departure in fact--of an elaborate geometrical mosaic has been most
carefully traced and copied from the original, which yet remains in the
centre of the dado on the side of the window on the right of the
Sultan's throne in the Hall of the Ambassadors. It may thus be said to
occupy an especial post of honour and so to challenge, as it were,
curiosity and admiration. Both these a close inspection thoroughly
justifies, since in all the history of the manufacture of vitrified
substances I know nothing more curious and puzzling. The pattern is in
bluish-black on a white ground; and both ground and inlay are made
apparently in two separate pieces of glass, and in two only. The most
minute inspection shows no joint whatever on the surface of either
coloured material; at the same time it establishes the fact that the
ground has been made with the whole pattern sunk "en creux," and that
the inlay has been made in one piece--practically a specimen of glass
lace--and fixed into the cavity of the ground with a very fine
calcareous cement, made probably of lime and white of egg. To inlay
glass in glass involves little difficulty, if ground and inlay are as it
were fused together; but to produce a ground apparently in glass, and to
inlay it with so fine a pattern, both "au froid," is a perfect marvel in
vitreous manufacture.
The only way in which I can imagine that such an effect could be
produced is as follows, but in offering any such explanation I desire to
do so with all due deference to practical glass-workers. I believe that
two metal-moulds were made, one with the ornament in relief, and the
other with the same ornament sunk in intaglio. From each mould, glass
reproductions having been made of about equal substances (so as to
contract equally in cooling), and, with the exception of a black film in
one case, of the same glass, the two reproductions were stuck together
firmly by the calcareous cement. The black glass in "cameo" would then
be encased within the white glass in "intaglio;" and the pattern would
of course be invisible, the two reproductions being firmly stuck
together face to face, making apparently one white glass tessera of
double the requisite thickness. The back of the cameo side would then
have to be ground away, probably at a lapidary's wheel, until the back
of the black pattern in cameo should be reached. At the same moment the
face of the white intaglio would be exposed; and the tessera, being
reduced to its proper thickness for insertion with the rest of the
adjoining glass mosaic, would be fit to permanently combine with it;
showing an elaborate black pattern held in by calcareous cement, on a
white face, exactly as it now appears.
Any such resolution of a difficult technical problem exhibits the Moors
to us as excelling in two of their favourite Arts, viz., inlaying and
glass manufacture.
For much of their knowledge of both of these arts there is no doubt
that the Moors were indebted to the Arabians. The Arabians were in their
turn inheritors from the Byzantine Greeks of many of the traditions of
manufacturing excellence once practised by the Romans. Amongst these
were, no doubt, almost every process of glass-working and mosaic.[43]
Considerable doubts exist as to the inheritance by the Greek of the
lower empire of the process of inlaying from the Romans, and to their
originality in adapting the process to their architecture. The first
building in which it appears to have been freely used by the Greeks was
the Mosque of Santa Sofia, built by Justinian. For that building he is
known to have invoked the assistance of Persian designers and
artificers; and from the divergence in the patterns of those inlays from
any patterns usual in Roman contemporary work, I am inclined to believe
that they represent the foreign element to which I have alluded. A most
interesting comparison may be made, by the student, of the patterns from
the Aya Sofia given in Salzenburg's great work, with those of the
principal of the Cairene Mosques drawn by Mr. James Wild and given in
the "Grammar of Ornament."
[Illustration: PLATE 72
GRANADA
THE ALHAMBRA
HALL OF THE AMBASSADORS
MOSAIC FULL SIZE
MDW 1869]
PLATE LXXII.
_GRANADA.--THE ALHAMBRA._
MOSAIC FROM THE HALL OF THE AMBASSADORS.
IN the description of the last sketch I alluded to the sources whence
the Moors derived much of their knowledge of glass-making and
mosaic-working. In the specimen now given, the full size of the
original, on the opposite page, a considerable advance is shown upon
what was usual in the contemporary, "Opus Grecanicum," as executed,
either in Italy or in Greece itself. The advance is principally to be
seen in this particular, that whereas in the last mentioned work, every
complicated pattern is made up out of tesseræ, or glass strips cut into
squares, oblongs, triangles, or other simple figures; in the Moorish
work, arbitrary shapes of considerable geometrical complexity are given
to each separate piece of mosaic. When these tesseræ, so shaped, are
brought together, their combination immediately results in the formation
of perfect patterns, such as the one now illustrated. Tesseræ of this
description were no doubt formed by squeezing plastic clay into metal
moulds, and almost perfect identity was obtained between the tesseræ
obtained from the same mould. These, after firing, were then apparently
covered with coloured vitreous glazes by a subsequent operation.
In illustration of the advantages possessed by the Moors over the
Greeks, in working such mosaics as the one I have sketched, it may be
noted, that while a Greek would have required one hundred and nineteen
separate pieces to make up what is shown, the Moor wanted only
forty-nine. Moreover, instead of having to chip every one of the one
hundred and nineteen pieces to a definite size and shape, and then to
place them slowly so as to ensure the truth of his angles of forty-five
and twenty-two and a half degrees, as the Greek or Italian had, the Moor
had only to place one of his forty-nine pieces with precision; and,
provided he never took any of the eleven patterns, of which his repeats
are composed, out of their right turn, his mosaic would work itself with
scarcely any other attention on his part. Another source of anxiety was
saved to him; viz., constant heedfulness as to the working of the
interlacement of his lines--_i. e._, their running, as it were, under
and over one another. The result, in this particular, is far clearer and
more effective in the Moorish, than according to the Greco-Italian
method; since, while in the former there are no joints which do not help
to define an interlacement, according to the latter, the joints
occurring on the line of mitre of every angle become confused with the
joints which express interlacement. A comparison of the Sicilian, with
the Alhambrese, geometrical mosaics, would show in a moment the
superiority of the last mentioned method.
No people, except perhaps the Chinese, have ever equalled the Moors in
devising patterns of most complicated appearance, in which colours were,
as it were, counterchanged by combining tiles, or tesseræ, of similar
geometrical forms, but made in different tints or tones.
Beautiful examples are given in profusion in the works of Mr. Owen
Jones, M. Girault de Prangey, Herr Hessemer, M. Coste and many others.
[Illustration: PLATE 73
THE ALHAMBRA
LA SALA DE LAS DOS HERMANAS
MDW 1869]
PLATE LXXIII.
_GRANADA.--THE ALHAMBRA._
NICHE IN LA SALA DE LAS DOS HERMANAS.
THAT the Moors themselves were fully conscious that in creating the
Alhambra they were creating types of beauty for all generations, would
be clearly manifest from the inscriptions of the Hall of the two
Sisters, (from which our illustration is taken), even if every other of
the hundreds of inscriptions the building contains in other apartments
were destroyed.
"I am the garden, and every morning do I appear decked out in beauty.
Look attentively at my elegance, and thou wilt reap the benefit of a
commentary on decoration."
"Indeed, we never saw a palace more lofty than this in its exterior, or
more brilliantly decorated in its interior; or having more extensive
apartments--markets they are, where those provided with money are paid
in beauty, and where the judge of elegance is perpetually sitting to
pronounce sentence."
"Here is the wonderful cupola, at sight of whose beautiful proportions,
all other cupolas vanish and disappear."
Such inscriptions are not all of them of this hyperbolic stamp, since
some of them serve to record the names of illustrious founders, and to
explain the uses of various parts of the structure. To an inscription of
this kind we are indebted for an accurate knowledge of the uses of such
niches as the one represented in my sketch. Many travellers and writers
had supposed that their purpose had been to hold the slippers of the
visitors, but this theory was entirely dispelled, when M. Pasqual de
Gayangos read the inscription of the left niche of the Hall de las dos
Hermanas.
"Praise to God! With my ornaments and tiara[44] I surpass beauty itself,
nay the luminaries in the Zodiac out of envy descend to me.
"The water vase within me, they say, is like a devout man standing
towards the Kiblah of the Mihrab,[45] ready to begin his prayers."
The idea that these niches were used to hold water-bottles is further
strengthened, as Mr. Owen Jones has justly remarked, by the existence of
the mosaic linings amid the plaster work by which they were surrounded;
as well as by the white marble slabs which serve for their base or
floor. The wall and pier dados, which extend from these marble slabs to
the beautiful Azulejos floor, are all made in elegant mosaic. Above the
niche in the sketch appears the ingenious pendentive impost from which
spring the great arches carried by the piers, with the characteristic
ingrailed fringe work which was almost always retained even, as we see
at Seville, in the latest Renaissance Mudejar work.
[Illustration: PLATE 74
MDW 1869
GRANADA
THE ALHAMBRA SALA DEL TRIBUNAL
BORDER FULL SIZE]
PLATE LXXIV.
_GRANADA.--THE ALHAMBRA._
STUCCO DETAIL FROM THE SALA DEL TRIBUNAL.
THE correctness of this sketch, as to dimension at least, has been
ensured by the mode in which it was obtained, viz., by gently pressing a
piece of paper against the surface of the piece of ornament (so as to
obtain a slight impression of its outline,) then marking it faintly with
pencil, pressing it out again quite flat, and finishing it in ink on the
spot. It may be looked upon, therefore, as giving, as nearly as is
possible on a plane surface, an accurate transcript of the elegant
ornament from the Sala del Tribunal selected for illustration. My reason
for this selection was, chiefly because I desired to show the minute
scale and extreme delicacy of much of the decoration in relief with
which the walls of the principal apartments of the Alhambra are covered.
It was partly also because this particular specimen retained faint
tracing lines drawn, most likely with a silver or lead point, and a free
hand, upon the flat surfaces of certain parts of the ornament in relief.
These served as guide lines for the yet more delicate labour of the
painter, who carried the subdivision of parts, by means of the
application of contrasting colours and gilding, into yet more
microscopic superficial enrichment.
As this is the last illustration I have to offer of the Alhambra, it may
be well to direct the reader's attention briefly to the general system
upon which such Art as the Moors practised, and most dearly loved, was
based. Those who would know "all about it," must give themselves
diligently to a study of all Owen Jones' works; from the ponderous
"Alhambra," with its magnificent illustrations, to the little guide to
the "Alhambra Courts of the Crystal Palace," not forgetting to test his
theory by his practice in the beautiful reproductions of Moorish Art he
has created for their edification at Sydenham. In the pages of the
smaller volume they will find the system epitomised simply and
delightfully in nine propositions under the following heads.
First, to decorate construction, never to construct decoration.
Second, to let all lines grow out of each other in gradual
undulations--always so as to conduce to repose.
Third, to care first for general forms and then for harmonious
subdivisions and fillings.
Fourth, to balance straight, inclined, and curved forms so as to produce
harmony and repose by contrast.
Fifth, to let all lines flow out of a parent stem, traceable throughout
its course.
Sixth, either radially (as in nature with the human hand or in a
chestnut leaf.).
Seventh, or tangentially,--as stems from branches.
Eighth, to avoid the simpler curves and use only those of a higher
order.
Ninth, to treat all ornament conventionally, _i.e._, not in direct
imitation of Nature, but in a mode of imitation subordinated to the
architectural conditions of the surface or form to be ornamented.
[Illustration: PLATE 75
GRANADA
MDW 1869
CATHEDRAL FROM THE BACK OF THE HIGH ALTAR]
PLATE LXXV.
_GRANADA._
VIEW OF THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE BACK OF THE HIGH ALTAR
IT is always interesting to watch the first rays of light which
dissipate clouds of darkness or prejudice; and this, by the aid of the
annals of the early printing press, we are enabled to do (with
comparative certainty as to chronology) in the case of the dawn of the
revival of classical architecture in every country of Europe except
Italy. In that favoured land, the sacred fire of Roman tradition was
never quite extinguished, and in its great cities the renascent flame
was already lambent, and gaining strength, before Sweynheim and Pannarz
started their celebrated press at Subiaco.
The first edition of the ten books of Vitruvius printed by G. Herolt at
Rome, _circa_ 1486, was immediately followed by the edition of Florence,
under the editorship of Leon Baptista Alberti, bearing the imprint of
the previous year. At least two other editions were exhausted in Italy
before the close of the century, and succeeded by many more previous to
the middle, of the sixteenth century.
Alberti's own admirable writings on Architecture and the other Fine Arts
moved all Italy, giving a thoroughly practical direction to the lessons
somewhat obscurely inculated by Vitruvius; whose writings, without
Alberti's comments, would have been of little practical use in countries
in which ample remains of classical art were not at hand for reference
and study.
The first French edition of the text of Vitruvius is of 1523; the first
German is of 1543. The first French translation dates from 1547; the
first German from 1548, published at Nuremburg. It was "volgarizzato" in
Italy from 1521.
The Latin text was translated into Spanish by Miguel de Urrea and
printed after his death at Alcala de Heñares in 1587. Its publication
had however been long preceded in Spain by the digest of the views of
Vitruvius under the tide of "las Medidas del Romano o Vitruvio,"
published by Diego de Sagredo in 1526. Sagredo had no doubt been
stimulated to such studies, (as Alberti had previously been) by his
admiration of the vestiges of Roman architectural greatness, still
abounding on the soil of his native land.
What oral tradition could teach previous to the publication of these
texts in Spain, no doubt the architect of the Cathedral of Granada,
Diego de Siloe, had learnt from his father, Gil, the even more
celebrated Sculptor of Burgos; whose monuments to Don Juan II., his
Queen, Donna Isabel, and the Infante Don Alonso, and whose "Retablo" in
the Cartuja of Miraflores in the outskirts of that city, have never been
surpassed in tasteful elaboration.[46] From whatever source Diego de
Siloe may have obtained his knowledge, certain it is that he must share
with Alonso Covarrubbias, the honour of having been the earliest
revivers of classical architecture in Spain: not in its details only as
had been attempted by the early Plateresque architects, but in its
structural proportions and in its symmetrical arrangements of great
leading features. The following is the account of the construction of
this Cathedral given by Amirola.[47]
"It was begun," he says, "on the 15th of March, 1529, and consists of
three naves, the principal of which terminates in the choir after the
Gothic manner. It is four hundred and twenty-five feet (Spanish) long,
and two hundred and forty-nine wide. The order is Corinthian, but
defective in its true proportions, since the principal nave is only
forty-five feet wide, its height is one hundred and twenty." It would
profit us but little to follow Amirola through his straight-laced
criticisms on a design the beauty of which he was unable to apprehend;
and it may be well to take a larger and juster view of its merits. The
following which, I heartily endorse, is the verdict of a far better
judge.[48] "Looking at its plan only, this is certainly one of the
finest churches in Europe. It would be difficult to point out any other
in which the central aisle leads up to the dome, so well proportioned to
its dimensions, and to the dignity of the high altar which stands under
it, or one where the side aisles have a purpose and a meaning so
perfectly appropriate to the situation, and where the centre aisle has
also its functions as perfectly marked out and so well understood. All
this being so, it is puzzling to know how it has been so neglected."
My sketch has been taken from the "Ambulatory" at the back of, and
surrounding, the choir. Its dimensions, as will be at once apparent, are
enormous. The arches, which separate the choir from the ambulatory, and
through one of which in my sketch the high altar is seen, are of very
great interest. They form the earliest examples I have ever seen (out of
Italy) of artificial perspectives, "guocchi di prospettiva." The arches
next to the choir are narrower and lower than those next to the
ambulatory; the distance between the two, owing to the necessities of
supporting and distributing the weights of the vast cupola, being very
considerable. The two archways are connected by falling lines of impost
mouldings and converging lines of coffering. The consequence is that, as
appears in the sketch, the archways, which really occupy only about five
and twenty feet in depth, look at least double that dimension.
[Illustration: PLATE 76
GRANADA
THE REJA OF THE REYES CATOLICOS
MDW 1869]
PLATE LXXVI.
_GRANADA._
THE REJA OF THE REYES CATOLICOS.
I WAS tempted to sketch this magnificent screen for four reasons:--
Firstly, because it is, I believe, entirely of iron, which most of the
Spanish Rejas are not.
Secondly, because it is, I also believe, the earliest specimen of
anything like equal importance in Spain.
Thirdly, because of its historical interest in enclosing the tombs of
"the Catholic Sovereigns" on the spot before which the greatness of
their lives had been achieved.
Fourthly, because I considered it to be the best in design of all I saw.
It is by no means the richest, but it appeared to me to be arranged upon
the justest principles. Its chief merits, as compared with many others,
I considered to be as follows:--
Firstly, its _transparency_. One of the most important qualities any
such screen should possess, is that of due subordination to the great
architectural features of the locality in which it is placed. Where
ornament is spread all over the surface of a screen, or where the main
lines wander about in capricious directions, the eye is arrested by the
metal work as a plane surface; and if not actually stopped by it, is at
least led off in wayward directions, and fails to pass beyond it. In
this case, the rectangularity of the whole gives great repose; the plain
vertical bars almost disappear; while the splendidly ornamented portions
of the screen seem as if suspended in mid air, and in no wise injure the
effect of the architecture,[49] or diminish the apparent space of the
locality they decorate.
Secondly, its _stability_ without heaviness. The subdivision of the
whole surface into regular compartments allows of a concentration of
strength in the skeleton lines, and gives great constructional stiffness
without too much formality.
Thirdly, its _propriety of design_. Its author has simply, as it were,
asserted the principle of "serve God and honour the King;" instead of,
as is usual, "look at me, and see what a fine fellow I am." At the
summit of his design he has represented the Crucifixion; immediately
beneath, the leading incidents of Gospel history, making conspicuous (in
compliment no doubt to the triumph of the Church in the entry into
Granada of his sovereigns), Christ's entry into Jerusalem. As the
central object, not much less than twenty feet square, he has grouped in
masterly style the full heraldic insignia of those whose remains are
deposited in the chapel beyond. The lower portion of his design has
evidently been intended simply to give stability to the upper part, and
to close the access to the magnificent marble and alabaster monuments
of Ferdinand and Isabella, and of Philip of Burgundy and "Juana la
Loca," without interfering with the facilities for seeing them of those
who might gain access to the Antechapel, but be refused it to the
Mausoleum itself.
The name of the admirable artist, "el Maestre Bartholomé," who wrought
this Reja in the year 1522, is inscribed upon it, near to the keyhole of
the great central gates.
[Illustration: PLATE 77
GRANADA L'ARZOBISPADO
MDW 1869]
PLATE LXXVII.
_GRANADA._
VIEW OF THE ARZOBISPADO.
A CAREFUL contrast of this stately old mansion in which, if not the
hand, at least the influence of the architect, Henrique de Egas, (son of
Anequin de Egas de Bruselas, so greatly patronized by the celebrated
Cardinal Mendoza,) may be clearly traced, with the great Palace of
Charles V., ascribed to the artist Machuca, (both at Granada,) may
afford a useful lesson to the architectural student. In the earliest of
the two monuments--the Arzobispado--a window of which I now offer a
slight sketch, the florid Plateresque style, as exemplified by the
celebrated Hospedal de la Santa Cruz, at Toledo, (Sketches 44, 45, 46)
is at once recalled to the memory. In the latest, we find a marked
sympathy with the symmetrical style of the then fashionable Italian
architects. The Circular Cortile of Vignola's masterpiece at Caprarola,
is exceeded in dimension, and indeed in dignity of style, by the vast
round Patio of the Palace of Charles V., with which it is probably
nearly contemporary.
Such sober architecture, though enriched by the chisel of sculptors who,
like Berruguete, had been ardent admirers of Florentine and Roman
models, was the form of Plateresque which, intervening between the
first form of Renaissance, founded on French and Burgundian models, and
the austere Italian of Herrera, found special favour in the eyes of the
most judicious critics in Spain.