the building was dedicated to the Christian faith. After the capture of
Cordova by San Fernando, the original work of the Moorish builders was
spoiled in many parts of the Mezquita. Large surfaces, beautifully
designed and coloured, were removed by the innovators, columns were
pulled down, and screens destroyed. ‘The gold lavished on the panelled
ceilings,’ so praised by an Arab poet, was obliterated in many places;
the Christian architects wrought havoc in almost every part of the
structure. No doubt the pious reconstructors were unconscious of their
vandalism. They sought to improve upon the art of the Mohammedans, and
to build a worthier edifice. But their failure is only too apparent, and
it has been admitted by Spanish writers. Charles V. expressed sorrow at
the garish and meagre innovations, saying that the designers and
craftsmen had destroyed a great and unique work of art in their
endeavour to improve upon the design of the Moriscos.
VII
THE CATHEDRAL AND CHURCHES
From the time of the taking of Cordova by the sainted King Ferdinand,
Spanish architects and artificers designed and constructed additions to
the interior and exterior of the beautiful Mezquita. We have already
described these additions as often incongruous and for a great part
unlovely. San Fernando caused the erection of the first Christian chapel
within the Mosque, and it occupied a position by the south wall,
covering three naves from east to west, and four transverse naves from
north to south. The chapel, which was dedicated to St. Clement, enclosed
two Moorish arches.
Following the example of the sovereign, several noblemen erected chapels
in the Mezquita. In 1250 Don Diaz de Haro built the chapel of Santa
Inez, and later Domingo Muñoz erected that of San Bartolomé. Enriched by
donations from the pious, the Chapter of the Cathedral undertook to
transform the building, and even sought to improve upon the work of the
Mohammedans. They removed the apartment of the Kadi, destroyed the
chamber of the Khalif, known as the _maksurrah_, and in its place reared
the Grand Chapel. The chapels of St. John and of Santiago were built
between 1260 and 1265.
At this time four Mudejares, or reconciled Moors, were employed upon the
work of altering the Mosque. It was evidently the wish of the improvers
that the Arabic tradition should be followed in the construction of the
arches and the plan of the decorations; but already the Moorish art was
declining, and these latest examples of Morisco design and ornamentation
do not display that wealth of imagination and high skill which
characterised the Omeyyad craftsmanship. Hence the work in the Cathedral
became more ‘Gothic’ and less Arab-Byzantine, as piece by piece the
chapels were added to the structure of Abd-er-Rahman, Hakem II., and
Almanzor.
The worst vandalism was wrought when the great Choir was made under the
sanction of Charles V., who afterwards regretted that he had consented
to the alterations. In order to erect the Coro, with its high roof, the
old Moorish ceiling was destroyed. The architect originally employed
upon the Grand Chapel and Choir was the celebrated Hernan Ruiz, who
achieved some notable designs in the Plateresque style. The retablo, or
high altar, is by Alonso Matias, and the painting is the work of
Palomino.
In the Coro the seats are beautifully carved by Pedro Cornejo. The
Capilla de Nuestra Señora de Villaviciosa is perhaps the most
interesting of the many Christian chapels erected within the Mezquita.
It is in the later Moorish style. Céspedes’ painting of ‘The Last
Supper’ is in the Capilla de la Cena; and the tomb of this artist, who
was a native of the city, is near the Capilla de San Pablo.
In the Christian Cathedral there are many examples of the composite
Moorish and Gothic architecture, which is known in Spain as the Estilo
Mudejar. Portraits of saints and paintings of living things were
introduced later, in contravention of the Mohammedan law forbidding such
representations in the decoration of holy buildings. Statues were also
placed in the Cathedral. The brilliant Plateresque style eventually
succeeded the later Mudejar work; the decorations were fanciful and
flamboyant, and not always inspired by the highest æsthetic sense.
Finally, in the seventeenth century, the Baroque style became the
fashion of the hour, and the arts of pictorial embellishment and of
carving degenerated often into the bizarre and the theatrical. Wood was
used in place of stone for statuary, and many of the fine old
altar-pieces in the Spanish churches were destroyed to give place to
grotesque and more ‘realistic’ conceptions.
As early as 1278 the minaret of Abd-er-Rahman III. was crowned with the
Christian figure of Saint Raphael, and at the time of the alterations
under the direction of Hernan Ruiz the bulk of the Moorish praying-tower
was removed, and the much loftier belfry erected. Most of the beautiful
doors of the Mosque were blocked up during the progress of the
reconstruction. The door of the Gate of Pardon was decorated by Henry
II., and is in the later Mudejar style, with Christian images above it.
Such are among the many examples of the curious blending of Moorish and
Christian forms of design and styles of ornamentation within and without
the Mosque.
For further examples of Mudejar architecture we may visit the Hospital
del Cardinal, where there is a fine chapel dedicated to San Bartolomé.
The Church of Santa Marina was originally Moorish, but it is now modern.
Relatives of the Gran Capitan Gonsalvo are buried in the San Hipolito.
VIII
THE PALACE OF THE KHALIFS AND THE MOORISH BRIDGE
Very little of the ancient Moorish Alcazar remains. On the south side
there are a bath and some towers, and the plot by the river is
beautifully shady with semi-tropical foliage and fruit-trees. The old
Alcazar was originally the Palace of the Khalifs, and it covered a large
area. It contained huge and sumptuous chambers and several handsome
baths, which were destroyed during the reign of Isabella. The northern
part of the building was erected in the time of Alfonso XI., about a
century after the recapture of Cordova by San Fernando.
The gate leading to the bridge is no longer Moorish. It was designed by
a Christian architect. We gain a glimpse of the sierras through the
portal, and passing through, reach the many-arched bridge, leading to
the Campo de la Verdad. The foundations are Roman, and it was probably
built in the time of Cæsar. At the far end is the Calahorra, a
picturesque tower. In the centre stands the shrine of the patron saint
of Cordova, St. Raphael, the archangel.
This bridge was the scene of many conflicts during the Moorish occupancy
of the city. Long before it was built, when Cæsar came to attack
Cordova, he constructed a temporary bridge across the Guadalquivir, by
placing large baskets of stones in the river and laying timber upon
them.
The Moorish water-mills, which can be seen from the bridge, are
interesting relics. The river, the mills, the bell-tower of the Mosque,
and the walls form a picture which lives in the memory. The view lacks
the stern grandeur of that from the Bridge of Toledo, but it is
nevertheless beautiful. In flood-time the river seethes by the
buttresses, and tumbles through the arches to spend itself below in a
wide and imposing stream. And at night, when the moon gleams on the
Guadalquivir, and lights the Mosque, and lingers upon the ancient walls
and towers, the scene is one of fairy-like enchantment.
Men fish above and below the bridge, employing curious lever nets and
other quaint tackle for the capture of shad and eels. Along the verge of
the swirling stream busy women kneel to rinse and wring their linen,
and to spread the garments upon the green banks to dry in the hot sun.
The devout pause before the shrine in the centre of the bridge, and pay
their reverence to St. Raphael. Here, too, loiter the idlers of Cordova;
they lounge and blink at the water, and smoke their cigarettes in the
sunshine. And on market-days there is a stream of pack-mules and asses,
heavy wains with teams of horses, and droves of cattle across the long
Puente.
The spell of Cordova holds one long after leaving the city. One recalls
the white, tortuous alleys, and the luminous blue shadows of the Mosque
at noonday. The odours of orange-bloom and of roses are wafted to the
nostrils, as one thinks of the silent patios, where the footstep echoes,
and the huerta by the river, where there are trees and plants of the
tropics. One hears the rattle of the mule-wagon upon the stony
thoroughfares, the first streets that were ever paved in Spain; the
nightly cry of the watchman, in his mediæval garb; the jangling of
church bells the call of the water-seller, carrying his tall Oriental
jar; the rich liquid tones of the nightingales in the gardens and the
thickets of the Guadalquivir; the early morning scream of the hawk
floating over the bell-tower, and the bleating of the wandering herds
of goats. Cordova is Moorish, Spanish, Andalusian, but, still more than
all, Oriental. Wonderful Moors! Marvellous city of light, colour,
beauty, and romantic memories!
IX
ILLUSTRIOUS NATIVES OF CORDOVA
The ‘holy and learned’ city of Cordova has ever produced sons worthy of
its renown. There were, no doubt, many philosophers, teachers, and poets
during the Mohammedan dominion, whose names have not been preserved, and
whose works have perished. Corduba was the birthplace of Seneca, the
relative and the contemporary of Lucan, and one of the greatest men that
the city produced.
The moralist and philosopher was a delicate, ailing child, and
throughout his life he suffered from ill-health, which was increased by
his severe studies, and possibly by his asceticism. Seneca was one of
the first strenuous advocates of the vegetarian diet and ‘the simple
life.’ It is said that he subsisted upon the plainest fare and practised
rigorous self-denial.
There is much that is admirable in the character of Seneca, but there
are also traits that appear extremely incompatible with his constant
insistence upon right conduct and purity of life.
The genius of Seneca was soon recognised by the rulers in Cordova, and
his fame reached Rome, whither he went, and where he was received with
the respect that his deep learning merited. His career was, however,
checked by his unfortunate intrigue with Julia, the married sister of
the Emperor Caligula. As a punishment for his adultery he was sent to
Corsica, where he lived in banishment for eight years.
During this long spell of solitude Seneca mused and studied, and found
the period of exile one of fruitfulness to the mind. Yet when he was
recalled to Rome, at the intercession of Agrippina, the philosopher
exhibited a keen desire for wealth, which is scarcely reconcilable with
his affirmations concerning the life of simplicity and self-denial. In
order to make money, he did not hesitate to lend sums at an exorbitant
interest. He became a courtier, and was the confidential tutor of Nero;
but at the height of his fortune he conspired against the emperor. His
condonation of Nero’s murder of his mother was an elaborate piece of
casuistry, devised for no other reason than the desire to retain the
royal patronage. In this and in other episodes, the career of Seneca
bewilders us, and provides matter for reflection upon the inconsistency
of human nature and the fallibility of even the greatest ethicists.
The last pages in the life of the philosopher are sad. He was condemned
to death as a traitor, and he had married a young wife. When he heard
that the guards were on their way to arrest him, Seneca resolved to open
one of his veins and to bleed to death. His loyal and loving wife begged
to share his fate, and at her request he cut one of her veins. But
Seneca was old, seventy years of age, and his blood flowed so slowly
that he could not die. In his desperation he drank a cup of hemlock,
hoping to poison himself, and by that means put an end to his anguish.
Yet even the hemlock potion failed. Asphyxiation in a heated chamber at
last brought death to the aged sage, and by timely attention the life of
his young wife was saved.
Marcus Annæus Lucanus, or Lucan, was born in Cordova in the year A.D. 38
or 39. He was the nephew of Seneca, and his father was a public servant
held in esteem in the city. Our data for a biography of Lucanus are very
scanty. He wrote poems before he left Cordova, and encouraged the
writing of Latin verse among the Spanish residents. His great work, the
_Pharsalia_, was left unfinished.
Lucan was lauded by Tacitus as a poet. He went to Rome, and it is
recorded that he vanquished Nero in one of the poetical tournaments in
which that monarch delighted. The egotistic emperor never forgave Lucan
for beating him in this literary contest. He vindictively forbade the
poet to write any more poems or to recite to audiences. We need not be
surprised that the aggrieved poet rebelled against this attempt to
utterly silence his song, to deprive him of the exercise of his art, and
to crush him. Lucan was aroused. He became one of the conspirators of
Piso, and plotted against the power of Nero.
When he was arrested, and offered pardon if he would name his
accomplices in the plot, Lucan falsely accused his mother Atilia of
complicity. This cowardly resort was, however, of no avail. He was not
spared by the vengeful Nero, who gave the poet his choice of death.
Lucan chose the usual Roman mode of opening a vein in a bath. He is said
to have recited one of his poems as he died.
Ibn-Roshid Averroes, the most renowned of the Arabian philosophers, was
born in Cordova in A.D. 1120. He came of a high-born family held in
honour in the city. His grandfather was a Kadi of Cordova. In his youth
Averroes learned law, mathematics, theology, and the practice of
medicine. His reputation as a man of erudition and of force of intellect
caused Almanzor to grant him privileges. He was appointed Kadi of the
city of Seville.
The story of the life of Averroes is an example of the eternal conflict
between the reformer of thought and morals and the mass of the people of
his age. Averroes was misunderstood, impeached as a dangerous heretic,
and condemned as an enemy of humanity. The Moors, in spite of their
culture, could manifest rank fanaticism when they encountered any
teaching that seemed to contradict the writings of the Koran, or the
traditional piety. Averroes was a follower of Aristotle, although he
remained a Mohammedan, and as the Greek philosophy did not accord
completely with the dogmas of Mohammed, the teacher was arraigned as an
assailant of religion and a foe to morality. His ostracism was thorough.
The noble man was pelted with stones by boys in the street, and scorned
by the whole city.
Shrinking from this terrible spectacle of the humiliation and cruelty
heaped upon the innocent head of his revered tutor, the young
Maimonides, a diligent pupil of Averroes, fled from Cordova. Averroes
soon after left the city, and wandered in Morocco. But he was not
allowed to roam unmolested. At Fez the populace treated him with gross
inhumanity. He was forced to stand on the step of the mosque, and every
one who passed into the House of Allah spat in the philosopher’s face.
Hunted, despised, and bereft of the opportunity for using his learning
for the good of humanity, Averroes dissembled and professed to repent of
his heresies. We can hardly experience surprise at this. His humiliation
and his trials had been such that few men could endure without a loss of
reason or a total paralysis of aspiration.
Averroes returned to Cordova. But he was still avoided and looked upon
as a felon, and his poverty and miserable state continued. Eventually he
was reinstated. There was a reaction of feeling; bigotry was wearing
out, and the virtues and attainments of the great thinker were
recognised at their worth. The chief work of Averroes was his
philosophy, compounded of Aristotle and the teaching of Neo-Platonism.
His writings upon Aristotle are not of the highest value, for he was
unversed in the Greek language.
Like Seneca, the Arab teacher Averroes was a rigidly plain liver. He
contented himself with common raiment, slept on hard couches, and made
only one meal in twenty-four hours. Averroes was not only reputed for
his culture and his philosophical treatises; he bore the character of
amiability, simplicity of manner, and extreme courteousness. He rises
far above Seneca in the conduct of life and the application of his
principles to actions. He was a true moral philosopher. Cordova has
produced many illustrious sons, but certainly not a greater man since
his day.
For some time the philosophy of Averroes was regarded as highly
dangerous among the Moors of Cordova. It was considered equally
injurious to the Christian faith, for all the works of the Arab doctor
were placed upon the Catholic Index.
Cordova gave many valiant soldiers to the world, but none more brave
than the Gran Capitan. The hero’s name was Fernandez Gonsalvo, or
Hernandez de Cordova. He was born in 1453, and arose to fame about 1495.
‘Nursed amid the din of battle,’ Gonsalvo accompanied his father to the
courts of Alfonso and Isabella. He fought in Portugal, showing
remarkable intrepidity at the great battle of Albuera. At Monte Frio the
Great Captain led the besiegers in scaling the ramparts. At Granada his
horse was killed beneath him, but he mounted that of his attendant, who
lost his life in the encounter. In the Calabrian campaign, Gonsalvo led
the army. For his prowess he was made Viceroy of Naples.
The life of the Gran Capitan is a chapter of moving romance. In the
Spanish estimation he is almost as mighty and adorable as the Cid.
Gonsalvo was over sixty when he died. He was a born commander, capable
of judging character and of leading men, and possessed of extraordinary
bravery and coolness in action. His manners were urbane and pleasing.
The city is associated with at least three famous painters of the
Andalusian school: Pedro de Cordova, Pablo de Céspedes, and Juan Valdés
Leal. The Museo of Cordova is not a very important collection of
paintings, but it contains some works of Céspedes, Zurbarán, and Ribera.
Zurbarán’s best work is not to be seen in Cordova. Ribera’s ‘Rest on the
Flight into Egypt,’ in the Museo, is a fine picture, but it is injured
by the state into which it has fallen through neglect. It is deplorable
that so many of the paintings in the collection at Cordova are in a
condition of decay. During our visit to the city we were appalled at the
indifference exhibited by those in charge of the pictures.
There is evidence that Cordova under the Moors contained some works of
the early Spanish schools of painting. Pablo de Céspedes, in an essay,
states: ‘In the parish church of San Pedro, in our city of Cordova, on
the right wall, there are many paintings of those times which escaped
the barbarous fury of the Moors when they held that place, though they
have not escaped the ravages of time and the neglect of those intrusted
with the care of the church. The consequence is, they are scarcely
intelligible from the injury which they have received and the dust which
has accumulated upon them. This sort of painting, rude and savage as it
is, appears to have been the ashes whence was destined to spring that
fairest Phœnix of modern art which has since burst forth in such
splendour and riches.’
The first painter of Cordova of whom we have a brief record is Pedro de
Cordoba. In 1475 he painted the Annunciation, which is still to be seen
in the Capilla del Santo Cristo of the Mezquita. The picture is
representative of Gothic art; but it is in a poor light, and the canvas
is in a condition of neglect.
Cordova was ranked as the second centre of art in Andalusia; and the
Italian influence, which succeeded the Gothic, was exemplified in the
productions of the cultured and versatile Pablo de Céspedes, who was
born in the city in 1538. This artist, who wrote a celebrated poem on
the art of painting, is ranked among the writers as well as the painters
of his nation. He studied in Italy, and became one of the canons of the
Cathedral of Cordova. In Rome he painted frescoes after the manner of
Correggio. ‘The Last Supper,’ and two pictures of ‘St. John’ and ‘St.
Andrew,’ are in the Mezquita, and in these we see the intellectual
quality of this painter’s art. Cean Bermudez, the Spanish critic, ranked
Pablo de Céspedes high as a colourist, and especially in flesh-tints.
Most of the pictures by Céspedes have perished.
Juan de Valdés Leal was born in Cordova in 1630. Most of the painter’s
life was spent in Seville, where he was regarded as the rival of
Murillo. His most sincere, and one of his earliest compositions is in
Cordova, in the Church of the Carmen. This work is interesting because
it instances the dramatic qualities of the painter. The retablo is
painted in eleven different parts, representing the life of the prophet
Elijah. Most of the work of Valdés Leal is to be seen in Seville.
Antonio de Castillo y Saavedra, born in Cordova in 1603, revived the
best traditions of Céspedes. Castillo was one of the first of the
Spanish landscape-painters, but his strength lay in the presentment of
figures. His colour is not his _forte_, as will be seen from a study of
his pictures in the Museo. Perhaps his most admirable work is the
‘Denial of St. Peter.’ Castillo unfortunately attempted to imitate
Murillo, and it is said that he was envious of the reputation of that
more popular painter. This artist seems to have spent most of his time
in Cordova, where he died in 1667.
The poet Luis de Gongora was born in the city in 1561. His first studies
were at the University of Salamanca, whither he was sent at the age of
fifteen, to learn law. While at the College he became exceedingly worn
in health, but his disease was not mortal, and his recovery was
accounted miraculous. While still a youth Gongora wrote poetry. He
showed but little aptitude for the profession of lawyer, and upon his
return to Cordova he cultivated his bent for poetry.
In person Luis de Gongora was tall and powerfully built. He was a
caustic writer, and in his first period his style was simple and
delightful. But he became more mannered and affected as he grew older,
and his later work was marred by pomposity, extravagance, and often by
sheer absurdity. His mannerisms were, however, regarded as the fruit of
rare genius by his host of disciples and imitators. Gongorism became the
fashion among poetasters in Spain, and the followers of this master of
eccentricity were slavish flatterers and fanatical worshippers.
At forty-five Gongora left Cordova and entered the Church. He afterwards
lived in Madrid. In the capital he was under the patronage of
influential hidalgos and nobles, and Philip III. made him his honorary
chaplain. Gongora eventually returned to his native place, where he died
at the age of sixty-six, in the year 1627.
In spite of his stilted style and metrical defects, Gongora was endowed
with true poetic talent. Writing of him, Lope de Vega said: ‘I have
known this gentleman for eight-and-twenty years, and I hold him to be
possessed of the rarest and most excellent talent of any in Cordova, so
that he need not yield even to Seneca or Lucan, who were natives of the
same town.’
APPENDIX I
THE GREAT MOSQUE OF CORDOVA
It is not a little singular that the present Cathedral of Cordova is
better known to the inhabitants of the city as _La Mezquita_, or Mosque,
than by its Christian designation; which circumstance may be taken as a
proof of the great influence exerted over Spanish thought and feeling by
the Moorish occupation of the Peninsula.
The truth is that Spanish and Moorish interests had much in common, and
both nations had equal pride in the celebration of notable deeds
performed by Mussulman or Christian. The mingling of the two peoples
after the conquest of Granada gave, at least to the commonalty of both
nations, a spirit of charity which it had been better to foster than to
extinguish.
This gentle sentiment is well expressed in a lament by Amados de los
Rios, a great Spanish antiquary and Orientalist, who sings a mournful
requiem over the departed glories of the Mosque, once the model of Arab
architecture, and the pride of Islam:--