four of its old examination-books, of which the earliest dates from
1600. Gestoso, in his _Dictionary of Sevillian Artificers_ describes the
actual ceremony of examination for a silversmith or goldsmith. Once in
every year the members of the guild assembled in their chapel of the
convent of San Francisco. Here and upon this day the candidate was
closely questioned, to begin with, as to his "purity of blood"--that is,
his freedom from contamination by relationship with any Moor or Hebrew.
When it was duly and precisely ascertained that he, his parents, and his
grandparents were uniformly "old Christians," untainted with the "wicked
race of Moors, Jews, heretics, mulattoes, and renegades," and that
neither he nor his ancestors had ever been put on trial by the
Inquisition or by any other tribunal, "whether publicly or secretly," he
was permitted to proceed to his examination proper.[39] The formula of
this was simple. The candidate was summoned before the board of
examiners, consisting of the Padre Mayor or patriarch of the guild, and
the two _veedores_ or inspectors, the one of gold-work, the other of
silver-work. The book of drawings was then placed upon the table, and a
ruler was thrust at haphazard among its leaves. Where the ruler chanced
to fall, the candidate was called upon to execute the corresponding
drawing to the satisfaction of his judges.
[39] Gestoso mentions that Juan de Luna, a silversmith of Seville, was
turned into the gutter from the workshop where he was employed,
solely because his father had been punished as a Morisco by the
Inquisition (_Diccionario de Artífices Sevillanos_, vol. i.
p. lvi.).
Riaño lays too slight a stress upon the Moorish and Morisco jewellery of
Spain. Although the use of gold and silver ornaments is forbidden by
the Koran, the Muslim, wherever his vanity or his bodily comfort is
involved, tramples his Bible underfoot almost as regularly, tranquilly,
and radically as the Christians do their own. The Moors of Spain were
not at all behind their oriental brethren in displaying precious stones
and metals on their persons or about their homes. Al-Jattib tells us
that the third Mohammed offered to the mosque of the Alhambra columns
with capitals and bases of pure silver. Or who does not recall the
Caliphate of Cordova; the silver lamp that measured fifty palms across,
fitted with a thousand and fifty-four glass lamplets, and swinging by a
golden chain from the cupola of the entrance to the _mirhab_ in the vast
_mezquita_; the silver candlesticks and perfume-burners in the same
extraordinary temple; the precious stones and metals employed in mighty
quantities to decorate the palaces of Az-zahyra and Az-zahra?--
"A wilderness of building, sinking far
And self-withdrawn into a wondrous depth,
Far sinking into splendour without end!
Fabric it seemed of diamond and of gold,
With alabaster domes and silver spires,
And blazing terrace upon terrace, high
Uplifted."
In brief, just as the prelates of the Christian Church habitually
precede the Christian laity in trampling underfoot the elemental
doctrine of Our Lord, so were the most exalted and responsible of all
the Mussulmans--that is, their sultans--indefatigably foremost in
neglect of the Koranic law.
The Spanish sultans wore a ring of gold containing one large stone (such
as an emerald, or ruby, or turquoise), on which was cut the royal seal
and signature. Such was the ring belonging to Boabdil el Chico, worn by
him on the very day of the surrender of his capital, and by his hand
presented to a Spanish nobleman, the Count of Tendilla, governor-elect
of the Alhambra. According to Rodriguez de Ardila, the following
inscription was upon the stone:--"_La Ala ile Ala, abahu Tabiu. Aben Abi
Abdalá_," meaning, "_There is no God but God; this is the seal of Aben
Abi Abdalá._" Ardila, who was the author of a history of the Counts of
Tendilla (which still remains in manuscript), adds that he saw the ring,
although, as Eguilaz observes, two words of the inscription are
inaccurately rendered.
Among the Moors of Spain the use of signet rings was general. The stone
employed was commonly cornelian, richly mounted and inscribed in various
ways, as with the owner's name, his name together with a date, or the
name of the town of which he was a native. In other instances we meet
with pious phrases or quotations from the Koran; or perhaps a talismanic
figure, such as the open eye to guard the wearer from the dreaded _mal
de ojo_; or the open hand that still surmounts the gateway of the Tower
of Justice at Granada.[40]
[40] An article by Señor Saavedra on these inscribed jewels and signets
of Mohammedan Spain will be found in the _Museo Español de
Antigüedades_.
Undoubtedly, too, the Moorish sultans of this country owned enormous
hoards of silver, gold, and precious stones. Al-Makkari says that the
treasure of the Nasrite rulers of Granada included quantities of pearls,
turquoises, and rubies; pearl necklets; earrings "surpassing those of
Mary the Copt" (Mohammed's concubine); swords of the finest temper,
embellished with pure gold; helmets with gilded borders, studded with
emeralds, pearls, and rubies; and silvered and enamelled belts.
[Illustration: XIII
MOORISH BRACELETS]
The Moorish women of this country, and in particular the
Granadinas,[41] were passionately fond of jewellery. Ornaments which
once belonged to them are sometimes brought to light in Andalusia,
Murcia, or Valencia, including pendants, rings, necklaces, and _axorcas_
or bangles for the ankle or the wrist, and bracelets for the upper
portion of the arm. The National Museum contains a small collection of
these objects, dating from the time of the Moriscos, and including a
handsome necklace terminating in a double chain, with ball and pyramid
shaped ornaments about the centre, a square-headed finger-ring with four
green stones and a garnet, and a hollow bracelet filled with a substance
that appears to be mastic, similar to those which are reproduced in
Plate xiii.
[41] "As to the ornaments and jewels of the ladies of Granada, these
wear at present necklaces of rich design, bracelets, rings (upon
their ankles), and earrings of pure gold; together with quantities
of silver and of precious stones upon their shoes. I say this of
the middle class; for ladies of the aristocracy and of the older
noble families display a vast variety of gems, such as rubies,
chrysolites, emeralds, and pearls of great value. The ladies of
Granada are commonly fair to look upon, shapely, of good stature,
with long hair, teeth of a shining white, and perfumed breath,
gracefully alert in their movements, and witty and agreeable in
conversation. But unfortunately at this time their passion for
painting themselves and for arraying themselves in every kind of
jewellery and costly stuffs has reached a pitch that is no longer
tolerable."--Al-Jattib, in _The Splendour of the New Moon
concerning the Nasrite Sultans of Granada_.
These jewels, I repeat, are of Morisco workmanship, and therefore date
from later than the independent empire of the Spanish Moors.
Nevertheless, the geometrical or filigree design was common both to
Moorish and Morisco art. As I observed in my description of the
casket-reliquaries, we note continually the influence of these motives
on the arts of Christian Spain. The Ordinances relative to the
goldsmiths and the silversmiths of Granada, cried at various times
between 1529 and 1538, whether "in the silversmiths' street of the
Alcaycería, that has its opening over against the scriveners'"; or in
"the street of the Puente del Carbon, before the goldsmiths' shops"; or
"in the street of the Zacatin, where dwell the silversmiths," prove also
that for many years after the Reconquest the character and nomenclature
of this kind of work continued to be principally and traditionally
Moorish.
Firstly, the Ordinances complain that the goldsmiths of Granada now
employ a base and detrimental standard of the precious metals,
especially in the bracelets or _manillas_ of the women. The goldsmiths
answer in their vindication that equally as poor a standard is employed
at Seville, Cordova, and Toledo. These city laws herewith establish
twenty carats as a minimum fineness for the gold employed in making
ornaments. The makers, also, are ordered to impress their private stamp
or seal on every article, or in default to pay a fine of ten thousand
_maravedis_. A copy of each stamp or seal to be deposited in the city
chest. The _alamín_ or inspector of this trade to test and weigh all
gold and silver work before it is exposed for sale.
We learn from the same source that the gold bracelets were sometimes
smooth, and sometimes "covered over with devices" (_cubiertos de
estampas por cima_). The technical name of these was _albordados_. The
silver bracelets were also either smooth, or stamped, or twisted in a
cord (_encordados_). Bangles for the ankle, upper arm, and wrist are
mentioned as continuing to be generally worn, while one of the
Ordinances complains that "Moorish _axorcas_ are often sold that are
hollow, and filled with chalk and mastic, so that before they can be
weighed it is necessary to rid them of such substances by submitting
them to fire, albeit the fire turns them black."
The weapons and war-harness of the Spanish Moors were often exquisitely
decorated with the precious stones or metals. Splendid objects of this
kind have been preserved, and will be noticed in their proper chapter.
The ruinous and reckless measure known to Spain's eternal shame as the
Expulsion of the Moriscos, deprived this country of a great--perhaps the
greatest--part of her resources. Fonseca estimates this loss, solely in
the quantity of coin conveyed away, at two million and eight hundred
thousand _escudos_, adding that a single Morisco, Alami Delascar de
Aberique, bore off with him one hundred thousand ducats.[42] To make
this matter worse, the Moriscos, just before they went on board their
ships, fashioned from scraps of tin, old nails, and other refuse,
enormous stores of counterfeit coin, and slyly sold this rubbish to the
simple Spaniards in return for lawful money of the land. In the course
of a few days, and in a single quarter of Valencia, more than three
hundred thousand ducats of false coin were thus passed off upon the
Christians. Besides this exportation of good Spanish money, the cunning
fugitives removed huge quantities of jewellery and plate. Chains,
_axorcas_, rings, _zarcillos_, and gold _escudos_ were taken from the
bodies of many of the Morisco women who were murdered by the Spanish
soldiery; but the greater part of all this treasure found its way to
Africa. In his work _Expulsión justificada de los Moriscos_ (1612),
Aznar de Cardona says that the Morisco women carried "divers plates upon
the breast, together with necklaces and collars, earrings and
bracelets." It is recorded, too, that the Moriscos, as they struggled in
the country regions to avenge themselves upon their persecutors, did
unlimited damage to the ornaments and fittings of the churches. "This
people," says Fonseca, "respected not our temples or the holy images
that in them were; nor yet the chalices and other objects they
encountered in our sacristies. Upon the contrary, they smashed the
crosses, burned the saints, profaned the sacred vestments, and committed
such acts of sacrilege as though they had been Algerian Moors, or Turks
of Constantinople."
[42] There was, however, from long before this time a prohibition to
export from Spain the precious metals, in any form, whether as
objects of plate or as coined money. The penalty for a repetition
of this offence was death. Another law prohibited all foreigners
who were resident in Spain, not excluding the Moriscos, from buying
gold or silver in the bar (_Suma de Leyes_, p. 46). It was also
forbidden to sell the jewels or other objects of value belonging to
a place of worship (_ibid_. p. 87).
Legends of hidden Moorish and Morisco wealth are still extant in many
parts of Spain. The Abbé Bertaut de Rouen[43] and Swinburne among
foreigners, or Spaniards such as the gossiping priest Echeverría, who
provided Washington Irving with the pick of his _Tales of the Alhambra_,
have treated copiously of this fascinating and mysterious theme. The
Siete Suelos Tower at Granada is particularly favoured with traditions
of this kind. Peasants of the Alpujarras still declare that piles of
Moorish money lie secreted in the lofty buttresses of Mulhacen and the
Veleta, while yet another summit of this snowy range bears the
suggestive title of the Cerro del Tesoro, where, almost within the
memory of living men, a numerous party, fitted and commissioned by the
State, explored with feverish though unlucky zeal the naked cliffs and
sterile crannies of the lonely mountain.[44]
[43] This entertaining and inquisitive tourist describes, in 1659, a
wondrous cavern in the south of Spain, "ou l'on conte que les Mores
ont caché leurs trésors en s'en retournant en Afrique, et ou
personne n'ose aborder de peur des esprits que l'on dit que l'on y
voit souvent. Mais comme il commencait a se faire nuit, je n'eus
pas le loisir de m'y amuser beaucoup." With this our author shelved
his curiosity, and prudently retired.
[44] Leonard Williams. _Granada: Memories, Adventures, Studies, and
Impressions_, p. 90.
Reducing all these fables to the terms of truth, Moorish and Morisco
jewellery and coin are sometimes brought to light on Spanish soil. Such
finds occur, less seldom than elsewhere, within the provinces of
Seville, Cordova, Granada, and Almeria (Plate xiv.), but since they are
neither frequent nor considerable, although the likeliest ground for
them is being disturbed continually, we may conclude that nearly all the
Muslim wealth accumulated here slipped from the clumsy if ferocious
fingers of the mother-country, and found its way, concealed upon the
bodies of her persecuted offspring, to the shores of Africa.[45]
[45] Ford was more hopeful as to the preservation of this wealth in
Spain. "No doubt much coin is buried in the Peninsula, since the
country has always been invaded and torn by civil wars, and there
never has been much confidence between Spaniard and Spaniard;
accordingly the only sure, although unproductive, investment for
those who had money, was gold or silver, and the only resource to
preserve that, was to hide it."--_Handbook_, vol. ii. p. 682.
[Illustration: XIV
MORISCO JEWELLERY
(_Found in the Province of Granada_)]
Sometimes, too, an early gold or silver object would be melted down and
modernized into another and a newer piece of plate. This was a fairly
common usage with the silversmiths themselves, or with an ignorant or
stingy brotherhood or chapter. Thus, the following entry occurs in the
_Libro de Visita de Fábrica_ belonging to the parish church of Santa
Ana, Triana, Seville. In the year 1599 "the large cross of silver-gilt,
together with its _mançana_ and all the silver attaching thereto, was
taken to the house of Zubieta the silversmith, and pulled to pieces. It
weighed 25 marks and 4 _ochavas_ of silver, besides 5 marks and 2 ounces
and 4 _ochavas_ of silver which was the weight of the three lamps
delivered to Zubieta in the time of Juan de Mirando, aforetime steward
of this church. It is now made into a silver-gilt cross."[46]
[46] Gestoso, _Diccionario de Artífices Sevillanos_, vol. ii. p. 360.
A similar instance may be quoted from a document of Cordova, published
by Ramírez de Arellano in his relation of a visit to the monastery of
San Jerónimo de Valparaiso. In the year 1607 Gerónimo de la Cruz, a
Cordovese silversmith, agreed with the prior of this monastery to make
for the community a silver-gilt _custodia_. For this purpose he received
from the prior, doubtless a man of parsimonious spirit and a boor in his
appreciativeness of art, eight pairs of vinegar cruets, four of whose
tops were missing; a silver-gilt chalice and its patine; a _viril_ with
two angels and four pieces on the crown of it; a small communion cup;
some silver candlesticks; four spoons and a fork, also of silver; and a
silver-gilt salt-cellar. The total value of these objects was 1826
_reales_; and all of them were tossed, in Ford's indignant phrase, into
the "sacrilegious melting-pot," in order to provide material for the new
_custodia_.
[Illustration: XV
SILVER-GILT PROCESSIONAL CROSS
(_Made by Juan de Arfe in_ 1592. _Burgos Cathedral_)]
The gold and silver work of Christian Spain attained, throughout the
fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries, a high degree of excellence
(Plates xv., xvi., etc.). The best of it was made at Seville, Barcelona,
Toledo, and Valladolid. Objects of great artistic worth were also
produced at Burgos, Palencia, León, Cuenca, Cordova, and Salamanca. I
have already mentioned some of the principal _orfebreros_ of Barcelona.
Juan Ruiz of Cordova, whom Juan de Arfe applauds as "the first
silversmith who taught the way to do good work in Andalusia," was also,
in this region, the first to turn the precious metals on the lathe. A
famous silversmith of Seville was Diego de Vozmediano, whom we find
living there in 1525. Toledo, too, could boast, among an army of
distinguished gold and silver smiths (Riaño gives the names of no fewer
than seventy-seven), Cristóbal de Ordas, Juan Rodríguez de Babria, and
Pedro Hernandez, _plateros_, respectively, to Charles the Fifth, to
Philip the Second, and to the queen-dowager of Portugal; and also the
silversmith and engraver upon metals, Pedro Angel, whose praise is sung
by Lope de Vega in the prologue to his _auto_ called _The Voyage of the
Soul_:--
"_Y es hoy Pedro Angel un divino artífice
con el buril en oro, plata, ó cobre._"
By far the greater part of all Toledo's gold and silver work was made
for service in her mighty temple. Such were the statue of Saint Helen,
presented by Philip the Second; the crown of the Virgen del Sagrario,
wrought by Hernando de Carrión and Alejo de Montoya; the bracelets or
_ajorcas_ made for the image of the same Madonna by Julián Honrado; and
the exquisite chests carved in 1569 and 1598 by Francisco Merino from
designs by the two Vergaras, father and son, as reliquaries for the
bones of San Eugenio and Santa Leocadia, patrons of this ancient
capital.[47] A magnificent silver lamp was also, in 1565, offered by the
chapter of the cathedral to the church of Saint Denis in France, in
gratitude for the surrender of the bones of San Eugenio to the city of
his birth. These and other objects of Toledan gold and silver work are
stated to be "worthy of comparison with the very best of what was then
produced in Germany, Italy, and France."[48]
[47] A full description of these chests will be found in Cean Bermudez,
vol. iii. pp. 135-137.
[48] Rada y Delgado, in his reply to the Count of Cedillo's address in
the Royal Academy of History. For particulars of the silver lamp,
which was made by Marcos and Gonzalo Hernandez, Toledanos, and by
Diego Dávila, see Zarco del Valle, _Documentos Inéditos para la
Historia de las Bellas Artes en España_, vol. lv. p. 580.
Baron Davillier also held a high opinion of the Spanish _orfebreros_ of
this time. After remarking that the Italian influence was powerful among
the Spaniards in the sixteenth century, and more particularly for some
fifty years at Barcelona, he says: "A cette époque les _plateros_
espagnols pouvaient rivaliser sans désavantage avec les Italiens, les
Français, les Flamands, et les Allemands."
The same authority also says that the Spanish _plateros_ of this period
were skilled enamellers on gold and silver, and quotes some entries from
French inventories of the time in which we read of cups, salt-cellars,
washing-basins, and other objects executed or enamelled "à la mode
d'Espagne."[49]
[49] _Recherches sur l'Orfévrerie en Espagne_, pp. 61 _et seq._
As we have seen, the exodus of the Moriscos lost to Spain a great
proportion of her total wealth, although, conjointly with this loss, new
wealth flowed into her in marvellous abundance from the New World.[50]
Thus, the silver-mines of Potosi, discovered in 1545, sent over to the
mother-country, between that year and 1633, no less than eight hundred
and forty-five millions of _pesos_. And yet this mighty influx of new
riches cannot be said, except in the artistic sense, to have enriched
the nation. She had renounced the service of the most industrious and,
in many instances, the most ingenious of her native craftsmen; while on
the other hand the Christians, with but limited exceptions, were far too
proud and far too indolent to set their hand to any form of manual
exercise; just as (I much regret to add) a great proportion of them are
this very day. Foreign artificers in consequence (particularly after the
royal pragmatic of 1623 encouraging their immigration), attracted by the
treasure fleets that anchored in the bay of Cadiz, came trooping into
Spain and filled their pockets from the national purse, fashioning, in
return for money which they husbanded and sent abroad, luxurious gold
and silver objects that were merely destined to stagnate within her
churches and cathedrals.
[50] Ulloa, _Memorias Sevillanas_, vol. i. p. 199.
Riaño and Baron de la Vega de Hoz extract from Cean Bermudez a copious
list of silversmiths who worked in Spain all through the Middle Ages.
This long array of isolated names and dates is neither interesting nor
informative. Newer and more attractive notices have been discovered
subsequently. Thus, in the National Library at Madrid, Don Manuel G.
Simancas has disinterred quite recently the copy made by a Jesuit of a
series of thirteenth-century accounts relating to various craftsmen of
the reign of Sancho the Fourth ("the Brave"). Two of them are concerning
early _orfebreros_:--
"Juan Yanez. By letters of the king and queen to Johan Yanez, goldsmith,
brother of Ferran García, scrivener to the king; for three chalices
received from him by the king, CCCCLXXVIII _maravedis_."
The second entry says:--
"Bartolomé Rinalt. And he paid Bartolomé Rinalt for jewels which the
queen bought from him to present to Doña Marina Suarez, nurse of the
Infante Don Pedro, MCCCL _maravedis_."[51]
[51] _Libro de diferentes Cuentas y gasto de la Casa Real en el Reynado
de Don Sancho IV. Sacado de un tomo original en folio que se guarda
en la Librería de la Santa Iglesia de Toledo._ Años de 1293-1294.
Por el P. Andres Marcos Burriel de la Comp^a de Jesus.
Among Spain's gold and silver craftsmen of the fifteenth century we
find the names of Juan de Castelnou, together with his son Jaime, who
worked at Valencia; of Lope Rodríguez de Villareal, Ruby, and Juan
Gonzalez, all three of whom worked at Toledo; and of Juan de Segovia, a
friar of Guadalupe. Papers concerning Juan Gonzalez, and dated 1425,
1427, and 1431, are published among the _Documentos Inéditos_ of Zarco
del Valle. One of Segovia's masterpieces was a silver salt-cellar in the
form of a lion tearing open a pomegranate--clearly allusive to the
conquest of Granada from the Moors. Upon their visiting the monastery,
Ferdinand and Isabella saw and, as was natural, conceived a fancy for
this salt-cellar; and so, whether from inclination or necessity, the
brotherhood induced them to accept it.
Sixteenth-century _plateros_ of renown were Juan Donante, Mateo and
Nicolás (whose surnames are unknown)--all three of whom worked at
Seville; and Duarte Rodríguez and Fernando Ballesteros, natives of that
city. In or about the year 1524 were working at Toledo the silversmiths
Pedro Herreros and Hernando de Valles, together with Diego Vazquez,
Andres Ordoñez, Hernando de Carrión, Diego de Valdivieso, Juan Domingo
de Villanueva, Diego Abedo de Villandrando, Juan Tello de Morata,
Francisco de Reinalte, Hans Belta, and Francisco Merino. Several of
these men were natives of Toledo.