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[Illustration: _Frontispiece_
_REJA_ OF THE CHOIR
(_Seville Cathedral_)]
The World of Art Series
THE ARTS AND CRAFTS OF OLDER SPAIN
by
LEONARD WILLIAMS
Corresponding Member of the Royal Spanish Academy,
of the Royal Spanish Academy of History, and of the
Royal Spanish Academy of Fine Arts;
Author of "The Land of the Dons"; "Toledo and Madrid"; "Granada," etc.
In Three Volumes, Illustrated
VOLUME I
Chicago
A. C. McClurg & Co.
Edinburgh: T. N. Foulis
1908
American Edition
Published October 10, 1908
Dedicated
BY SPECIAL PERMISSION
TO
THEIR MAJESTIES
KING ALFONSO THE THIRTEENTH
AND
QUEEN VICTORIA OF SPAIN
PREFACE
In preparing these volumes, it has been my aim to give a clear and
fairly complete account of the arts and crafts of older Spain. It seems
to me that there is room for a work of this design and scope, and that
there is no reason why so attractive a subject--or rather, group of
subjects--should be perpetually ignored by persons who travel through,
or who profess to feel an interest in, the country of the Cid and of Don
Quixote.
My account of Spanish pottery is guarded, and yet I trust acceptable.
The study of this craft in Spain is far from definite, and fresh
researches and discoveries may be hoped for at some future time. The
history of Spanish arms has also suffered from unjust neglect. Perhaps
my sketch of them may slightly compensate for this deficiency. For the
rest, my book, which represents the well-meant assiduity of several
years, shall speak for itself. Although I was embarrassed by too much
material, the illustrations have been chosen with great care, and not, I
think, inadequately. Some of the photographs were taken specially for
this work. For the loan of others, or for kind assistance generally, I
am indebted to Excmo. Señor Don Guillermo J. de Osma, Excmo. Señor Don
José Villegas, and Excmo. Señor Don José Moreno Carbonero; to Señores
Góngora and Valladar, of Granada; and to Messrs Hauser and Menet, and
Mons. Lacoste, of Madrid.
_August_, 1907.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME ONE
PAGES
GOLD, SILVER, AND JEWEL WORK 1-119
IRON-WORK 120-159
BRONZES 160-191
ARMS 192-289
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
_VOLUME ONE_
GOLD AND SILVER
PLATE PAGE
_Reja_ of the Choir; Seville Cathedral _Frontispiece_
I. Treasure of Guarrazar; Royal Armoury, Madrid 22
II. The Cross of Angels; Oviedo Cathedral 36
III. The Cross of Victory; Oviedo Cathedral 43
IV. Moorish Casket; Gerona Cathedral 46
V. Altar-Front in enamelled Bronze; Museum of Burgos 50
VI. "The Crucifix of the Cid"; Salamanca Cathedral 52
VII. The "Virgen de la Vega"; San Esteban, Salamanca 54
VIII. Saint James in Pilgrim's Dress; Santiago Cathedral 57
IX. Mudejar Triptych; Royal Academy of History, Madrid 60
X. The "Tablas Alfonsinas"; Seville Cathedral 62
XI. "The Cup of Saint Ferdinand"; Seville Cathedral 64
XII. Ship; Zaragoza Cathedral 65
XIII. Moorish Bracelets 77
XIV. Morisco Jewellery 83
XV. Silver-Gilt Processional Cross 85
XVI. Gothic _Custodia_ 95
XVII. The _Custodia_ of Seville Cathedral 100
XVIII. Early Chalice and Cross in Filigree Gold 114
IRON-WORK
XIX. Old Keys; Seville Cathedral 131
XIXA. Decorative Nail-Heads; Convent of San Antonio, Toledo 134
XX. Door-Knockers 136
XXI. Ceremonial Maces and Lantern 138
XXII. Iron Pulpit; Avila Cathedral 140
XXIII. _Reja_ of Chapel Royal; Granada Cathedral 148
XXIV. The same (View from Interior) 149
XXV. _Reja_; Casa de Pilatos, Seville 155
XXVI. _Reja_ of the "Casa de las Conchas," Salamanca 156
BRONZES
XXVII. "Meleager's Hunt" 164
XXVIII. A _Candil_ 166
XXIX. A _Velón_ 168
XXX. Bronze Lion 171
XXXI. Bronze Stag; Museum of Cordova 173
XXXII. Bronze Temple; Museum of Granada 174
XXXIII. Moorish Lamp and Mortar; Museum of Granada 176
XXXIV. Lamp of Mohammed the Third; Madrid Museum 178
XXXV. Abbot Samson's Bell; Museum of Cordova 180
XXXVI. Bronze Crucifix 182
XXXVII. The Puerta del Perdón; Seville Cathedral 184
XXXVIII. The Weathercock of the Giralda Tower 186
ARMS
XXXIX. Crest of Jousting Helmet; Royal Armoury, Madrid 198
XL. Spanish Crossbowman; Royal Armoury, Madrid 202
XLI. The Battle of La Higueruela; El Escorial 206
XLII. Parade Harness of Philip the Third; Royal Armoury,
Madrid 210
XLIII. Moorish Crossbow and Stirrup; Museum of Granada 214
XLIV. Moorish Sword; Casa de los Tiros, Granada 218
XLV. Sword of Boabdil el Chico; Museum of Artillery, Madrid 222
XLVI. Dagger of Boabdil el Chico; Museum of Artillery, Madrid 226
XLVII. Moorish Sword 230
XLVIII. War Harness of Charles the Fifth; Royal Armoury, Madrid 234
XLIX. Jousting Harness of Charles the Fifth; Royal Armoury,
Madrid 238
L. Jousting Harness of Philip the Handsome; Royal Armoury,
Madrid 242
LI. Moorish Buckler; Royal Armoury, Madrid 246
LII. Armour made at Pamplona; Royal Armoury, Madrid 250
LIII. _Adarga_; Royal Armoury, Madrid 254
LIV. Spanish Swords; Royal Armoury, Madrid 258
LV. Spanish Sword; Royal Armoury, Madrid 262
LVI. Spanish Sword 266
LVII. Spanish Swords; Royal Armoury, Madrid 270
LVIII. Sword Marks 272
LIX. _Bridona_ Saddle; Royal Armoury, Madrid 274
LX. Hanging _Jaeces_ for Horses 278
LXI. Travelling Litter attributed to Charles the Fifth; Royal
Armoury, Madrid 282
GOLD, SILVER, AND JEWEL WORK
The hyperbolic language of the ancients spoke of Spain as filled
throughout, upon her surface and beneath her soil, with precious stones
and precious metals. Old writers--Strabo, Pliny, Aristoteles, Pomponius
Mela, and Diodorus Siculus--declare that once upon a time a mountain
fire, lighted by shepherds in the Pyrenees and fanned into a
conflagration by the wind, heated the earth until the ore within her
entrails came bubbling to the top and ran away in rivulets of molten
gold and silver, spreading all over Spain. The indigens of Lusitania as
they dug their fields were said to strike their implements on nuggets
half a pound in weight. The heart of the Peninsula, between the B[oe]tis
and the Annas rivers--that is, the country of the Oretani and the
Bastitani--was fabled to abound in mines of gold. The traders from
Ph[oe]nicia, we are told, discovered silver to be so abundant with the
Turdetani that "the vilest utensils of this people were composed
thereof, even to their barrels and their pots." Accordingly these shrewd
Ph[oe]nicians, offering worthless trinkets in exchange, loaded their
ships with silver to the water's edge, and even, when their cargo was
complete, fashioned their chains and anchors of the residue.
In spite of their extravagance, upon the whole these legends are not
utterly devoid of truth. "Tradition," said so careful an authority as
Symonds, "when not positively disproved should be allowed to have its
full value; and a sounder historic sense is exercised in adopting its
testimony with due caution, than in recklessly rejecting it and
substituting guesses which the lack of knowledge renders insubstantial."
So with the legends of the gold and silver treasure of the old-time
Spaniards. Besides, it seems unquestionable that those fanciful
assertions had their origin in fact. Spain stood upon the western border
of the ancient world. Year in, year out, the sanguine sun went seething
down into the waters at her western marge. Mariners from distant
countries viewed those sunsets and associated them with Spain herself.
Thus, hereabouts in the unclouded south, would gold and silver be
suggested by the solar orb; or emerald and jacinth, pearl and amethyst
and ruby, by the matchless colours of the seldom-failing sunset.
Then, too, though not of course in fabulous amount, the precious metals
actually existed in this land. Various of her rivers, such as the Calom
or Darro of Granada, the Tagus, the Agneda, and the Sil, rolled down,
together with their current, grains of gold. "Les Mores," wrote Bertaut
de Rouen of the first of these rivers, "en tiroient beaucoup autrefois;
mais cela a esté discontinué depuis à cause de la trop grande dépense
qu'il y faloit faire. Il est certain que souvent on prend dans le Darro
de petits morceaux d'or, et il y a des gens qui sont accoûtumez d'y en
chercher."
Centuries before this abbot wrote his book, the Arab author of the
geographical dictionary known as the _Marasid Ithila_ had made a similar
remark upon this gold-producing stream; and in the sixteenth century I
find an Ordinance of Granada city prohibiting the townspeople from
digging up the river-bed unless it were to look for gold.[1] Probably,
however, and in spite of what some chroniclers suppose, the title Darro
is not in any way connected with the Latin words _dat aurum_.
[1] _Ordenanza de la Limpieza_ (1537), Tit. 9: "We command that nobody
remove sand from the aforesaid river Darro unless to extract gold,
in which case he shall fill up the holes he made, or pay a fine of
fifty _maravedis_ for damaging the watercourses that enter this
city and the buildings of the Alhambra."
"Two leagues from Guadarrama," wrote the mineralogist William Bowles,
about the middle of the eighteenth century, "opposite the town and in
the direction of San Ildefonso, is a deep valley where one notices a
vein of common quartz containing some iron. Here, without the use of
glasses, I perceived a good many grains of gold.... In Galicia grains of
gold are found on sandy hills, and one is astonished to observe the
wonderful works carried out by the Romans to bring the sands together,
wash them, and extract the precious metal. Local tradition affirms that
this precious sand was destined for the purses of three Roman
empresses--Livia, Agrippina, and Faustina.... I know a German minister
who employed his spare time in washing these sands and collecting the
gold."
The Romans, it is true, profited very greatly by the native wealth of
the Peninsula. Helvius enriched the treasury with 14,732 pounds of
Spanish silver bars and 17,023 pounds of silver money; Cornelius
Lentulus, with 1515 pounds of gold, 20,000 pounds of bar-silver, and
34,550 pounds in coin. Cato came back from his pro-consulship with
five-and-twenty thousand pounds of silver bars, twelve thousand pounds
of silver money, and four hundred pounds of gold. Seventy thousand
pounds of coined silver fell to the share of Flaccus, while Minutius
exhibited at his triumph eight thousand pounds of silver bars, and three
hundred thousand pounds of silver coin.
Mines of silver,[2] gold, and precious stones were also fairly numerous
in Spain. Moorish authors wrote enthusiastically of the mines of
precious metals in or close to the Sierra Nevada. "Even at this day,"
said Bowles, "the Moorish mines may be distinguished from the Roman. The
Romans made the towers of their fortresses of a round shape, in order to
avoid as far as possible the blows of the battering-ram; and their
miners, whether from habit or intentionally, made the mouths of their
mines round also. The Moors, as strangers to this engine, built their
towers square and gave a square shape also to the mouths of their
mines. The round mouths of Roman mines are yet to be seen at Riotinto
and other places, and the square mouths of Moorish mines in the
neighbourhood of Linares."
[2] "I am not aware of any Spanish mine containing silver in a state of
absolute purity; though some, I think, would be discovered if they
were searched for."--Bowles: _Historia Natural de España_.
Emeralds were formerly extracted from a mine at Moron, in the Sierra de
Leyta; white sapphires and agates at Cape de Gata,[3] at the eastern
extremity of the Gulf of Almeria; amethysts at Monte de las Guardas,
near the port of Plata, "in a precipice (_sic_) about twenty feet in
depth." According to Laborde, garnets have been discovered down to
modern times "in a plain half-way on the road from Almeria to Motril.
They are very abundant there, particularly in the bed of a ravine,
formed by rain-torrents, at the foot of a little hill, upon which a
great number of them are likewise found. The emeralds are in the kingdom
of Seville, all the others in that of Granada. It has been said for some
time that a pit in the mountain of Bujo, at Cape de Gata, contains a
great many precious stones; but none could be found there,
notwithstanding the prolonged and careful searches that were lately
made."
[3] Possibly, as Bowles suggests, for Cabo de Agata--"Agate Cape." "It
would not be strange," he adds, "if diamonds were found at this
cape, since there are signs of their presence. I found white
sapphires, slightly clouded, together with cornelians, jaspers,
agates, and garnets."
Silver mines exist, or have existed, at Benasque, Calzena, and Bielza,
in Aragon; at Cuevas, near Almeria; at Almodovar del Campo; at Zalamea,
in Extremadura; at Puerto Blanco, in Seville province; in the Sierra de
Guadalupe; at Fuente de la Mina, near Constantina; and near Almazarron,
in the province of Carthagena. Not far from this latter city was another
mine, that sent to Rome a daily yield of five-and-twenty thousand
drachmas, and was worked by forty thousand men. Twenty thousand pounds
in weight of pure silver proceeded yearly from Asturias, Lusitania, and
Galicia. Hannibal extracted from a Pyrenean mine three hundred pounds a
day. The fair Himilca, wife of Hasdrubal, was owner of a silver mine at
two leagues' distance from Linares. Laborde wrote of this mine: "It was
reopened in the seventeenth century, when a vein five feet in breadth
was found, from which many pieces of silver were taken; the working of
it, however, has been neglected. It belongs to the town of Baeza."
The same author, who wrote about one hundred years ago, gives curious
and instructive notices of several other Spanish silver mines. "The
mountains of the kingdom of Seville, on the confines of Extremadura,
towards Guadalcanal, Alanis, Puerto Blanco, and Cazalla, which form a
part of the extremity of the chain of Sierra Morena, contain several
silver mines, which have been worked. There is one of these in the
Sierra Morena, three miles from Guadalcanal, which to all appearance
must have been very rich: there were three shafts for descending, the
mouths of which are still to be seen: it was worked in the seventeenth
century, and given up in 1653. It is believed that it was inundated by
the workmen, in revenge for a new tax that was laid upon them. Another
silver mine was also worked formerly, a league and a half from the
other; it has a shaft, and a gallery of ancient construction; the vein
is six feet in circumference, and is composed of spar and quartz. There
is also a third mine, a league and a half from Guadalcanal, and half a
league south-east of the village of Alanis, in the middle of a field; it
is two feet wide; the Romans constructed a gallery in it, from south to
north; a branch of it running eastward has been worked since their time:
it originally contained pyrites and quartz, but it is by no means rich;
there is lead at the bottom."
Gold mines, or traces of them, have been found in the neighbourhood of
Molina in Aragon, San Ildefonso in Old Castile, and Alocer in
Extremadura; in the Sierra de Leyta; in the valley of Hecho in Aragon;
and at Paradeseca and Ponferrada--this latter town the _Interamnium
Flavium_ of the Romans.
It is said that the chieftains of the ancient Spaniards adorned their
robes with rude embroidery worked in gold, and that the men and women of
all ranks wore gold and silver bracelets. These statements cannot now be
either proved or controverted. Gold or silver objects older than the
Roman domination have not been found abundantly in Spain. Riaño
describes a silver bowl, conical in shape and evidently fashioned on the
wheel, engraved with Iberian characters on one of its sides. A similar
bowl was found in Andalusia in the seventeenth century, full of Iberian
coins and weighing ten ounces. Gold ornaments, such as earrings, and
_torques_ or collars for the neck, have been discovered in Galicia less
infrequently than in the other Spanish regions, and may be seen to-day
in private collections, in the Royal Academy of History at Madrid, and
in the National Museum of Archæology.[4] Villa-amil y Castro has written
fully of these _torques_ (Museo Español de Antigüedades, _Adornos de oro
encontrados en Galicia_). In nearly every case, he says, they consist of
a plain gold bar, C-shaped and therefore not completely closed into a
ring, and with a knob at each extremity, as though their pattern were
suggested by the yoke of cattle. One or two are decorated with a
somewhat rude design extending through a portion of their length.
[4] A fresh find of _torques_ and _fibulæ_ has occurred in the spring
of this year at La Moureta, near Ferrol.
On one of these occasions a pair of curious, kidney-shaped earrings was
found, together with a _torque_. These earrings, apparently of later
workmanship than the other ornament, are decorated over all their
surface, partly with a filigree design, and partly with a fine, beadlike
pattern executed with a small chisel or graving tool in the manner known
in French as _fusé_, _guilloché_, or _hachié_. Their material is hollow
gold, and when discovered they were filled with a substance resembling
powdered charcoal, mixed with a metallic clay.
These ornaments are ascribed by most authorities to an undetermined
period somewhere previous to the Roman domination. I think, however,
that less improbably they were produced by Spanish craftsmen in
imitation of the Roman manner, and during the time of Roman rule in the
Peninsula. This would account for their deficiencies of execution, and
also for certain characteristics which they evidently share with Roman
work.
We know that Rome imposed her usages on all the peoples whom she
subjugated. Consequently, following this universal law, the Spaniards
would adopt, together with the lavish luxury of Rome, the Roman
ornaments and articles of jewellery. Such were the _annulus_ or
finger-ring; the _fibula_, a brooch or clasp for securing the cloak; the
_torques_ or neck-ring, more or less resembling those in use among the
Persians; and the _phalera_, a round plate of gold, silver, or other
metal, engraved with any one of a variety of emblems, worn upon the
breast or stomach by the persons of either sex, and very commonly
bestowed upon the Roman soldiers in reward of military service. Then
there were several kinds of earrings--the variously-designed
_stalagmium_ or pendant, the _inaures_, or the _crotalium_, hung with
pearls that brushed together as their wearer walked, and gratified her
vanity by their rustling; and also several kinds of bracelets--the gold
or bronze _armilla_, principally worn by men; the _periscelis_, the
_spathalium_, and the _dextrale_, worn round the fleshy part of the
right arm.[5]
[5] These ornaments were retained in use by the Visigoths, and find
their due description in the _Etymologies_ of Saint Isidore;
_e.g._:--
"_Inaures_ ab aurium foraminibus nuncupatae, quibus pretiosa genera
lapidum dependuntur."
"_Tourques_ sunt circuli aurei a collo ad pectus usque dependentes.
Torques autem et bullae a viris geruntur; a foeminis vero monilia et
catellae."
"_Fibulæ_ sunt quibus pectus foeminarum ornatur, vel pallium tenetur:
viris in humeris, seu cingulum in lumbris."
Discoveries of Roman jewellery and gold and silver work have occurred
from time to time in the Peninsula; for example, at Espinosa de Henares
and (in 1840) near Atarfe, on the southern side of the volcanic-looking
Sierra Elvira, a few miles from Granada. Riaño describes a Roman silver
dish found in a stone quarry at Otañez, in the north of Spain. "It
weighs thirty-three ounces, and is covered with an ornamentation of
figures in relief, some of which are gilt, representing an allegorical
subject of the source of medicinal waters. In the upper part is a nymph
who pours water from an urn over rocks; a youth collects it in a
vessel; another gives a cup of it to a sick man; another fills with it a
barrel which is placed in a four-wheeled car to which are yoked two
mules. On each side of the fountain are altars on which sacrifices and
libations are offered. Round it is the inscription: SALVS VMERITANA, and
at the back are engraved, in confused characters, the words: L. P.
CORNELIANI. PIII...."
The same author is of opinion that in the time of the Romans "objects of
all kinds in gold and silver were used in Spain to a very great extent,
for, notwithstanding the destruction of ages, we still possess
inscriptions which allude to silver statues, and a large number of
objects in the precious metals exist in museums and private
collections." Doubtless, in the case of articles and household utensils
of smaller size--bowls, dishes, and the like, or ornaments for the
person--the precious metals were made use of freely; but when we hear of
mighty objects as also made of silver, _e.g._ principal portions of a
building, we might do well to bear in mind a couple of old columns that
were standing once not far from Cadiz, on a spot where in the days
preceding history a temple sacred to the Spanish Hercules is rumoured
to have been. Philostratus affirmed these columns to be wrought of solid
gold and silver, mixed together yet in themselves without alloy. Strabo
reduced them modestly to brass; but it was reserved for a curious
Frenchman, the Père Labat, who travelled in Spain in 1705, to warn us
what they really were. "Elles sont sur cette langue de terre, qui joint
l'Isle de Léon à celle de Cadix; car il faut se souvenir que c'est ainsi
qu'on appelle la partie Orientale, et la partie Occidentale de la même
Isle. Il y a environ une lieue de la porte de Terre à ces vénérables
restes de l'antiquité. Nous nous en approchames, croyant justifier les
contes que les Espagnols en débitent. Mais nous fûmes étrangement
surpris de ne pas rencontrer la moindre chose qui pût nous faire
seulement soupçonner qu'elles fussent d'une antiquité un peu
considérable. Nous vimes que ces deux tours rondes, qui n'ont à présent
qu'environ vingt pieds de hauteur sur douze à quinze pieds de diamètre,
étoient d'une maçonnerie fort commune. Leurs portes étoient bouchées, et
nous convinmes tous qu'elles avoient été dans leur jeune tems des
moulins à vent qu'on avoit abandonnés; il n'y a ni inscriptions, ni
bas-reliefs, ni reste de figures quelconques. En un mot, rien qui
méritât notre attention, ni qui recompensât la moindre partie de la
peine que nous avions prise pour les aller voir de près. Car je les
avois vue plus d'une fois du grand chemin, où j'avois passé, et je
devois me contenter. Mais que ne fait-on pas quand on est curieux, et
aussi des[oe]uvré que je l'étois alors."
Many of the usages of Roman Spain descended to the Visigoths. The jewels
of this people manifest the double influence of Rome and of Byzantium,
and the latter influenced in its turn from Eastern sources. We learn
from that extraordinary encyclopædia of early mediæval Spanish lore--the
_Etymologies_ of Isidore of Beja--that the Visigothic women decked
themselves with earrings, necklaces, and bracelets, set with precious
stones of fabulous price. Leovigild is stated by the same writer to have
been the first of the Visigothic princes to use the insignia of royalty.
One of his coins (engraved in Florez) represents him with an imperial
crown surmounted by a cross resembling that of the Byzantines. Coins of
a similar design, and also bearing the imperial crown, were minted at
Toledo, Cordova, or Merida, in the reigns of Chindaswint, Wamba,
Ervigius, and Egica.
But the true fountain-head of all our modern knowledge respecting the
jewellery of Visigothic Spain is in the wonderful crosses, crowns, and
other ornaments discovered in 1858 upon the site of some old Christian
temple, two leagues distant from Toledo. These objects, known
collectively as "the treasure of Guarrazar," were stumbled on by certain
peasants after a heavy storm had washed away a quantity of earth. Some
were destroyed upon the spot; others were sold to the Toledo
silversmiths and melted down by these barbarians of our day; but
fortunately the greater part remained intact, or very nearly so. There
were in all, composed exclusively of gold and precious stones, eleven
crowns, two crosses containing legible inscriptions, fragments such as
the arms of a processional cross, and many single stones which time had
doubtless separated from the crosses or the crowns.[6]
[6] There is also in the Archæological Museum at Madrid a small
collection of what has been described as Visigothic jewellery,
consisting of a handsome _phalera_, necklaces, finger-rings, and
earrings. Most of these objects were found at Elche in 1776. The
_Museo Español de Antigüedades_ published a full description by
Florencio Janer. Their interest is by no means as great as that of
the treasure of Guarrazar, nor is the date of their production
definitely ascertained. From various details I suspect that many
of them may be purely Roman.
Part of this treasure passed in some mysterious way to France, and is
now in the Cluny Museum at Paris. The rest is in the Royal Armoury at
Madrid. Paris can boast possession of nine of the crowns; Madrid, of
two, together with a fragment of a third--this latter of a balustrade or
basket pattern. Five of the nine crowns preserved at Paris are fashioned
of simple hoops of gold. The most important of the five, the crown of
Recceswinth, who ruled in Spain from 650 to 672 A.D., consists of two
hinged semicircles of hollow gold, about a finger's-breadth across the
interspace. It measures just over eight inches in diameter and four
inches in depth. Both the upper and the lower rims are decorated to the
depth of nearly half an inch with a design of four-pointed floral or
semi-floral figures within minute circles. Amador de los Ríos has
recognized this same design in the frieze of certain buildings at
Toledo, and in the edges of mosaic discovered at Italica and Lugo, as
well as in the Balearic Islands. The interstices of this design upon the
crown are filled with a kind of red enamel or glaze, the true nature of
which has not been definitely ascertained. Riaño calls it "a delicate
ornamentation of _cloisonné_ work, which encloses a substance resembling
red glass." The centre of the crown is filled with three rows of large
stones, principally pearls and sapphires. There are also several onyxes,
a stone which in those days was held in great esteem. The spaces between
the rows of stones are ornamented with a somewhat rudimentary design of
palm branches, the leaves of which appear to have been filled or
outlined with the kind of red enamel I have spoken of.
This crown is suspended by four gold chains containing each of them five
leaf-shaped links, _percées à jour_. The chains unite at a gold rosette
in the form of a double lily, terminated by a stoutish capital of
rock-crystal. This in its turn is capped by another piece of crystal
holding the final stem of gold which served as a hook for hanging up the
crown. Suspended from the gold rosette by a long chain is a handsome
cross, undoubtedly of more elaborate workmanship, studded with union
pearls and monster sapphires. Amador believed this ornament to be a
brooch. If this were so it is, of course, improperly appended here.
Twenty-four gold chains hang from the lower border of the crown,
concluding in pyriform sapphires of large size. Each sapphire is
surmounted by a small, square frame of gold containing coloured glass,
and above this, in each of three-and-twenty of the chains, is one of
the golden letters forming the inscription, [cross] RECCESVINTHVS REX
OFFERET.
Besides this crown there are at Paris--
(1) A similar though slighter crown, the body of which is studded with
fifty-four magnificent stones. A cross, now kept apart in the same
collection, is thought by Spanish experts to have once been pendent from
the crown. If so, the latter was perhaps presented to the sanctuary by
one Sonnica, probably a Visigothic magnate, and not a woman, as the
termination of the name induced some foreign antiquaries to suppose. The
cross is thus inscribed:--
_
IN DI
NOM
INE
OFFERET ___ SONNICA
SCE
MA
RIE
INS
ORBA
CES[7]
[7] The last word is commonly believed to be the name of a
place--_Sorbaces_. There has been much discussion as to its
meaning.
(2) Three crowns of plain design consisting of hoops of gold with
primitive _repoussé_ decoration, and, in the case of one, with precious
stones.
(3) Four crowns, each with a pendent cross. The pattern is a basket-work
or set of balustrades of thin gold hollow plates (not, as Riaño stated,
massive) with precious stones about the intersections of the bars or
meshes, and others hanging from the lower rim. Three of these crowns
have three rows or tiers of what I call the balustrade; the other crown
has four.
The custom of offering votive crowns to Christian temples was taken by
the emperors of Constantinople from heathen peoples of the eastern
world. In Spain this custom, introduced by Recared, outlived by many
years the ruin of the Visigothic monarchy--survived, in fact, until the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Thus in 891 Alfonso the Third
presented to the monastery of San Adrian and Santa Natalia four crowns
of gold and three of silver, while just a hundred years afterwards
Ordoño the Second presented three silver crowns to the monastery of
Samos. Other crowns were offered by the prelates and the secular
nobility.
Returning to the crowns of Guarrazar, there has been great controversy
as to whether these were worn upon the head. Some experts think they
must have been so worn; and in this case the rings upon the rim, through
which the chains are passed, would seem to have been added on the
presentation of these objects to the sanctuary. Lasteyrie, on the other
hand, considered that the crowns were merely votive and were never meant
for personal use, arguing that the rings were fixed about the border
from the very moment when the crowns were made;[8] but Amador
ingeniously replied to this by pointing out that in a few of the old
Castilian coins--for instance, one of Sancho the Third--the crown, with
rings about its rim, is actually upon the monarch's head. It is
possible, adds the same authority, that these were old votive crowns
proceeding from some church, although he thinks it still more likely
that they were fashioned with the rings attached to them. We should
remember, too, the hinge which serves to open and close the body of
these crowns. It is difficult to guess the purpose of this hinge, unless
it were to fit the crown more comfortably on the head.
[8] _Description du trésor de Guarrazar_.
Of that portion of the treasure of Guarrazar which has remained at
Madrid (Plate i.), the most important object is the votive crown of King
Swinthila, son of Recared, and described as "one of the most illustrious
and unlucky princes that ever occupied the throne of Atawulf." This
crown measures nine inches in diameter by two and a half in height. It
consists of thin gold plates united at the edge, leaving, between the
inner and the outer side, a hollow space about a quarter of an inch
across. The exterior is divided into a central horizontal hoop or band
between two others, somewhat narrower, at the top and bottom, these last
being slightly raised above the level of the third. A triple row of
precious stones, amounting to one hundred and twenty-five pearls and
sapphires in the entire crown, surrounds the outer surface of the same,
the central band or zone of which contains besides, wrought in
_repoussé_ on the hoop, a simple circular device wherein each centre is
a sapphire or a pearl, though many of these have fallen from their
setting. The spaces which describe these circles are superposed on what
looks like a red enamel retaining at this moment all or nearly all its
pristine brightness of twelve hundred years ago. This substance was
believed by French investigators to be a coloured glass or paste,[9]
but Amador, after protracted chemical experiments, declared it to be
layers of cornelian. Some of these layers have fallen from their grip,
and if the crown be stirred are heard to move within. It is worth
remarking, too, that the fillets which form the setting of the precious
stones were made apart and welded afterwards; nor are these settings
uniform in shape, but tally in each instance with the outline of the
gem.
[9] "_Ce que je puis affirmer, après l'examen le plus minutieux, c'est
que la matière qui fait le fond de cette riche ornementation est
réellement du verre._"--Lasteyrie, supported by Sommerard.
[Illustration: I
TREASURE OF GUARRAZAR
(_Royal Armoury, Madrid_)]
The chains which served for hanging up the crown are four in number. As
in the crown of Recceswinth, each of them is composed of four _repoussé_
cinquefoil links adorned along their edge with small gold beads minutely
threaded on a wire and fastened on by fusing. The chains converge into
an ornament shaped like two lilies pointing stem to stem, so that the
lower is inverted, although they are divided by a piece of faceted rock
crystal.[10] Four gems are hung from either lily, and issuing from the
uppermost of these a strong gold hook attaches to the final length of
chain.
[10] "In Spain," said Bowles (_Hist. Nat. de Esp._, p. 498), "are found
two species of rock crystal. The one, occurring in clusters, are
transparent, six-sided, and always have their source in rocks.
There are great quantities all over the kingdom, and at Madrid
they are found near the hills of San Isidro. The other species are
found singly, and are rounded like a pebble. I have seen them from
the size of a filbert to that of my fist. Some were covered with a
thin, opaque integument.... The river Henares abounds with these
crystals, and as it passes San Fernando, at two leagues' distance
from Madrid, sweeps some of them along which are the size of the
largest ones at Strasburg, though very few are perfect."
Possibly the chain and cross now hanging through the circuit of the
crown were not originally part of it. This cross is most remarkable. It
has four arms of equal length, gracefully curved, and is wrought of
plates of gold in duplicate, fastened back to back by straps of gold
along the edges. The centre holds a piece of crystal in the midst of
pearls and gold bead work threaded on a wire of the same metal and
attached by fusion. Several fairly large stones are hung from the
lateral and lower arms of the cross by small gold chains.
The letters hanging from Swinthila's crown are cut and punched from thin
gold plates. Their decoration is a zigzag ornament backed by the same
mysterious crimson substance as the circular devices on the hoop.
Hanging from the letters are pearls, sapphires, and several imitation
stones--particularly imitation emeralds--in paste.
The cross before the letters points to a custom of that period. We find
it also on Swinthila's coins, and those of other Visigothic kings. Of
the letters themselves twelve have been recovered, thus:--
[cross] SV TI NV REX OFF T
The chains, however, or fragments of them, amount to
twenty-three--precisely (if we count the cross) the number needed to
complete the dedication.[11]
[11] A veritable cryptogram awaited the decipherers of these legends.
When King Swinthila's crown was brought to light, four of the
letters only were in place, thus:--
[cross] ...... I ... V . R .... F ....
Eight of the others were recovered shortly after; two more, an E
and L, appeared at a later date, and eight continued to be missing.
The inscription dangling from the crown of Recceswinth arrived at
Paris in this eloquent form:--
[cross] RRCCEEFEVINSTVSETORHFEX
The Royal Armoury contains another crown, a great deal smaller and less
ornamented than Swinthila's. The body of this crown, which was presented
by the finder to the late Queen Isabella the Second, is just a hoop of
gold, two inches deep and five across, hinged like the more elaborate
and larger crowns, but merely decorated with a fine gold spiral at the
rims, a zigzag pattern in _repoussé_, and a rudely executed scale-work.
The dedication on this cross is in the centre of the hoop, and says--
__
[cross] OFFERET MVNVSCVLVM SCO STEFANO
_
THEODOSIVS ABBA
We do not know who Theodosius was, but Amador, judging from the simple
decoration of this crown, believes him to have been a priest of lower
rank, and by no means a dignitary of the Visigothic church.
A votive cross also forms part of this collection, which has a simple
sunk device along the edges and seven pendent stones, two of these
hanging from each of the lateral arms, and three, a little larger, from
the lower arm. The inscription, which is rough in the extreme, appears
to be the work of some illiterate craftsman, and has been interpreted
with difficulty:--
__
IN NOMINE DEI: IN NOMINE SCI OFFERET
LUCETIUS E
This reading gives an extra letter at the end, which may be construed as
_Episcopus_--or anything else, according to the student's fancy.
I may close my notice of this collection in the Royal Armoury at Madrid
by drawing attention to a greenish, semi-opaque stone, three-quarters of
an inch in height. It is engraved _en creux_ upon two facets with the
scene of the Annunciation. The gem itself is commonly taken for an
emerald, of which, referring to the glyptic art among the Visigoths, the
learned Isidore remarked that "_Sculpentibus quoque gemmas nulla gratior
oculorum refectio est._" I shall insert a sketch of the cutting on this
stone as a tailpiece to the chapter, and here append a full description.
"The Virgin listens standing to the Archangel Gabriel, who communicates
to her the will of the Almighty. Before her is a jar, from which
projects the stem of a lily, emblematic of the chaste and pure, that
reaches to her breast. Her figure is completely out of measurement. Upon
her head appears to be a _nimbus_ or _amiculum_; her breast is covered
with a broad and folded _fascia_, enveloping her arms, while her tunic,
reaching to the ground, conceals one of her feet. The angel in the
cutting on the stone is at the Virgin's right. His attitude is that of
one who is conveying tidings. Large wings folded upon his shoulders and
extending nearly to the ground are fitted to his form, better drawn and
livelier than the Virgin's. He executes his holy mission with his right
hand lifted. His dress is a tunic in small folds, over which is a cloak
fastened by a brooch and fitting closely. Upon his head he wears a kind
of helmet."[12]
[12] Amador de los Ríos, _El Arte latino-bizantino en España y las
Coronas Visigodas de Guarrazar_, p. 121.
The drawing of this design upon the stone is most bizarre and barbarous;
for the Virgin's head is so completely disproportioned that it forms the
one-third part of her entire person.
The merit of all this Visigothic gem or gold and silver work has been
extolled too highly by the French and Spanish archæologists.[13] It is,
however, greatly interesting. Rudely and ponderously magnificent, it
tells us of a people who as yet were almost wholly strangers to the true
artistic sense. Such were the Visigoths and the Spaniards of the
Visigothic era, of all of whom I have observed elsewhere that "serfdom
was the distinguishing mark of the commons; arrogance, of the nobility;
avarice, and ambition of temporal and political power, of the clergy;
regicide and tumult, of the crown."[14] These crowns of Guarrazar
proclaim to us in plainest language that the volume of the stones, and
showiness and glitter of the precious metal were accorded preference of
every other factor--the _pondus auri_ preference of the _manus
artificis_. We gather, too, from documents and chronicles and popular
tradition, that the Visigothic princes, as they set apart their stores
of treasure in secluded caves or in the strong rooms of their palaces,
were ever captivated and corrupted by the mere intrinsic worth in
opposition to the nobler and æsthetic value of the craftsmanship.
[13] _E.g._ Sommerard: "_Une collection sans égale de joyaux les plus
précieux qui, par la splendeur de la matière, le mérite de
l'exécution, et plus encore, peut être, par leur origine
incontestable et par leur étonnante conservation, surpassent tout
ce qui possédent d'analogue les collections publiques de l'Europe
et les trésors les plus renommés de l'Italie_."
[14] _Toledo and Madrid_; p. 16.
Thus we are told that Sisenand owned a plate of gold (no word is said of
its design or style) five hundred pounds in weight, proceeding from the
royal treasure of his race, and which, long years before, had been
presented by the nobleman Accio to King Turismund. When Sisenand was
conspiring to dethrone Swinthila, he called on Dagobert the king of
France to come to his support, and promised him, as recompense, this
golden plate. The French king lent his help forthwith, and then, as
soon as Turismund was seated on the throne of Spain, despatched an
embassy to bring the coveted vessel to his court. Sisenand fulfilled his
word and placed the envoys in possession of the plate, but since his
subjects, rising in rebellion, wrenched it from their power and kept it
under custody, he compensated Dagobert by a money payment of two hundred
thousand _sueldos_.[15]
[15] _Ajbar Machmua_. Lafuente y Alcántara's edition; p. 27, note.
Innumerable narratives and legends dwell upon the treasure taken by the
Moors on entering Spain. Such as relate the battle of the Guadalete, or
the Lake of Janda (as it is also called by some authorities), agree that
when the fatal day was at an end the riderless steed of Roderick was
found imbedded in the mire, wearing a saddle of massive gold adorned
with emeralds and rubies. According to Al-Makkari, that luckless
monarch's boots were also made of gold studded with precious stones,
while the Muslim victors, stripping the Visigothic dead, identified the
nobles by the golden rings upon their fingers, those of a less exalted
rank by their silver rings, and the slaves by their rings of copper. The
widow of the fallen king was also famous for her stores of jewellery.
Her name was Eila or Egilona (Umm-Asim of the Moors), but she was known
besides as "the lady of the beautiful necklaces." After being made a
prisoner she was given in marriage to the young prince Abd-al-Azis, who
grew to love her very greatly, and received from her, "seeing that she
still retained sufficient of her royal wealth," the present of a crown.
Muza, on returning to the East, is said to have drawn near to Damascus
with a train of thirty waggons full of Spanish silver, gold, and
precious stones. Tarik ben Ziyed, marching in triumph through the land,
secured at Cordova, Amaya, and other towns and capitals, enormous store
of "pearls, arms, dishes, silver, gold, and other jewels in
unprecedented number." One object, in particular, is mentioned with
insistency by nearly all the chronicles, both Mussulman and Christian.
Quoting from the _Pearl of Marvels_ of Ibn Alwardi, this was "the table
which had belonged to God's prophet, Solomon (health be to both of
them). It was of green emeralds, and nothing fairer had been ever seen
before. Its cups were golden and its plates of precious jewels, one of
them specked with black and white." All manner of strange things are
said about this table, though most accounts describe it as consisting of
a _single_ emerald. Perhaps it was of malachite, or of the bright green
serpentine stone extracted formerly as well as nowadays from the
Barranco de San Juan at Granada, and several other spots in Spain. Bayan
Almoghreb says it was of gold mixed with a little silver and surrounded
by three gold rings or collars; the first containing pearls, the second
rubies, and the third emeralds. Al-Makkari describes it as "green, with
its 365 feet and borders of a single emerald." Nor is it known for
certain where this "table" fell into the hands of Tarik. Probably he
found it in the principal Christian temple at Toledo--that is to say,
the Basilica of Santa María. Ibn Alwardi says that in the _aula regia_,
or palace of the Visigothic kings, the lancers of the Moorish general
broke down a certain door, discovering "a matchless quantity of gold and
silver plate," together with the "table." Doubtless this strong room was
the same referred to in the following lines. "It was for ever closed;
and each time that a Christian king began to reign he added to its door
a new and powerful fastening. In this way as many as four and twenty
padlocks were gathered on the door."
However, the most explicit and informative of all these ancient authors
is Ibn Hayyan, who says; "The table had its origin in the days of
Christian rulers. It was the custom in those times that when a rich man
died he should bequeath a legacy to the churches. Proceeding from the
value of these gifts were fashioned tables, thrones, and other articles
of gold and silver, whereon the clergy bore the volumes of their gospel
when they showed them at their ceremonies. These objects they would also
set upon their altars to invest them with a further splendour by the
ornament thereof. For this cause was the table at Toledo, and the
[Visigothic] monarchs vied with one another in enriching it, each of
them adding somewhat to the offerings of his predecessor, till it
surpassed all other jewels of its kind and grew to be renowned
exceedingly. It was of fine gold studded with emeralds, pearls, and
rubies, in such wise that nothing similar had ever been beheld. So did
the kings endeavour to increase its richness, seeing that this city was
their capital, nor did they wish another to contain more splendid
ornaments or furniture. Thus was the table resting on an altar of the
church, and here the Muslims came upon it, and the fame of its
magnificence spread far abroad."
Another chronicle affirms that Tarik found the "table" at a city called
Almeida, now perhaps Olmedo. "He reached Toledo, and leaving a
detachment there, advanced to Guadalajara and the [Guadarrama]
mountains. These he crossed by the pass which took his name, and
reached, upon the other side, a city called Almeida or _The Table_, for
there had been discovered the table of Solomon the son of David, and the
feet and borders of it, numbering three hundred and sixty-five, were of
green emerald."