palace,
nor even mentioned to those who do not know them. Taking the glove off
the right hand in order to shake hands with the King; treating him as is
his due; rising when he rises and not speaking to him except in reply to
his questions; these are the chief points to be observed, and which
courtiers themselves sometimes forget without any notice being taken.”
Religious services and festivals are strictly observed in the Palace of
His Catholic Majesty, and attended by all members of his Court. The
chief solemnities are the Festival of the Immaculate Conception and
Nativity, Epiphany and Purification, Ash Wednesday, Annunciation and
Incarnation, Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday,
Ascension Day, Whit Sunday, Holy Trinity, Corpus Christi, All Saints,
and the Patronage of our Lady. The public are admitted to the galleries
of the Royal Chapel during the celebration of these festivals and
services.
Uniform or court dress is worn by the King at these religious
celebrations, the Queen always wearing a black or white _mantilla_, and
a long train to her dress, which is borne by pages. The sovereign sits
under a canopy, and the princes and princesses are on either side of the
throne. Each grandee of the Court has his allotted seat.
The royal infants are baptized from a font in which St Dominic, the
immortal founder of the Friars Preachers, was christened. In the Royal
Chapel of the Palace the weddings of the princes and princesses are
celebrated, but the Kings are married in the Church of the Atocha.
Foreign ministers are received in the Ante-chamber. There is an annual
banquet for all the Diplomatic Corps. One of the court ceremonies is the
conferring of the title of Grandee in the Ante-chamber.
Every night the Spanish monarch is guarded in his slumbers by the
ancient corps of Monteros de Espinosa. These officers are bound to watch
the King nightly, and after his death, until his body is sent to the
Royal Panteon at the Palace of the Escorial.
The changing of the royal guard takes place every morning in the grounds
of the palace, and is an interesting military spectacle, which attracts
a large number of the natives of Madrid as well as visitors to the city.
It dates from the time of Charles III. A regimental band plays during
the ceremony under the windows of the palace.
The Queen Mother of King Alfonso XIII. is possessed of strong religious
fervour, and is a pattern to Madrid society in the observance of the
rules of the Church and the practice of charity. But piety is not one of
the Madrileño’s conspicuous traits, and there is a notable want of
restraint in his language! yet Valentin Gómez writes: “Religion is
charity, love, and it cannot be denied that, in this respect, although
the crust be hard and unsightly, the heart of Madrid is religious, and
great and good work has sprung from its practical religion.”
Ecclesiastical festivals form an essential part of the life of Madrid.
The Forty Hours is celebrated at thirty churches of the city. During
Holy Week there are impressive services and solemn processions in the
streets. Every one walks garbed in black; diversions of every sort and
all except indispensable business is suspended. A solemn hush reigns
over the feverish city. Traffic in the thoroughfares is forbidden on
Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, and the tramcars do not run during
certain hours. On Maundy Thursday the King washes the feet of twelve
indigent men and women in the palace, and the public attend the
ceremony. Good Friday is a day of grace, when the King, at his
discretion, exercises clemency towards criminals accused of capital
charges.
A _romeria_ or pilgrimage is celebrated in the morning of Good Friday,
when crowds visit the Cara de Dios, and afterwards promenade the
streets. Imposing processions also take place on Good Friday, which are
sometimes attended by the King and the Court dignitaries.
The Corpus Christi festivals are very important. A splendid procession
is formed by the chief clergy, members of the court, and military
officers. During these celebrations, fairs are held in the outskirts of
the city. There is a curious ceremony in memory of St John during June.
On the evening of June 23, the populace assemble in the Plaza de Madrid,
and at the stroke of midnight the devout dip their hands in the fountain
of Cybele, and scatter the water over the bystanders who are unable to
reach the basin.
Advent is commemorated by the proclamation of an ecclesiastical decree
in the streets of the city. This Bull refers to the Crusades, and is
read by a dignitary of the Church, who is attended by guards and
trumpeters. Upon Christmas Eve there is midnight Mass at many of the
churches, followed by rejoicings in the streets, when the people sing,
and beat drums, and make lively din with various instruments.
Madrid is an important military command, and members of the service are
amongst the most fashionable sets in the city, as in other parts of
Europe. In Spain, however, the uniform does not of itself confer social
distinction, and officers continue to frequent the circles from which
they were drawn. Military arrogance is not a characteristic of the
Spaniard. Uniforms add to the brightness of the crowds in Madrid, and
there is often the sound of regimental bands in the streets. At
Caravanchel, eleven kilometres from the city, is a large camp and
exercise-ground for the troops, where important reviews are held in the
summer, attended by the King and his suite.
The Captain-General of the First Army Corps lives in Madrid, and directs
two divisions of this body. Light infantry, cavalry, and artillery are
quartered in or near the city. The chief barracks are the Montaña and
the Queen Maria Cristina. The barracks of San Francisco are an old
convent now utilised for military purposes.
The War Office is in Madrid at the Buena Vista Palace. The artillery and
the engineers have their museums and laboratories, and there is a
military casino, or club, in the city, containing a gymnasium, baths,
fencing-room, and dining-hall.
The chief recreations of Madrid society are the bull-fight, the theatre,
dancing, driving, and card-playing. The national pastime of
bull-fighting demands a chapter to itself, and the theatre will be
treated in another section of this volume. We may here devote a page or
two to Spanish dancing, one of the favourite and most charming
diversions of the country. Every province of Spain has its traditional
dances, from the Jota Aragonesa of Aragon to the Seguidillas of Seville.
Andalusia is the region of Moorish dances, survivals of the old days,
descriptive of the passion of love. The Cachucha is said to be pre-Roman
in its origin, and there is no doubt that most of the national dances
are very ancient. Some of these dances are grave and slow, others gay
and nimble, and all are marked by grace and charm. The Zarabanda, a
Morisco dance of a voluptuous character, was at one period proscribed by
the government, and was said to be the invention of the devil. The
Fandango also came under reproof in former times.
Typical dances may be witnessed in two or three of the variety theatres
of Madrid, but the best dancers are to be seen in the south, in Malaga
and sunny Seville. Many ladies in society excel in the art of dancing,
and at private gatherings they display their skill and lissom grace in
beautiful movements to the accompaniment of the piano or guitar, and
castanets. The hands and the trunk of the body play a no less important
part than the feet in Spanish dancing.
Besides the characteristic national dances, there are the quadrilles and
set dances of other countries which have been introduced into Spain.
The minuet was at one time a part of the education of all upper class
families in the Peninsula.
Dancing is often part of the entertainment provided at the _tertulias_,
or evening gatherings, in fashionable society. It is the ambition of
every handsome lady in Madrid to be famed for her hospitality and to
shine as the centre of a _tertulia_, an institution suggestive in some
measure of the _salons_ of France.
Shooting, horse-racing, pigeon-shooting matches, and the ball game known
as _pelota_ are the principal out-door recreations of the leisured class
in Madrid. The Spanish _cazador_, or sportsman, is usually a good shot,
and capable of enduring severe fatigue in the pursuit of his game. Wild
boars and deer are fairly abundant in the preserves of the old families,
and these beasts of the chase are also found upon most of the wild
mountain ranges. Hares and red-legged partridges afford sport within a
league of Madrid, and the Montes de Toledo have always been famous for
big game.
The Juego de Pelota is a popular game played in three or four courts in
the city by professionals. Pelota is an old amusement of the countryside
which has become a fashionable sport. The Basques and the Navarrese
excel in this game. A protector for the hand is worn by the players, and
the balls are made of india-rubber encased in leather. The ball is
struck against a high wall, and hit so that upon the rebound it will
fall into a court marked out upon the ground. In some respects _pelota_
resembles fives, and has also a similarity to lawn-tennis. It is a
spirited and highly interesting game, and the finest players may be seen
in the public _frontones_ of Madrid.
The Madrileños delight in frequenting clubs and cafés, but there is very
little drunkenness in the city, although these places of resort are
always crowded. Madrid is one of the soberest cities in Europe, and
throughout Spain the word drunkard (_borracho_) is seldom used in polite
society. Black coffee is the favourite beverage, to which a few drops of
spirit are sometimes added. The wines of ordinary use are light clarets
or white wines. A light lager is a favourite drink in the hot weather.
The popular cafés of the Puerta del Sol are used as clubs, where all
classes resort to chat and smoke and to read the papers, or to play at
billiards. These places are thronged in the evening, and often until the
small hours of the morning one hears the buzz of conversation and the
click of billiard balls.
As the centre of the Court and the residence of the reigning family,
Madrid is, of course, the resort and the home of many members of the
aristocracy. The Duke of Lerma, the Duke of Villahermosa, and the Osuna
family had palaces in the city; and the first Duke of Alba lived in
Calle de la Princesa, since renamed the Calle de Alba. The beautiful
Liria Palace, designed by Ventura Rodriguez, is now the home of the
young Duke of Alba and his brother and sister, Count de Montijo and Doña
Sol.
The Liria Palace contains some fine tapestries, curious antique
furniture, and valuable pieces of armour. There is also a collection of
paintings in the possession of the family, containing many portraits of
illustrious ancestors. The garden of the palace is extremely beautiful
and sequestered.
The old Valencian family of Cervello own the palace in the Calle de
Santa Isabel. The building stands in a garden, and it was restored some
years ago. Very fashionable receptions, costume balls, and theatrical
entertainments are held in this sumptuous palace.
The Duchess of Denia built the mansion in the Plaza de Colón. There is
a magnificent Renaissance staircase at this palace, a chapel in the
later Moorish style of architecture, erected by Arturo Mélida, and a
fine reception hall.
The Portugalete Palace in the Calle de Alcalá belongs to the Castaño
family. It is one of the most artistic houses in Madrid. In the Plaza de
Castelar is the home of the Marquis of Linares, beautifully decorated
within, and containing handsome carved furniture.
The Palace of the Larios is another imposing building in La Castellana.
It contains a _patio_ in imitation of the Court of the Lions at the
Alhambra Palace.
Calderon built the mansion in the Recoletos, which is now in the
possession of the Marchioness de Manzanedo, who resides there. The
Infanta Isabel has a splendid house in the barrio de Argüelles. The
Marquis de Cerralbo, the Duke of Valencia, and the Count of Peñalver
reside in elegant houses in the city. The late Conde de Valencia de Don
Juan, who was Director of the Royal Armoury, was a noted collector of
pictures, objects of art, and antiquities.
Other palaces of interest are those of the Duke of Nájera in the Calle
de Alcalá, the old residence of the Countess de Pinohermoso, in the
Calle de Don Pedro, the house of the Count de Agreda, and that of the
Marchioness de Casa López, near the Puerta de Alcalá. The residence of
the Marchioness de Squilache is the rendezvous of the eminent in
politics, literature, and art. Artistic gatherings are held in the salon
of the Marchioness de Bolaños and that of Don Enrique Peñalver.
IV
ART IN MADRID
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, during a pacific period
following on the long conflict with the Moors, there arose a number of
painters in Castile. Juan II., King of Castile, was a lover of the arts
and of literature. We read that this king employed a painter of the
Flemish School, named Maestro Rogel, who was reputed to be a pupil of
Van Eyck. It was about this time that Flemish art began to influence the
work of the Spanish artists, while the Italian style was especially
followed by the painters of the Castilian School.
Antonio Rincon has been called the founder of the Castilian School of
painting, and it is recorded that this artist studied in Italy before
his appointment as court painter to Ferdinand and Isabella. Rincon’s
portraits of his royal patrons were at one time in the Church of San
Juan de los Reys at Toledo, but they were destroyed during the wars with
France. In the Royal Gallery of Madrid, putative copies of these
portraits are preserved, and they show great force and individuality.
But many of the works of Antonio Rincon, in the mannered Italian style,
are of mediocre merit.
A more powerful painter of Castile was Juan de Borgoña, who laboured
with Rincon upon the jasper steps of the wonderful Gothic retablo in
Toledo Cathedral. Some of Borgoña’s frescoes have perished; but in the
Prado Gallery at Madrid there are several pictures, attributed to an
unknown artist, which are probably the work of this painter.
Pedro Berruguete, father of Alonso Berruguete, the painter and sculptor,
has been likened by Lord Leighton to Carpaccio. Very little is known of
Pedro Berruguete. In the Royal Gallery of Madrid there are some
paintings ascribed to this artist, representing scenes from the lives of
Thomas Aquinas, San Pedro, and Domingo de Guzman, glowing with colour
and painted with a strong hand.
Felix Castello, born in Madrid in 1602, was a painter of moderate
ability. Two of his paintings may be seen in the Prado Gallery, one
depicting “A Battle between Spanish and Dutch,” and the other “The
Landing of General Fadrique de Toledo.”
The Titanic genius of Velazquez shone not only above all his
predecessors of the School of Castile, but above the host of Spanish
painters. Velazquez was born in 1599, and lived until 1660. He was a
native of Seville, where he studied art under Francisco de Herrera and
Pacheco. In 1623 his fame had reached the ears of the king, through the
Duke of Olivares, and Velazquez was appointed royal painter in Madrid,
and lodged in the princes’ quarters of the palace. Here he produced his
greatest works, often watched while he painted by the king, who enjoyed
the society of artists.
Besides his apartments in the royal palace, Velazquez had later a
private house in the Calle de Concepcion Geronima. Velazquez was now at
the zenith of his fame, the cynosure of an art circle, the acknowledged
master of an enthusiastic following, the favourite of royalty, and the
friend of _grandes_. “A taste for the arts, an intelligent appreciation
and discussion of art topics, had at that time already become a matter
of tradition in Madrid,” writes Professor Carl Justi in his “Diego
Velazquez and His Times.”
The first painting of Velazquez seen by the people of Madrid was
exhibited upon the door of the Church of San Felipe in the Calle Mayor.
His progress from that hour was victorious, though he had to encounter
the envy of the Italian painters who were then employed by Philip.
Carducci speaks of “the detestable naturalism” of the new court painter.
In 1628, Velazquez met Rubens at Madrid. Next year he went to Italy, and
upon his return to Spain, he worked with extraordinary industry upon
royal portraits and historical scenes for the regal palaces.
In 1636, Diego Velazquez was appointed Wardrobe-Assistant to the King
and Minister of Fine Arts. But the greatest honour was accorded to the
painter in 1659, when he received the Cross of Santiago, the highest
order of Spain. Two years after, Velazquez died at Madrid of a fever,
which he had contracted through over-exertion in the conduct of an
expedition in the north of Spain, when Philip met the King of France.
The masterpieces of Velazquez are stored in a fine _sala_ at the Museo
del Prado[1] in Madrid. “Las Meninas,” a work proclaimed by many artists
and art critics as the finest painting in the world, is in this
priceless collection. Artists from every country have regarded the
Prado Gallery as a Mecca. Wilkie came to Madrid, and spent long hours
gazing at the paintings of Velazquez. John Philips modelled his style on
Velazquez, and Manet, Furse, Sargent, Whistler, and Sir Frederick
Leighton are among the pilgrims to the Prado. It was probably the
painting of “Las Meninas” which gained for Velazquez the Order of
Santiago.
[1] For a full description of the pictures in this museum, see “The
Prado,” an illustrated volume in this series.
“The Forge of Vulcan,” a mythological subject treated in a realistic
manner, is in the Prado among the splendid collection of pictures of
Velazquez, besides the more generally esteemed “Los Barrachos” and “Las
Lanzas.”
Velazquez had a host of successors among the painters of Spain, but he
founded no school, for he stood alone and unapproachable. The works of
his survivors may be studied in the Prado Gallery. One of these
successors was Juan Bautista Martinez del Mazo, Velazquez’ son-in-law,
and another, Juan de Pareja, his slave. Pareja’s talent was discovered
by the king, who said: “A painter like you should not remain a slave,”
and freedom was given to the Morisco serf of Velazquez.
In the work of Pareja the influence of his great master is naturally
manifest, and this is seen in the picture in the Prado collection, “The
Calling of the Apostle Matthew.” It is certain that many paintings
ascribed to Velazquez are the work of his son-in-law Juan del Mazo, who
was a zealous copyist of the master’s art.
Juan Rizi, sometimes called the Castilian Zurbaran, is represented by
one picture in the Madrid Gallery--“St Francis receiving the Stigmata or
Five Wounds of Christ,” a work of very considerable merit.
Antonio Pereda worked in Madrid under Pedro de las Cuevas, and became
painter to the Court. Two of Pereda’s pictures are in the Royal Gallery,
displaying fine colour, but yet possessing no power to convince.
The next artist in chronological order who was associated with Madrid
was Carreño de Miranda, another pupil of Pedro de las Cuevas, and the
Pintor de Cámara to the Court. His talent is most marked in his
portraits of Charles II.; and his imitations of Velazquez though feeble
in comparison with the powerful work of his exemplar, are of singular
interest and merit.
Claudio Coello was a native of Madrid, and the son of a Portuguese
sculptor. Many of his paintings are to be seen at the Escorial, where he
worked for seven years upon the famous “Santa Forma” in the Sacristia.
It is said that Coello died broken-hearted from the chagrin of being
superseded by Luca Giordano, the facile Italian painter.
With the advent of Giordano the essential realism of Spanish painting
began to decline. “In Madrid, imitation was the death-blow of reality,”
writes C. Gasquoine Hartley in her “Record of Spanish Painting.” Many
minor artists arose in Castile in this period of decline. They were
followers of Giordano and other Italians, and for the greater part
devoid of originality. The influence of Mengs was another menace to the
development of a purely national school of painting in Spain, and the
unimportant work of Bayeu, Maella, Barnuevo and others shows the waning
of Castilian art.
A revival came with Francisco Goya, an ardent genius, who sprang from
the people, and came to Madrid as a student. Goya studied the
masterpieces in the Madrid galleries, visited Italy, and returned to the
Castilian capital at about the age of thirty. Up to this time, Goya had
painted but few pictures. Now he began his revolutionary career as an
artist, and won fame, which has spread throughout the cultured world
since his death. He soon became popular in Madrid. His daring and his
pungent satire rather attracted than repelled the King, the clergy, and
the society of the city. He painted the life of his day with a vivid,
unsparing brush; he took liberties with even sacred institutions, and
derided ancient and effete traditions.
Under Charles IV., Goya was appointed Royal Painter. He was a favourite
of Queen Maria Luisa, the Duchess of Alba, and the Countess Benavente,
and he enjoyed the confidence of the King. And yet Goya was a rebel in
his opinions and in his art, and his royal portraits are characterised
by a brutal frankness. In his tapestry designs, his scenes of Madrid
life, his bull-fighting incidents, his portraits, and his “caprichos,”
he displays the versatility of a remarkable mind. Goya worked rapidly,
and his output was enormous.
The celebrated “Dos de Mayo,” a terribly realistic war picture, together
with “An Episode in the French Invasion,” may be studied in the Royal
Gallery at Madrid. In the Prado collection there are several of Goya’s
royal portraits--“The Family of Charles IV.,” with its unflattering
realism; “Charles IV. on foot”; “Queen Maria Luisa”; “The Infante Don
Carlos, son of Carlos IV.”; and others of great interest. More of Goya’s
works may be inspected in the Academy of Fine Arts at Madrid. These
include a portrait of the painter by himself, a bull-fighting scene, an
episode of the Inquisition, a procession, and other characteristic
pictures.
When Joseph Bonaparte ruled in Madrid, Goya took the oath of fealty, and
painted the usurper’s portrait. In 1814, the painter became a courtier
of Ferdinand, and was pardoned for his disloyalty on the grounds that he
was “a great artist.” A few years later, his wife Josefa died, and Goya,
who was deaf, and bereft of many of his friends, seems to have wearied
of the life of the Court at Madrid, and yearned for change and travel.
In 1822, he obtained the royal permission to visit France. He went first
to Paris, where he was hailed by the young French painters, afterwards
residing at Bordeaux, where he stayed for nearly five years before
returning to Spain. In 1828, his restless spirit passed away.
Perhaps the finest of Goya’s portraits are those of the king and queen
on horseback. It was Gautier who remarked of Goya that at times “he
paints with the delicacy of that delicious Gainsborough, at other times
he has the solid touch of Rembrandt.” Goya was one of the first of the
moderns, an artist who broke from cramping tradition, and forced his way
to eminence and even to popularity in a few years.
There is a long gap in the art history of Spain between Francisco Goya
and Fortuny. Mariano Fortuny was not a native of Madrid, but he came to
the city in 1866. There are two of his pictures in the Museum of Modern
Art in Madrid. One is a sketch for the “Battle of Tetuan,” and the other
“The Queen Regent with Doña Isabel exhorting the Spanish Troops to
withstand the Carlists.” Between Goya and Fortuny there are no links in
the historic succession of artists, unless we regard Rosales and Galofré
as national in the tendency of their art. There are two of Rosales’
pictures in the Museum of Modern Art in Madrid.
The National Museum of Painting and Sculpture, otherwise the Museo del
Prado, was founded in the reign of Charles III., and planned by
Villanueva. The work was interrupted by the war with France, and
finished in the time of Ferdinand VII. Architecturally considered, the
exterior of the museum is handsome and massive. Its chief defect is the
poor quality of the light within. Its glory is the vast treasure of
masterpieces of all the schools of Europe.
The works of the early Spanish painters may be here studied in the Long
Gallery, beginning with Gallegos, whose pictures are catalogued as those
of an unknown master. Pedro Berruguete shows the first example of the
Italian influence. In the paintings of Luis de Morales we trace the
natural Spanish style, and discern that note of dramatic gloom and
religious sentiment that characterises the true painters of Spain. Juan
de Juanes, much esteemed in his age, reveals an Italianised art. In the
works of Navarrete there is visible the influence of Titian, who worked
with him at the Escorial Palace.
El Greco, who was taught in Venice, stands alone. The picture of “Jesus
dead in the Arms of God the Father” is a representative work of this
weird genius, whose art was Spanish, in spite of his Cretan origin. El
Greco’s art is also conveyed in all its power in “The Baptism of
Christ.” Many of this painter’s canvases are in Toledo, two are at the
Escorial, one in the Cathedral of Seville, and his portrait, painted by
himself, is in the Museo Provincial at Seville. The Prado Gallery
contains nine of El Greco’s works.
Ribera is an artist whose work is singularly modern as regards
technique, though he lived from 1588 to 1656.
The collection at the Prado contains a large number of the paintings of
Ribera, the predecessor of Velazquez and Murillo, whose virile influence
is manifest in the productions of many of the Spanish schools of the
later period.
Murillo is represented by about two score of paintings in the Prado, and
by several pictures in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. The Prado
contains the “Sacred Family,” “The Penitent Magdalen,” “The Adoration of
the Shepherds,” and several other well-known paintings.
We have already referred to the pictures by Velazquez and Goya to be
seen in the Prado collection. It now remains to briefly enumerate some
of the great works of the Italian and Northern Schools. Among the
Italian Primitives, we have examples of the art of Fra Angelico and
Mantegna, and of the later school, there are pictures of Raphael, Andrea
del Sarto and Correggio. The Venetians are exampled by Giorgione,
Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, and Tiepolo. There are nearly fifty
pictures from the brush of Titian. Among his earlier achievements are
“Fertility” and the “Garden of Loves.” Here also are the portraits of
“Charles V.” and “Philip II.,” the painting of “St Margaret,” and the
famous “Entombment.”
Among the other Italian and Venetian pictures are Raphael’s “Holy Family
and the Lamb,” Andrea del Sarto’s “Madonna and St John,” and two early
works of Correggio.
In the collection of paintings of the Northern School there are
examples of Van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden, and though some of these
are copies, there is an authentic picture by Van der Weyden. The
triptych of Memlinc is in this portion of the gallery, and Holbein’s
“Portrait of a Man.” Rubens, “the third glory of the Prado,” is well
represented by about sixty paintings. There are also paintings by
Jordaens and Van Dyck.
The work of Antonio Moro should be carefully noted, as the art of this
painter, who was the master of Coello, was the foundation of the Spanish
School of Portraiture.
In the Museo de Arte Moderna there are many pictures by contemporary
artists, and several groups of statuary. Among the paintings are works
of Madrazo, Lopez, Pradilla, Casado, and Villegas.
The Real Academia de Bellas Artes, built in 1752, has a picture gallery
containing some of the works of Murillo, Ribera, Zurbaran, Alonso Cano,
and Rubens. Some interesting Goya sketches formerly in this collection
have now been removed to the Prado.
V
LITERATURE AND THE DRAMA
Madrid is the centre of the intellectual life of Spain. It contains a
number of academies, colleges, schools, and libraries. The Royal Academy
was not founded till 1713; but, as Bourgoanne pointed out in 1789,
“there are undoubtedly in Spain more learned men who modestly cultivate
the sciences; more men of erudition who are thoroughly acquainted with
the history and jurisprudence of their country; more distinguished men
of letters and a greater number of poets, who have energy and a fertile
and brilliant imagination, than is generally imagined.”
Science and letters suffered after the period of Quevedo, Cervantes,
Calderon, and Garcilaso, and there was a rapid decline in learning until
the eighteenth century. Under Charles III. the cultured life of Madrid
was revived. Charles was opposed to the clerical restrictions upon
knowledge, and the banning of science was not a part of his policy. He
withstood the reactionary forces of the country, and, being himself a
man of scholarly tastes, he re-awakened the moribund respect for
culture. To encourage the production of books, Charles III. freed all
printers from military service. He renewed the universities, built new
schools, and treated teachers and professors with fairness and respect,
declaring that education is the most important of all social affairs.
This revival of learning and of literature was unfortunately transient,
for under Charles IV. free discussion was almost impossible in Spain;
authors were gagged, and the Inquisition was revived. The study of moral
philosophy was forbidden in the universities of the country, for Charles
declared that he had no use for philosophers.
The first large public library in Madrid was the San Isidro, founded by
the Jesuits, and containing about 60,000 volumes. The National Library
was built in 1712, but the books were removed to another building about
thirty years after. There is a library in connection with the Royal
Academy of History in the Calle del León, which contains several
thousand books and a number of valuable ancient manuscripts. The
University has its own collection of books. This institution was
founded in 1508 at Alcalá, and brought to Madrid in 1836. There are
about 8000 students.
The old Court of Castile had many poets and satirists from the days of
Juan II. In the thirteenth century, Castilian became the polite speech
of the nation, and the earliest ballads were written in this language.
These ballads are the basis of much of the history of Spain, and this
was the first form of literature in the city of Madrid. Under Alfonso X.
of Castile, who was as skilled in letters as in the conduct of the
State, the art of poetry reached a higher order than it had hitherto
attained in Spain.
Francisco de Quevedo Villegas, the great satirical poet and prose
author, was born in Madrid in 1580. His parents were of patrician stock,
and his mother was one of the royal household. Quevedo was sent to the
college of Alcalá de Henares, where he was instructed in several
subjects, including law and medicine. A quarrel with a hidalgo, whom he
seriously injured in a duel, caused the flight of the young student to
Italy. Upon his return to his native country, Quevedo was arrested, and
kept in prison for about three years. Later, he was again put into
confinement for a satire upon the Count, Duke de Olivares.
Quevedo was a voluminous writer. His works have been collected in the
“Biblioteca de Autores Españoles,” in three big volumes of poetry and
prose, while many of his compositions were left unpublished. The
“Visions” are perhaps his most popular work. They were translated into
English in 1668, and published in London, and met with such success that
the volume reached an eleventh edition in 1715. Since then there have
been other editions issued in this country.
Calderon lived at number seventy-five in the Calle Mayor, formerly
called the Calle de Almudena, and in the same street was born Lope de
Vega, the most prolific of Spanish dramatists. In the Plaza de Santa
Ana, near the Teatro Español, is a monument to Calderon erected in 1879.
It is the work of Figuéras, and a figure of Fame stands by the
dramatist; the base of the statue has reliefs from scenes in the plays.
Calderon was of noble blood, and found influential patronage in Madrid.
We read that Philip IV. gave him the order of Santiago, and appointed
him director of the theatre and public entertainments. Pedro Calderon
entered the church at the age of fifty-two. He died in the year 1681.
At number fifteen Calle de Cervantes there is a memorial tablet to Lope
de Vega, with the inscription that the writer set upon his house: “A
small possession of one’s own is great; a great possession of another is
small.”
Lope de Vega was born in Madrid in 1562. For a time he was secretary to
the Duke of Alba, but, after wounding an opponent in a duel, he fled
from the city. His power of production was marvellous, and it is said
that he wrote a play of three acts, in verse, in twenty-four hours. He
died in 1631.
Cervantes was intimately associated with Madrid, though Alcalá de
Henares is claimed as his birthplace. The greatest author of Spain came
to the capital in his youth, to study for one of the learned
professions, and here he lived under the tutelage of Juan Lopez de
Hoyos.
After serving as chamberlain in Rome to Cardinal Aquaviva, Cervantes, at
the age of twenty-four, joined the expedition against Turkey, and for
several years he passed an adventurous life on sea and land. Returning
to Madrid, he lived with relatives, and began to apply his mind
seriously to study, and to the cultivation of his literary gift. In
Madrid he wrote a number of comedies and novels, but he left the city
for Seville, where he obtained more lucrative employment as a
government official. The first part of the masterpiece “Don Quixote” was
published in Madrid in 1605.
Cervantes died in 1616 from dropsy, and his body was laid to rest in
Madrid. In the Plaza de las Cortes is a memorial in bronze to the
greatest of the romance writers of Spain. It was designed by Antonio
Sola, and set up in 1835. There are reliefs on the pedestal of the
monument depicting episodes from “Don Quixote.”
The Church of San Francisco el Grande, the National Pantheon, was built
in 1784 on the site of a convent; but it was not established as a
mausoleum until 1869. It has been decorated at great expense and with
much taste, and is not altogether an unworthy repository for the ashes
of the illustrious dead. Here are supposed to rest the remains of
Guzman, Cervantes, Lope de Vega, and Velazquez, but the tombs have not
been identified. In 1869 the ashes of Morales, Juan Mena, Quevedo,
Calderon, the Great Captain, and other illustrious Spaniards were placed
here, but all of these have since been restored to their original
resting-places.
The Italian opera was introduced into Spain by Charles III. The country
has not produced any very eminent operatic composers, though opera is a
popular entertainment. In the drama Spain excelled at one period above
all other countries. The plays of the nation were exceedingly numerous
in the palmy days, ranging from sacred representations, or miracle
dramas, to farce. Many of the subjects were historical; but with the
decline of taste, the drama lost its Greek simplicity, and became the
vehicle of complicated intrigues and artificial plots. Cervantes, as
dramatist, endeavoured to check this corruption of taste, but the
pressure of poverty forced him to follow the conventions of the hour,
and to write on a level with the intelligence of his audiences.
Lope de Vega wrote about eighteen hundred plays. Much of his work is
hasty, extravagant and bombastic. Calderon wrote with more directness
and simplicity of style, and spent far more pains upon his compositions.
Augustin Moreto produced thirty-six plays, which rank high from the
literary point of view. De Castro, de Roscas, and de Solis are three of
the more esteemed comedy authors of a later period, whose pieces were
played in Madrid.
Galdos, who is the author of several novels and plays, resides in
Madrid, in the Paseo de Areneros. Doña Emilia Pardo de Bazan, the most
powerful of the women writers of Spain, says: “The life of the
playwright in Madrid is more active, agitated, and arduous than other
branches of the literary career, which languish and sleep for want of
stimulus.” Most of the dramatists of the nation live in Madrid, or spend
part of the year there. Among them are José Echegaray, now the leading
playwright, Guimerá, Eugenio Sellés, Dicenta, Vital Aza, Abati Ricardo
de la Vega, Garcia, and Paso.
Poets living in Madrid are Emilio Ferrari, Grilo, Manuel del Palacio,
the Marquis de Cerralbo, the Duke de Rivas, Eduardo Benot, and Melchor
de Palau. There are also several writers of humorous verse, such as
López Silva, Pérez de Zúñiga, and Luis de Tapia.
The great novelist, Armando Palacio Valdés--who, in his novel, “Froth,”
gives a true picture of Madrid manners--lives in the city occasionally.
Here, too, reside Father Luis Coloma, Blasco Ibañez, Baroja, José Ortega
Munilla, Antonio de Hoyos, and several other writers of fiction. Doña
Emilia Pardo de Bazan lives in Madrid.
Among the celebrated journalists are Cavia, Kasabal, Azorin, Claudio
Frollo, Luis Morote, Troyano, and “Zeda” (Sr. Fernandez Villegas).
The Madrileños appreciate the drama--in small doses--and support
fourteen theatres, of which the most frequented are the Teatro Real,
belonging to the State, the Español, belonging to the Municipality, the
Princesa, Comedia, Lara, Apolo, and Zarzuela. As elsewhere in Spain,
each performance consists of three or more short pieces or
sketches--zarzuelas and saynetes--almost always dealing with aspects of
popular life. To foreigners this persistent harping on the amours of the
policeman and flower-girl and the vicissitudes of a chairmender’s career
is a little surprising. The legitimate drama has been almost driven from
the boards in Spain, despite the efforts of Señora Guerrero--the Spanish
Bernhardt--to revive it, some years ago. This lady’s husband is the
Marquis de Mendoza, who follows the same profession, to do which he
required the special authorisation of the Council of State. Spain does
not want for good actors and actresses, despite the loss of Vico, Calvo,
and the ever-popular Emilio Mario. Maria Tubau is an able interpreter of
Ibsen and Sudermann (when the opportunity presents itself), and the
names of Thuillier, Pinelo, and Carmen Cobeña deserve mention.
Naturalism has by no means asserted its sway over the Spanish theatre,
and the entertainments, as the old play-bills used to say, are still
largely frequented by ladies and children. Every one smokes during the
performances, and talks frantically during the entr’actes. The theatres
are comfortable and well upholstered. English visitors will be struck by
the absence of programmes, the place of which is often taken by some
such sheet as _Blanco y Negro_.
Emilia Pardo de Bazan deplores the decay of the literary circles and
salons for which the city was once renowned; “of literary gatherings at
private houses or in splendid palaces we might say there are none.”
Circles there are, it is true, she adds, but few of them of greater
circumference than a tea-table. Yet young writers still seek Madrid,
bringing with them plays or novels, which, in most cases, are never
given to the public. “There are in Madrid,” continues this authoress,
“more producers than, in proportion, consumers, and the proletariat of
the pen suffers the bitter consequences of this painful position.”
The first newspaper printed in the city was the “Gaceta de Madrid,”
which was founded in 1661. It was first issued annually as a news-sheet,
but in 1667 the journal appeared each Saturday. The title of the paper
was frequently changed, and at one time it was the official organ of the
Court, and sold on the account of “the king our lord.” Later, the
“Gaceta” was issued twice a week, and in 1808 it was made a daily
publication. With one or two interruptions, the “Gaceta” has been
printed in Madrid since 1661.
The pioneer of modern journalism was Don Francisco Mariano Nifo, who
started the “Diario” in 1758. Nifo sold the journal in 1759, and the
title was altered to the “Diario noticioso Universal,” and later, to its
present title, “Diario official de Avisos de Madrid.” In 1825 the
“Diario” became an official newspaper by royal decree.
The establishment of political journalism dates from 1806; the
“Imparcial” was then founded, as well as many other journals which had
short histories. The present “El Imparcial” dates from 1867, and “La
Correspondencia” and “El Dia” began to be issued about the same time.
“La Epoca” was born in 1848.
The more solid reviews published in Madrid are the “Lectura,” and the
“Ateneo.” “España Moderna,” “Nuestro Tiempo,” “Cultura,” and “Blanco y
Negro,” a well illustrated magazine, are produced in Madrid. The city
has certainly given birth to a very large number of periodicals, for
from 1865 to 1878 no less than 1130 issued from the press.
Students of the literary history of Spain will find many interesting
links with the past in the National Library. Here are numerous editions
of “Don Quixote,” and a collection of old manuscripts, including a
beautiful Visigothic work of the tenth century, and the “Siete Partidas”
of Alfonso the Wise. There are several autographs of Lope de Vega and
other Spanish authors in the collection.
VI
CHURCHES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS
Among the monumental remains of Madrid there is scarcely a memory of the
Moorish days. In the church of San Pedro we shall find an example of
_Mudejar_ architecture, that is, the work of the “reconciled” Moriscos,
who remained in Spain down to the final expulsion. San Pedro dates from
the fourteenth or fifteenth century, and is the oldest church in the
city. The tower is square and plain, in the Moorish form, with small
windows.
The Gothic church of San Jeronimo el Real was built in 1503, and
restored in 1879. During the French invasion the treasures of this
church were despoiled. Here the ceremony of taking the constitutional
oath by the heir-apparent is celebrated, and in this church was
performed the marriage ceremony of the present king of Spain.
The Capilla del Obispo has a fine carved retablo, or altarpiece, in the
Renaissance style, and several interesting statues and marble tombs.
There is also a beautifully carved doorway to the chapel.
Antonio Sillero designed the Convent of the Descalzas Reales, which was
founded by the Princess Juana, daughter of Charles V. A part of the
original building remains, dating from 1559. In the chapel is a statue
of the foundress by Leoni. The front of the present church was designed
by Diego Villanueva.
The church of the Convent of the Incarnation is of the time of Philip
III., the classic façade representing the style of architecture at the
Escorial Palace. Within are some paintings by Carducho. San Francisco el
Grande is undoubtedly the finest church in Madrid. The building is
partly modelled from the plan of the Pantheon at Rome; and the objects
of interest are the fine carved doors, the sculptured figures within by
Benlliure and Bellver, and some modern fresco paintings.
San Isidro is named after the patron saint of the city, and was erected
in the years between 1626-51. The interior is exceedingly ornate, with
gilt carvings, and niches containing images of saints. There are some
noteworthy paintings in this church, including works by Rizi, Morales
and Palomino, and a putative Titian. The picture by Morales, “Jesus and
St Peter,” is considered one of the finest examples of this artist’s
skill.
In the church of San Andrés there are some fine marble carvings, and
pictures by Carreño and Rizi. The Capilla del Obispo is behind this
church. San Antonio is noted for its frescoes of scenes from the life of
its patron saint, painted by Juan Carreño. The _baroque_ style is seen
in the church of San Luis (1679)--especially in the carved retablo.
Close to the Puente Verde is the Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida,
whose dome was decorated with frescoes by Goya. The satirical painter
was engaged by the church to paint this dome with appropriate subjects,
and in sombre jest he chose his models for pious characters among the
_manolas_, or half-reputable women, of Madrid. The paintings are of
exceptional interest, and well represent the spirit of the grimly
facetious painter.
The finest specimen of baroque architecture in the city is the church of
Santa Barbara, now adjoining the Palace of Justice, and formerly the
church of a convent founded in the time of Ferdinand VI. The building is
in the form of a cross, with towers, and an ornamental façade. The dome
is decorated with frescoes, and the marble altarpiece is especially
graceful. Olivieri carved the figures of St Ferdinand, St Barbara, and
Faith and Charity on the retablo. The tomb of Ferdinand VI. by Sabatini
is in the transept. There is also a monument to General O’Donnell,
designed by Jeronimo Suñol.
San Ginés should be seen for the picture of the “Scourging of Christ” by
Alonso Cano, and a statue of Christ by Vergara.
Madrid compares unfavourably with other capitals as regards buildings.
Of late years a good many new edifices have arisen, but these are
massive and pretentious rather than imposing.
The Plaza Mayor--originally the market-place of Madrid--is historically
interesting as the scene of numerous autos de fé and bull-fights, while
the architecture of the Casa Panaderia should be examined. The building
contains pictures by Coello. In the middle of the square is the statue
of Philip III. on horseback, cast in bronze, and the work of Juan de
Bologna and his pupil Tacca.
A monument of the time of Philip IV. is seen in the offices of the
Ministry of State, formerly a prison. It was designed by the Italian
Bautista Crescenti, with figures by Herrera. The Town Hall is
seventeenth century, with a good façade, and a fine staircase. In the
oratory of this building are pictures by Palomino.
Very little remains of the old palace of the Buen Retiro, which has been
converted into the Artillery Museum. The Palacio del Congreso (House of
Commons), finished in 1850, is Corinthian in style. There is a fine
allegorical group by Ponzano, who also designed the lions on the front.
Within, there are frescoes of historic scenes.
The largest square in Madrid is the Plaza de Oriente, constructed by
order of Joseph Buonaparte. There are fourteen immense statues of kings
in this open space, and a beautiful fountain with lions in bronze. The
equestrian statue of Philip IV. is by Tacca, from a painting by
Velazquez; its equilibrium is said to have been determined by Galileo.
The Museum of Archæology, already mentioned, has many objects of
antiquity dating from prehistoric times. There are a number of Roman
remains, Moorish relics, treasures from China and Mexico, and
curiosities of many kinds.
In “Castilla La Nueva” Don Jose Quadrado refers to the old door of the
Monte de Piedad, in the Plaza de las Descalzas, as an interesting relic.
It is surmounted with a very ornate bell, and there are two female
torsos, and some good carving on the frontage.
Six miles from Madrid is the royal hunting lodge of El Pardo. The
building was erected in the time of the Emperor, and reconstructed by
Charles III. It stands on high ground in a fine park. The walls are
adorned within with many interesting fresco paintings--the work of
Velazquez, Bayeu, Ribera, and other less notable artists; and there are
tapestries from designs by Goya and Teniers.
Aranjuez, thirty miles from Madrid, is a royal residence of very great
historical interest, for it was here that Charles V. and Philip II.
spent many hours of retirement. The palace contains pictures by Mengs,
Bayeu, Maella and Lopez. The Gabinete de China is lavishly decorated
with porcelain, and is a wonderful example of this style of
ornamentation, introduced to Spain by the Italian Gricci.
The gardens at Aranjuez are exceedingly beautiful, some parts of them
being formal, and others more wild. A fine avenue fringes the river, and
there are fountains and statues in the grounds. The Countess D’Aulnoy,
describing Aranjuez, writes: “I must confess the Gardens are too close
and several of their alleys too narrow, but yet it ravishes one to walk
there, and at our coming into them, I fancy’d myself in some enchanted
Palace. The morning was cool, everywhere the Birds made a sweet melody,
and the waters a pleasant murmuring Noise! the Trees and Hedges were
loaden with excellent Fruit, and the Parterres were covered with most
odoriferent Flowers; and I enjoyed all this in most pleasant Company.”
The trees in the avenue at Aranjuez are of great age, with immense
trunks and dense foliage, testifying to the fertility of the soil. In
the Garden of the Primavera flowers and fruits flourish, for the summer
climate in this sheltered region is almost tropical, though the
surrounding hills are bare and unfertile. Innumerable nightingales haunt
the gardens and groves in the springtime.
THE ROYAL ARMOURY
If the Prado is surpassed by one or two other galleries, Madrid can
boast a collection of arms and armour which is eclipsed by no other. The
Imperial Armoury of Vienna can alone be compared with this magnificent
storehouse of the triumphs of a forgotten craft, the inception of which
is due to Philip II. The Emperor Charles, Lord of Germany and Italy, was
able to command the services of the greatest armourers of his own or any
age. By stimulating the rivalry of the famous Colmans of Augsburg and
the not less celebrated Negrolis of Milan, he brought the
armour-smith’s art to its highest pitch of development--and this, too,
at a time when new tactics and artillery seemed likely to drive it for
ever from the field. The reign of Charles marks the zenith of the craft.
The sons of Vulcan ranked among the most admired artists of their time,
and the most eminent exponents of the sister arts were proud to
embellish and to wait upon the works of their hands.
Yet it was to supply the needs of no mere dilettante that the forges of
Augsburg and Milan were kept glowing, that their anvils re-echoed
unceasingly with ringing blows. Charles was a mighty War Lord. He used
his armour in the tented field, his keen blade was waved aloft in the
van of armies; and in times of peace, he yet loved to surround himself
with the pomp and circumstance of glorious war. And when he laid aside
the helmet for the monk’s cowl, he left his son the finest martial
equipment any monarch had ever boasted before or since.
Less of a soldier than his father, Philip II. was not slow to recognise
the intrinsic value of the heritage. He ordered a house to be built
specially for its reception, thus forming the foundation of a
collection, which was added to from year to year by him and his
successors. The manufacture of defensive armour practically ceased at
the close of the seventeenth century, and the spoils of war became,
alas! rarer in the course of the next hundred years. In the uprising
against the French in 1808, the Armoury was plundered by the populace in
their frantic hunger for weapons against the detested invader, and a
year or two later the collection suffered considerably at the hands of
the _Rey intruso_.
In the forties, a complete re-arrangement took place by order of Queen
Isabella II. A catalogue was issued in 1849, which was useful enough in
its way, and made the priceless treasures it enumerated known to the
world. But it displayed little critical or antiquarian skill, and
perpetuated a score of picturesque and grotesquely misleading
attributions. Different pieces were labelled as the sword of Bernardo
del Carpio, the falchion of the Cid, the bit of Don Roderic, the helmet
of Boabdil, the cuirass of Garcilaso de la Vega, etc. Doubtless in
course of time the battle axe of Amadis de Gaul, the horn of Roland, and
Mambrino’s helmet would have found their way into the catalogue. Luckily
King Alfonso XII., soon after his accession, entrusted the collection to
an antiquary of the new school, the late Count of Valencia de Don Juan.
Years of labour and research, interrupted by a disastrous fire,
resulted in a complete and admirable re-organisation and classification,
and in the publication in 1898 of a catalogue which has conferred
permanent lustre on the reputation of the erudite compiler.
The collection is in no sense national. Spain, a country famed, from the
time of the Romans, all over Europe, for the excellence of its
sword-blades and the martial temper of its people, is hardly represented
in this knightly arsenal. The major portion of the exhibits proceeded
from Italian and Bavarian workshops. Historically the collection is less
valuable than our ill-arranged armoury at the Tower. It includes few
pieces anterior to the last years of the fifteenth century, and none at
all of the fourteenth. The student comes here to view not the evolution,
but the highest expression of the armourer’s craft. Those who have the
time will of course examine the exhibits piece by piece in the order
they are described in the admirable but decidedly bulky catalogue to
which I have referred. Those who regard the great armour-smiths as great
artists--and such they were--will prefer to examine their works
separately and so to familiarise themselves with the technique and style
peculiar to each.
Koloman Colman, surnamed “Helmschmied,” was the greatest of the famous
Augsburg family. Of the many superb suits he made for Charles, no fewer
than seven are in the Royal Armoury. The earliest of these (numbered A.
19) may be identified by the monogram K. D. stamped boldly on the
pike-guard of the left shoulder. The letters stand for Karolus Dux, the
wearer being at that time (about 1514) only Duke of Burgundy and heir to
the crowns of Spain. The suit belongs to the older, more graceful style
of the fifteenth century, but the tendency to exaggeration, which, later
on, became so pronounced, is seen in the size of the shoulder-guards or
pauldrons and of the shoes or sollerets. Every part of the body is
protected by plates of steel, except the throat, the armpits, and the
space between the tassets or thigh-guards, which are defended with
chain-mail. The well-shaped helmet is of the close-fitting armet type,
composed of several pieces. The breastplate is ridged down the middle,
and decorated with the engraved collar of the Golden Fleece. The combs
or elbow pieces are beautifully made, and over the right armpit is one
of the pretty round pieces called rondels or palettes. This is missing
on the left arm, where the huge pike-guard or pauldron covers the whole
shoulder and left breast. Note the detachable lance-rest, engraved with
the armourer’s mark and the Double Eagle. The decoration of the suit is
chaste and tasteful, the borders of the various pieces being adorned
with diamond-shaped reliefs. In itself light and elastic enough for wear
in the field, the suit could be strengthened and supplemented at will
for the tilt and tournament. The extra pieces are shown on a separate
mounted figure (A. 26). The enormous arm-guards are, of course confined
to the left or exposed side. Heavy clumsy pieces such as these left less
opportunity for a display of the smith’s skill than the barding or
horse-armour. This is singularly beautiful and was the work (says the
learned author of the catalogue) of Daniel Hopfer, who often assisted
Colman. The plates are gilded and etched with devices of the Golden
Fleece, the Rose, and the Pomegranate. Hopfer is also credited with the
curious concave target to be screwed to the shoulder at tournaments (A.
37), which is trellised or divided by intersecting ridges to break the
point of an enemy’s lance. The spaces are engraved with much skill with
herons attacking an eagle, which clutches one in its talons. If this, as
it seems to be, is an allusion to the alliances promoted by Francis I.
against the Emperor after the Treaty of Madrid, it shows that the
shield must have been made long after the suit.
The horse-armour of the harnesses (A. 37-38), on the contrary, seems to
have been made for the Emperor Maximilian, and were etched by Burgmaier,
a celebrated engraver of his time. They are most elaborately decorated.
The ear-coverings of the one are shaped like rams’ horns; and the
poitrel (or breastplate) is embossed with grotesque faces. The
crupper-plates are decorated with compositions representing Biblical
episodes--David killing Goliath and Samson slaying the Philistines. If
the second suit belonged to the mighty Maximilian, the forehead-plate
must have been added later, as it bears the motto “Plus Oultre,” first
adopted by Charles.
We come next to the five harnesses made between 1519 and 1539 for the
Emperor by the Augsburg firm. They are alike decorated with ornamental
bands in the direction of their greatest length and exhibit little
difference in design. Two, however, are distinguished by the ugly
lamboys or bases, a kilting of armour introduced about this time to
satisfy the craze for novelty and extravagance. One of these is called
the oak-leaf suit, from the predominant device in the ornamentation. It
is Helmschmied’s own work--probably about 1520. The various pieces are
distributed over three separate figures (A. 49-56-57). The breastplate
becomes globose, the rondels are replaced on both shoulders by the less
graceful pike-guards. No less than six extra pieces are shown that could
be attached to the helmet. Though we may regret the departure from the
elegant simplicity of the older style, our admiration is excited by the
exquisite skill displayed in the articulation of the gorget and the
bases--made as flexible as if they were of silk. Their plates are
detachable, and beneath the steel kilt were worn breeches of the same
metal, wonderfully laminated and allowing the utmost freedom to the
limbs. The bands common to all the suits exhibit a great variety of
detail. Griffins, amorini, nymphs, grotesques, heraldical devices,
flowing scrolls, floral emblems, hunting scenes, are all introduced and
interwoven with an ingenuity only exceeded by the delicacy of their
execution. The helmet at A. 57 is lightly and beautifully relieved with
the figures of Centaurs and serpents fighting.
Another beautiful headpiece, of the Burgonet type, is shaped like a
dolphin’s head, and blackened and damascened. It is no doubt an example
of Hopfer’s skill. The same hand may be traced in the decoration of the
armet of the suit numbered A. 75. The reinforcing piece, in the form of
an eagle’s head and beak, was in the possession of Sir Richard Wallace,
and by him given to his Catholic Majesty.
Helmschmied, who, as Count de Valencia has proved, visited Spain in
1525, died in 1532. The last harness he made for the Emperor (A. 108)
illustrates a transition in the fashion of armour. The tassets or
hip-plates now extend down to the knee, and tend to assume the
“lobster-tail” form as worn by Cromwell’s Ironsides.
Desiderius Colman lacked the genius of his father. On the Cornucopia
suit (A. 115-117), so called from the emblem predominating in the
decoration, we recognise a close and successful imitation of
Helmschmied’s work. The vertical bands were insisted upon by the
Emperor, as they apparently added to his height. The figure, A. 164,
looks as if he had stepped out of Titian’s picture at the Prado. It is
made up of the harness he wore at the battle of Muhlberg in 1547. The
pieces are inlaid with gold and delicately etched. Desiderius made this
armour in 1544, and immediately after began work upon a suit for Prince
Philip, according to designs supplied by Don Diego de Arroyo. The
harness differs little from those worn by the Emperor. It is furnished
with “bases” and with very flexible articulated leg-armour. The
genouillères or separate knee-plates disappear, but the graceful rondels
at the armpits, and coudes or elbow pieces are retained. On the next
figure is shown a very fine tilting helm in three pieces, and next to
this again, a headpiece of the “morion” type fluted and delicately
etched.
The suit numbered A. 217-A. 230 should be familiar to visitors to the
Prado. Philip, as heir apparent, is shown wearing it in Titian’s picture
(No. 454) and by Rubens (No. 1607). The Count of Benavente is
represented in it by Velazquez (1090). Designed by Arroyo, the harness,
which is composed of more pieces than any other in the collection, was
made in 1549. The history of Philip’s magnificent armour (A. 239-A. 242)
as related by the Count de Valencia, is of some interest. Hitherto
Colman’s superiority to other armourers of the time had been
acknowledged only as regarded field and tilting armour--the plainer and
tougher work, in short. Burning to eclipse his Milanese competitors in
their own line and to produce a harness of the most ornate character,
Colman looked about for an assistant and found one in Georg Sigman, an
artificer of skill, whom the municipality of Augsburg had hitherto
refused to enrol as a master of his craft. Colman promised his powerful
influence to the aspirant, and together they turned out the fine suit we
see. The cuirass and all the pieces, except the jambs, coudes and
vambraces, are composed of overlapping plates. The decoration is
tasteful, consisting of longitudinal bands of blackened steel, etched
with grotesques and foliage. The coudes are embossed and gilded with
female figures upholding the order of the Golden Fleece, attended by
warriors. The genouillères are decorated with masks and satyrs. Note the
little brayette at the meeting of the limbs, a piece, stupidly enough,
rarely shown in English collections. The helmet or burgonet is richly
chased with classical compositions, with cartouches, wreaths, and
foliage. Upon it the name of Colman and the date 1552 are stamped in
full, with the initials and mark of his collaborator.
The spirit of rivalry, of which this noble panoply is the offspring, is
expressed very plainly on the shield (A. 241) attached thereto. It is
circular, of one piece, blackened, and embossed. Round the boss runs a
laurel wreath, with the name of the maker and the date. On the surface
are disposed four medallions, encircled by wreaths and designed
respectively with allegorical representations of Strength, Victory,
Wisdom, and Peace. The intermediate space is lavishly adorned with
figures, masks, and foliage, and cartouches. Less skilfully executed are
the designs round the rim, where Colman has presumptuously symbolised
his supposed triumph over his Milanese competitor by a composition in
which a bull overthrows a man bearing a shield marked “Nigrol.” The
shield will certainly not bear comparison with the Italian’s work or
even with the suit to which it is attached, but in fairness to the
German, it must be said that it is evidently unfinished. It wants the
grip and the attachments for the lining. The saddle at A. 242 is the
finer work, and is adorned with the figure of Aphrodite attended by
Cupids. This is the latest specimen of the work of Desiderius Colman
preserved to us. He was living in 1575 (says Dr Wendelin Boeheim), but
when or where he died we know not.
Little is known of Sigmund Wolf, except that he was living at Landshut
in Bavaria as late as 1554, and was the teacher of Franz Grosschedel,
another armour-smith of repute. To him is ascribed the harness made for
Philip II., and styled the Burgundy Cross suit. The decoration consists
in ornamented bands as usual, on the breastplate of one figure being
engraved the figure of the Madonna. Another suit by the same maker (A.
243-262) includes no fewer than eighty-five pieces, all of which are not
at Madrid. The inordinate number of tilting-pieces show Philip’s
fondness for martial exercises. The weight of the armour when complete
would have been 37 kilogrammes. The helm is a superb example of Wolf’s
skill and the leg armour reveals his eye for symmetry. A manteau d’armes
or target is screwed to the left shoulder, as was usual in tilting
suits.
The armour with the lobster-tail tassets worn by the ill-fated Infante
Carlos, son of Philip II., at the age of thirteen or fourteen, is
attributed by Boeheim to Wilhelm von Worms of Nuremberg, and by Valencia
(with a greater show of probability, it seems to me) to one of Wolf’s
successors and namesakes. It is interesting to remark the difference in
size of the left and right pauldrons, a proof that the prince was
slightly deformed, as has so often been alleged. It is unfortunate that
the armour of our own Richard III. has not been preserved, to set at
rest the vexed question of his physical conformation.
The fecundity of Bavaria in great armour-smiths about this time proves
the truth of the adage that, given a Mæcenas, Maros will not be
wanting. Perhaps the most magnificent suit in the whole armoury is No.
A. 270, interesting doubly as having been made for that darling of
romance, Dom Sebastian of Portugal, by the gifted craftsman, Anton
Peffenhauser of Augsburg.
Boeheim has brought to light several details of this great artificer’s
life. Born at Munich in 1525, he was working twenty-two years later in
Augsburg, where he married, first Regine Meixner, and secondly twenty
years later, Regine Eitler (probably the sister of Susanne Eitler, who
married “Helmschmied” in 1565). His skill, and possibly his connection
with the Patriarch of the craft, procured Peffenhauser many exalted
patrons. In 1566 he was at work on a blackened harness for Kaiser
Maximilian II., and ten years later we find him attached to the
electoral court of Saxony. Specimens of his work are to be seen at
Dresden, Vienna, and St Petersburg. The present suit was made about
1576. A medal preserved at Prague portrays Peffenhauser as a man of
mature years, stern and dignified in countenance, with a pronouncedly
aquiline nose and full beard.
Dom Sebastian’s armour, says the Count of Valencia, is Peffenhauser’s
masterpiece, and places him on a level with, if not above, the greatest
German armourers of his time. True, he falls into the mistake of
over-ornamentation, and his figures are incorrectly designed, but the
composition and embossing are bolder than Colman’s, and, above all, his
chiselling is of inimitable precision and clearness. As to the style of
decoration, on comparing the capricious combinations of figures,
scrolls, and other devices, with the designs published by Hefner
Altenech, we are inclined to believe that it was the work of Hans
Mielich of Munich (born 1516, died 1573), or some other German artist of
the same date and equal ability.
The suit consists of burgonet, breastplates, and backplates, gorget,
pauldrons, rere and vambraces, coudes, gauntlets, taces, lobster-tail
tassets, genouillères, and jambs. The nails, clasps, and plume-holder
are gilded. The burgonet, wrought in one piece, is beautifully embossed
with allegorical and mythological figures and with a battle-scene in
which elephants are introduced--an allusion, doubtless, to the
Portuguese conquests in the Indies. Mythological compositions also adorn
the longitudinal bands traversing the suit from neck to ankle. The
pauldrons, or shoulder-plates, display a bewildering and marvellous
profusion of ornamented work. The elbow-guards are adorned with reliefs
of the Cardinal Virtues, the knee-plates with beautiful emblematic
groups. Thinking of this suit when still brightly burnished and gilded,
one fancies that it was thus arrayed that Milton’s archangels went forth
to battle for the lordship of the heavens.
It is now time to examine the productions of the Italian schools of
armourership. The most formidable competitors of the Augsburg family
were the celebrated Missaglias of Milan, who became known exclusively by
the name of Negroli from the year 1515 onwards. Herr Boeheim has found
traces of a Tommaso da Missaglia, who was working at Milan in 1415. His
son, Antonio, made a suit for the last Aragonese King of Naples. Some
specimens of his handiwork are to be seen in Vienna. The members of the
family with whom “Helmschmied” and his son were called upon to compete
were Filippo, Giacomo, and Francesco Negroli. The suit A. 139, forged at
Milan in 1539, and worn by Charles V., is surpassed in purity of outline
and excellence of workmanship by no other in the collection. There is no
trace here of the decadence of the craft. It is at once distinguished
from the German suits by the horizontal direction of the bands. It was
originally blackened, so as to show up the gold and silver of the
decoration. The morion is surmounted by a laurelled comb, on each side
of which run wide bands of gold damascening that meet in front to form a
fantastic face in relief. Hence the name “de los mascarones” sometimes
given to this harness. The date and maker’s names are stamped on the
border. Over the helmet could be placed a re-inforcing piece or “coif”
shaped like a serpent with scales of gold. The breastplate is adorned
with a medallion, containing an image of the Virgin. The shoulder,
elbow, and knee pieces all deserve close examination for their admirable
enrichment with lions’ heads, scrolls, and foliations.
The skill of the Negrolis must be judged, apart from this suit, by
separate pieces of armour. We have, first, the helmet and target
presented to the Emperor by the Duke of Mantua in 1533. The former is
moulded in the likeness of a human head--said to be Charles’
own--covered with golden curls, and encircled over the brow by a laurel
wreath. The beavor is in the form of a curly beard, the lips showing
above it. This cleverly executed, but tasteless, helmet bears the name
of Negroli, and the date 1533. The target, made to match, has a lion’s
head and mane at the boss, and a wide border, where medallions with the
Imperial arms are shown upheld by griffins and interwoven amid foliage.
Another Burgonet (D. 30), made for the Emperor by the same hands, forged
in one piece and exquisitely damascened, is surmounted by the figure of
a recumbent turbaned warrior--emblematic of the Ottoman Empire--whose
fierce mustachios are firmly grasped by two female figures, representing
Fame and Victory. Far exceeding these pieces in dignity and simplicity
of conception, and in vigour and accuracy of execution, is the famous
Medusa shield (D. 64) presented to Charles by the Municipality of Milan
upon his entrance into the city in 1541. The Gorgon’s head, daringly and
vigorously embossed, is super-imposed on the centre of the shield, and
confined within a broad laurel wreath. Outside this again are three
concentric bands. The first, narrow and richly inlaid with the precious
metals; the second, blackened and divided into sections by panels
bearing the inscription, “Is terror quod virtus anima e fortuna paret”;
the third, damascened like the first, and divided by medallions
containing the Imperial insignia. The rim is moulded into the form of a
laurel wreath. Negroli’s name is shown on the steel grip. This is
considered one of the very finest shields ever forged by an armourer.
The swords (G. 33, 34) are believed to be the work of the same hands.
Their middle surfaces and ricassi are inlaid with gold. The hilt of one
terminates in a beautiful volute, of the other in a facetted pommel.
The helmet, attributed in the old catalogues to Boabdil (D. 12), issued
from the same workshop. It is forged in one piece and could be
strengthened by a complete set of re-inforcing pieces for tilt and
tournament. Probably it would have interested us more if the old
tradition as to its ownership had not been discredited.
Great potentates in the sixteenth century were fond of appearing in
Roman garb. Charles V. was the possessor of a suit of armour of this
character, presented to him by the Duke of Urbino, and made by
Bartolommeo Campi of Pesaro. This armourer, after enjoying the patronage
of several crowned heads, served in the army of the Duke of Alba as an
engineer, and fell at the siege of Haarlem in 1573. The harness is
composed of seven pieces of blackened steel, damascened and ornamented
with bronze gilt. The cuirass, a wonderful work of art, is modelled on
the muscles of the male breast, and on it is super-imposed the head of
Medusa finished off with spiral volutes. At the shoulders are lions’
heads, with fierce rolling eye-balls. The cuirass is fringed with a row
of hanging bronze medallions, showing classic heads, masks, and other
devices, beloved of the Renaissance artificer. Cothurni with satyrs’
heads at the point, and a Bœotian casque superbly enriched, complete
this splendid antique costume.
The work of another eminent Italian artist is to be seen at A. 112. It
was presented to Charles by the Duke of Mantua and forged by Caremolo
Mondrone of Milan (1489-1543). It possesses an historic interest, as the
suit in which the Emperor made his entry into Tunis. Though the
decorative work has all but disappeared, the close fit and flowing lines
recall the best days of the armourer’s craft.
The next suit (A. 114) also testifies by the extreme delicacy of the
azziminia in imitation of Kufic inscriptions, to the wonderful skill of
the same artificer.
That the very greatest artists were not unwilling to co-operate in the
decoration of arms is attested by the magnificent “Plus Ultra” shield
designed by Giulio Romano, who was living in Mantua in those days. It is
forged in a single piece of steel and the whole surface is chiselled
with an elaborate composition. In the centre is seen the Emperor, in his
Roman suit, upholding the Imperial Eagle and standing upright in a
vessel, at the prow of which is Fame. Over his head Victory hovers.
Hercules, more to the left, shoulders his Pillars, and prepares to
follow the Emperor in his onward course, to the obvious consternation of
Neptune. Below the boat a river-god is seated near the figure of Africa
or America, bound and enslaved. This is certainly one of the most
remarkable productions of the armourer’s art anywhere to be seen.
The armour at one time in the possession of Charles and his son is
naturally the most interesting in the collection. The suits made for
their successors illustrate the decline of the artistic movement. The
harness was now worn chiefly for display. The connection between Spain
and Bavaria was severed, and the days had long gone when Toledo blades
were esteemed the finest weapons the world could produce. The suits made
for Philip III., when Infante, by Lucio Piccinino of Milan, is worthy of
the earlier period. It is profusely decorated with reliefs and
azziminia. The burgonet is embossed with three masks, another appearing
in the centre of the breastplate, above a panel containing a figure of
Victory and upheld by two male figures. The other pieces (many of which
are wanting) were all similarly adorned. The horse’s barding exhibits a
similar wealth of ornamentation.
Turned out in Spain itself at the Royal Arsenal of Pamplona in Navarre,
in the year 1620, is the armour catalogued under the numbers A. 350-353.
This was a suit intended for presentation by Philip III. to the Duke of
Savoy, and is lavishly decorated. A curious feature of the next suit,
also made in Navarre, is the seven indentations made by the bullets of
an arquebus. Each is set with stones. These marks were intended to
attest the thickness of the steel, but they do rather the contrary, for
the backplate has been completely perforated. We are reminded of Don
Quixote’s attempts to satisfy himself of the toughness of his helmet.
At A. 13-20 are shown six charming little suits made for the boy
princes, Philip, Ferdinand, and Charles. They are composed of closed
helmets, gorgets, cuirasses, and the usual arm-guards. The surface is
blued and divided diagonally by foliations between which appear the
emblems of Spain and the Golden Fleece.
The suit made for the Infante Baltasar Carlos (1629-1646) is little
more than a costly toy, and preserves its gilding and blackening
unimpaired. The suits A. 369 and A. 394 are historically interesting, as
having been worn in the field by Prince Emmanuele Filiberto of Savoy,
the victor of St Quentin, and Don Juan José, natural son of Philip IV.,
respectively.
The splendidly engraved collar and gorget catalogued as A. 434-441, are
now known to portray the siege of Ostend (1601-1604) and battle of
Nieuport (1600). The details are executed with marvellous clearness, and
reflect the greatest credit on the unknown artificer. The horseman in
the centre group on the gorget is probably the Archduke Albrecht, who
distinguished himself by his valour in the battle. These pieces were
worn over a buff jerkin, such as clothed Cromwell’s Ironsides.
Many detached pieces in this grand collection are as full of interest as
the complete harnesses. The sword, G. 21, once thought to be the
“Colada” of the Cid, has lost little of its interest now that it has
been identified with that equally famous blade, the “Lobera” of St
Ferdinand. A part of the cloak in which the sainted king was buried is
also shown with his long-necked spurs or “acicates.” Then we have (at G.
13) the heavy weapon of Ferdinand the Catholic, and the sword of state
used by the Catholic sovereigns when conferring the accolade. The sword,
inscribed with the Great Captain’s name, was presented to him, the Count
of Valencia thinks, by some Italian city. The sword numbered G. 30 also
belonged to him. And who can gaze without wonderment on the Valencian
blade with which Pizarro won for Spain the vast empire of Peru?
From the New World comes a wonderful feather shield, made by the Mexican
Indians under the direction of Spanish artists. On a wicker frame are
depicted in feathers, mounted on skin, the battles of Navas de Tolosa,
Tunis, and Lepanto, and the taking of Granada. In the centre a heron is
seen defending its nest against serpents--a composition symbolical of
the campaign against heresy. The whole is an extraordinary example of
what can be achieved with such apparently impracticable materials.
Included in the collection is a brigantine made for Charles V. composed
of hundreds of pieces of steel sewn on leather, making a garment as
flexible as a jersey, and yet endowed with extraordinary resisting
power.
Older, and from certain points of view more interesting than any of
these exhibits, are the Visigothic crowns of Guarrazar, the companions
of those in the Cluny museum. These were found one moonlit night in the
year 1858 by two peasants, in the bed of a fountain, and only secured
with difficulty by the government. Much of the treasure had already come
into the possession of the goldsmiths of Toledo, and had been broken up
or melted down. It is said to have comprised a beautiful golden dove,
which, having been acquired by a jeweller, occasioned him so many qualms
of conscience that he at last eased his mind by throwing it into the
Tagus. The crowns were the offerings at shrines of King Swinthila and
his successors. They consist of hoops studded with gems and dangling
from a separate ornament of gold and rock-crystal. From the hoop hang
pendants and letters in enamel, making up the inscription, _Swinthilanus
Rex Offeret_. Adjacent are crosses and ornaments of the same period. An
antique horse’s bit, ascribed by tradition to Witiza, is believed by the
Count de Valencia to date from the Visigothic era.
The collection comprises a superb assortment of swords, beautiful
specimens of the famous Toledo blades. Among those of historic interest,
I forgot to mention that of Hernando Cortés. The sword of Philip II.,
numbered G. 47 has a magnificent hilt richly chased, with a spherical
pommel. It is no doubt the work of Desiderius Colman, though believed,
at one time, to have been designed by Benvenuto Cellini.
Among the trophies are the sword of the Duke of Weimar, taken at
Nordlingen in 1634, the arms taken from Francis I. at Pavia, Moorish
arms from Tunis, the breastplate of the Elector of Saxony, taken at
Mühlberg, swords and standards from Lepanto, and flags taken by the
famous Admiral Alvaro de Bazán. The arms belonging to his late Catholic
Majesty, Alfonso XII., have also been added to the collection by the
Queen Dowager, who well knew the profound interest her august husband
took in this superb military museum.
THE ESCORIAL--LA GRANJA--EL PARDO
No one visits Madrid without making an excursion to the Escorial, which
is to the Spanish capital what the Pyramids are to Cairo. Indeed, there
is more than one point of resemblance between these buildings. Both
impress mainly by their size, both produce no sensations of pleasure in
the beholder, both embody the solemn and crushing conception of the
majesty of death entertained by great and despotic kings.
The thoughts of Philip II., like those of the Pharaohs, turned
perpetually graveward, and it is perhaps doing no injustice to a
genuinely devout character to say that he pondered as much on the abode
of the body after death as on the post-mortem vicissitudes of his soul.
The pomp of death which, according to the sage, is to most men more
terrible than death itself, had a rare fascination for the Pharaohs and
the King of Spain. Philip in his tomb seemed a finer figure to Philip
living than Philip on his throne. Death as a catastrophe is attractive,
of course, to all manner of people, not otherwise morbid. But it was
death in its most generally repugnant aspect that appealed to this
strange, sombre sovereign of the Spains, and it was that predominating
conception that inspired him in the erection of the Escorial. The
building is his idea of the majesty and finality of Death expressed in
stone.
The story which immediately accounts for the founding of the Escorial is
well known. On the 16th August 1557, the Spaniards commanded by
Emmanuele Filiberto, Duke of Savoy, totally defeated the French under
the walls of St Quentin. Philip arrived in time to assist at the taking
of the town itself, to effect which it became necessary to demolish a
convent dedicated to St Lawrence. By way of reparation to that saint, in
thanksgiving for the victory, and in fulfilment of his father’s
instructions to create a royal mausoleum, Philip determined to erect a
vast monastery and palace under the invocation of St Lawrence. The
present site having been chosen by a commission, the work was begun in
the presence of the King himself, in the first week of April 1562. The
plans were drawn by Juan Bautista de Toledo, an architect of
distinction, who had studied at Rome and Naples. He died, however, in
1563, a few days after the laying of the first stone and the work was
then entrusted to his assistant, the more celebrated Juan de Herrera
(born in Asturias 1530, died at Madrid 1597). Villacastin, the Master of
the Works, on being invited to assist at the ceremony of laying the
first stone, replied, “Let others lay the first, I will place the last!”
His words came true, for he laid on June 23rd, 1582, the last stone,
which may be seen marked with a black cross on entering the Patio de los
Reyes.
The real architect was Philip himself. His interest in the work was so
intense, his attention to its details so minute, the idea of the whole
so much his own and so tenaciously insisted upon, that Toledo and
Herrera can have had little else to do than commit the scheme to paper.
The Escorial is essentially the work of one man, and the expression if
not of his personality, at least of the idea that obsessed him.
It was the custom in Northern Europe to propitiate some half-forgotten
infernal deities by burying a pig or a sheep alive in the foundations of
every church. The monastery of San Lorenzo was similarly consecrated by
human and animal sacrifices. After the Hermits of St Jerome (Charles
V.’s favourite order) had established themselves in the incomplete
edifice, it was whispered that a black dog persistently interrupted
their chanting by his howlings. The animal was looked upon by the people
as inspired by God thus to protest against the spoliation of the
peasantry by the Hermits. It turned out that it was only one of the
hounds of the Marquis de las Navas, bewailing his absent master; but the
benevolent monks promptly hanged the poor brute from the roof of their
cloister. In the same year a young man, twenty-four years of age, was
(no doubt for some serious offence) burned at the stake on the spot in
the neighbouring Jardin del Principe marked by a stone cross. Thus with
most solemn rites was the great Christian temple consecrated to Death.
The building constitutes an immense parallelogram, its sides nearly
facing the cardinal points of the compass. The small rectangular annex
called the Palacio de Infantes projecting from the middle of the eastern
face, gives the plan a purely accidental resemblance to a gridiron,
which, according to legend, was the instrument of the titular saint’s
martyrdom. The dimensions, according to a Spanish writer, are 744
Castilian feet from north to south, 580 from east to west, and 400,000
square feet in area. The whole building is of grey granite, and appears
to form an integral part of the rock on which it stands. In its
simplicity and hugeness it might easily be mistaken for the work of
Nature, not of man. Artistically this is perhaps its sole merit, yet, as
I have said, it never fails to awe. The style is that of the second
Renaissance, here called Greco-Roman, which prefers the Doric order and
rejects all superfluous ornament. Each angle is capped by a square
tower, surmounted by a pinnacle. The façades, devoid of all decoration,
are relieved only by rows of small square windows. The upper stories are
faced with blue slate and sheets of lead. The Escorial is rivalled in
simplicity and severity by the Pyramids alone.
The main entrance is in the middle of the west front. The lower stage is
in the Doric style, four columns flanking the doorway on each side. The
door itself is 20 feet high and 12 feet wide, and painted white with
huge copper-gilt studs and knockers. Above is the second stage of the
entrance in the Ionic style. Over the door is the colossal statue of St.
Lawrence in granite, but with the head, hands, and feet in white marble.
The sculptor, Monegro, received 20,900 reales for the Spanish
coat-of-arms carved below.
A vestibule opens upon the Patio de los Reyes, so called from the
statues of the Kings of Judah in granite and marble, also by Monegro,
which stand on pedestals above the cornice. Jehoshaphat is represented
with an axe, Hezekiah with a ram, Manasseh with the compass and square,
Josiah and Solomon with books, David with harp and sword. These kings
were selected as having had most to do with the building of the Temple,
to which the Escorial was often compared by Spanish writers. The Temple,
as represented by the Mosque of Omar, is by far the more cheerful and
ornate structure of the two.
The eastern front of this court is formed by the west front of the
church and the Escorial--undoubtedly the noblest part of the pile. It is
rightly considered Herrera’s masterpiece. The shape is said to be that
of a Greek cross, but seemed to me to be square. The west front is
flanked by square towers considerably over 200 feet high, and
terminating like those of the enceinte in pinnacles. Over the crossing
rises a stately dome, supporting a graceful pyramid, above which rises
an iron cross. These towers are the most ornamental features of the
whole vast pile.
The interior of the church, truly observes Mr Lomas, “conveys exactly
the idea which English people attach to the word ‘temple,’ a place
wherein the majesty of the invisible dwarfs everything human.” It is
constructed on the model of the first plan of St Peter’s. The lantern is
carried on four enormous piers, from which to eight pilasters in the
walls spring twenty-four mighty arches, forming three naves. Giants
would seem to have been at work here. On entering we find ourselves in
the dark Lower Choir, which is separated from the rest of the church by
three bronze railings and to which were confined the lay worshippers.
Above it is the choir, which it is unusual to find in Spain raised in a
gallery at the west end of the church, instead of blocking up the nave.
Here Philip often joined the monks in their devotions, his seat being
the one nearest the door in the south-east angle. He was absorbed in
prayer when on November 8th, 1571, during Vespers, a messenger entered
and announced to those assembled the glorious victory obtained by Don
John of Austria over the Ottoman fleet. The King gave no sign that he
was elated, or that he had even heard the intelligence, but at the
conclusion of the office he ordered a Te Deum to be intoned. He was a
man never elated by success or cast down by failure. The evil tidings of
the Armada found him as unperturbed as the good news of Lepanto. From
the same seat he assisted at the solemn requiem Mass chanted by night
for the repose of the soul of Mary, Queen of Scots. It is not without a
certain emotion that we gaze around in this gallery. The stalls are
elegantly and chastely carved in precious woods, after the designs of
Herrera. The lectern and crystal chandelier are hardly so good. The eye
turns at once to the marble crucifix signed by Benvenuto Cellini, who
placed it among his finest works. Philip, one day, covered the loins of
the figure with his handkerchief, a precedent which we see still
followed in many churches in Spain and in convent chapels in France.
In the adjoining chambers, called the Antecoros, may be seen a statue
converted into the “likeness” of St. Lawrence, and two pictures by
Navarrete “el mudo.” That artist is said to have fallen foul of certain
ecclesiastics by representing angels with beards, and an additional rule
was laid down that neither cats and dogs nor any unbecoming figures were
to be introduced into religious pictures, but only such things as
incited to devotion. The frescoes are by Luca Giordano, as are also
those which decorate the eight vaults of the church itself. In the choir
library you may see the splendid antiphoners, beautifully bound and
illuminated, and over a yard high by two yards broad.
In the church is the simple tomb of Queen Mercedes, first wife of his
late Majesty, Don Alfonso XII. The plain gold cross at her feet was the
offering of the British community of Madrid, by whom, as indeed by the
whole world, her untimely death was profoundly deplored. She is buried
here and not in the mausoleum below, as she was not the mother of a
king.
The dome of the Pantheon is covered by the steep flight of steps leading
to the chancel, so that Mass is literally celebrated above the bodies
of the kings. The altar, which cost about £(?)40,000, is isolated, and
is made of marble and jasper, a single slab of the latter stone forming
the table. According to the inscription on a bronze plate let into the
back of the altar, it contains relics of Saints Peter and Paul, Lawrence
and Vincent, and a multitude of other saints, and was consecrated in
presence of Philip by the Papal Nuncio, Camillo Caietano, Patriarch of
Alexandria, on August 30th, 1595. The beauty of the reredos or retablo
is obscured by the dark hue of the stone employed, and by the sombre
colour assumed by the paintings in course of the years. The light also
is very bad. The three stages into which the retablo is divided
correspond to the three Grecian orders of architecture. The columns are
of dark red and green jasper, with capitals and pedestals of bronze
gilt. The statues represent (looking upwards) the Four Doctors of the
Church, the Four Evangelists, St James and St Andrew, St Peter and St
Paul. The paintings depict the Nativity and Adoration of the Magi, the
Saviour bearing the Cross, the Scourging at the Pillar, the Martyrdom of
Saint Lawrence, the Resurrection, the Descent of the Holy Ghost and the
Assumption. The cross surmounting the whole was made from the wood of
the Portuguese warship, “the Five Wounds.” The architect of this fine
work was the Milanese Giacomo Trezzo, the painters Tibaldi and Zuccaro,
the sculptors Leone and Pompeio Leoni. The sanctuary to the east
contains the superb tabernacle, designed by Herrera and executed by
Trezzo, with instruments invented by him for the purpose. It was
restored in 1827 by “the pious and august” Ferdinand VII. after it had
been rifled and damaged by the French. The reliquaries in the sanctuary
contain ten entire bodies of saints, 144 heads, and 306 entire arms and
legs. Among these relics is the thigh of Saint Lawrence, showing the
roasted flesh and the holes made by the skewers.
The sceptical foreigner will probably be more interested by the statues
above the oratorios or royal tribunes surrounding the altar. We see
Charles V. with his wife, daughters and sisters, Philip II. with all his
wives, except Mary Tudor, and his son, the miserable Infante Carlos. It
was not altogether a happy idea to represent a Christian prince attended
at the _same time_ by his three wives. All these statues are faithful
portraits. The oratorio on the Epistle side adjoins the bare, narrow
chamber in which the devout king breathed his last, quitting without
regret a world with which he had no sympathy and in which he moved as a
melancholy exile.
The church contains forty-eight side chapels and altars, adorned by the
paintings of Coello, Navarrete, and others of less note. The best
pictures are to be seen in the Sacristia. Here there are several works
of Titian, Tintoretto, El Greco, Zurbaran, and Ribera. The most
interesting canvas is the “Santa Forma” by Claudio Coello. The heads are
portraits of Charles II. and his ministers. The incident depicted is the
ceremony of the Veneration of the Sacred Wafer, which being trodden upon
and defiled by Protestants at Gorinchem in Holland, is said to have
exuded blood. It is preserved behind the picture and exhibited twice a
year.
Immediately under the high altar is the Pantheon, the last resting-place
of the kings and queens of Spain. It is an octagonal chamber, lined with
precious marbles, which also in the dreadfully sensible presence of
death, seem to be decaying. No such rich chamber was desired by Philip.
It dates from 1554.
Twenty-six marble urns placed in niches round the chamber contain all
that was mortal of the monarchs of Spain and their consorts from
Charles V. to Alfonso XII., Philip V. and Ferdinand VI. excepted. There
are tombs, too, awaiting the living. Ascending the steps we pass the
sealed door of the Pudridero, where the bodies are kept five years
before being placed in the Pantheon, and may visit the burial chambers
reserved to the Infantes and Infantas. Several of the vaults are still
empty. They are in purer, colder style than the heavier Pantheon of the
kings. As one ascends to the living world from these awful chambers, the
question suggests itself, what is the object of it all? The Pyramids of
Nile ought to have convinced man once for all of the hopelessness of any
effort to preserve his body unprofaned and solemnly housed through all
the years. No matter how great the dynasty, how strong the tomb, the day
must come when the jealously and reverently guarded ashes will form the
prey of some ghoulish invader. With Rameses exposed to the gaze of
wondering Cockneys, with Alexander’s tomb an object of curiosity to
tourists in the museum at Stamboul, with the tombs of the kings of Judah
explored on allfours by Cook’s trippers, how can one hope for an eternal
immunity from profanation for the Invalides, for Westminster, for the
Escorial? Kings ought to have learnt the lesson that in the pages of
history alone can they look for an earthly immortality.
The convent occupies the southern part of the building. It was
inhabited, as I have said, by the religious known as the Hermits of St
Jerome or Hieronymites, an Order established or recognised by Pope
Gregory XI. in 1373. If it still exists it counts very few members and
has played an insignificant part in ecclesiastical history compared with
the spiritual descendants of Benedict, Dominic, Francis, Bruno, and
Ignatius. For some reason or other Charles V. held the Hermits in
particular esteem, and it was this predilection that determined his son
to offer them the new monastery in 1561. The Order is likely to be best
remembered by the ecclesiologist for the peculiar plan of its
churches--cruciform, with diagonal lines extending from the ends of the
cross-piece to the head of the upright limb.
The granite cloisters in the Doric style are, or rather were, decorated
with frescoes after designs of Tibaldi, now shockingly “restored.” In
the centre of the Patio de los Evangelistas is a little octagonal
temple, covering a fountain. It is one of Herrera’s best works, in which
granite and marble have been combined with admirable skill. The white
statues of the Evangelists at the corners were sculptured by Monegro;
the appropriate inscriptions are in Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Syriac.
The three Chapter Rooms of the monastery form a picture gallery of high
interest. Titian is represented by a Last Supper--sadly restored;
Tintoretto, by “Christ washing His Disciples’ feet,” “Christ at the
house of the Pharisee,” and “Queen Esther”--all bought from the
Collection of our Charles I. by the Spanish Ambassador--and by an “Ecce
Homo,” “Entombment,” “Adoration of the Shepherds,” and “Annunciation”;
Velazquez, by “The sons of Jacob”--perhaps the best work in the
collection; El Mudo, by the “Martyrdom of St James”; El Greco, by the
“Dream of Philip II. (Glory, Purgatory, and Hell)”; Ribera, by several
canvasses. There is a good “Martyrdom of St. Lawrence” by Titian in the
old chapel, and a few good pictures, especially by El Mudo, in the upper
cloisters, reached by a grand staircase. One of the halls is called the
Aula de Moral, being reserved for conferences on points of morality.
The Library is decidedly of more interest than the Convent. The books,
oddly enough, are arranged with the faces, instead of the backs,
outwards. The cases of ebony and cedar were designed by Herrera and
harmonise well with the marble pavement and tables. There are several
portraits of sovereigns here, and in cases are arranged some of the
rarer books, such as the prayer-books of Charles V., Isabel the
Catholic, Philip III., etc., a Virgil of the fifteenth century, and an
eleventh century Codex, with the four Gospels written in letters of
gold. This priceless work was begun by order of Conrad II., Emperor of
the Romans. Eighteen pounds’ weight of gold is said to have been
employed in the illumination.
The beginning of the collection was Philip’s own library, of 4000
volumes, to which was added in 1614 the valuable library of the Sultan
of Morocco. It has of course been increased by other collections from
time to time. The Arabic MSS., though not as numerous as might be
expected, are extremely valuable. Gayangos, that patient Spanish
Orientalist, I am informed, never had the opportunity of inspecting
them.
The palace occupies the northern side of the huge edifice. It forms the
least meritorious part of Herrera’s design, and was not improved by the
alterations effected by order of Charles IV. The halls are dull, dreary,
and altogether in the style of the eighteenth century--a sufficient
condemnation. Those were days when every monarch wanted a Versailles:
we see the same effort at imitation at Caserta, at the Superga, at
Wilhelmshöhe and Philippsruhe. There is, of course, a Hall of Battles,
celebrating with the exception of the pictures of the fight at St
Quentin, Lepanto, and Higueruela, victories over the Dutch and Flemings.
National self-glorification may be carried too far, but in England we
are too forgetful of our glorious past. We do not dream of adorning our
palaces with pictures of Crecy, Poitiers, Agincourt, Blenheim,
Trafalgar, and Waterloo. You may search England in vain for monuments to
William the Conqueror, the founder of the monarchy, to Edward, our great
justiciar, to the Black Prince, to de Montfort or to Langton, to whom we
owe our constitutional liberties. One unacquainted with our history
might suppose we sprang into existence a bare century ago. In a
generally conservative country like ours, this complete detachment from
the past appears strangely contradictory.
This vast, empty palace contains little of interest except the two rooms
inhabited by Philip. Within them all is austerity and simplicity--as
befitted a king who was a monk at heart. The walls are whitewashed, the
flooring of brick. The footstools remind us of the gout from which the
sad king suffered--certainly not from over-indulgence in the good things
of life. In this room he worked from four in the morning till midnight,
his labours interrupted only by his fervent devotions. The adjoining
chamber is the oratorio, of which I have already spoken, where he could
assist at the celebration of Mass. Here, at the end of a two months’
illness, patiently borne, he died, grasping the very crucifix with which
his father had been consoled during his last moments. His death, at any
rate, was happier and more dignified than that of his victorious rival,
Elizabeth, writhing out her life at Richmond in an ecstasy of remorse
and chagrin.
Adjacent to the Escorial are several blocks of buildings, such as the
Campaña, containing the domestic offices, and the Casa del Principe, the
Petit Trianon of the palace, surrounded by gardens. In these may be seen
the cross marking the spot where the baker’s boy was burnt at the stake
in Philip’s reign. A queer site for a palace dedicated to the “menus
plaisirs”!
The Escorial has been the scene of some important historical events,
notably of the arrest and imprisonment of the Infante Ferdinand, on the
charge of high treason against his father in 1807. He was afterwards
Ferdinand VII. The prince was confined in the Prior’s cell and managed
to communicate with his friends by the aid of a fishing line. Charles
IV. had no option but to pardon his son, whose intrigues resulted
indirectly in the spoliation of the palace which had been his prison, by
the French a year or two later.
Not without relief will the visitor leave these interminable halls and
corridors over which broods the presence of death, and seek the little
Silla del Rey, or King’s Chair, a mile and a half from the pile. It is a
natural seat, formed of granite rocks, where Philip used to watch the
progress of the building operations. It is worth visiting as affording
one of the pretty views to be obtained in the midst of a generally
uninviting district.
After a visit to the Escorial, the Palace of La Granja will seem what it
was intended to be--the house of life and gaiety. At any other time it
would seem a rather dull and depressing imitation of Versailles. It is
called the Grange or Farm and appropriately enough is in the midst of
charming scenery. Trees afford a shade not too often to be found in
barren, scorched Castile. And in the background the snowy Guadarrama
lift their heads above the pine forests. On the whole one does not
blame Philip V. for his choice of a royal domain, or wonder why the
present King’s father and mother spent much of their time here, soon
after their marriage. Yet at this height of 4000 feet above the sea, it
must be an Arctic spot at all seasons except summer. La Granja--or San
Ildefonso, to give it its official name--is the residence of the Court
in summer. If the Escorial expresses in stone the character of its
founder, the same cannot be said of this palace, for the fifth Philip
was of almost as gloomy a temper as the first. He spent very little time
at the pleasaunce he had decreed, for he died a few months after its
completion in 1746. Here in 1724 he abdicated the throne in favour of
his son, Don Luis, on whose death eight months later he was constrained
to resume the royal authority.
The palace itself is not a very interesting structure. The principal
façade dates from 1737, and is buttressed by columns and pilasters,
supporting an entablature and balustrade. Over the middle rises an attic
story, also surmounted with a balustrade, supported by four Caryatides
representing the seasons, between them being the coat-of-arms of Spain
and the Bourbons. This front was designed by Juvarra, and is the most
tasteful portion of the building, to which additions have been made at
different epochs with little regard to harmony or good taste. The
interior, however, reflects the taste of the present august occupants.
Much of the heavy rubbish accumulated in preceding centuries has been
relegated to the lumber room, and the vast halls and corridors have been
refurnished throughout. Rich tapestries cover the walls, and the palace
still contains upwards of 300 pictures, though the finest works of art
have gone to fill the galleries of Madrid. The chapel is only worth
visiting for the tombs of Philip V. and his Italian Queen.
But if the Palace of San Ildefonso hardly rewards the visitor for his
journey from Madrid, the park is a thing of beauty and a joy at least
during a long day. Here flourish the elm, the lime, the pine, and the
chestnut, forming delicious woods. In the ornamental gardens exists the
very finest system of fountains the world has seen. Philip V. far
surpassed the achievements of the Roi Soleil in this direction. The
first visit is naturally to the lake, a beautiful expanse of water on
the bank of which is situated the important piscicultural establishment,
founded in 1867 by the King-Consort Francisco.
The gardens are filled with statues of mythological characters, grouped
with great skill among the foliage. Those most admired are the Lucretia,
Daphne, Phœbus, and America. Especially beautiful is the group of Diana
and her nymphs surprised by Actæon, in the centre of a magnificent
fountain. Contemplating the play of the waters Philip V. is said to have
exclaimed “This has amused me three minutes and cost me three millions.”
A still finer and taller column of water issues from the Trumpet of
Fame, breaking in a shower of crystalline drops 130 feet above the water
level; while miniature rainbows interlace and form an aureole round the
head of the figure. In the centre of another lake, Latona is seen,
embracing her children, while her enemies, transformed into frogs, vomit
forth jets of water in impotent rage, which cross and recross, forming
arches in bewildering variety.
There is nothing equal to this to be seen elsewhere. The achievements of
the immortal Mr Brock with fire have been eclipsed by Renato Firmin with
the conflicting element. Spain can boast the finest display of
hydrotechnics in the world.
Before we leave this favourite home of His Catholic Majesty it is worth
while to recall a few of the events of which it has been the theatre.
On the 17th September 1832, Ferdinand VII. lay here dying. All those
round him--his family, his ministers, even the garrison--were devoted to
the interests of Don Carlos, and even his confessor ceased not to
importune the dying king to revoke the Pragmatic Sanction and to decree
the exclusion of his own infant daughter from the throne. Queen
Cristina, in the face of such pressure, remained inactive and
despairing. With his hand guided, it is said, by the Bishop of Leon,
Ferdinand at last traced his feeble signature to the decree which
disinherited his child. The triumph of the Carlist faction seemed
complete. Suddenly at the doors of the palace appeared the Queen’s
sister, Doña Luisa Carlota, a woman of such spirit that no one
there--minister or officer or prelate--dared bar her way to the King’s
bedside. The court presently resounded with her shrill denunciations of
the Queen’s want of courage, of the King’s weakness. She summoned to her
presence the trembling minister, Calomarde, and when he offered his
hand, struck him on the face. “White hands do not wound” stammered the
statesman and fled from the presence of the royal mænad. Before such a
tempest of righteous indignation, intriguers and schemers retired. Force
at the last can always break through the meshes of treachery. Many of
those who witnessed the memorable scene must have thought of the furious
bull at Madrid which bore down before it the most dexterous of
banderilleros, the bravest of espadas, and breaking over the barriers,
dispersed a whole population. Before nightfall the decree was revoked
and the succession of the Infanta Isabella confirmed anew by royal
decree. Bravo Luisa Carlota!
Four years later, Cristina, now regent, had to face alone and
unprotected, a mob headed by the palace guard, which broke into her
room, loudly demanding the re-establishment of the Constitution of 1812.
The Queen, unmoved and tactful, asked the deputation if they knew what
the constitution was. According to the Honourable John Hay (see his
“Castilian Days”) they replied, “No, but we hear it is a good thing, and
will make salt cheaper.” The story like most good ones, is certainly
untrue, and may be classed with the legend that in 1893 when there was
an agitation in Belgium for an extended franchise, some peasant women
presented themselves at the Town Hall with buckets to carry away their
share of the “Suffrage!”
The only other royal residence which can form the goal of an excursion
from Madrid is El Pardo, a shooting-box on a large scale, six miles
from the capital. The hunting seat built here by Enrique III. was
replaced by a palace in 1543. The building is very simple, and contains
but a single court. The walls in the interior are hung with tapestries
after the designs of Goya (made in Madrid) and Teniers (made at Les
Gobelins). Students of Spanish art should visit this palace for a sight
of the best of the very few remaining works of Gaspar Becerra--the
Legend of Perseus and Andromeda. The chapel contains a copy of Ribalta’s
altar-piece in Magdalen Chapel, Oxford. Over the staircase is a fine
equestrian portrait of Don John of Austria, attributed to Ribera. These
works of art having been inspected, there is little to detain you at El
Pardo. The shooting in the adjacent covers is excellent, but few of my
readers will have the time or opportunity to prove this for themselves.
VII
ALCALÁ DE HENARES
Twenty-one miles from Madrid, on a plain two thousand feet above
sea-level, is the little town of Alcalá de Henares, whose annals are so
intimately associated with the history of Spain that it deserves more
than passing mention. In 1510, Alcalá was a famous University town,
esteemed equally with Salamanca, and frequented by the most learned
professors, doctors, and students of that age. Here, it is claimed, was
born the great Miguel Cervantes, and in the church of Santa Maria he was
baptised in 1547. Catharine of Aragon, first of the wives of Henry VIII.
of England, was a native of the place. But long before the sixteenth
century, Alcalá de Henares was a town of importance, for the Romans
settled here, and named the centre Complutum, while the Moors, at a
later date, fortified the Roman station and called it the “stronghold”
or “castle.”
Until the University, founded here by Cardinal Ximenez, was removed to
Madrid, Alcalá de Henares was a town of note, populated by over ten
thousand students. As early as the thirteenth century the Court
frequently sat here to administer the _fueros_, and Alcalá was one of
the first bishoprics founded in Spain. Cervantes speaks of the town of
his birth as “the famous Complutum”; and Erasmus, in a letter to Vives,
relates that “the cultivation of languages and polite letters has given
celebrity to the University of Alcalá, whose principal ornament is that
illustrious and truly worthy old man, Anthony de Nebrija, who has
outstripped many Nestors.”
The students of the Alcalá University were a very merry community. Many
are the tales repeated of their frolics, their escapades, and their
Bohemianism. They prided themselves upon the carelessness of their
dress, and at holiday time sang to the guitar for chance coppers thrown
from the windows. Yet there were many serious students in the colleges,
which numbered about twenty, and many youths sat at the feet of the sage
teachers and learned lecturers who were retained by Cardinal Ximenez for
the instruction of the pupils. Cervantes was among the students of
Alcalá before he went to Madrid; but we read that he was not much
inclined to follow the academic course, preferring poetry and romance to
the dry tomes of theology and philosophy.
The ancient University was first established on the site of the present
Colegio de San Ildefonso, which was built in 1583. Two celebrated
architects, Gumiel and Gil de Hontañon, designed the building, and
showed great taste in planning the front and the patios. The
amphitheatre, in which the honours of the college were bestowed upon
diligent students, and the chapel, are fairly preserved, and contain
some interesting memorials of the days of prosperity and culture at
Alcalá. In design the chapel is a curious mixture of the Renaissance and
Morisco styles of architecture.
Ximenez, more correctly called Cisneros, is one of the most impressive
figures in Spanish history. He was a shrewd politician, a profound
pietist, a promoter of learning, an ascetic, and an exemplar in works of
charity. He was, however, tainted with fanaticism, and at his direction
many hundreds of ancient Arabic books were burned, a step the wisdom of
which is still a matter of controversy. From 1516 till his death in
1518, the Cardinal held the regency of Castile, an office which provoked
the resentment of many old and noble houses in the kingdom, for, though
Ximenez was of high birth, he came of an impoverished family. Upon being
challenged by the grandees for his authority, the Cardinal led a
deputation to the window of his palace, and pointing to a body of armed
men in the courtyard, said: “By these powers I govern Castile until
Prince Carlos shall arrive or shall supersede me.”
The worsting of the French invaders in Navarre was due to the militant
Cardinal’s tactics. He dismantled the forts, except Pamplona, which he
rendered almost unassailable, and having garrisoned the capital of the
kingdom, he defied the troops of France. To him also Spain owed the
establishment of a militia, or citizen army, though the institution
found little favour with the populace. Although Ximenez undoubtedly
checked the study of Hebrew and Arabic in Spain, it must be remembered
that his energy and his zeal secured the University of Alcalá de
Henares, and that he produced here the great Polyglot Bible hence called
the Complutensian. The books which this censor permitted to be used were
“Catechisms, solid and simple explanations of Christian doctrine, and
other writings calculated to enlighten the minds of the people.”
A noteworthy figure connected with the history of Alcalá de Henares was
the learned and liberal-minded Nebrija, a reformer of a very different
cast of intellect from that of Cardinal Ximenez who proved, however, his
generous protector. Antonio de Nebrija was the Erasmus of Spain. He
spent ten years of study in Italy, and returned to lecture at the
University of Alcalá and to encourage learning among his countrymen.
Although Nebrija encountered strong opposition in certain quarters, he
strove till his old age to improve education in Spain, and contrived to
gain the countenance of many persons of high position. Queen Isabella
the Catholic was herself amongst his pupils.
The surroundings of Alcalá de Henares are austere and bleak; and if it
were not for the hills that screen the town from the north, it would be
considerably colder and more wind-swept than it is. A stream meanders by
the town, and elms and poplars grow on this green upland of the sierras;
but the environs of Alcalá cannot be called sylvan. Towards Meco, at one
time a Moorish settlement, the country is of a softer and more pastoral
character, enlivened by numerous mountain rivulets. This village is
about four miles from Alcalá.
The Archbishop’s Palace is one of the monuments of the place, and it is
now used as a repository for historical archives. Berruguete and other
celebrated architects planned the building, which has some interesting
patios and a fine staircase, showing the ornate tendency of the age in
which the palace was designed.
The Colegiata has been restored. Its chief object of interest is the
beautiful monument to Cardinal Ximenez, by Fancelli, an Italian
sculptor. Juan Francés executed the reja, or screen, of the chapel in
this edifice, and the saints Justo and Pastor, to whom the Colegiata is
dedicated, were buried in the vault.
In Santa Maria, an unimposing church, Cervantes was christened; and upon
the house where he was born we shall find an inscription containing a
tribute to his genius. Several towns in Spain claim to be the birthplace
of the author of “Don Quixote,” and it is not absolutely proved that he
was born at Alcalá de Henares. There is, however, scarcely any doubt
that he was baptised here, for the registers contain an entry of his
baptism, and, as children in Spain were christened almost immediately
after their birth, there is perhaps the strongest claim to be set forth
by the townspeople, who aver that Alcalá is “the real birthplace of the
immortal Cervantes.”
Still following the windings of the river Henares, we may reach
Guadalajara in a rail journey of about fourteen miles from Alcalá. Here
the Castilian landscape is of a less severe aspect, and the Roman and
Moorish associations of the town tempt the traveller to linger for a
while. The situation of Guadalajara is elevated, and the Romans made it
a fortified place, and built an aqueduct from the hills.
The Palace of the Duke del Infantado is the most interesting building in
the town. It is in the blended styles of the Goths and the reconciled
Moors, and the patios are beautifully decorated, though much of the
ornamentation of the interior has suffered the impairment of age and
neglect.
On our way from Madrid to these fascinating towns of Castile we gain a
glimpse of the stern order of the natural surroundings amongst which
Cervantes was reared. This is not “the sunny Spain” of the south, but
the Spain of the hardy Castilians, and the country of wind-searched
highlands, where vegetation is thin, and whole districts are without
foliage and shade. The towns and villages are often in green oases of
the dreary table-land, but some of them are among the rocks of this
sterile region, and exposed to snowstorms and hurricanes. Were it not
for the system of irrigation which the Spaniards learned from the Moors,
the plight of the farmer upon these table-lands would be melancholy
indeed; but even in the bleakest territory the system of artificially
watering the parched, sun-baked soil works wonders, and grain crops
smile here and there among the savage hill-slopes of the despoblados or
wastes, and almost everywhere flocks gain pasturage in the summer.
VIII
THE BULL-FIGHT
The origin and antiquity of bull-fighting in Spain is a subject that has
engaged the minds of many writers, and led to much research and
interminable discussion. It is most probable that those who incline to
the opinion that this pastime was instituted by the Romans are in the
right, though there is undoubted evidence that the Moors, if they did
not introduce the _corrida_, or _lidia_, adopted it, and carried
bull-fighting to perfection. The sport, however, seems to accord more
with the character of the Roman than the Moorish conquerors of Spain,
for the Romans possessed a passion for scenes of combat in the arena
between gladiators and fierce animals, whereas there is no such strong
testimony to show that the Moors took an equal delight in these feats of
the circus.
The _taurilia_ of the Romans resembled the fights with bulls that may be
witnessed to-day in every large town of Spain. Whatever may have been
the origin of these contests, it is certain that, since the days of the
Moors, the bull-fight has endured as the chief recreation of all classes
of the population. There is in no other country any sport that can be
compared with it in importance and in the sway of its fascination upon
the public. The passion for horse-racing in England is not general, and
the diversion owes its popularity in a large degree to the chances of
gambling which it offers. Eliminate betting from the turf, and you will
find that those who “follow racing” simply from an enthusiasm for
rearing and running horses, and those who enjoy the amusement from the
mere pleasure of watching competitions in speed between horses form an
almost insignificant minority. In this country where horse-racing is
regarded as a national pastime, the proportion of the populace that
takes any interest in the breeding of the horses, the technique of
riding, and racing _per se_ is greatly restricted. But this is not the
case with bull-fighting in Spain. Here every one from the noble to the
mule-driver is learned in all the rules of the game, keenly critical of
the exploits of the performers in the ring, and ever ready to talk with
fervour upon the absorbing topic.
The hold which this pastime has upon the Spanish imagination is so
strong that it is a part of the national character, as deep-seated as
the sentiments of piety and loyalty, and as powerful as the feeling of
patriotism. King or peasant, man or woman, every native of Spain is a
lover of the _corrida_; every child plays at bull-fighting as soon as he
can walk; and every youth, who would be thought manly and a true son of
Spain, yearns to emulate the courage and the dexterity of the _espada_.
Hundreds of volumes have been written in Spain upon the art of
bull-fighting, the history of the ring, the lives of eminent _toreros_,
and the records of famous arenas. Bull-fighting has produced an array of
ardent chroniclers, poets, and hosts of journalists, and it has
quickened the brush or pencil of artists from before the time of Goya
down to Zuloaga.
The breeding of bulls for the ring may be described as one of the
national industries of Spain. Noblemen endeavour to keep up the breed
and the fighting qualities of bulls, and the rearing of bulls is the
proper occupation of a gentleman. The beautiful Duchess of Alba, the
friend of Goya, was an enthusiastic admirer of the sport, and a breeder
of bulls. The _vacadas_ or breeding establishments of Andalusia produce
the finest fighting bulls. They are considered fit for the combat, or
warrantable, at the age of five years, when their value averages about
£50 each. Over a thousand of these highly-bred animals are killed in the
bull-rings of Spain annually, while the number of horses gored to death
is very much larger.
In the old days bull-fights were mimic representations of warfare, in
which the true caballero aspired to take part and to distinguish
himself. The _toreros_ were amateurs belonging to high families, and
several of the kings of Spain were expert exponents of the art of the
_espada_. Accidents and deaths in the arena were of common occurrence,
sometimes several knights were killed during a single performance. At
all royal _fêtes_ a bull-fight was part of the amusement provided. If a
prince was born, or married, the event was celebrated by a grand display
of bull-fighting, while the coronation of a sovereign was always made
the occasion for a brilliant spectacle in the ring. In Madrid these
fights were held in the Plaza Mayor, a big quadrangle in the centre of
the city. The plaza is surrounded by houses of several storeys high,
having balconies and an arcade. The Panaderia, or Royal Bakery, served
as a royal stand, and here the Court assembled in the balconies to
witness the feats of the grandees, who engaged the fierce bulls with
lances. No one of vulgar rank was permitted to take part in the
contest.
In the early days the torero sometimes encountered the bull with a
spear, on foot, as may be seen in old bull-fighting prints. The use of
horses in the ring came later. Dogs were often set upon the bulls, to
incense them, and up to the year 1840 bears and other animals were
introduced into the ring. These _combats_ have been abandoned. In the
old bull-fighting bills we read of “a grand fight between a big elephant
and two big bulls.” The dogs were of proven courage, and bred for
strength and endurance. They often succeeded in pinning the bull by the
nose, and holding his head down; but frequently they lost their lives on
the points of his horns. Théophile Gautier, in “Wanderings in Spain,”
describes this bull-baiting by dogs.
Despite the passion which the Spaniard has always exhibited for the
bull-fight, the amusement has been more than once condemned by the
Church and State. But such edicts and acts have been withdrawn, and the
crowd has once more thronged the amphitheatre. Pope Pius V. issued a
proclamation against bull-fighting in the year 1567, but in 1576 Pope
Clement VIII. revoked the measure. At a much later date the _corrida_
was interdicted by Godoy, but the sport was again revived, and
continues to flourish at the present time. The opponents of the ring
to-day are in a minority, but their number is slowly increasing, and
there seems to be something in the nature of a humanitarian crusade
against the sport. One or two publicists are certainly opposed to the
pastime.
Nevertheless, tauromachy will die very slowly in Spain. Bull-fighting
holds the popular imagination as by a powerful spell, and it is a
deep-rooted institution of the country, revered by high and low. Only at
the Plaza de Toros does the Spaniard lose his restraint and gravity, and
shout and cheer until he is hoarse. The poorest mendicant in Madrid will
go without food for a day, to get a seat at the fight. And what can
diminish the admiration of the populace for the _torero_? Is he not the
idol of the aristocracy, the hero of the people? He earns more than a
Minister of State, and infinitely more than a great writer. When he
kills a bull with a clever thrust, or smilingly receives the furious
onslaught of the beast upon his dangling _capa_, the Plaza de Toros
shakes with the vociferations of the multitude. Flattered by _hidalgos_,
courted by handsome _doñas_, applauded by the crowd--the popular
_espada_ is the greatest man in Spain. Crowds assemble around his
hotel, to acclaim him as he comes forth clad for the fray, in his
glitter of tinsel, and glory of silk, plush and diamonds.
From six to eight bulls are baited and killed at each entertainment.
Gautier says that, when he attended a bull-fight in Madrid, eight bulls
and fourteen horses were done to death, and a _chulo_ slightly wounded.
On feast days, in the eighteenth century, as many as six bulls were
killed in the morning and twelve in the afternoon.
The training place or “university” of bull-fighters is at Seville, and
the most daring of the schools of _toreros_ are of the South of Spain.
Madrid is the scene of the _espada’s_ triumph, or of his defeat, for
though the spectators at the _corrida_ are ever ready to lavish applause
upon the clever performer with the lance or sword, they are cruelly
critical, and show little mercy towards the timorous or bungling artist.
Even the famous Bombita, the Madrid favourite, has known that ominous
stillness that succeeds an ill-rendered thrust at a bull of unusual
agility. The public will load Fuentes with their gold, and cheer him to
the echo when he displays his coolness and dexterity, but the same
public will not hesitate to hiss the best _espada_ who ever stepped into
the ring, when he commits an impropriety or misses the opportunity of
an instant to deliver a thrust of the blade.
As in the old days of the tournament, fair ladies smile upon and favour
the bold _torero_. There are instances of the exactions of these
high-born patronesses of the sport, which have resulted in death for the
_espada_ who courted their approbation. It is recorded that a royal lady
was so fascinated by an exceptionally agile feat performed by a _torero_
that she wished to see it repeated. The desire was conveyed to the
performer. “It is more than my life is worth,” he said. “It is the wish
of the lady,” returned the messenger. Bowing low, the _torero_ said: “I
dedicate my life to Her Royal Highness.” Again the bull charged; but
this time the unlucky athlete was caught on the horns of the beast,
whence he was removed--a corpse.
It is the custom in England to speak of the _espada_ and of
bull-fighters collectively as “matadors.” The word is altogether
inappropriate to the sport. We hear of young gentlemen attending fancy
dress balls in London, attired as “a Spanish matador,” or as a
“toreador.” A bull-fighter in Spain is a _torero_ in the general sense,
though the word really means one who engages the bull on foot. The
performer with the sword, the most important functionary in the ring, is
known as the _espada_; and the man who charges the animal on horseback,
with a spear or lance as a weapon, is called a _picador_. Throwers of
the darts are termed _banderilleros_; wavers of the gaudy cloaks, and
the assistants of the _espadas_, are called _chulos_. These are the
grades of _toreros_ in their order of precedence.
IX
THE ART OF THE BULL-FIGHTER
The Plaza de Toros, or bull ring, of Madrid, is a great structure
designed by Capra and Rodriguez Ayuso in 1874. It is in the Moorish
style of architecture, with a fine façade and an imposing entrance arch.
According to one Spanish writer, the total number of seats is 12,605,
but other writers give 15,000 and 14,000 as the number. Philip V. built
the first bull-fighting arena in Madrid, in 1747, although he was by no
means an enthusiast of the sport. The cost of the present building was
3,000,000 reales.
The seats are divided into boxes and open galleries, the boxes, or
_palcos de sombra_--seats in the shade--being in the best position for
watching the contests during the hot months. In early spring a seat in
the sun is to be preferred, for the air of Madrid is keen at this
season.
The sight of the Plaza de Toros on the day of a great _corrida_ leaves
an impression that will not quickly fade from the memory. In the
_palcos_ are the rank, beauty, and wealth of Madrid, while packed in
the humbler seats is a vast mass of the people. The ladies wear
_mantillas_, and carry fans, which flutter the whole time; and
animation, devoid of any trace of rough behaviour, characterises the
immense crowd. A tense hush falls on the throng when the first bull of
the day bounds in from the dark _toril_, and confronts his gaily-attired
persecutors in the big arena. During the fight the spectators grow
excited almost to the verge of frenzy. There is a roar of voices, and
the sound of canes struck upon the benches, an indescribable din, which
reaches its height when a popular _espada_ delivers a dexterous thrust
of the blade into the neck of the baffled and infuriated _toro_. While
the combat proceeds, there are alternating comments of “Bravo toro,” as
the bull shows courage, and groans and hisses when the animal displays
cowardice or apathy. Both the bull and the men must act their parts with
zeal, energy and bravery, or the crowd is disappointed, and wont to
express disapprobation in an unqualified manner.
On the day of a _corrida_ Madrid is roused into a mood of joyous
expectancy. The town is _en fête_; the streets are thronged, and every
kind of vehicle is seen in the procession to the Plaza de Toros. For an
hour the carriages stream in, and the crowd on foot files along to the
tiers of seats. Overhead is the vivid sky and a burning sun, which
brightens all that it shines upon. Thousands of fans are waving;
thousands of dark eyes gleam from the _palcos_. Presently the music
begins, from the large orchestra a stirring air thrills the arena, and
almost drowns the voices of the crowd. One is reminded of a scene in the
amphitheatre in the days of the grandeur of Rome, when gladiatorial
contests attracted a vast concourse of all classes of the population,
for the same love of daring and agility still sways the passion of the
people, and the same indifference is evinced when blood flows.
The tournament opens with an imposing procession of the bull-fighters,
arrayed in all the glory of their gala costumes, in which there is a
plentiful glitter of tinsel, and spangles, and gold braid. Two
_alguaciles_, or mounted men in a bygone garb of the police, ride in
front of the troop of _toreros_. The two _espadas_, who are taking the
leading part in the _corrida_ to-day, come next, and they are followed
by the _picadores_, or spearmen, who are well protected with pads and
leg-guards. Next come the _banderilleros_ or dart-throwers, a nimble
company, in bright silk and velvet, and the rear of the procession is
made up of _muleteros_, with the gaily trapped mules that are used to
drag the corpses of the bulls from the ring.
A bugle note rings out like a challenge, and the key of the _toril_, or
bulls’ den, is thrown by the President into the arena. The ring is now
cleared of all the combatants except a trio of _picadores_, who, sitting
astride their wretched nags, await the entry of the bull. Amid the hush,
_toro_ rushes into the arena, a huge black beast, with elongated horns,
a thick, brawny neck, a sleek, shining coat, and a pair of flashing,
angry eyes. He paws the ground, and snorts, and catching sight of the
gaudy colours of the _picadores_, lowers his head, and charges them. His
assault is received on the blunt point of the _garrocha_, or spear; and,
incensed by the pain, he pauses, lashing his tail, and deliberating a
second attack. Perchance the bull is not especially fierce or
courageous. He has led a placid life on the plains, and has followed the
herd-boy as sheep follow a shepherd. But to-day he must fight and die,
and if he is indifferent at the sight of his assailants, means must be
employed to anger him.
But a valiant bull needs no such incitement to fury. He is angry with
every one, indignant at the whole proceedings, and he charges the
_picadores_ with terrific vehemence. Sometimes a rider is unhorsed, and,
handicapped by his pads and protectors, he is in peril till the
attendants divert the attention of _toro_.
The hapless horses are the worse sufferers, for they cannot escape from
the ring. They serve as butts for the bull’s horns; they are frequently
ripped open, and sometimes lifted off their feet by the horns of their
maddened enemy. To English eyes it is a heartrending spectacle to see a
sorry old horse, which has patiently served man all his life, urged up
to the sharp horns of the bull, and made to receive his cruel charges.
The wounded horses lie quivering and expiring in the ring; a look of
supplication and suffering in their eyes fills the unaccustomed
spectator with compassion, and the sight of their terrible injuries
sickens the sensitive.
The _banderilleros_ now appear, armed with steel barbed darts, adorned
with coloured papers, and with coolness and dexterity, they approach
_toro_, and throw their stinging missiles at his neck and shoulders. The
bull winces, shakes his head, and turns upon his tormentors. He chases
one of them across the ring; the pursued _banderillero_ vaults over the
high wooden barrier, and the horns of the bull resound against the wood
with a dull crash. Another dart-thrower runs up, and deftly plants his
weapons in the bull’s flesh. Again _toro_ turns, and as he runs with
lowered horns, a third _banderillero_ stands in his course, leaps aside
at the crucial instant, and delivers his darts.
An expert _banderillero_ will sit on a chair and await the rush of
_toro_. The agility and daring of these performers is very
extraordinary. If the bull is apathetic, drastic means are used to stir
his anger. The _banderillas de fuego_, or fire darts, are used to arouse
his fury. These instruments of irritation are provided with explosives,
which startle and infuriate the bull with their noise and their sting.
Now and then, a nimble and frenzied bull, when pursuing a
_banderillero_, will even leap over the high barrier of the arena,
causing tremendous consternation among the spectators. Sometimes a
plucky bull-fighter grows bolder, and dares the bull by every imaginable
device until, in a fatal moment, he receives a thrust of the horn, and
falls bleeding to the ground.
Before entering the perilous arena, the _toreros_ receive the sacrament
from the priest who is always in attendance at bull-fights. During the
_corrida_ the _padre_ remains in waiting in the chapel of the Plaza de
Toros, ready to minister, if need be, to a fighter borne dying from the
scene.
The last great act in the drama is the _suerte de matar_. It is then
that the _espada_ steps into the ring, carrying his red cloth over one
arm, while the other arm is engaged with the sword. Bowing to the
President, the _espada_ turns around and faces the bull, who is now
somewhat fatigued from his exercise in chasing the _banderilleros_ and
butting at the horses of the _picadores_. The bull, whose neck bristles
with the darts, stands slowly moving his tail, and staring at his new
aggressor in sullen anger. Waving the _muleta_, or red cloth, the
_espada_ advances to _toro_, and impudently flutters the cloth in his
face. The bull charges; the _muleta_ receives his horns, and is tossed
in the air, while the _espada_ skips aside. Again and again the bull
attempts to impale the man, but only succeeds in striking the _muleta_.
Baffled and exasperated, _toro_ pauses as though in sober reflection.
How can he outwit that smiling, calm assailant who fixes him with an
insolent stare? The bull walks round and round the motionless _espada_,
trying, as it were, to find a weak point for a charge, but the swordsman
follows every movement with a shrewd and practised eye, and even
divines what ruse the bull intends to adopt.
It is a wonderful display of coolness and courage. There are moments in
the fight between the bull and the _espada_ when a deep hush spreads
among the spectators; and, then, as the man swerves aside from the
on-rush of the beast, a deafening roar goes up from the crowd. The last
act is protracted at the discretion of the _espada_, who is always
delighted to exhibit his cleverness and nimbleness to his thousands of
admirers in the _palcos_ and galleries. A master of the art of the
_espada_ has an extensive _répertoire_ of tricks and passes of the
sword, which he loves to display, and he will risk his life a dozen
times in the afternoon in exhibiting his skill and prowess. Often the
bull is stupid. He must be made to prove his mettle. But usually _toro_
is already mad with anger when called upon to fight the last duel with
the _espada_. It is curious to note how the _muleta_ enrages the bull,
who seems to hate it more than the _banderillas_ or the pike of the
_picador_.
At length the _espada_ determines that _toro_ shall die. There is only
one legitimate way to kill him. The thrust must be delivered in the
neck, and the point of the sword should reach the heart. Before this
death-stroke there is a stillness and tense feeling in the Plaza. Will
the _espada_ blunder, or will the blade go home at the first thrust. A
rapt excitement is on the faces of the crowd. And now the bull makes his
last headlong rush; there is a flash of steel in the sunshine, and the
sword pierces the black hide, and the blade disappears up to the hilt.
_Toro_ staggers, turns and makes a final assault on the _espada_, only
to receive the _muleta_ on his horns. The bull falls, and blood gushes
from his wound. He lies dying amid the thunderous din of applause. An
attendant appears with a narrow-bladed dagger. He stoops over the bull
and plunges the weapon into the spine, near the head. With a shudder,
_toro_ dies. During the babel of voices discussing the fight, the mules
are driven into the ring, traces are fixed to the horns of the dead
bull, and the corpse is dragged out; and with scarcely an interval,
another victim is turned into the arena.
In “Childe Harold,” Lord Byron records his impressions of a bull-fight:
“Thrice sounds the clarion; lo! the signal falls,
The den expands, and Expectation mute
Gapes round the silent circle’s peopled walls.
Bounds with one lashing spring the mighty brute,
And, wildly staring, spurns, with sounding foot,
The sand, nor blindly rushes on his foe;
Here, there, he points his threatening front, to suit
His first attack, wide waving to and fro
His angry tail; red rolls his eye’s dilated glow.
Foil’d, bleeding, breathless, furious to the last,
Full in the centre stands the bull at bay--
’Mid wounds, and clinging darts, and lances brast,
And foes disabled in the brutal fray:
Shake the red cloak, and poise the ready brand;
Once more through all he bursts his thundering way--
Vain rage! the mantle quits the conynge hand,
Wraps his fierce eye--’tis past--he sinks upon the sand!”
Every literary man who has visited Madrid, from the Chevalier de
Bourgoanne to Mr Arthur Symons, has given us his impressions of the
sport of bull-fighting. De Bourgoanne, in his “Travels in Spain” (1789),
writes of the severity with which the spectators at the Madrid
bull-fights criticised any deficiencies on the part of the _toreros_.
Speaking of the final act of the _corrida_, the Chevalier states that,
“if the animal immediately falls, the triumph of the conqueror is
celebrated by a thousand acclamations; but if the blow be not decisive,
if the bull survives and again strives to brave the fatal knife, the
murmurs are not less numerous. The _espada_, whose address was about to
be extolled to the skies, is considered only as a clumsy butcher. He
instantly endeavours to recover from his disgrace, and disarm the
severity of his judges.”
De Bourgoanne found the Madrileños divided in their admiration for the
two celebrated _espadas_ of that day. One coterie swore by Costillares;
another avowed that Romero was the better exponent of the art of
tauromachy. This extravagant enthusiasm of the Madrid populace, aroused
by the bull-fight, greatly bewildered the French traveller; but he
admits that, in spite of the indifference evinced by the spectators at
the _corrida_, the Spaniard is not lacking in compassion nor “devoid of
every amiable and delicate emotion.” He relates that the government was
alive to “the moral and political inconvenience of that kind of frenzy,”
and the economists declared that the destruction of so many robust bulls
was prejudicial to agriculture. “The reigning monarch,” writes the
Chevalier, “who endeavours to polish the manners of his nation and to
turn its attention towards more useful objects, wishes to destroy in it
an inclination in which he perceives nothing but inconvenience; but he
is too wise to employ violent means.”
An American traveller, writing anonymously in 1831, says that a
bull-fight always drew several thousand people to the Plaza. In the
winter, states this observer, the _corridas_ took the form of combats
with young bulls, whose horns were covered with pads or balls. These
bulls were called _novillos embolados_, and they were baited by novices
and amateurs. This writer describes the tragic encounter of a notable
_torero_, known as El Sombrerero, who was so called because he had been
a hatter. El Sombrerero was the foremost _espada_ in Spain in his time,
and he was wont to perform the most valiant feats in the ring. He was
once fighting an exceptionally savage bull, which swerved suddenly in a
charge, and caught his opponent upon the point of his horns. The
_espada_ was lifted off, and carried from the ring in a state of
insensibility. He recovered of his injuries, and resolved to abandon
bull-fighting and to return to his trade of hat-making. But the small
earnings of this occupation did not satisfy him, and El Sombrerero went
back to the ranks of the bull-fighters. He had, however, lost his nerve,
and in a fight at Granada he was hissed for his timidity in engaging a
very fierce bull.
Manuel Romero was one of the most popular of _toreros_ in 1830. He was a
short, rather stout man, though well built and extremely nimble. His
features had “an air of cold-blooded ferocity as became one whose
business it was to incur danger and to deal death.” Romero wore a very
resplendent dress in the ring, with much lace and jewellery.
Théophile Gautier describes a _corrida_ with the zest of one who found a
genuine delight in the spectacle. It is somewhat curious that men of
refined instincts can look on unconcernedly at the sufferings of horses
and bulls; but human nature presents such singular anomalies in
abundance. Gautier relates how Sevilla, a famous _picador_, had his
horse lifted off its legs, and tossed in the air by the bull, while the
rider maintained his coolness and retained his seat in the saddle.
Antonio Rodriguez was a celebrated picador of this day (1840), and
Gautier pays a tribute to his valour and extraordinary agility. The
favourite _espadas_ of this date were Juan Pastor and Joaquin Rodriguez.
Is the courage of the Spanish _torero_ declining? There are one-time
_aficionados_ of bull-fighting who declare that the art is not so
exciting, scientific, and well studied as in bygone days, and yet there
is scarcely any decline in the absorbing interest devoted to the
_corridas_ in all parts of the Peninsula. Prosper Mérimée, in his
“Lettres à une Inconnue,” written in 1859, supports the view that
bull-fighting has deteriorated. He writes: “I was present at a
bull-fight on Monday, and it amused me a very little indeed. I was
unlucky enough to know all too early in life what a degree of excellence
this sport can attain to, and after having seen Montes, I really cannot
look at his degenerate successors with any degree of pleasure. The
animals have degenerated, too, as well as the men.”
No doubt there are many able exponents of bull-fighting still left in
Spain, and there are writers in abundance who could probably prove that
the sport is as stirring as ever. We, who have not seen Montes and
Romero, and other dead heroes of the Plaza de Toros, are scarcely in a
position to decide whether the bull-fighter’s art has degenerated. If
the daring of the _espada_ of to-day is called into question, it must be
said that while there are men who will stand motionless as statues, and
allow a furious bull to sniff at them, and others who will stand still
to the rush of a bull, and receive the beast on the point of the sword,
there are still fighters prepared to risk their lives in exhibitions of
intrepidity. There remain some _toreros_ who perform the perilous feat
of vaulting over the bull with a pole, and many who expose themselves to
a deadly thrust of the horns while planting the darts in the animal’s
neck. The coolness of several of the leading professors of bull-fighting
is unquestioned, and it cannot be denied that the patrons of the ring
are not still exacting in their desire for hair-raising performances.
It is perhaps correct to state that there is a little more sympathy for
the horses than in the old days of the _lidia_. Many Spanish people
express disgust at the sight of the mangled carcasses of the miserable,
worn-out horses, which are forced to end their hard lives in this cruel
manner. But your true _aficionado_ has no scruples of pity, and he will
assert that a bull does not fight at his best until he has seen blood
flow.
Perhaps the greatest of all bull-fighters was Frascuelo. The Spaniards
declare that no _torero_ has taken his place. Guerra, his rival, was a
fine fighter, but he has retired, and lives on his laurels at Cordova.
Frascuelo was the leader of what may be called the dare-devil school of
bull-fighters. He was always at close quarters with the bull, and he
strove to out-do the most daring _espadas_ of his day. Bombita, or
Bombita-Chico, is a young _torero_ of great courage and especially
popular in Madrid, where he was born.
Mazzantini is now only seen occasionally in the Plaza de Toros. He is a
big stalwart man, but past his prime, though he is still esteemed by his
admirers as the best fighter in Spain. Conejito, who was wounded in
Barcelona in 1903, is another favourite of the public. But the first
exponent of bull-fighting is, in the opinion of the majority, the
handsome and plucky Fuentes. This _torero_ is not only a proficient
_espada_; he plays all the parts in the ring except that of _picador_.
Fuentes exercises a weird power over his bulls. He fixes the bull with
his keen eyes as he approaches him, and steps backward, slowly followed
by the enraged and fascinated _toro_, in whose neck he deliberately
sticks a dart. The spell of this man’s eyes has a subtle influence which
seems to utterly bewilder a bull. Again and again the bull advances to
the attack, only to turn aside from the glare of the _espada’s_ eyes.
The favourite device of Bombita is to kneel on the ground, shaking the
_muleta_ in the bull’s face. In such a position it is, of course, almost
impossible for the _espada_ to skip aside when the bull charges, and the
art of the trick lies in receiving the horns upon the red cloth. Guerra,
sometimes called Guerrita, used to allow the bull to pass so close to
him that his side was often scratched by the point of the horn.
Every stratagem and feat of the _espada_ in the final _suerte_ of the
ring has its technical name, such as _pase de pecho_, _pase natural_,
and _paso por alto_, and all these tricks are closely watched and
criticised by the vast concourse of spectators. Fuentes has written
learnedly upon the theory and practice of his art, describing the
various _pases_ minutely. Those who are interested in the literature of
the bull-ring will find a complete account of the life of the bull from
the placid days of youth upon the plains, down to the last tragic scene
in the Plaza, in _Los Toros_, an illustrated pamphlet by E. Contreras y
R. de Palacio. Fuller and more advanced “tauromachian” literature may be
purchased in Madrid. Among the works of note are Bedoya’s _Historia del
Toreo_, _Annales del Toréo_, by Velazquez, and _En la Plaza_, by Pascual
Millan. There are several magazines and journals much read by the
devotees of the sport, such as _La Lidia_ and _El Toréo_. Bull-fighting
is a subject of perennial interest in Madrid, and the _literatura
taurina_, issued in the city, would fill many book-shelves.
Pascual Millan describes the bull-fight as “a grand spectacle in which
art, bravery, nobility, light, sun, colour, animation, and beauty” all
play a part. This writer asserts that the theories of bull-fighting can
rarely be carried into practice, as there is nothing stable or fixed in
the art. Pepe-Illo, a famous _espada_, wrote a treatise on the conduct
of the fighter in the arena, which was highly interesting; but, had his
views been put into practice, they would “have excluded every
bull-fighter from the arena.” Señor Millan thinks that rules are
impossible; that everything done in the ring is the outcome of
inspiration on the spur of the moment. Lagartijo sums up the matter
thus: “Bull-fighting is very simple: you place yourself in front of the
bull, the bull comes and you move away; you do not move away, then the
bull moves you away. And there you are.”
The directions as to moving aside when the bull charges are plain
enough, and the counsel is obvious. But in the method of avoiding the
horns of the bull lies the art of the _espada_, and in this movement he
reveals his genius, and displays adroitness, grace, and daring. No
proficient performer ever allows _toro_ to chase him about the ring. He
bounds aside as the bull bears down upon him, and receives the furious
attack of the beast upon the fluttering _muleta_. Sometimes the red
cloth is waved aloft, high over the bull’s horns, causing the animal to
rear upon his hind legs in a savage effort to wreak his rage on the
offending _muleta_. An expert _torero_ knows perfectly well that the
bull directs his fury at the fluttering cloth or cloak rather than at
the man who manipulates it.
The boldest of bull-fighters, Espartero, stood so pluckily in the path
of a charging bull that he was more than once thrown several yards by a
violent butt from the beast’s horns. This fighter used to employ his
fists upon the bull’s head, and his method was always to fight at the
closest quarters. It was said that Espartero suffered more fear of
hunger than of death by the horns of a bull; and in his desire for fame
and wealth, he continually courted tragedy in the ring and behaved with
reckless daring. Espartero was killed in 1894 during a fight with the
first bull of the day.
Guerra retired in 1899, and his leave-taking was a source of much regret
among the _aficionados_ of bull-fighting, who declared that he was the
last of the great _toreros_. Pascual Millan, the chronicler of modern
bull-fighting, asserts that the successors of Guerra cannot be compared
with him for refinement and grace in their displays. He gives prominence
to Antonio Fuentes, “the only one who came into the ring with some
foundation, bringing a certain personal note which raised him a few
inches above the common level.” Among the living exponents of the art of
the _espada_ may be mentioned Torerito, Torres, Reverte, Ronal,
Algabeño, and above all, “Bombita.”
The _corrida_ may seem to assume an undue importance in the life of
Spain. It is, however, to be regarded as a reflection of the Spanish
character, and bull-fighting in Madrid cannot be dismissed as a mere
recreation of the mob. Bull-fighting is taken seriously among a
serious-minded people, who regard it as one of the great institutions of
the country. It is a survival of the warlike temper, a manifestation of
the love of courage and the admiration for endurance, and it remains as
the last vestige of the traditions of the age of chivalry in Spain.
This intense enthusiasm, this profound interest in the killing of bulls
is bewildering to the foreigner, who cannot accept the sport in such a
serious spirit. It is almost as grave a matter as a canon of the Church
whether an _espada_ wields the sword in accordance with the tradition of
the ring. The writers upon bull-fighting are divided into schools of
critics and eulogists, who dissect every _pase_ minutely, or extol the
“æsthetics” of a finished artist with the darts or the sword. There are
volumes of serious literature upon the _lidia_, which amaze the stranger
who peruses them. We have nothing like it in the sporting literature of
England. Our books upon hunting or racing are not written with all the
earnestness and fervour of treatises on matters of faith; but the
taurine monographs of Spain are composed in the temper of piety, and the
rules of the ring are set down as though they were the articles of a
creed. When a famous jockey appears in the street, he is not mobbed by a
crowd of admirers; but the _espada_ in Spain is acclaimed everywhere as
a great hero and the darling of the people.
Bull-fighting is a deep-rooted passion of the people of Spain, and it
has to be reckoned with in any examination of the Spanish character. Its
ethics and its sociological significance cannot be discussed here. We
must accept the _corrida_, whether we approve of it or not, as one of
the chief institutions of the capital of Spain. Madrid is the Mecca of
the bull-fighter.
X
CAFÉ LIFE OF THE MADRILEÑOS
In every part of Spain the _café_ is a popular resort and the rendezvous
of friends. Here all classes foregather to discuss the news, to
criticise the new bull-fighter, to extol a favourite dancer, to transact
business, to play at dominoes or draughts, to read the journals, to sip
coffee, and to smoke cigarettes. Many hours of each day are dedicated by
the Madrileño to the _café_. He goes there as a matter of routine for
his morning _refresco_, and again in the evening for his coffee with a
dash of spirit.
The _cafés_ are comfortable, and they provide for different classes of
customers. They are never decorated in a resplendent manner; but, as
Gautier observed, “this want of splendour is amply compensated by the
excellence and variety of the refreshments.” Gautier mentions the Café
de Levante among others, and this is still a favourite resort of
men-about-town. In the Calle de Alcalá are three representative
coffee-houses, the Café de Madrid, the Café Suizo, and the Café de
Fornos. The Café Inglés is in the Calle de Sevilla. The houses of
refreshment in the Puerta del Sol are the resort of all types of Madrid
character, from the diplomat to the professional swindler. From nine
o’clock in the evening until two in the morning these _cafés_ are
thronged. The customary beverage is _café con leche_ (coffee with milk)
or black coffee, with a drop of cognac. Light wines and spirits are also
provided, but these are used sparingly by the majority of the
Madrileños, for, whatever may be the faults of the Spaniard,
immoderation in the use of alcohol is certainly not one of them.
To attract the attention of the waiters at the _cafés_, you clap your
hands, or make a hissing sound between your closed teeth. The coffee is
usually excellent, and the spirit is brought to you in a bottle marked
with measures. The crowds in the Madrid _cafés_ lack the picturesqueness
of those in some of the smaller towns of Castile, Murcia, and Andalusia,
where the dress of the provinces is still worn. You will see no majas in
the capital; the grisettes of Madrid cannot be distinguished from the
rest of the female population. The _capa_ is, however, still worn by men
of almost all ranks, and these, and the broad-brimmed hats, give a touch
of the romantic to the throngs in the coffee-houses of the Puerta del
Sol.
There are wine-shops and taverns in Madrid, but the seats are not
luxurious, and there is no display of carved mahogany and engraved
glass, and no separation of the classes. The “accommodation” may be
somewhat rude; still the wine is good and cheap, and the tone and
atmosphere of the _posada_ are more wholesome than those of the London
public-house. A glass of the wine of the country can be bought for a
penny in these taverns, and the finest wines cost only a few pence the
glass. Immense wine-barrels flank the walls, and there is an array of
spirit and fruit syrup bottles behind the counter.
The chief hotels of Madrid are the Hotel de la Paz, Hotel del Universo,
the Roma, and the Hotel de Paris. They are centrally situated, and
fairly well appointed. The meals are _almuerzo_ and _comida_,
corresponding to luncheon and dinner. There is no meal in Spain
resembling the hearty English breakfast. The Spaniard takes a cup of
chocolate and a dry roll upon rising, and goes about his business or his
pleasure until eleven or twelve o’clock, when _almuerzo_, the first real
meal of the day, is served.
Some of the Spanish dishes are only palatable to English people after a
taste for them has been sedulously cultivated. Many of the viands are
flavoured with garlic. The _menu_ for _comida_ consists of soup, fish,
an egg dish, meat, sometimes a _puchero_ or stew, and cakes and fruit.
Table wine is usually provided free of charge. Every man smokes in the
dining-room, both during and after meals.
Among the best restaurants are the Fornos, the Italiano and the
Inglés.
PRINTED BY
TURNBULL AND SPEARS
EDINBURGH
[Illustration: PLATE 1.
MADRID
_Specially drawn for The Spanish Series_]
[Illustration: PLATE 2.
ARMS OF MADRID]
[Illustration: PLATE 3.
GENERAL VIEW OF MADRID.]
[Illustration: PLATE 4.
VIEW OF MADRID FROM THE TEJA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 5.
GENERAL VIEW OF MADRID.]
[Illustration: PLATE 6.
VIEW OF MADRID FROM SAN ISIDRO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 7.
THE FOUNTAIN OF CYBELE AND CALLE DE ALCALÁ.]
[Illustration: PLATE 8.
THE NORTHERN RAILWAY STATION AND ROYAL PALACE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 9.
PUERTA DEL SOL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 10.
PUERTA DEL SOL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 11.
CALLE DE ALCALÁ.]
[Illustration: PLATE 12.
CALLE DE ALCALÁ.]
[Illustration: PLATE 13.
CALLE DE ALCALÁ.]
[Illustration: PLATE 14.
CALLE DE ALCALÁ.]
[Illustration: PLATE 15.
CARRERA DE SAN JERÓNIMO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 16.
CALLE DE ALCALÁ.]
[Illustration: PLATE 17.
CALLE DE SEVILLA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 18.
CALLE DE ALCALÁ.]
[Illustration: PLATE 19.
PLAZA DE CASTELAR.]
[Illustration: PLATE 20.
CALLE DE TOLEDO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 21.
IN OLD MADRID.]
[Illustration: PLATE 22.
PASEO DE RECOLETOS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 23.
PASEO DE RECOLETOS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 24.
PASEO DE RECOLETOS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 25.
PASEO DE RECOLETOS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 26.
CALLE DE ALCALÁ AND STATUE OF AGUIRRE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 27.
PASEO DE LA CASTELLANA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 28.
PLAZA DE ISABEL II.]
[Illustration: PLATE 29.
PLAZA DE ORIENTE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 30.
PLAZA MAYOR.]
[Illustration: PLATE 31.
PLAZA MAYOR.]
[Illustration: PLATE 32.
PLAZA MAYOR AND STATUE OF PHILIP III.]
[Illustration: PLATE 33.
CALLE DE SERRANO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 34.
CALLE DE LA PRINCESA ON GOOD FRIDAY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 35.
ENTRANCE TO THE PARK OF ALFONSO XIII.]
[Illustration: PLATE 36.
CASA DE CAMPO. THE LAKE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 37.
TOLEDO BRIDGE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 38.
TOLEDO BRIDGE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 39.
TOLEDO BRIDGE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 40.
SEGOVIA BRIDGE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 41.
ENTRANCE TO THE RETIRO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 42.
ENTRANCE TO THE RETIRO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 43.
PRINCIPAL ENTRANCE TO THE RETIRO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 44.
RETIRO. THE PARTERRE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 45.
RETIRO. THE LAKE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 46.
RETIRO. THE CRYSTAL PALACE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 47.
Retiro. Arab Pavilion.]
[Illustration: PLATE 48.
RETIRO. ARAB TEMPLE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 49.
GATE OF ALCALÁ.]
[Illustration: PLATE 50.
GATE OF HIERRO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 51.
GATE OF TOLEDO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 52.
CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES.]
[Illustration: PLATE 53.
THE CORTES. TWO BRONZE LIONS IN FRONT OF THE PALACE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 54.
INTERIOR OF THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES.]
[Illustration: PLATE 55.
INTERIOR OF THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES.]
[Illustration: PLATE 56.
RECEPTION ROOM AT THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES. DECORATED BY DON A. MÉLIDA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 57.
RECEPTION ROOM AT THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES. DECORATED BY DON A. MÉLIDA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 58.
FAÇADE OF THE HOSPITAL. CALLE FUENCARRAL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 59.
LA LATINA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 60.
PORTAL OF THE HOSPITAL OF THE CONCEPTION OR “LA LATINA” IN THE CALLE DE
TOLEDO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 61.
STAIRCASE OF LA LATINA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 62.
PORTAL AND STAIRCASE OF THE HOSPITAL DE LA LATINA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 63.
ARABIAN PALACE OF THE PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 64.
ARABIAN PALACE OF THE PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 65.
LUJANES TOWER.]
[Illustration: PLATE 66.
THE AGUIRRE SCHOOL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 67.
THE SPANISH THEATRE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 68.
THE ROYAL THEATRE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 69.
THE TREASURY OFFICE IN THE CALLE DE ALCALÁ.]
[Illustration: PLATE 70.
PALACE OF THE MARQUÉS DE PORTUGALETE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 71.
PALACE OF THE MARQUÉS DE LINARES.]
[Illustration: PLATE 72.
THE BANK OF SPAIN.]
[Illustration: PLATE 73.
THE WAR OFFICE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 74.
SOUTHERN FAÇADE OF THE MUSEUM AND THE STATUE OF MURILLO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 75.
THE PRADO GALLERY. NORTH FAÇADE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 76.
THE PRADO GALLERY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 77.
THE NEW EXCHANGE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 78.
THE TOWN HALL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 79.
THE NORTHERN RAILWAY STATION.]
[Illustration: PLATE 80.
CÍRCULO DE CONTRIBUYENTES.]
[Illustration: PLATE 81.
THE SENATE HOUSE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 82.
HISPANO-AMERICAN BANK.]
[Illustration: PLATE 83.
THE SPANISH ACADEMY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 84.
THE ATOCHA STATION.]
[Illustration: PLATE 85.
NATIONAL LIBRARY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 86.
THE NATIONAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM.]
[Illustration: PLATE 87.
NATIONAL LIBRARY. DETAIL OF THE FAÇADE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 88.
NATIONAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM. EAST FAÇADE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 89.
NATIONAL LIBRARY. SPHINX.]
[Illustration: PLATE 90.
THE EQUITABLE BUILDINGS IN THE CALLE DE ALCALÁ.]
[Illustration: PLATE 91.
STATUE OF MARÍA CRISTINA AND MUSEUM OF REPRODUCTIONS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 92.
INTERIOR OF THE NEW EXCHANGE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 93.
THE HOME OFFICE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 94.
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 95.
THE EXCHANGE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 96.
THE WAR OFFICE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 97.
THE TOWN HALL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 98.
MINISTERIO DE FOMENTO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 99.
HERMITAGE OF SAN ISIDRO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 100.
REFUGE OF OUR LADY OF MERCY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 101.
CHURCH OF SAN FRANCISCO EL GRANDE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 102.
SAN FRANCISCO EL GRANDE.
GENERAL VIEW FROM THE CHOIR.]
[Illustration: PLATE 103.
SAN FRANCISCO EL GRANDE. THE CONCESSION OF THE JUBILEE OF THE
PORCIÚNCULA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 104.
SAN FRANCISCO EL GRANDE. LEFT SIDE OF THE CUPOLA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 105.
CRYPT IN THE ALMUDENA CATHEDRAL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 106.
THE CATHEDRAL. PARTIAL VIEW OF THE CRYPT.]
[Illustration: PLATE 107.
CHURCH OF LAS CALATRAVAS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 108.
LAS CALATRAVAS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 109.
CHURCH OF EL BUEN SUCESO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 110.
GENERAL VIEW OF THE CHURCH EL BUEN SUCESO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 111.
CHURCH OF SAN JOSÉ.]
[Illustration: PLATE 112.
CHURCH OF SAN ISIDRO EL REAL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 113.
INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF SAN ISIDRO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 114.
CHURCH OF LA VIRGEN DEL PUERTO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 115.
CHURCH OF LAS SALESAS. THE SUFFERING CHRIST.]
[Illustration: PLATE 116.
CHURCH OF SAN CAYETANO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 117.
ALTAR PIECE IN THE BISHOP’S CHAPEL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 118.
DOOR IN THE BISHOP’S CHAPEL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 119.
THE BISHOP’S CHAPEL. LEFT SIDE OF THE DOOR.]
[Illustration: PLATE 120.
THE BISHOP’S CHAPEL. RIGHT SIDE OF THE DOOR.]
[Illustration: PLATE 121.
THE BISHOP’S CHAPEL. UPPER PART OF THE DOOR.]
[Illustration: PLATE 122.
THE BISHOP’S CHAPEL. SEPULCHRE OF THE BISHOP OF PLASENCIA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 123.
THE BISHOP’S CHAPEL. SEPULCHRE OF DON FRANCESCO DE VARGAS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 124.
THE BISHOP’S CHAPEL. SEPULCHRE OF DOÑA INES DE CARVAJAL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 125.
PARISH CHURCH OF ST ANDREW. SEPULCHRE OF SAN ISIDRO PLOUGHMAN, PATRON
SAINT OF MADRID.]
[Illustration: PLATE 126.
INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF SAN JERÓNIMO.
FROM A PICTURE IN THE PRADO OF THE PRINCE OF THE ASTURIAS (FERDINAND
VII.) TAKING THE OATH OF ALLEGIANCE IN 1789.]
[Illustration: PLATE 127.
VIEW OF THE INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF SAN JERÓNIMO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 128.
SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 129.
CHURCH OF SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 130.
INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 131.
FRESCO IN SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 132.
FRESCO IN SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 133.
FRESCO IN SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 134.
FRESCO IN SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: Plate 135.
GROUP OF ANGELS IN SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 136.
GROUP OF ANGELS IN SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 137.
INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 138.
SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA. PAINTING IN THE PRINCIPAL CHAPEL, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 139.
SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA. PAINTINGS ON THE CENTRES OF THE INTRADOS OF
THE CHOIR AND PRINCIPAL CHAPEL ARCHES, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 140.
SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA. PAINTINGS ON THE SPRINGINGS OF THE INTRADOS
OF THE PRINCIPAL CHAPEL ARCHES, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 141.
SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA. PAINTINGS ON THE SPRINGINGS OF THE INTRADOS
OF THE CHOIR ARCHES, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 142.
SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA. PAINTINGS ON THE INTRADOS OF THE CHAPEL ARCH,
LEFT SIDE, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 143.
SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA. PAINTINGS ON THE INTRADOS OF THE CHAPEL ARCH,
RIGHT SIDE, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 144.
SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA. TRIANGLES FORMED BY THE DOME ADJOINING THE
PRINCIPAL CHAPEL, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 145.
SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA. TRIANGLES FORMED BY THE DOME ADJOINING THE
CHOIR, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 146.
SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA. PAINTINGS AT THE LEFT SIDES OF THE WINDOWS OF
THE DOME, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 147.
SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA. PAINTINGS AT THE RIGHT SIDES OF THE WINDOWS
OF THE DOME, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 148.
SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA. FIRST GROUP ON THE CUPOLA TO THE LEFT OF THE
CENTRE, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 149.
SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA. SECOND GROUP ON THE CUPOLA TO THE LEFT OF THE
CENTRE, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 150.
SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA. CENTRE OF THE COMPOSITION ON THE CUPOLA
FACING THE ENTRANCE, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 151.
SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA. FIRST GROUP ON THE CUPOLA TO THE RIGHT OF THE
CENTRE, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 152.
SAN ANTONIO DE LA FLORIDA. SECOND GROUP ON THE CUPOLA TO THE RIGHT OF
THE CENTRE, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 153.
THE PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 154.
THE PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 155.
THE PRADO GALLERY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 156.
THE PRADO. THE VELAZQUEZ GALLERY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 157.
MADRID PICTURE GALLERY]
[Illustration: PLATE 158.
MADRID PICTURE GALLERY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 159.
SCENE IN THE LIFE OF SANTO DOMINGO DE GUZMAN, BY PEDRO BERRUGUETE.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 160.
ECCE HOMO, BY LUIS DE MORALES.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 161.
THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST, BY NAVARRETE.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 162.
PORTRAIT OF DON CARLOS, SON OF PHILIP II., BY ALONSO SÁNCHEZ COELLO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 163.
THE INFANTAS ISABEL CLARA EUGENIA AND CATALINA MICAELA, DAUGHTERS OF
PHILIP II., BY ALONSO SÁNCHEZ COELLO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 164.
JACOB RECEIVING THE BLESSING OF HIS FATHER ISAAC, BY RIBERA.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 165.
VISION OF ST PETER THE APOSTLE TO ST PETER NOLASCO, BY ZURBARÁN.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 166.
LOS BORRACHOS, BY VELAZQUEZ.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 167.
THE FORGE OF VULCAN, BY VELAZQUEZ.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 168.
THE SURRENDER OF BREDA, BY VELAZQUEZ.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 169.
PHILIP IV., BY VELAZQUEZ.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 170.
QUEEN ISABEL OF BOURBON, BY VELAZQUEZ.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 171.
DON BALTASAR CARLOS, BY VELAZQUEZ.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 172.
PHILIP IV. IN HUNTING COSTUME, BY VELAZQUEZ.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 173.
DON BALTASAR CARLOS IN HUNTING COSTUME, BY VELAZQUEZ.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 174.
DUKE OF OLIVARES, BY VELAZQUEZ.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 175.
ÆSOP, BY VELAZQUEZ.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 176.
ST ANTONY ABBOT VISITING ST PAUL, BY VELAZQUEZ.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 177.
LAS HILANDERAS, BY VELAZQUEZ.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 178.
LAS MENINAS, BY VELAZQUEZ.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 179.
OUR LADY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, BY MURILLO. PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 180.
EL TIÑOSO: ST ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY TENDING THE SICK IN HER HOSPITAL, BY
MURILLO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 181.
FATHER CABANILLAS, BY MURILLO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 182.
THE CHILD JESUS AS SHEPHERD, BY MURILLO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 183.
DETAIL OF PLATE 179, BY MURILLO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 184.
THE VISION OF ST BERNARD, BY MURILLO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 185.
THE VIRGIN OF THE ROSARY, BY MURILLO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 186.
THE CHILD ST JOHN, BY MURILLO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 187.
THE CHILDREN, JESUS AND ST JOHN, KNOWN BY THE NAME OF “LOS NIÑOS DE LA
CONCHA,” BY MURILLO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 188.
THE HOLY FAMILY AND THE BIRD, BY MURILLO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 189.
HEAD OF THE HOLY SHEPHERD (FRAGMENT), BY MURILLO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 190.
LA PORCIÚNCULA (THE VISION OF ST FRANCIS), BY MURILLO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 191.
THE MARTYRDOM OF ST ANDREW THE APOSTLE AT PATRAS, BY MURILLO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 192.
THE DREAM OF THE ROMAN SENATOR AND HIS WIFE, WHICH PRODUCED THE CHURCH
OF ST MARIA MAGGIORE AT ROME, BY MURILLO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 193.
THE ROMAN SENATOR AND HIS WIFE TELLING THEIR DREAM TO POPE LIBERIUS, BY
MURILLO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 194.
THE ANNUNCIATION, BY EL GRECO,
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 195.
THE HOLY FAMILY, BY EL GRECO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 196.
THE CRUCIFIXION, BY EL GRECO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 197.
THE DEAD CHRIST IN THE ARMS OF GOD THE FATHER, BY EL GRECO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 198.
CHARLES IV., BY GOYA.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 199.
QUEEN MARIA LUISA, BY GOYA.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 200.
THE NUDE MAJA, BY GOYA.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 201.
THE DRAPED MAJA, BY GOYA.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 202.
THE FAMILY OF CHARLES IV., BY GOYA.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 203.
GOYA AT THE AGE OF 80, BY V. LÓPEZ.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 204.
JESUS AND MARY MAGDALENE, BY CORREGGIO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 205.
THE HOLY FAMILY AND THE LAMB, BY RAFAEL.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 206.
A CARDINAL, BY RAFAEL.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 207.
MADONNA AND CHILD, WITH ST BRIDGET AND ST HULPUS, BY TITIAN.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 208.
THE CROWN OF THORNS, BY DOMINGO TIEPOLO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 209.
PORTRAIT OF ALBRECHT DÜRER, BY HIMSELF.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 210.
QUEEN ARTEMISIA, BY REMBRANDT.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 211.
VILLAGE FÊTE, BY TENIERS.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 212.
GALLERY OF THE ARCHDUKE LEOPOLD IN BRUSSELS, BY TENIERS.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 213.
THE THREE GRACES, BY RUBENS.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 214.
THE HOLY FAMILY, BY RUBENS.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 215.
VAN DYCK AND COUNT BRISTOL, BY VAN DYCK.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 216.
THE LAST SUPPER, BY JUAN DE JUANES.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 217.
THE CATHOLIC SOVEREIGNS ADORING THE VIRGIN, BY JUAN DE BORGOÑA. PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 218.
A GOTHIC KING, BY ALONSO CANO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 219.
THE WATER FROM THE ROCK, BY JUAN DE LAS ROELAS, EL CLÉRIGO.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 220.
A SOUL IN PAIN, BY RIBALTA.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 221.
PORTRAIT OF PHILIP II., BY PANTOJA DE LA CRUZ.
PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 222.
PORTRAIT OF PEDRO BERRUGUETE. 15TH CENTURY.
COLLECTION OF DON JOSÉ DE LAZARO GALDEANO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 223.
ARCHITECTURE, PAINTING, AND SCULPTURE, BY G. SUÑOL.
ALLEGORIC GROUP INTENDED FOR THE FAÇADE OF THE PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 224.
THE EMPEROR CHARLES V.
PRADO MUSEUM.]
[Illustration: PLATE 225.
THE EMPRESS ISABEL OF PORTUGAL, WIFE OF CHARLES V.
THE PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 226.
A SATYR AND CHILDREN DANCING.
THE PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 227.
MARBLE RELIEF. LIFE-SIZE FIGURES.
THE PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 228.
MARBLE RELIEF. BACCHANTES. LIFE-SIZE FIGURES.
THE PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 229.
BRONZE HEADS.
THE PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 230.
TAPESTRY. THE BAPTIST TAKING LEAVE OF HIS PARENTS TO DEVOTE HIMSELF TO
PENITENCE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 231.
TAPESTRY. THE VIRGIN ENTHRONED, GIDEON SHOWING THE LAMB’S SKIN, AND
OTHER SCENES.]
[Illustration: PLATE 232.
EFFIGY OF ST FERDINAND, KING OF SPAIN.
CHAPEL ROYAL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 233.
(1 TO 5) CROWNS AND VOTIVE CROSSES OF GUARRAZAR.
(6) REMAINS OF ST FERDINAND’S ROBE.
(7) MOORISH SPURS OF ST FERDINAND.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 234.
C 1. SPANISH MAN-AT-ARMS, 15TH CENTURY.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 235.
C 4. SPANISH CROSSBOWMAN, 15TH CENTURY.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 236.
C 2. SPANISH HALBERDIER, 15TH CENTURY.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 237.
MACE-BEARER OF THE 16TH CENTURY WITH SURCOAT DISPLAYING THE ARMS OF
CASTILE AND LEON.]
[Illustration: PLATE 238.
A 26. TILTING HARNESS OF CHARLES V.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 239.
A 112. ARMOUR PRESENTED TO CHARLES V. BY THE DUKE OF MANTUA.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 240.
ARMOUR OF CHARLES V. MADE BY DESIDERIO COLMAN.
(1849 CATALOGUE.)
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 241.
A 231. ARMOUR MADE FOR PRINCE PHILIP (II.) BY WOLF OF LANDSHUT (1550).
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 242.
ARMOUR OF CHARLES V., AUGSBURG OR NUREMBERG MAKE.
(1849 CATALOGUE.)
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 243.
A 37. TILTING HARNESS OF CHARLES V. MADE BY DESIDERIO COLMAN,
HELMSCHMIED.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 244.
A 65. TILTING HARNESS OF CHARLES V.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 245.
A 149. ARMOUR OF CHARLES V. (1541).
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 246.
A 243. EQUESTRIAN ARMOUR OF PHILIP II. MADE BY SIGMUND WOLF OF LANDSHUT.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 247.
ARMOUR OF KING PHILIP II.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 248.
ARMOUR OF PHILIP II., ENGRAVED WITH THE ROYAL ARMS OF ENGLAND.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 249.
A 290. ARMOUR OF KING SEBASTIAN OF PORTUGAL.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 250.
A 290. ARMOUR OF KING SEBASTIAN, BACK PLATE (DETAILS).
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 251.
A 291. ARMOUR OF PHILIP III. MADE BY LUCIO PICININO OF MILAN.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 252.
ARMOUR MADE AT PAMPLONA FOR THE DUKE OF SAVOY (1620).
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 253.
HALF ARMOUR OF PHILIP IV.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 254.
MILANESE BRIGANTINE WHICH BELONGED TO CHARLES V.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 255.
B 1. BOY’S HALF ARMOUR MADE IN ITALY FOR THE INFANTE, AFTERWARDS PHILIP
III.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 256.
D 1. BOY’S HALF ARMOUR MADE FOR THE INFANTE, AFTERWARDS PHILIP III.
(SECOND VIEW.)
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 257.
B 4. HALF ARMOUR PRESENTED TO THE INFANTE, AFTERWARDS PHILIP III., BY
THE DUKE OF TERRANOVA.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 258.
B 18. BOY’S HALF ARMOUR MADE FOR THE INFANTE FERNANDO, SON OF PHILIP
III.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 259.
HALF ARMOUR BELONGING TO PRINCE PHILIP, AFTERWARDS PHILIP IV.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 260.
A 434. GORGET. SUBJECT: THE SIEGE OF OSTEND, 1601.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 261.
A 434. GORGET OF PHILIP II.
SUBJECT: THE BATTLE OF NIEUPORT.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 262.
HELMET OF PHILIP II. MADE AT AUGSBURG IN 1549.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 263.
A 243. HELMET OF PHILIP II. MADE BY WOLF OF LANDSHUT IN 1554.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 264.
A 290. BURGONET OF KING SEBASTIAN OF PORTUGAL.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 265.
A 292. BURGONET MADE FOR PHILIP III. BY LUCIO PICININO.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 266.
A 350. HELMET FOR THE DUKE OF SAVOY (SIDE VIEW).
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 267.
D 3. BURGONET OF CHARLES V. DESIGNED BY GIULIO ROMANO.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 268.
M 5. HELMET OF FRANCIS I. OF FRANCE, TAKEN AT THE BATTLE OF PAVIA.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 269.
1511. SATIN AND VELVET TURBAN FOUND IN THE PALACE OF MUSTAFA, BEY OF
ORAN, IN 1722.
1533. STEEL TURBAN OF ALI PASHA, TURKISH ADMIRAL AT LEPANTO.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 270.
D 63. THE “PLUS ULTRA” SHIELD DESIGNED BY GIULIO ROMANO.
D 10. SHIELD, EARLY 17TH CENTURY.
DESIGN: WARRIORS IN COMBAT.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 271.
D 69. ITALIAN SHIELD, 16TH CENTURY.
DESIGN: THE TRIUMPH OF LOVE.
D 68. SHIELD OF AUGSBURG MAKE, 16TH CENTURY.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 272.
D 79. SHIELD PRESENTED TO PHILIP III. BY THE DUKE OF SAVOY IN 1603.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 273.
D 86. MOORISH LEATHER SHIELD, END OF 15TH CENTURY.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 274.
M 6. SHIELD AND SWORD OF FRANCIS I. OF FRANCE, TAKEN AT THE BATTLE OF
PAVIA. DESIGN: THE GALLIC COCK ATTACKING A WARRIOR AND PUTTING HIM TO
FLIGHT.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 275.
A 242. POMMEL AND CANTLE OF SADDLE OF PHILIP II.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 276.
A 291. CANTLE-PLATES OF SADDLE MADE BY LUCIO PICININO.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 277.
TURKISH SADDLE GIVEN TO CHARLES III.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 278.
TROPHY FORMED OF SEVERAL PIECES OF ARMOUR OF PHILIP II.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 279.
ARMOUR OF A GREYHOUND.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 280.
1987, 1992. SPANISH ARQUEBUSES, END OF 16TH CENTURY.
1955. PETRONEL, 16TH CENTURY.
1961. SPANISH ARQUEBUS, WITH OCTAGONAL BARREL INLAID WITH MOTHER OF
PEARL AND IVORY, 16TH CENTURY.
1972, 1977, 1946. KEYS OR CRANKS TO COCK THE ARQUEBUSES.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 281.
DOUBLE BREECH-LOADING CANNON, IN BRONZE, USED IN SPAIN AT THE END OF THE
15TH CENTURY.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 282.
SEDAN CHAIR OF PHILIP V.
(FROM THE COACH-HOUSES OF THE ROYAL PALACE, MADRID.)
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 283.
SEDAN CHAIR OF FERDINAND VI.
(FROM THE COACH-HOUSES OF THE ROYAL PALACE, MADRID.)
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 284.
SEDAN CHAIR OF CHARLES IV.
(FROM THE COACH-HOUSES OF THE ROYAL PALACE, MADRID.)
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 285.
SEDAN CHAIR OF PHILIP V.
(FROM THE COACH-HOUSES OF THE ROYAL PALACE, MADRID.)
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 286.
SEDAN CHAIR OF CHARLES III.
(FROM THE COACH-HOUSES OF THE ROYAL PALACE, MADRID.)
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 287.
CAMPAIGN LITTER OF THE EMPEROR CHARLES V.
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 288.
CARRIAGE GIVEN BY NAPOLEON I. TO CHARLES IV.
(FROM THE COACH-HOUSES OF THE ROYAL PALACE, MADRID.)
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 289.
THE CROWN COACH.
(FROM THE COACH-HOUSES OF THE ROYAL PALACE, MADRID.)
ROYAL ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 290.
GENERAL VIEW OF THE INTERIOR OF THE OLD ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 291.
GENERAL VIEW OF THE INTERIOR OF THE OLD ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 292.
GENERAL VIEW OF THE INTERIOR OF THE OLD ARMOURY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 293.
ROYAL ACADEMY OF HISTORY.
EXTERIOR OF THE TRIPTYCH-RELIQUARY FROM THE STONE MONASTERY IN ARAGON.]
[Illustration: PLATE 294.
ROYAL ACADEMY OF HISTORY.
PART OF THE TRIPTYCH-RELIQUARY FROM THE STONE MONASTERY IN ARAGON.]
[Illustration: PLATE 295.
ROYAL ACADEMY OF HISTORY.
PAINTINGS ON THE EXTERIOR OF THE TRIPTYCH-RELIQUARY FROM THE STONE
MONASTERY IN ARAGON.]
[Illustration: PLATE 296.
STATUE OF PHILIP III. IN THE PLAZA MAYOR.]
[Illustration: PLATE 297.
STATUE OF PHILIP IV. IN THE PLAZA DE ORIENTE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 298.
STATUE OF ESPARTERO THE PEACE-MAKER.]
[Illustration: PLATE 299.
STATUE OF GENERAL CONCHA, MARQUÉS DEL DUERO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 300.
STATUE OF VELAZQUEZ.]
[Illustration: PLATE 301.
STATUE OF MURILLO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 302.
RETIRO. STATUE OF GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 303.
STATUE OF CERVANTES.]
[Illustration: PLATE 304.
CERVANTES.]
[Illustration: PLATE 305.
STATUE OF CALDERÓN DE LA BARCA.
(THE WORK OF J. FIGUERAS.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 306.
ISABEL THE CATHOLIC. BRONZE GROUP IN THE CASTELLANA.
(THE WORK OF OMS.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 307.
MONUMENT TO THE MEMORY OF COLUMBUS IN THE PASEO DE RECOLETOS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 308.
MONUMENT TO THE MEMORY OF COLUMBUS IN THE PASEO DE RECOLETOS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 309.
MONUMENT TO THE MEMORY OF COLUMBUS IN THE PASEO DE RECOLETOS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 310.
MONUMENT TO THE MEMORY OF COLUMBUS IN THE PASEO DE RECOLETOS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 311.
MONUMENT TO THE MEMORY OF COLUMBUS IN THE PASEO DE RECOLETOS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 312.
MONUMENT TO COMMEMORATE THE 2ND OF MAY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 313.
FOUNTAIN OF NEPTUNE IN THE PRADO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 314.
THE FOUNTAIN OF CYBELE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 315.
THE PRADO, WITH THE FOUNTAIN OF THE FOUR SEASONS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 316.
THE ROYAL PALACE FROM THE CASA DE CAMPO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 317.
ROYAL PALACE. THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD (HALBERDIERS).]
[Illustration: PLATE 318.
THE PALACE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 319.
THE PALACE FROM THE PLAZA DE ORIENTE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 320.
THE ROYAL PALACE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 321.
FAÇADE OF PALACE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 322.
PALACE AND PLAZA DE LA ARMERIA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 323.
THE QUEEN MOTHER LEAVING THE PALACE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 324.
PRINCIPAL STAIRCASE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 325.
DETAIL OF THRONE ROOM.]
[Illustration: PLATE 326.
GENERAL VIEW OF THRONE ROOM.]
[Illustration: PLATE 327.
THE THRONE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 328.
ROOM OF CHARLES III.]
[Illustration: PLATE 329.
THE QUEEN’S ROOM.]
[Illustration: PLATE 330.
ROOM OF MIRRORS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 331.
GASPARINI ROOM OF CHARLES III.]
[Illustration: PLATE 332.
HALL OF COLUMNS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 333.
THE WEDDING.
THE KING AND QUEEN LEAVING THE CHURCH AND ENTERING THE ROYAL COACH.]
[Illustration: PLATE 334.
A BATTLE OF FLOWERS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 335.
HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF SPAIN.]
[Illustration: PLATE 336.
H.M. QUEEN VICTORIA OF SPAIN.]
[Illustration: PLATE 337.
THE KING AND QUEEN OF SPAIN.]
[Illustration: PLATE 338.
H.M. QUEEN VICTORIA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 339.
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN MOTHER.]
[Illustration: PLATE 340.
DON CARLOS OF BOURBON.]
[Illustration: PLATE 341.
MEDAL STRUCK IN HONOUR OF THE ROYAL MARRIAGE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 342.
A LADY WITH A MANTILLA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 343.
MANTILLAS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 344.
AN OUT-DOOR PELOTA COURT, WITH SIX PLAYERS, THREE AGAINST THREE.]
[Illustration: A PELOTA COURT.]
[Illustration: PLATE 345.
A TARTAÑA.]
[Illustration: THE HARVEST CART.]
[Illustration: PLATE 346.
SKETCHES IN SPAIN.]
[Illustration: PLATE 347.
SKETCHES IN SPAIN.]
[Illustration: PLATE 348.
A DANCER.]
[Illustration: AN ORANGE SELLER.]
[Illustration: PLATE 349.
THE COUNSELLOR OF THE VILLAGE.]
[Illustration: FULL LIST OF LOTTERY RESULTS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 350.
BULL-FIGHTERS AT THE TAVERN.]
[Illustration: A SPANISH GIRL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 351.
VIEW OF THE MONASTERY OF THE ESCORIAL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 352.
VIEW OF THE MONASTERY (EAST SIDE).]
[Illustration: PLATE 353.
THE COLONNADE OF THE MONASTERY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 354.
UPPER CLOISTER OF THE MONASTERY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 355.
LOWER CLOISTER OF THE MONASTERY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 356.
THE EVANGELISTS’ COURT.]
[Illustration: PLATE 357.
PRINCIPAL STAIRCASE OF THE MONASTERY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 358.
INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH.]
[Illustration: PLATE 359.
PANTEON OF THE KINGS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 360.
PANTEON OF THE INFANTES.]
[Illustration: PLATE 361.
CHAPTER ROOM. (MONASTERY.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 362.
SACRISTY. (MONASTERY.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 363.
ALTAR-PIECE OF THE SANTA FORMA, PAINTED BY CLAUDIO COELLO.
(SACRISTY OF THE MONASTERY.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 364.
RETABLO AT THE HIGH ALTAR.
(BASILICA OF THE MONASTERY.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 365.
LEFT SIDE OF THE HIGH ALTAR: INTERMENT OF THE EMPEROR CHARLES V.]
[Illustration: PLATE 366.
THE TABERNACLE IN THE ESCORIAL CHURCH.]
[Illustration: PLATE 367.
CHOIR STALLS. (BASILICA OF THE MONASTERY.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 368.
LIBRARY OF THE MONASTERY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 369.
APOLLO AND MERCURY, BY PEREGRINO TIBALDI.
(FRESCO ON THE ARCH OF THE ESCORIAL LIBRARY.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 370.
RECEPTION HALL. (PALACE.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 371.
HALL OF AMBASSADORS. (PALACE.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 372.
DINING-HALL. (PALACE.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 373.
POMPEIAN HALL. (PALACE.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 374.
“CASA DEL PRINCIPE” OR LOWER LODGE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 375.
COFFEE-ROOM. (CASA DEL PRINCIPE.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 376.
THE LAST SUPPER, BY TITIAN. (THE ESCORIAL.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 377.
THE HOLY FAMILY, BY RAFAEL.
(CASA DEL PRINCIPE AT THE ESCORIAL.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 378.
ST MAURICE AND OTHER MARTYRS, BY EL GRECO.
(CHAPTER HALL OF THE ESCORIAL.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 379.
THE DREAM OF PHILIP II., BY EL GRECO.
(CHAPTER HALL OF THE ESCORIAL.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 380.
COUNTRY DANCE, BY GOYA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 381.
THE WASHERWOMEN, BY GOYA.
(TAPESTRY IN THE ESCORIAL PALACE.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 382.
THE CHINA MERCHANT, BY GOYA.
(TAPESTRY IN THE ESCORIAL PALACE.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 383.
THE GRAPE-SELLERS, BY GOYA.
(TAPESTRY IN THE ESCORIAL PALACE.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 384.
CHILDREN PICKING FRUIT, BY GOYA.
(TAPESTRY IN THE ESCORIAL PALACE.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 385.
THE KITE, BY GOYA.
(TAPESTRY IN THE ESCORIAL PALACE.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 386.
A SMOKER, BY TENIERS.
(CASA DEL PRINCIPE AT THE ESCORIAL.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 387.
THE STORY OF THE PASSION.
DIPTYCH, IN IVORY, OF THE 13TH CENTURY.
(FROM THE CAMARÍN OF ST THERESA.)]
[Illustration: PLATE 388.
EGYPTIAN BRONZES. AMON-RA AND ISIS.
NATIONAL ARCHÆOLOGICAL MUSEUM.]
[Illustration: PLATE 389.
EGYPTIAN BRONZES. OSIRIS AND OSOR-API.
NATIONAL ARCHÆOLOGICAL MUSEUM.]
[Illustration: PLATE 390.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES. PASEO DE CERVANTES.]
[Illustration: PLATE 391.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES. GENERAL CENTRAL ARCHIVES.]
[Illustration: PLATE 392.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES. GENERAL CENTRAL ARCHIVES.]
[Illustration: PLATE 393.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES. FAÇADE OF THE ARCHIVES.]
[Illustration: PLATE 394.
COURT OF THE ALCALÁ DE HENARES. GENERAL CENTRAL ARCHIVES.]
[Illustration: PLATE 395.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES.
CHAPEL OF THE “OIDOR.” ACTUAL STATE OF THE NORTH WALL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 396.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES. ACTUAL STATE OF THE SOUTH WALL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 397.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES.
CHAPEL OF THE “OIDOR.” ACTUAL STATE OF THE FRIEZE ROUND THE NORTH
WALL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 398.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES. THE UNIVERSITY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 399.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES. FAÇADE OF THE UNIVERSITY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 400.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES.
LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF THE CHAPEL OF SAN ILDEFONSO IN THE UNIVERSITY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 401.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES.
DETAILS OF THE FAÇADE OF THE UNIVERSITY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 402.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES. DETAILS OF THE FAÇADE OF THE UNIVERSITY.]
[Illustration: PLATE 403.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES.
PASEO DE LA ESTACIÓN.]
[Illustration: PLATE 404.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES.
MOORISH PALACE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 405.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES.
INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 406.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES.
INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 407.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES.
THE CATHEDRAL. NAVE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 408.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES.
SEPULCHRE OF DON ALONSO CARRILLO, ARCHBISHOP OF TOLEDO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 409.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES.
SEPULCHRE OF CARDINAL FRANCISCO XIMÉNEZ DE CISNEROS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 410.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES.
SEPULCHRE OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF TOLEDO, DON ALFONSO CARRILLO DE ACUÑA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 411.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES.
DETAILS OF THE SEPULCHRE OF CARDINAL FRANCISCO XIMÉNEZ DE CISNEROS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 412.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES.
CHAPEL OF SANTIAGO IN THE CHURCH OF SANTA MARÍA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 413.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES.
CHAPEL OF SANTIAGO IN THE CHURCH OF SANTA MARÍA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 414.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES. STAIRCASE IN THE ARCHBISHOP’S PALACE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 415.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES.
DETAILS OF THE WESTERN COURT AND ENTRANCE COURT, ARCHBISHOP’S PALACE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 416.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES.
LONGITUDINAL SECTION AND DETAILS OF THE ARCHBISHOP’S PALACE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 417.
ALCALÁ DE HENARES.
FRONTISPIECE of a Book called “Vita Cristi Cartuxano.”]
[Illustration: PLATE 418.
MUÑOZA BULLS, THE PROPERTY OF THE DUKE OF VERAGUA, BY JOAQUÍN DÍEZ.]
[Illustration: PLATE 419.
TESTING A “BECERRO,” OR YOUNG BULL, AT TABLADA, NEAR SEVILLE, BY JOAQUÍN
DÍEZ.]
[Illustration: PLATE 420.
SELECTING BULLS FROM THE HERD OF THE DUKE OF VERAGUA AT “LA MUÑOZA,” BY
JOAQUÍN DÍEZ.]
[Illustration: PLATE 421.
THE TOILET OF THE TOREADOR BEFORE THE BULL-FIGHT, BY V. ESQUIVEL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 422.
BEFORE THE BULL-FIGHT BY B. FERRANDIZ.]
[Illustration: PLATE 423.
TOREADORS PREPARING TO ENTER THE ARENA, BY J. AGRASOT.]
[Illustration: PLATE 424.
ENTERTAINING THE BULL-FIGHTER, BY ALARCÓN.]
[Illustration: PLATE 425.
“HERE COMES THE BULL!” BY P. FRANCÉS.
NATIONAL EXHIBITION OF BEAUX-ARTS, 1887.]
[Illustration: PLATE 426.
“THE UNINVITED GUEST,” BY E. MÉLIDA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 427.
HEAD OF A BULL, BY JOAQUÍN DÍEZ.]
[Illustration: PLATE 428.
PRINCIPAL FAÇADE OF THE NEW PLAZA DE TOROS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 429.
PRINCIPAL ENTRANCE TO THE NEW PLAZA DE TOROS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 430.
INTERIOR OF THE NEW PLAZA DE TOROS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 431.
BULL-FIGHT. ENTRANCE OF THE “CUADRILLA.”]
[Illustration: PLATE 432.
BULL-FIGHT. A PICADOR INCITING THE BULL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 433.
BULL-FIGHT. THE PICADOR.]
[Illustration: PLATE 434.
BULL-FIGHT. THE PICADOR.]
[Illustration: PLATE 435.
BULL-FIGHT. A “QUITE.”]
[Illustration: PLATE 436.
BULL-FIGHT. A “QUITE” OF EL GALLO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 437.
BULL-FIGHT. LAGARTIJO AFTER A “RECORTE.”]
[Illustration: PLATE 438.
BULL-FIGHT. THE BANDERILLAS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 439.
BULL-FIGHT.
FRASCUELO IRRITATING THE BULL WITH A CLOAK BEFORE KILLING HIM.]
[Illustration: PLATE 440.
BULL-FIGHT. LAGARTIJO IRRITATING THE BULL WITH A CLOAK BEFORE KILLING
HIM.]
[Illustration: PLATE 441.
BULL-FIGHT. THE BULL BEING DRAGGED OUT OF THE ARENA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 442.
LADIES AT THE BULL-FIGHT.]
[Illustration: PLATE 443.
THE PROCESSION.]
[Illustration: ENTRANCE OF THE BULL.]
[Illustration: PLATE 444.
THE PICADOR.]
[Illustration: AT CLOSE QUARTERS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 445.
A TURN WITH HIS BACK TO THE BULL.]
[Illustration: FIXING THE BANDERILLAS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 446.
THE MATADOR.]
[Illustration: THE FINAL STROKE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 447.
BULL-FIGHT. LEAP OVER THE BULL’S NECK.]
[Illustration: PLATE 448.
BULL-FIGHT. LEAP WITH THE POLE.]
[Illustration: PLATE 449.
BULL-FIGHT. BANDERILLAS.]
[Illustration: PLATE 450.
TOREADOR WOUNDED DURING A BULL-FIGHT, BY LIZCANO.]
[Illustration: PLATE 451.
GUERRITA. BANDERILLERO.]
[Illustration: ANTONIO FUENTES.]
[Illustration: PLATE 452.
LUIS MAZZANTINI AND CUADRILLA.]
[Illustration: PLATE 453.
BULL-FIGHT.
LAST MOMENTS OF A TOREADOR AFTER BEING ATTACKED IN THE ARENA, BY R.
NOVAS.]
* * * * *
THE SPANISH SERIES
Crown 8vo. Gilt Top. Price 3/6 net.
“Mr. A. CALVERT’S Spanish Series will be heartily welcomed by all
students of Spanish art, for it is not too much to say that never before
has an attempt been made to present to the public so vast a number of
reproductions from quite acceptable photographs of Spanish works of art
at so low a price.”--_The World._
“ ...Calculated to give English readers a most comprehensive survey of
this fascinating land, and to convey a clear idea of its historic
greatness. The get-up of the books is in every way worthy of a series of
this magnitude.”--_Sketch._
“Every volume in the Spanish Series has taught us to expect a high
standard of excellence.”--_Daily News._
GOYA with 612 illustrations
TOLEDO “ 510 “
MADRID “ 453 “
GALICIA ---
SEVILLE “ 300 “
MURILLO “ 165 “
CORDOVA “ 160 “
EL GRECO “ 136 “
VELAZQUEZ “ 136 “
THE PRADO “ 220 “
THE ESCORIAL “ 278 “
SCULPTURE IN SPAIN “ 140 “
VALENCIA AND MURCIA “ 300 “
ROYAL PALACES OF SPAIN “ 164 “
VIZCAYA AND SANTANDER
SPANISH ARMS AND ARMOUR “ 386 “
GRANADA AND THE ALHAMBRA “ 460 “
LEON, BURGOS AND SALAMANCA “ 462 “
CATALONIA AND BALEARIC ISLANDS “ 250 “
THE ROYAL TAPESTRIES AT MADRID “ 200 “
VALLADOLID, OVIEDO, SEGOVIA, }
ZAMORA, AVILA AND ZARAGOZA } “ 413 “
* * * * *
_UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_
EL GRECO
A BIOGRAPHY & APPRECIATION. WITH 136 PLATES
In a Series such as this, which aims at presenting every aspect of
Spain’s eminence in art and in her artists, the work of Domenico
Theotocópuli must be alloted a volume to itself. “El Greco,” as he is
called, who reflects the impulse, and has been said to constitute the
supreme glory of the Venetian era, was a Greek by repute, a Venetian by
training, and a Toledan by adoption. His pictures in the Prado are still
catalogued among those of the Italian School, but foreigner as he was,
in his heart he was more Spanish than the Spaniards.
El Greco is typically, passionately, extravagantly Spanish, and with his
advent, Spanish painting laid aside every trace of Provincialism, and
stepped forth to compel the interest of the world. Neglected for many
centuries, and still often misjudged, his place in art is an assured
one. It is impossible to present him as a colourist in a work of this
nature, but the author has got together reproductions of no fewer than
140 of his pictures--a greater number than has ever before been
published of El Greco’s works.
VELAZQUEZ
A BIOGRAPHY & APPRECIATION. WITH 136 PLATES
DIEGO RODRIGUEZ DE SILVA Y VELAZQUEZ--“our Velazquez,” as Palomino
proudly styles him--has been made the subject of innumerable books in
every European language, yet the Editor of this Spanish series feels
that it would not be complete without the inclusion of yet another
contribution to the broad gallery of Velazquez literature.
The great Velazquez, the eagle in art--subtle, simple, incomparable--the
supreme painter, is still a guiding influence of the art of to-day. The
greatest of Spanish artists, a master not only in portrait painting, but
in character and animal studies, in landscapes and historical subjects,
impressed the grandeur of his superb personality upon all his work.
Spain, it has been said, the country whose art was largely borrowed,
produced Velazquez, and through him Spanish art became the light of a
new artistic life.
THE PRADO
A GUIDE AND HANDBOOK TO THE ROYAL PICTURE GALLERY OF MADRID. WITH 220
PLATES
This volume is an attempt to supplement the accurate but formal notes
contained in the official catalogue of a picture gallery which is
considered the finest in the world. It has been said that the day one
enters the Prado for the first time is an important event like marriage,
the birth of a child, or the coming into an inheritance; an experience
of which one feels the effects to the day of one’s death.
The excellence of the Madrid gallery is the excellence of exclusion; it
is a collection of magnificent gems. Here one becomes conscious of a
fresh power in Murillo, and is amazed anew by the astonishing apparition
of Velazquez; here is, in truth, a rivalry of the miracles of art.
* * * * *
_UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_
VALLADOLID, OVIEDO, SEGOVIA, ZAMORA, AVILA AND ZARAGOZA
A HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT, WITH 413 PLATES
The glory of Valladolid has departed, but the skeleton remains, and
attached to its ancient stones are the memories that Philip II. was born
here, that here Cervantes lived, and Christopher Columbus died. In this
one-time capital of Spain, in the Plaza Mayor, the fires of the
Inquisition were first lighted, and here Charles V. laid the foundation
of the Royal Armoury, which was afterwards transferred to Madrid.
More than seven hundred years have passed since Oviedo was the proud
capital of the Kingdoms of Las Asturias, Leon, and Castile. Segovia,
though no longer great, has still all the appurtenances of greatness,
and and with her granite massiveness and austerity, she remains an
aristocrat even among the aristocracy of Spanish cities. Zamora, which
has a history dating from time almost without date, was the key of Leon
and the centre of the endless wars between the Moors and the Christians,
which raged round it from the eighth to the eleventh centuries.
In this volume the author has striven to re-create the ancient greatness
of these six cities, and has preserved their memories in a wealth of
excellent and interesting illustrations.
VALENCIA AND MURCIA
A GLANCE AT AFRICAN SPAIN, WITH 300 ILLUSTRATIONS
Every traveller to the fertile Provinces which form the subject of this
volume has been forcibly impressed by their outward resemblance to the
more favoured parts of Northern Africa. And here, only to a degree less
than in Andalusia, the Moors made themselves very much at home, and have
left behind them ineffaceable impressions.
In this delightful region the dusky invaders established themselves at
Valencia, which they dubbed the City of Mirth. The history of the land
is alike a fevered dream of mediævalism. Across its pages flit the
shadowy forms of Theodomir, and the Cid and Jaime lo Conqueridor,
standing out against a back-ground of serried hosts and flaming cities.
The people to-day are true children of the sun, passionate, vivacious,
physically well proportioned. The country is a terrestrial paradise,
where the flowers ever blossom and the sun ever shines. To-day the
Valencian supplements the bounty of Nature by enterprise and industry.
His ports pulsate with traffic, and side by side with memorials of the
life of a thousand years ago, modern social Spain may be studied at
Alicante and El Cabanal, the Brighton and Trouville of the Peninsula.
* * * * *
_UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_
THE ROYAL TAPESTRIES
AT MADRID
A HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE COLLECTION OF BEAUTIFUL
TAPESTRIES IN THE ROYAL PALACE AT MADRID. WITH OVER 200 PLATES
The Royal Palace at Madrid contains the most valuable and interesting
collection of Tapestries in Europe. These were for the most part woven
in Flanders, some in the early fifteenth century, at a time when the
industry in that country had reached its zenith. At a later period the
work of the Flemish artists was imitated in Spain itself with no little
success. Among the designers of these superb works of art were Quentin
Matsys, Pieter Breughel, and the Divine Raphael himself. Not
artistically only but historically the collection is of rare interest.
SPANISH ARMS AND ARMOUR
A HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE ROYAL ARMOURY AT MADRID.
WITH 386 PLATES
Although several valuable and voluminous catalogues of the Spanish Royal
Armoury have, from time to time, been compiled, this “finest collection
of armour in the world” has been subjected so often to the disturbing
influences of fire, removal and rearrangement, that no hand catalogue of
the Museum is available, and this book has been designed to serve both
as a historical souvenir of the institution and a record of its
treasures.
GRANADA AND THE ALHAMBRA
WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE MOSLEM RULE IN SPAIN AND OF THE ARCHITECTURE, AND
THE DECORATION OF THE MOORISH PALACE, AND 460 PLATES
This volume is the third and abridged edition of a work which the author
was inspired to undertake by the surpassing loveliness of the Alhambra,
and by his disappointment in the discovery that no such thing as an even
moderately adequate illustrated souvenir of “this glorious sanctuary of
Spain” was obtainable. Keenly conscious of the want himself, he essayed
to supply it, and the result is a volume that has been acclaimed with
enthusiasm alike by critics, artists, architects, and archæologists.
* * * * *
_UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_
LEON, BURGOS AND SALAMANCA
A HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT, WITH 462 PLATES
In Leon, once the capital of the second kingdom in Spain; in Burgos
which boasts one of the most magnificent cathedrals in Spain, and the
custodianship of the bones of the Cid; and in Salamanca, with its
university, which is one of the oldest in Europe the author has selected
three of the most interesting relics of ancient grandeur in this country
of departed greatness. Leon to-day is nothing but a large agricultural
village, torpid, silent, dilapidated; Burgos, which still retains traces
of the Gotho-Castilian character, is a gloomy and depleting capital; and
Salamanca is a city of magnificent buildings, a broken hulk, spent by
the storms that from time to time have devastated her.
CATALONIA AND THE BALEARIC ISLANDS
A HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT, WITH 250 PLATES
Catalonia is the Spain of to-day and of the future. There are those who
believe that Catalonia contains all the elements essential to the
complete regeneration of Spain, and that she will raise the whole
country to her industrial level. But the old county of Barcelona has a
glorious and stirring past, as well as a promising future. Her history
goes back to the days of Charlemagne, and has to tell of merchant
princes and of hazardous commercial enterprise reminding one of the
Italian maritime republics. The Balearic Islands, one of which (Minorca)
was long an English possession, constitute one of the most flourishing
provinces of the Kingdom. Delightful as a place of sojourn or residence,
Majorca and her sister isles reveal many and conspicuous traces of that
prehistoric race which once offered bloody sacrifices to the Sun on all
the shores of the Inland Sea.
THE ESCORIAL
A HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE SPANISH ROYAL PALACE,
MONASTERY AND MAUSOLEUM. WITH PLANS AND 278 PLATES
The Royal Palace, Monastery, and Mausoleum of El Escorial, which rears
its gaunt, grey walls in one of the bleakest and most impossible
districts in the whole of Spain, was erected to commemorate a victory
over the French in 1557. It was occupied and pillaged by the French
two-and-a-half centuries later, and twice it has been greatly diminished
by fire; but it remains to-day, not only the incarnate expression of the
fanatic religious character and political genius of Philip II., but the
greatest mass of wrought granite which exists on earth, the leviathan of
architecture, the eighth wonder of the world.
* * * * *
_UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_
GALICIA
THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE. A HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT.
ILLUSTRATED
The old kingdom of Galicia may not inaptly be termed the Wales of Spain.
Its people approximate closely to the old Celtic type, with a large
admixture of the Teutonic blood of that strange forgotten tribe, the
Suevi, who held sway here for two centuries. Though every traveller in
Spain has met the sturdy patient Gallegos in the capacity of porters,
servants, and workers, few trouble to visit their country, a pleasant
land of green hills, deep valleys smiling lakes, brawling streams and
long fjords like gulfs.
ROYAL PALACES OF SPAIN
A HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE SEVEN PRINCIPAL PALACES OF
THE SPANISH KINGS. WITH 164 PLATES.
Spain is beyond question the richest country in the world in the number
of its Royal Residences, and while few are without artistic importance,
all are rich in historical memories. Thus from the Alcazar at Seville
which is principally associated with Pedro the Cruel, to the Retiro,
built to divert the attention of Philip IV. from his country’s decay;
from the Escorial, in which the gloomy mind of Philip II. is perpetuated
in stone, to La Granja, which speaks of the anguish and humiliation of
Christina before Sergeant Garcia and his rude soldiery; from Aranjuez to
Rio Frio, and from El Prado, darkened by the agony of a good king, to
Miramar, to which a widowed Queen retired to mourn: all the history of
Spain, from the splendid days of Charles V. to the present time, is
crystallised in the Palaces that constitute the patrimony of the crown.
VIZCAYA AND SANTANDER
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE CANTABRIAN LAND AND OF SPANISH NAVARRE. BY ALBERT F.
CALVERT
Whether or not the Basques be the aboriginal inhabitants of the
Peninsula, they are at least the oldest of its peoples, and among the
most interesting. Their language, their customs their _fueros_ of local
code, above all their mysterious origin, have been the themes of
discussion and speculation among the learned for centuries--and are
likely to continue so. Meanwhile they flourish exceedingly, and their
towns, or at least their sea-ports hum with life and energy.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Madrid" ***
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