THE SPANISH ARCHITECTS OF THE MIDDLE AGES.
The history of the architects of the middle ages has never been written,
and so few are the facts which we really know about them, that it may
well be doubted whether it ever can be. Yet were it possible to do so,
few subjects would be more interesting. To me it always seems that the
most precious property of all good art is its human and personal
character. I have always had an especial pleasure in tracing out what
appear to be such similarities between different buildings as seem to
prove, or at least to suggest, that they were designed by the same
artist; for, just as in painting, a work becomes far more precious if we
know it to be really the handiwork of a Giotto or a Simone Memmi, so in
the sister art a building is far more precious when we know it to be the
work of an Elias of Dereham, an Alan of Walsingham, or an Eudes de
Montreuil; and if we are able, as in their case to start with the
knowledge that certain men did certain works, the interest of such
investigations is at once manyfold enhanced.
This is precisely the point at which we have now arrived in regard to
Spanish buildings; for the notices of their architects which I have
given in various parts of this book are so numerous that I think I shall
do well to collect them together in their order; and to sum up, as much
as one can learn from the documents relating to them, as to the terms on
which they carried on their work, and generally, indeed, as to the
position which they held.
In the earliest period, and just when any information would have been
more than usually interesting to us, I have been able to learn next to
nothing of any real value as to the superintendents of Spanish
buildings.
One of the first notices of an architect is that contained in an
inscription in San Isidoro, Leon, to the memory of Petrus de Deo, of
whom it was said, “Erat vir miræ abstinentiæ, et multis florebat
miraculis;” and, what is even more to our purpose, he is said to have
built a bridge. He “superædificavit” the church of San Isidoro, and,
from the reference to his saintly life, one is inclined to suspect that
he must have been a priest and probably a monk; if so, it is important
to note the fact, inasmuch as almost all the other architects or masters
of the works referred to in all books I have examined, seem to have been
laymen, and just as much a distinct class as architects at the present
day are. The expression “superædificavit” does not tell us much as to
the exact office of Petrus de Deo; but the next notice of an architect
is not only one of the earliest, but also one of the most curious; this
is in the contract entered into by the Chapter of Lugo with their
architect Raymundo of Monforte de Lemos, in A.D. 1129; and from the
terms of his payment, which was to be either in money or in kind, it is
clear that, whatever his position was, he could not leave Lugo, but was
retained solely for the work there. The terms of the contract are very
worthy of notice, and may be compared with some of the similar
agreements with, the superintendents of English works, who frequently
stipulated for a cloak of office and other payments in kind, though I
doubt whether we know of any English contract of so early a date. It is
clear from the payment of an annual salary, and an engagement for the
term of his life, that Maestro Raymundo was distinctly an architect, not
a mere builder or contractor; it seems that he was a layman, and that
his son followed the same profession. The title given him in the
contract, “Master of the works,” is, as we shall find, that which in
course of time was usually given to the architect; though I am not
inclined to think that it makes it impossible that he should also have
wrought with his own hands. Indeed, the very next notice of an architect
is of one who certainly did act as sculptor on his own works. This was
Mattheus, master of the works at Santiago Cathedral. The warrant issued
by the king Ferdinand II., in A.D. 1168, granted him a pension of a
hundred maravedis annually for the rest of his life,[433] and, though
the amount seems to be insignificant, the fact of any royal grant being
made proves, I think, not only the king’s sense of the value of a fine
church, but also somewhat as to the degree of importance which its
designer may have attained to, when he was recognized at all by the
king. On the other hand, when twenty years later the same man (no doubt)
wrote his name exultingly on the lintels of the church doorway, which
was only then at last finished,[434] there can be no doubt that he had
been acting there both as sculptor and architect: and if, from a modern
point of view, he lost caste as an architect, he no doubt gained it as
an artist; and even now, if one had to make the choice, one would far
rather have been able honestly to put up one’s name as the author of
those doorways, than as the builder of the church to which they are
attached. It will be noticed that here, just as at Lugo, the master of
the works was appointed at a salary for his lifetime, and held his
office precisely in the same way as do the surveyors of our own
cathedrals at the present day.
Much about the same time, in A.D. 1175, a most interesting document was
drawn out, binding one Raymundo, a “Lambardo,”[435] to execute certain
works in the cathedral at Urgel, in Cataluña. It is very difficult to
say whether this Raymundo was the architect and builder, or only the
builder, of the church, though I incline to believe he was both. He was
to complete his work in seven years, employing four “Lambardos,” and, if
necessary, “Cementarios,” or wallers, in addition; and in return he was
to be paid with a Canon’s portion for the rest of his life. The mode of
payment, the engagement for life, and the fact that there is no mention
whatever of any materials to be provided by Raymundo, as well as the
absence from the contract of any reference to a master of the works,
lead, I think, to the conclusion that he was in truth the architect, but
that he also superintended the execution of the works, and contracted
for the labour.[436]
The next notice I find of an architect is in A.D. 1203, when the
architect of Lérida Cathedral, one Pedro de Cumba, is described as
“Magister et fabricator,” and there can be no doubt, therefore, that he
not only designed but executed the work, which, as we go on, we shall
find to have been a not very uncommon custom; but it is rare,
nevertheless, to see this title of “Fabricator” given to the architect,
who is usually “Magister operis,” and no more;[437] as, indeed, we see
in the case of the successor of Pedro de Cumba, one Pedro de
Peñafreyta, who is described on his monument by this title only.
In the thirteenth century we have the names of several architects, but
nothing more than their names; and the only point which seems worthy of
special note is that, so far as I can learn, none of them were
ecclesiastics; whilst, from first to last, I have found no reference to
anything like freemasonry. Indeed, on both these points, the history of
Spanish architects seems to be singularly conclusive; and there can be
little doubt that they carried on their work entirely as a business, and
always under very distinct and formal engagements as to the way in which
it was to be done.
In the fourteenth century the earliest notice is that contained in an
order of the king, in 1303, dated at Perpiñan, and directed to his
lieutenant in Mallorca, requiring him to go at once “cum Magistro
Poncio” to Minorca, to arrange about the building a town wall, which the
king wishes to have built with round towers, “sicut in muro Perpiniani;”
and two years later the king writes again, “Item audivimus turrim
nostram Majoricarum, ubi stat angelus ictu fulgens fuisse percussam et
aliquantulum deformatam. Volumus quod celeriter sicut magister Poncius
et alii viderint faciendum celeriter restauretur.”[438] Here it is, to
say the least, doubtful whether Master Ponce was architect and adviser
only, or also the mason who was to do the work. But this could not have
been the case with the two architects of Narbonne, employed in the
rebuilding of the cathedral at Gerona, one of whom was appointed in A.D.
1320-22 at a salary of two hundred and fifty sueldos a quarter, and
under agreement to come from Narbonne six times a year. Here, whilst the
old plan of making the architect enter into a kind of contract is
adhered to, we seem to have a distinct recognition of a class of men who
were not workmen, but really and only superintendents of buildings--in
fact, architects in the modern sense of the word. About the same time,
Jayme Fabre (or Fabra), a Mallorcan, seems to have been one of the
greatest architects of his day, and to have given a very important
impulse to the principal provincial development of architecture of which
we see any evidence in Spain--that of Cataluña. From a contract entered
into in A.D. 1318, between him and the Superior and brethren of the
convent of San Domingo at Palma, in Mallorca, it seems that he was bound
by an older agreement to execute the works of their church; and that he
then promised to come back whenever required to Palma, from Barcelona,
whither he was going to undertake another work at the desire of the king
and the bishop. This “other work” was the cathedral, and here we know
that Fabre was employed till A.D. 1339, when he and the workmen[439] of
the church put the covering on the shrine which contained the relics of
Sta. Eulalia, in the crypt. It is impossible to read the account of the
completion of the shrine of Sta. Eulalia at Barcelona, without feeling
that Fabre superintended a number of masons, and acted in fact as their
foreman, though this is no reason whatever why he should not also have
designed the work they executed. He seems to have carried on the two
works at Barcelona and Palma at the same time; for, on the 23rd June,
A.D. 1317, a year only after his agreement with the convent of San
Domingo at Palma, he was appointed master of the works of Barcelona
Cathedral, with a salary of eighteen sueldos each week, and payment of
his expenses on his voyages to and from Mallorca. Soon after this time,
in A.D. 1368, the fabric rolls of the cathedral at Palma, in Mallorca,
record the name of Jayme Mates, who was “Maestro Mayor” of the work at
Palma, and had a salary of twenty pounds a year, besides six sueldos a
day for the working days, and two for festivals.[440]
In the same year we have the very interesting contract between the
Chapter of San Feliu, Gerona, and Pedro Zacoma, the master of the works
of the steeple; by this, it seems, he did not contract for the work, but
had permission to employ an apprentice on it, and he was not to
undertake any other work without the consent of the “Operarius,” or
Canon in charge of the works, save a bridge on which he was already
engaged. He was to be paid by the day, with a yearly salary in addition.
I have given the contract at p. 332 of this volume. Zacoma is called in
it the “Master of the work of the belfry.” He must have been employed
constantly at the church, or it would not have been necessary to prevent
his undertaking other works; and in such a building a man could hardly
have been constantly employed, without absolutely working as a mason.
It may be thought that the “Operarius” was the real architect; but I
find, at this time, that most collegiate and cathedral churches had a
Canon whose special duty it was to make arrangements with the master of
the works. Sometimes they are called “Canonigos fabriqueros,” at others
“Obreros,” or else, as in this case, “Operarii.” Some examples of the
application of these terms may be given to prove what I say:--In A.D.
1312, for instance, the Chapter of Gerona appointed two of their own
body--one an archdeacon, the other a Canon--to be the obreros of their
works.[441] In A.D. 1340 the “Operarius” was gathering alms in Valencia
and the Balearic Isles for the works at Gerona Cathedral.[442] In an
inscription of A.D. 1183, at S. Trophime at Arles, Poncius Rebolli is
called “Sacerdos et operarius;” at Palencia, in A.D. 1321, there was an
“Obrero,” or Canon in charge of the works, as he is described by
Dávila.[443] In the inscription on a stone in the choir of Lérida
Cathedral,[444] the two offices of the “operarius” and the “magister et
fabricator” are contrasted, and the double office of the latter seems to
make it impossible that the former can have been the architect. The
fabric rolls of Exeter Cathedral contain, in A.D. 1318, a payment to the
“Custos operis” for the adornment of the high altar: and, no doubt, he
held the same post as the Operarius in Spain.
At the end of this century Juan Garcia de Laguardia was named
“Master-mason” of the kingdom of Navarre, by a royal writ, at the wage
of three sueldos a day. His title adds another to those already
mentioned.
In A.D. 1391 Guillermo Çolivella undertook to make twelve statues of the
apostles, at Lérida, at the price of 240 sueldos for each statue; and
subsequently, in A.D. 1392, he is styled “Magister operis” of the see of
Lérida, and “Lapicida,” and he had the superintendence of the stained
glass windows which Juan de San Amat was making for the apses of the
church, with the stories of the apostles.[445] He was evidently, I
think, a builder, and yet held very much the office of a modern
architect as superintendent of the whole work. Jayme Fabre describes
himself as “Lapicida,” but was also the “Master of the fabric” at
Barcelona; whilst Roque, who succeeded Fabre at Barcelona, was also
called master of the works only, and received three sueldos and four
dineros a day, besides a hundred sueldos a year for clothing.
Just about this period we have what appears to me to be a rather
important reference to the separate offices of the architect and builder
in the same work; for it seems that during the construction of the tower
of the cathedral at Valencia, one Juan Franck acted as architect, with a
succession of men as builders and contractors under him.[446] I confess
I do not adduce this example with much confidence, inasmuch as one of
them was Balaguer, whose mission to Lérida has already been mentioned,
and who is moreover termed, in a contemporary document, an “accomplished
architect.”
In the fifteenth century the notices of architects are more numerous,
and their position becomes much more clearly defined.
In A.D. 1410 a contract was entered into by one Lucas Bernaldo de
Quintana--master mason, as he is called in it--for the rebuilding of the
church at Gijon in the Asturias. In this contract[447] there is no
reference of any kind to plans, or to a directing architect or
superintendent of any kind; but the dimensions and form of the building
are all carefully described in such a way as to lead to the conclusion
that the notary who drew up the contract had some sort of plan before
him. It is said, for instance, “that the church is to be twenty-five
yards long by twelve and a half wide, with three columns on each side,
three vaults each with three ribs crossing them, and all the arches,
pilasters, &c., as well as the door (which is to be twelve and a half
feet high by eight wide), to be of wrought stone. There is to be a
turret for two bells over the door, &c.” “Item, the ‘master’ is to be
allowed to use the materials of the old church.” The contract was
entered into on March 10, 1410, and the key of the building was to be
delivered up on the 1st of May, 1411, and finally two sureties were
bound with the contractor. The whole deed is so very formal and careful
in its terms, that there can be no doubt that Quintana acted as
architect as well as builder, for otherwise the name of the architect
would necessarily have been mentioned.
It was in A.D. 1415 that the Valencian authorities sent their architect
on a tour of inspection among church steeples in Cataluña, and as far as
Narbonne, on the other side of the Pyrenees, in order that they might be
sure of a good design for their own; but this is a very rare, if not an
unique, instance of such a proceeding. In the year following the Junta
of Architects was assembled at Gerona, and we have in it the first
example of that habit so common in this day, of consulting bodies of
men, instead of trusting in one skilled man, which from this time forth
seems to have been extraordinarily popular in Spain. Incidentally, the
records of the proceedings of this Junta are valuable, as giving the
names of many architects and the works on which they were then engaged;
but they are still more valuable as showing how decided and independent
of each other in their opinions these men were. All of them probably
were architects; but it is observable that all but two call themselves
“Lapicidæ;” that two of them held somewhat inferior offices--one being
the “Socius” of the magister operis, and the other, “Regens,” in the
place of the master. Another is “Magister sive sculptor imaginum;” and
two only--Antonino Antigoni and Guillermo Sagrera--call themselves
masters of the works. Their answers seem to prove that they were all men
of considerable intelligence, but at the same time generally disposed,
just as a similar body would be now, to declare rather for the usual
than the novel course. It is to their credit that they all maintained
the perfect practicability of the work proposed, and the judgment of the
Chapter seems to have been as much influenced by economical
considerations as by artistic, seeing that a majority of the architects
decided against the proposed plan on artistic grounds, whilst some of
them said that it would certainly be the least costly. It was intended
at first that two of the architects consulted should be asked to prepare
a plan for the work; but this does not seem to have been done after all,
the plan of the master of the works at the cathedral having been agreed
to and carried into execution.
There cannot be a shadow of doubt that at the beginning of the fifteenth
century most of the superintendents of buildings, in Cataluña at any
rate, were sculptors or masons also. Their own description of themselves
is conclusive on this point; at the same time their answers are all
given in the tone and style of architects, and it is quite certain
that, had there been a superior class of men--architects only in the
modern sense of the word--the Dean and Chapter would have applied first
of all to them. The answers which these men gave ought to be carefully
read, as they are valuable from several points of view. Several of them
seem to speak of some recognized system of proportioning the height of a
building to its width; one of them suggests using light stone for the
vaulting; and another, Arnaldo de Valleras, was evidently anxious to
supplant the existing master of the works, and announced what he would
do if the works were intrusted to him. I cannot help thinking that they
had before them the plans of Guillermo de Boffiy, and that the
similarity of the suggestions made by some of them as to the position of
the windows and the proportions of the work are to be taken as an
evidence of their desire to affirm what he had proposed.
In the same year in which this Junta of architects assembled at Gerona,
one of their number--Guillermo Sagrera--was acting as the architect of
the church of S. John, Perpiñan, a building which is still remarkable
for the enormous width of its nave. Ten years later he contracted for
the execution of the Exchange at Palma, in Mallorca, according to plans
which he presented, and upon certain specified conditions, from which it
appears very clearly that Sagrera was both builder and architect, being
bound to find scaffolding and all materials. The only difference one can
see between Sagrera and an ordinary builder or contractor of the present
day is, that he presented the plans himself, and that there is no trace
whatever of any architect or superintendent over him. It is doubted by
some whether this mixture of the two offices of builder and architect
was ever allowed in the middle ages; but this agreement (of which I give
a translation in the Appendix) is conclusive as regards this particular
case, and we may be tolerably sure that such a practice must have been a
usual one, or it would hardly have been adopted in the case of so
important a building.
Sagrera seems to have remained a long time at Palma, but having
quarrelled with his employers there, and his dispute having been carried
before the King of Aragon, at Naples, for settlement, the completion of
the work was intrusted to one Guillermo Vilasolar, “lapicida et magister
fabricæ,” who bound himself on March 19th, A.D. 1451, to complete the
works which had been commenced. Two of the clauses in this agreement are
worth quoting; they are as follow:--
1st. “That I, the said Guillermo Vilasolar, am bound to execute within
the next coming year all the traceries and terminations or cornices
which I have to make in the six windows of the said Exchange of Felanix
stone, in the following form:--The traceries of two of the said windows
according to the design which I have delivered to you, and the traceries
and the cornices of the remaining four windows just as they were
commenced by Master Guillermo Sagrera, formerly master of the fabric of
the said Exchange; which traceries and cornices of all the said six
windows I am bound to make entirely at my own cost, with all necessary
scaffolding, stone, lime, gravel, and wages for the complete finishing
of the said traceries and cornices.
“_Item._--That for making all the said traceries and cornices as
described, in the said six windows, you, the said honourable guardians,
shall be bound to give and pay of the goods of the college to me, the
said Guillermo Vilasolar, two hundred and eighty pounds of Mallorcan
money in the following way, viz.: fifty pounds down, and the remainder
of the said two hundred and eighty pounds when the said traceries and
cornices to the said six windows shall have been executed.”
So that here again, just as in the case of Guillermo Sagrera, we have a
mason contracting for his work, and himself making the drawing according
to which it is to be done.
After his quarrel with the authorities at Palma, Sagrera seems to have
undertaken work for the King in the Castel Nuevo at Naples, for which he
used stone from Mallorca, and where he was styled “Proto-Magister Castri
Novi.” His work at Palma seems, from the accounts I have been able to
obtain, to have much resembled that of the Lonja at Valencia, which I
have described and illustrated in this volume.
In A.D. 1485, when Calahorra cathedral was rebuilt, an architect seems
to have been so formally appointed, that the words used appear to me to
be quite worth transcribing here: “Miércoles á ocho dias del mes de
junio, año á nativitate Domini, millessimo quatorcentessimo octuagessimo
quinto cœpit ædificari Capella mayor S. Mariæ de Calahorra.
Composuerunt primum lapidem Johannes Ximenes de Enciso decanus, et
Petrus Ximenes archidiaconus de Verberiego, et ego Rodericus Martini
Vaco de Enciso, canonicus ejusdem ecclesiæ, et artium et theologiæ
magister, dedi duplam unam auri in auro, dicens hæc verba magistro
Johanni ædificatori principali prædictæ capellæ; accipite in signum
vestri laboris, et en protestationem, quod Dominus Deus ad cujus gloriam
et honorem ecclesia et capella ista fundari incipit, implebit residuum
ad preces gloriosæ Virginis Mariæ matris suæ, et Sanctorum martirum
Hemeterij et Caledonij, in quorum honore fundata est ecclesia. In quorum
testimonium supradicta manu propria subscripsi. Rodericus artium et
theologiæ magister.”
It is remarkable that in the case of so important a city as Seville
there is no mention of an architect to the cathedral before A.D. 1462,
in which year Juan Norman was appointed, with Pedro de Toledo as
assistant (“aparejador”) till A.D. 1472, when the Chapter appointed
three “Maestros Mayores” or principal masters, to the end that the work
might go on faster: but it seems, as might be expected, that these men
were none of them architects, for in A.D. 1496 the archbishop, being at
Guadalajara, was persuaded that it was not well to trust such
ill-informed persons, as their employment would end in loss to the
fabric, and so he called in one Maestro Jimon, who went to Seville and
was made Maestro Mayor until A.D. 1502.
The works at the Parral, Segovia, A.D. 1472-94, afford another example
of an architect acting also as contractor for the work; and about the
same time a monk of this convent, Juan de Escobedo, superintended the
repair of the aqueduct, and was afterwards sent to the Queen (Isabella)
to report to her on the state of various buildings in Segovia.
In 1482 Pedro Compte, of Valencia, said to be “Molt sabut en l’art de la
pedra,” was the architect of the Exchange at Valencia--a building
evidently copied to some extent from Sagrera’s Exchange at Palma; and at
a later date he was employed upon some water-works for the keeping up
the waters in the Guadalaviar at Valencia. He held the post of Maestro
Mayor of the city, with an annual salary. In him we seem to have not
only an architect and engineer, but one of so much character and
influence as to hold important posts, being “alcaide perpetuo” as well
as Maestro Mayor of the city.
In the beginning of the sixteenth century the new cathedral at Salamanca
was commenced, but only after a vast amount of consultation among
architects. The king had to order Anton Egas of Toledo, and Alfonso
Rodriguez of Seville, to go to Salamanca and decide upon the plan for
the church, and these two men drew up a joint plan which they presented
to the Chapter; two or three years later, nothing having been done in
the mean time, a Junta of nine architects was assembled, who jointly
agreed on a very elaborate report, detailing all the parts and
proportions of the church; and their report having been presented, the
Chapter forthwith proceeded to elect a master of the works.[448]
Rodrigo Gil de Hontañon was appointed; and by his will, dated in May,
A.D. 1577, it appears that he had a house rent-free, as well as his
salary of 30,000 maravedis a year.[449] He had also liberty to undertake
other works; for, a few years later, he designed the cathedral at
Segovia, and by his will it seems that he had several other churches in
hand, in some of which it is evident that he acted as contractor, as he
complains bitterly of the difficulties he had been put to by the large
sums he had paid for the work at the church of San Julian at Toro,
without being repaid by the authorities. It is remarkable that the works
at Salamanca were examined from time to time by two architects, who
reported whether Hontañon was following the instructions laid down for
his guidance by the Junta, and this supervision rather leads to the
inference that the design was not made by Hontañon, but prepared for
him; and that it was necessary, as it is nowadays, to employ some one to
see that he executed his work properly. The curiously exact terms of the
report of the Junta, which specifies the height, thickness, and
proportions of all the walls in the church, could not have been adopted
as they are unless the Junta had some plans before them when they drew
up their report, and on the whole I think it probable that the plan
which Egas and Rodriguez prepared formed the basis on which they
proceeded. This plan is still said to be preserved in the archives, and
it would be very interesting to see how far it agrees with the church
which has been erected.[450]
But, on the other hand, there is a report upon the state of the works in
A.D. 1523, given by Cean Bermudez, which tends to confirm Hontañon’s
position as a real architect.[451] It is signed by three architects,
Juan de Rasinas, Henrique de Egas, and Vasco de la Zarza. They go into
the question of the height to which the vaults ought to be carried, they
say the walls are built properly, and, finally, that they were shown a
plan of Juan Gil de Hontañon’s for some alteration of the work, and that
in their opinion it is good, and they have, therefore, signed it with
their names.
There are other instances at this time of the assemblage of Juntas of
architects, of which one or two may properly be mentioned here; one of
these was in reference to the Cimborio of the cathedral at Zaragoza
which fell in A.D. 1520, when a number of architects were at once called
together to advise as to its reconstruction; and again, in the same way,
when the Cimborio at Seville fell, in A.D. 1511, several architects were
consulted, and after they had reported, one of them--Hontañon, the
fashionable architect of the day--was selected to manage the execution
of the work.[452]
At this late date we have, I believe for the first time, the singular
description of a man as “master maker of churches.” This occurs in the
contract entered into by Benedicto Oger, of Alió, for the erection of a
church at Reus. From the terms of the contract Oger seems to have been a
mason: he was to have three others with him, and was bound not to
undertake any other work. And if the authorities desired it they were to
have his work examined by another “master,” though whether by one of his
own grade, or a superior man, does not appear.
Another contract of a somewhat similar kind was entered into in A.D.
1518 by Domingo Urteaga for the erection of the church of Sta. Maria de
Cocentaina, in Valencia. He bound himself to go with his wife and family
to Cocentaina, where the town was to give him a house rent free. He was
to do all that a “master” ought in the management of such a work,
without attending to other works, and was to receive each day for
himself five sueldos, and was to provide two assistants and two
apprentices, the former to have three sueldos each, and the latter one
and a half. He was to be every day at the work, having half an hour for
breakfast, and an hour for dinner in winter, and an hour and a half in
summer. Here again, though Urteaga was evidently only a foreman of the
works, there is no reference to any superintendent or architect, and
nothing is said about any plans which are to be followed. I conclude,
therefore, that in this case too the foreman of the masons was really
the architect.
In addition to the men I have here rapidly mentioned, there were many
others whose work was confined to the design and execution of certain
portions of buildings; such a one was Berengario Portell, “lapicida” of
Gerona, who in A.D. 1325 entered into a contract for the execution of
the columns of the cloister of Vique cathedral, and who is commonly said
to have executed the columns and capitals for the cloister at Ripoll
also. Such, in later days, was Gil de Siloe, who both designed and
executed the monuments at Miraflores; and such, though in a less eminent
position, were the various woodcarvers, decorators, painters on glass,
makers of metal screens, and the like, the names of a great number of
whom are still preserved in the volumes of Cean Bermudez.[453]
There is also another officer who ought not to be forgotten here--the
“aparejador” or assistant of the architect--clerk of the works as we
should call him. About his office there is no doubt, but it will have
been observed that some men who held it--as _e.g._ Juan Campero--have at
other times acted as architects or contractors, which is precisely what
might be expected.
There are a few but not very important cases of competition among
artists recorded in the work of Cean Bermudez; but generally they seem
to me to have been rather competitions for the execution of work than
for its design. Such, for instance, was the competition for the
execution of the monument of D. Alvaro de Luna and his wife in Toledo
cathedral, when the design of Pablo Ortiz was selected.[454] Cristóbal
Andino is said to have competed unsuccessfully with other men, in A.D.
1540, for the execution of the iron screens of Toledo cathedral. Cean
Bermudez speaks also of a competition among architects as to the
rebuilding of Segovia cathedral;[455] but I doubt whether his statement
can be depended on.
* * * * *
The result at which we arrive after this _résumé_ of the practice of
Spanish architects is certainly that it was utterly unlike the practice
of our own day. Whether it was either better or worse I can hardly
venture to say; it seems to me, indeed, to be of comparatively little
importance whether an architect is paid as of old by the year, or as now
by a commission on the cost of the works; probably the difference in
amount is seldom serious; but on the other hand it is possible that
where special contracts are made the sums paid are not always the same,
and so the absurd rule by which at present the best and the worst
architect both get the same amount of pay for their work is avoided; one
result of this rule is, that the architect of the highest reputation, in
order to reap the pecuniary reward to which he is entitled, is tempted
to undertake so much work that it is impossible for him to attend to
half of it, and so in time, unless he have an extraordinary capacity for
rapid work, his work deteriorates, and his reputation is likely to
suffer.
The other old custom common in Spain--of architects contracting for the
execution of their own works--does not seem to deserve much respect; yet
one cannot but see that it was a natural result of the universal feeling
and taste for art which seems to have obtained in the middle ages; and
though it would now certainly be mere madness to ask any chance builder
to execute an architectural work, there are undoubtedly many builders
who are at least as well fitted to do so as are a large number of those
who, without study or proper education, are nevertheless able,
unchallenged by any one, to call themselves architects.
On the whole, then, it is vain to regret the passing away of a system
which is foreign to the nature and ideas of an artistic profession such
as that of the architects of England now; though if these old men, whose
art and whose interests pulled opposite ways--seeing they were
architects and contractors--did their work so honestly that it still
stands unharmed by time, we may well take great shame to ourselves if
the rules for our personal respectability, about which we are all so
jealous, are yet in practice so often compatible, apparently, with a
system of shams and makeshifts, of false construction and bad execution,
of which these old architect-builders were almost wholly guiltless.
The questions between ourselves and them, when simply stated, are
these--Whose work is best in itself, and whose work will last the
longest? If these questions cannot be answered in our favour, then it is
absurd to protest vigorously against the practice which we see pursued
by such men as Juan Campero, Martin Llobet, Juan de Ruesga, Guillermo
Sagrera, or Pedro de Cumba, and we shall do well to admit, whenever
necessary, that he is the best architect who designs the best building,
whatever his education; though it is undoubtedly true that he is most
likely to be the best architect who is the best taught, the most
refined, and the most regularly educated in his art.
It is often, and generally thoughtlessly, assumed, that most of the
churches of the middle ages were designed by monks or clerical
architects. So far as Spain is concerned, the result at which we arrive
is quite hostile to this assumption, for in all the names of architects
that I have noticed there are but one or two who were clerics. The abbat
who in the eighth or ninth century rebuilt Leon cathedral is one; Frater
Bernardus of Tarragona, in A.D. 1256, another; and the monk of El
Parral, who restored the Roman aqueduct at Segovia, is the third; and
the occurrence of these three exceptions to the otherwise general rule,
proves clearly, I think, that in Spain the distinct position of the
architect was understood and accepted a good deal earlier than it was,
perhaps, in England. In our own country it is indeed commonly asserted
that the bishops and abbats were themselves the architects of the great
churches built under their rule. Gundulph, Flambard, Walsingham, and
Wykeham, have all been so described, but I suspect upon insufficient
evidence; and those who have devoted the most study and time to the
subject seem to be the least disposed to allow the truth of the claim
made for them. The contrary evidence which I am able to adduce from
Spain certainly serves to confirm these doubts. I was myself strongly
disposed once to regard the attempt to deprive us of our great clerical
architects as a little sacrilegious; but I am bound to say that I have
now changed my mind, and believe that the attempt was only too well
warranted by the facts. In short, the common belief in a race of
clerical architects and in ubiquitous bodies of freemasons, seems to me
to be altogether erroneous. The more careful the inquiry is that we make
into the customs of the architects of the middle ages, the more clear
does it appear that neither of these classes had any general existence;
and in Spain, so far as I have examined, I have met with not a single
trace of either. I am glad that it is so; for in these days of doubt and
perplexity as to what is true in art, it is at least a comfort to find
that one may go on heartily with one’s work, with the honest conviction
that the position one occupies may be, if one chooses to make it so, as
nearly as possible the same as that occupied by the artists of the
middle ages. So that, as it was open to them--often with small means
and in spite of many difficulties--to achieve very great works of
lasting architectural merit, the time may come when, if we do our work
with equal zeal, equal artistic feeling, and equal honesty, our own
names will be added to the list, which already includes theirs, of
artists who have earned the respect and affection of all those whose
everyday life is blessed with the sight of the true and beautiful works
which in age after age they have left behind them as enduring monuments
of their artistic skill.
APPENDIX.
(A.)
CATALOGUE OF DATED EXAMPLES OF SPANISH BUILDINGS, FROM THE TENTH TO THE
SIXTEENTH CENTURY INCLUSIVE.
NOTE.--_The dates of those Examples which are printed in Italics appear
to me to be very uncertain, or are those of buildings which I have not
visited._
DATE. PLACE. REMARKS.
914 BARCELONA Church of San Pablo del Campo, said to have
been built.
983 BARCELONA San Pedro de las Puellas consecrated.
1017 GERONA _Church of Saint Daniel commenced._
1038 GERONA Consecration of first Cathedral, of which remains
exist.
1058 ELNE Consecration of Church.
1063 LEON The Panteon, San Isidoro, appears to have
been finished in this year.
1078 SANTIAGO Cathedral commenced.
1078 SANTIAGO South transept doorways erected.
1085 TOLEDO The Church “Cristo de la Luz” existed
before this date.
1090 AVILA Town walls commenced.
1091 AVILA Cathedral commenced.
1109 TOLEDO Outer circuit of walls.
1117 GERONA _Church of San Pedro de los Galligans commenced._
1117 GERONA Cloisters of Cathedral erected.
1108}
to } TOLEDO Puerta de Visagra erected.
1126}
1120 SALAMANCA Old Cathedral commenced.
1128 SANTIAGO Fabric of Cathedral so far finished as to be
used.
1129 LUGO Cathedral commenced.
1131 TARRAGONA Cathedral commenced.
1136 SALAMANCA _San Tomè de los Caballeros consecrated._
1146 BARCELONA Collegiata of Sta. Aña founded.
1146 VERUELA Abbey commenced.
1149 LEON Church of San Isidoro consecrated in this year.
1156 SALAMANCA _Church of San Adrian consecrated._
1171 VERUELA Abbey first occupied, and probably completed
in this year.
1173 BARCELONA _Royal Chapel of Sta. Agueda, attached to the
palace of the Counts of Barcelona, conpleted._
1173 SALAMANCA _Church of San Martin consecrated._
1174 ZAMORA Cathedral completed.
1175 SANTIAGO Chapel beneath west front of Cathedral
finished about this year.
1177 LUGO Cathedral finished.
1178 SALAMANCA Cloister of old Cathedral in course of erection;
Chapter-house probably erected at same time.
1179 SALAMANCA _Church of S. Thomas of Canterbury consecrated._
1180 BURGOS Convent of Las Huelgas commenced; inhabited
in 1187; formally established as a
Cistercian Convent in 1199.
1180 POBLET _Benedictine Monastery founded._
1188 SANTIAGO Western doors of Cathedral finished.
1188 TUDELA Cathedral consecrated.
1203 LÉRIDA First stone of Cathedral laid.
1208 SEGOVIA Templars’ Church consecrated.
1212 TOLEDO Bridge of San Martin erected.
1219 MONDOÑEDO _Cathedral commenced._
1221 BURGOS First stone of Cathedral laid.
1221 TOLEDO Church of San Roman consecrated.
1227 TOLEDO First stone of Cathedral laid.
1230 BURGOS Cathedral first used in this year.
1235 TARAZONA Cathedral founded.
1239 BARCELONA Chapel of Sta. Lucia, and doorway from
cloister into south transept of Cathedral.
1252-84 AVILA Central Lantern of San Vicente built.
1258 TOLEDO Bridge of Alcantara rebuilt.
1262 VALENCIA First stone of Cathedral laid. South transept
and apse of this date.
1273 LEON Cathedral in progress.
1278 LÉRIDA Cathedral consecrated.
1278 TARRAGONA Nine of the statues of the Apostles in west
front of Cathedral executed.
1287 BARCELONA Nuestra Señora del Carmen founded.
1292 AVILA Considerable works in the Cathedral under
Sancho II., Bishop of Avila, 1292-1353.
1298 BARCELONA New Cathedral commenced.
1303 LEON Cathedral finished (save the towers) before
this date.
1310-27 LÉRIDA Western side and entrance to cloister of Cathedral,
and tower at S.W. angle of cloister,
erected between these years.
1316-46 GERONA Chevet of Cathedral in course of building.
1318 GERONA Choir of San Feliu completed before this date.
1321 PALENCIA First stone of Cathedral laid.
1328 BARCELONA Sta. Maria del Mar commenced, and completed
in 1383.
1329 BARCELONA North transept of Cathedral.
1329 BARCELONA Sta. Maria del Pi commenced, and _consecrated in 1353._
1332 GUADALAJARA Chapel of Holy Trinity in the Church of
Santiago.
1339 BARCELONA Crypt and Chapel of Sta. Eulalia in the Cathedral
completed.
1345 BARCELONA SS. Just y Pastor commenced.
1346 GERONA Retablo of Altar and Baldachin erected.
1349 VALENCIA Puerta de Serranos erected.
1350 LUGO Church of San Domingo consecrated.
1350 ZARAGOZA _East wall decoration executed._
1351 GERONA Stalls in Choir of Cathedral executed.
1366 TOLEDO Synagogue (now Church “del Transito”)
completed.
1368-92 GERONA Steeple of San Feliu in course of building.
1369 BARCELONA Casa Consistorial commenced; finished in 1378.
1374 LA CORUÑA Chapel of the Visitation in Church of Sta.
Maria.
1375 TARRAGONA Completion of Statues in west front of Cathedral.
1380 TOLEDO Bridge of Alcantara repaired.
1381 VALENCIA First stone of the Micalete (tower of the Cathedral)
laid.
1383 BARCELONA Sta. Maria del Mar completed.
1383 BARCELONA The Casa Lonja, or Exchange, founded.
1388 BARCELONA West doorway of San Jayme.
1389 ALCALÁ DE HENARES Tower of Archbishop’s Palace.
1389 TOLEDO Cloister and Chapel of San Blas completed.
1389 TOLEDO Bridge of San Martin built.
1391 LÉRIDA West doorway of Cloister completed.
1397 LÉRIDA Steeple of Cathedral in course of erection.
1397 PAMPLONA Cathedral commenced.
1399 BURGOS _Chancel and Aisles of San Gil founded._
1400 HUESCA Cathedral commenced.
1404 VALENCIA Lantern or Cimborio of Cathedral completed.
1405 TOLEDO Synagogue (now Church of Sta. Maria la
Blanca) converted into a Church, and
much altered.
1410 PALENCIA Stalls in Choir of Cathedral executed.
1415 BURGOS Church of Convent of San Pablo erected.
1416 BARCELONA San Jayme in progress.
1416 LÉRIDA Steeple of Cathedral completed.
1416 MANRESA The Collegiata in progress at this date.
1416 PERPIÑAN Cathedral in progress.
1416 TARRAGONA Reredos of High Altar.
1417 GERONA Nave of Cathedral commenced.
1418 TOLEDO West front of Cathedral commenced.
1424 VALENCIA Tower of Cathedral completed.
1425 TOLEDO The N.W. Steeple of Cathedral commenced.
1431 Cervera _Steeple of Sta. Maria._
1435 BURGOS Convent of San Pablo commenced.
1436 BARCELONA Casa de la Disputacion erected.
1438 OLITE Considerable works in progress.
1440 AVILA Tower of San-Vicente completed.
1440 MEDINA DEL CAMPO Castle “de la Mota.”
1412 BURGOS Spires of Cathedral commenced.
1442 TOLEDO Chapel of Santiago (built by D. Alvaro de
Luna) erected.
1442 VALLADOLID San Pablo commenced.
1444 BARCELONA The Hala de Paños completed.
1444 VALENCIA Puerta de Cuarte.
1448 BARCELONA Cloister of Cathedral completed.
1453 BARCELONA Sta. Maria del Pi consecrated.
1454 BURGOS Convent of la Cartucca, Miraflores, commenced.
1458 GERONA South door of nave of Cathedral.
1459 TOLEDO Façade “de los Leones” (South transept).
1459}
to } VALENCIA West end of nave of the Cathedral erected,
1482} and (probably) the Chapter-house
1461 GUADALAJARA Palace del Infantado.
1463 VALLADOLID San Pablo completed.
1465 AVILA Canopy over the Shrine of San Vicente.
1471 ASTORGA First stone of Cathedral laid.
1472 SEGOVIA Capilla Mayor of El Parral commenced.
1476 TOLEDO San Juan de los Reyes, Toledo, commenced.
1480 BURGOS Stalls in the Coro of Chapel at Miraflores.
1480-92 VALLADOLID College of Sta. Cruz.
1482 VALENCIA The Casa Lonja commenced.
1482-93 AVILA Convent of San Tomás.
1483 TOLEDO Doorway of old Sacristy.
1484 TOLEDO Bridge of Alcantara fortified.
1485 SEGOVIA Vaulting of El Parral finished.
1487 BURGOS Chapel of the Constable.
1488-96 VALLADOLID College of San Gregorio.
1489 TOLEDO Monument of Alvaro de Luna in Chapel of
Santiago in Cathedral.
1489-93 BURGOS Monument of Juan and Isabel in the Church
at Miraflores.
1490 LÉRIDA South Porch.
1494 SEGOVIA Tribune in Church of El Parral rebuilt.
1495 TOLEDO Lower range of Stalls in Coro of Cathedral.
1497 ALCALÁ DE HENARES Church of SS. Just y Pastor commenced.
1497-1512 BURGOS Stalls in Coro of Cathedral.
1498 ALCALÁ DE HENARES College of San Ildefonso commenced.
1499 VALLADOLID Church of San Benito.
1500 TOLEDO Retablo of High Altar.
1503 MEDINA DEL CAMPO Capilla Mayor of Church of S. Antholin.
1504 SANTIAGO Hospital of Santiago.
1504 TOLEDO Entrance to Winter Chapter-Room.
1504 ZARAGOZA The Torre Nueva in course of construction.
1504-10 PALENCIA Cathedral completed.
1505 ZARAGOZA Cimborio, or Lantern, of the Seu, commenced.
1507 SAN SEBASTIAN Church of San Vicente commenced.
1507 SIGÜENZA Cloister of Cathedral completed.
1508 IRUN Church commenced.
1509 ALCALÁ DE HENARES Church of SS. Just y Pastor completed.
1513 LEON San Isidoro, new Choir erected.
1513 SALAMANCA First stone of new Cathedral laid.
1514 PALENCIA Cathedral Chapter-house and Cloister.
1515 HUESCA Cathedral completed.
1518 AVILA Monument of Don Juan in the Church of
San Tomás.
1520 HUESCA The Retablo of the Principal Altar commenced.
1520 TARAZONA _Cathedral Cloister._
1520 ZARAGOZA Cimborio of the Seu completed.
1525 SEGOVIA Cathedral commenced.
1531 TOLEDO Chapel de los Reyes Nuevos.
1533 SANTIAGO Cloisters.
1536 ZARAGOZA Sta. Engracia, Cloister erected.
1543 TOLEDO Upper range of Stalls in Coro of Cathedral.
1548 TOLEDO Rejas of Capilla Mayor and Coro of Cathedral.
1550 TARAZONA Cimborio of Cathedral.
1553 ALCALÁ DE HENARES Patio of University.
1567 BURGOS Lantern or Cimborio completed.
1572-90 MANRESA Steeple of the Seu or Collegiata completed.
1576 VALLADOLID Church of La Magdalena.
1579 GERONA Vault of Cathedral finished.
1586 BURGOS Capilla Mayor in the Church of San Gil.
(B.)
CATALOGUE OF ARCHITECTS, SCULPTORS, AND BUILDERS OF THE CHURCHES, ETC.,
MENTIONED IN THIS VOLUME.
ABIELL [GUILLERMO]. One of the Junta of Architects consulted at
_Gerona._ in A.D. 1416. At this time he was Master of the Works at _Sta.
Maria del Pi_, San Jayme, and the _Hospital of Santa Cruz in Barcelona_.
ALAVA [JUAN DE]. One of the Architects summoned to the Junta at
_Salamanca_ in A.D. 1513. He was a native of Vitoria, and master of the
works of the Cathedral at _Placencia_.
ALEMÁN [JUAN]. Sculptor. Wrought at the western and southern doorways of
Toledo Cathedral, A.D. 1462-66.
ALFONSO [JUAN]. Sculptor. Wrought on the façade of Toledo Cathedral in
A.D. 1418.
ALFONSO [RODRIGO]. Maestro Mayor of _Toledo_ Cathedral, probably the
Architect of the Cloister and Chapel of _San Blas_, the first stone of
which was laid August 14, 1389. He designed the _Carthusian Convent_ of
_Paular_, near Segovia, in A.D. 1390.
ANDINO [CRISTÓBAL DE]. Made the iron Screen of the Capilla Mayor in
_Palencia_ Cathedral in A.D. 1520; the screen of the Chapel of the
Constable at _Burgos_ in 1523; and in 1540 he competed unsuccessfully
with other men for the erection of the Screens and Pulpits of _Toledo_
Cathedral.
ANTIGONI [ANTONIO]. Master of the Works in the town of _Castellon de
Empurias_, and one of the Junta of Architects consulted at Gerona in
A.D. 1416.
ARANDIA [JUAN DE]. Probably a native of Biscay. Architect (?) and
Builder of the Church of _San Benito_ at _Valladolid_, which was
commenced in A.D. 1499. He contracted for the first part of the work for
1,460,000 maravedis, and for the remainder for 500,000.
ARFE [ANTONIO DE]. Silversmith; a native of Leon. His work is thoroughly
Renaissance, and, though much praised, really very uninteresting. Circa
1520-1577.
ARFE [ENRIQUE DE]. A German; father of Antonio, born in 1470-80; dec.
circa 1550. A famous Silversmith. Worked at _Leon_, _Toledo_, &c.
ARGENTA [BARTOLOMÉ]. Master of the works, _Gerona_ Cathedral, 1325 to
1346. He seems to have superintended the erection of most of the Choir
now standing.
BADAJOZ [JUAN DE]. Sculptor and Master of the Works of _Leon_ Cathedral.
Architect of Choir of _San Isidoro, Leon_. In A.D. 1512 he was one of
the Junta of Architects consulted as to rebuilding _Salamanca_
Cathedral. In 1513 he went to Seville to examine the fabric of the
Cathedral, for which he received a fee of 100 ducats. In 1522 he went to
_Salamanca_ to see that the works at the Cathedral were being properly
executed. In 1545 he was Architect of the Monastery at _Exlonza_ near
_Leon_, and calls himself “Architector” in an inscription on its wall.
BALAGUER [PEDRO]. Architect of the Tower of _Valencia_ Cathedral in A.D.
1414. He is called an “Arquitecto perito” in a contemporary document,
and was paid for going to _Lérida_, _Narbonne_, and elsewhere, to
examine their steeples with a view to his own work.
BARTOLOMÉ. Sculptor, _Tarragona_. Executed in A.D. 1278 nine of the
Statues of the Western Doorway.
BARTOLOMÉ. Silversmith, who executed part of the Retablo of _Gerona_
Cathedral in A.D. 1325.
BENES [PEDRO]. Made the Canopy over the Altar at _Gerona_ Cathedral
before A.D. 1340.
BERNARDUS [FRATER]. Magister Operis of _Tarragona_ Cathedral in A.D.
1256.
BERRUGUETE [ALONSO]. Architect, Sculptor, and Painter. Went to Italy in
A.D. 1504, and studied at Rome and Florence: afterwards, in A.D. 1520,
returned to Spain, and held the appointment of Maestro Mayor to Charles
V. Executed the Stalls and Retablos of _Sun Benito_, _Valladolid_, in
1526-32, and the upper range of Stalls on the Epistle side of _Toledo_
Cathedral in 1543. His works are numerous, and he was the great reviver
of Pagan architecture in Spain.
BLAY [PEDRO]. Architect of the Casa de la Disputacion, _Barcelona_, in
1436 according to Cean Bermudez. But this seems impossible, unless there
were two of the same name, as one was Maestro Mayor of the Cathedral in
1584.
BOFFIY [GUILLERMO]. Architect of Nave of _Gerona_ Cathedral in A.D.
1416. It was to discuss and advise upon his plan that a Junta of twelve
Architects was summoned; their opinions are given in the Appendix [H],
and in the end his plan was carried into execution.
BONCKS [ARNAU]. A native of Ax (in the county of Foix). Directed the
works at the Mole of _Tarragona_, for which he was also the contractor,
in A.D. 1507.
BONIFACIO [MARTIN SANCHEZ]. Maestro Mayor of _Toledo_ Cathedral from
1481 to 1494. He executed the doorway of the old Sacristy, circa 1484.
BONIFACIO [PEDRO]. Painter on Glass. Executed some of the windows in the
nave of _Toledo_ Cathedral in A.D. 1439.
BONIFE [MATIAS]. Made the lower range of Stalls in the Coro of
_Barcelona_ Cathedral in A.D. 1457.
BORGOÑA [FELIPE DE]. Sculptor of the upper range of Stalls on the Gospel
side of _Toledo_ Cathedral. He was consulted as to the design for the
Cimborio or lantern of _Burgos_ Cathedral, and executed the Sculptures
under the arches of the apse in the same church. He is said to have been
Maestro Mayor of _Seville_ Cathedral (?), and was one of the Architects
consulted as to _Salamanca_ new Cathedral in A.D. 1512. He died in 1543.
BORGOÑA [JUAN DE]. Painted in A.D. 1495 the Cloister of _Toledo_
Cathedral. In 1508 painted five subjects for _Avila_ Cathedral. He dec.
circa 1533.
BRUXELAS [JUAN DE]. Executed the Retablo of the Chapel of _San
Ildefonso, Toledo_, in A.D. 1500.
CAMPERO [JUAN]. One of the Junta of Architects consulted at _Salamanca_
in A.D. 1512, and afterwards appointed assistant to the Architect there.
In 1529 he was engaged as builder at _El Parral, Segovia_. In 1530 he
contracted with the Chapter of _Segovia_ for the removal and re-erection
of the old _Cloisters_. He had been employed by Cardinal Ximenes as
Architect and Builder at _Torrelunga_.
CANET [ANTONIUS]. Sculptor of _Barcelona_. One of the Junta at _Gerona_
in 1416, and Master of the Fabric of the Cathedral at _Urgel_.
CANTARELL [GIBALT]. Architect engaged on Steeple at _Manresa_ from A.D.
1572 to 1590.
CARPINTERO [MACÍAS]. A native of Medina del Campo, and Architect and
Sculptor of the College of _San Gregorio, Valladolid_, in A.D. 1488. He
is said to have committed suicide in A.D. 1490.
CARREÑO [FERNANDO DE]. Master of the Works at the _Castle, Medina del
Campo_, 1440.
CASTAÑEDA [JUAN DE]. Architect at _Burgos_ A.D. 1539. He was one of the
Cathedral architects, and wrought under Felipe de Borgoña in the
rebuilding of the Cimborio, which he completed in A.D. 1567. He is said
to have designed the _Gateway of Sta. Maria at Burgos_.
CASTAYLS [MAESTRO JAYME]. Sculptor, _Tarragona_, in 1375. Executed by
contract some of the Statues in the Western Doorway of the Cathedral,
under the direction of Bernardo de Vallfogona, the Master of the Works.
He executed three of the Apostles and all the Prophets, and bound
himself to make them all life-size.
CEBRIAN [PEDRO]. Master of the Works, _Leon_ Cathedral, A.D. 1175.
CENTELLAS [EL MAESTRO]. Made the Stalls for the Choir of _Palencia_
Cathedral in A.D. 1410. A native of Valencia.
CERVIA [BERENGUER]. Made the terra-cotta Statues in the South Door of
GERONA Cathedral in A.D. 1458. He also made a Statue of Sta. Eulalia and
a Cross of terra-cotta for a doorway in _Barcelona_ Cathedral.
CESPIDES [DOMINGO]. Maker of the iron Reja, east of the Coro, _Toledo_
Cathedral, in A.D. 1548.
CIPRES [PEDRO]. Maestro Mayor of _Gerona_ Cathedral in A.D. 1430.
ÇOLIVELLA [GUILLERMO]. Master of the Works at _Lérida_ Cathedral, A.D.
1397. He had contracted in A.D. 1391 for the execution of some Statues
for a doorway, and was evidently therefore a working Sculptor.
COLONIA [FRANCISCO DE]. Said to have been related to Juan and Simon de
Colonia. He was an Architect of Burgos, and was employed in A.D. 1515,
and again in 1522, by the Chapter of _Salamanca_ Cathedral, to go there
and examine the works to see that J. G. de Hontañon was executing them
according to the plan.
COLONIA [JUAN DE]. Designed the upper part of the Western Steeples of
_Burgos_ Cathedral. They were commenced in A.D. 1442, and in 1456 one
Spire was completed, and the other nearly so. _San Pablo, Valladolid_,
is also said by some to be his work in 1463. He was Architect of the
Chapel of the Constable at _Burgos_ in 1487, and made the design for the
Church at _Miraflores_, for which he was paid 3350 maravedis. He is said
to have been a German by birth, and to have been brought to Spain by
Bishop Alonso de Cartagena when he returned from the Council of Basel.
COLONIA [SIMON DE]. Completed the Church at _Miraflores_ from A.D. 1488
to 1500. He was son of Juan de Colonia, and died before A.D. 1512.
COMAS [PEDRO]. Maestro Mayor, _San Feliu, Gerona_, in A.D. 1385. He
seems to have been Maestro Mayor of _Gerona_ Cathedral from A.D. 1368 to
1397.
COMPTE [PEDRO]. Architect at _Valencia_, employed on the Cathedral, and
one of the Architects consulted as to the rebuilding of the Cimborio of
_Zaragoza_, and the Architect of the Lonja at _Valencia_. In 1486 he
superintended the laying of a marble pavement in the Cathedral there. He
is described in a contemporary MS. as being “Molt sabut en l’art de la
pedra.” He was made perpetual “Alcaide” of the Lonja, or Exchange, in
1498, with a salary of 30 sueldos a year. He was “Maestro Mayor” of the
city, and was employed on some engineering works for it: one of them was
the bringing the waters of the river Cabriel to augment those of the
Guadalaviar, and in A.D. 1500 he was engaged on another similar work.
COVARRUBIAS [ALONSO DE]. A native of Burgos. He was one of the
Architects consulted as to the erection of _Salamanca_ Cathedral in
1513. He competed with Diego de Siloe for the erection of the _Chapel
“de los Reyes Nuevos,” Toledo_ Cathedral, and succeeded, 1531-4. Was
Maestro Mayor of _Toledo_ from 1534 to 1566. Employed on the
Archbishop’s Palace at _Alcalá_. Employed by the King on the Alcazars at
_Madrid_ and _Toledo_ in 1537. He was paid 25,000 maravedis a year, and
compelled to attend his work six months in the year, during which time
he received four reals a day for maintenance. He married Maria de Egas,
a daughter, it is thought, of Anequin de Egas; and his son was
afterwards Bishop of Segovia. Various Royal writs in reference to his
work and payment are given by Cean Bermudez, Arq. de Esp., i. 304-7.
CRUZ [DIEGO DE LA]. Assisted Gil de Siloe in his works in the church at
_Miraflores, Burgos_, A.D. 1496 to 1499.
CUMBA [PEDRO DE]. “Magister et fabricator” of the Cathedral at _Lérida_
in A.D. 1203.
DEO [PETRUS DE]. Master of the Works at _San Isidoro, Leon_, in A.D.
1065. He also built a bridge called “de Deo tamben,” and seems to have
had a great repute for sanctity.
DOLFIN [EL MAESTRO]. Painter on Glass. Commenced painting the windows of
_Toledo_ Cathedral in A.D. 1418.
EGAS [ANEQUIN DE]. Of Brussels. Maestro Mayor of _Toledo_ Cathedral in
1459, and erected the façade “de los Leones” about that year. He had an
“aparejador” (or clerk of the works), Juan (or Alfonso?) Fernandez de
Llena.
EGAS [ANTON]. In 1509 was engaged at _Toledo_ Cathedral, and received
two writs from the King ordering him to go to _Salamanca_ to assist
other Architects in deciding on the plan of the new Cathedral. In A.D.
1510, conjointly with Alonso Rodriguez, he drew a plan for the
Cathedral.
EGAS [ENRIQUE DE]. Succeeded his father as Maestro Mayor of _Toledo_ in
A.D. 1494, and held the office until his death in A.D. 1534. He was
summoned with other Architects to decide what should be done after the
fall of the Cimborio at _Seville_. He built the Hospital “de los
Espiritos,” at _Toledo_, in 1504-1514, and the Royal Hospital at
_Santiago_ in 1519. Altered the Mozarabic Chapel at _Toledo_, and built
the Hospital of _Sta. Cruz_, _Valladolid_; went in 1515 with two other
Architects to examine J. G. de Hontañon’s work at _Seville_, for which
he was paid 120 ducats of gold. He and Juan de Alava then made plans
together for the _Capilla Mayor_ at _Seville_. He was ordered by the
King to go to _Zaragoza_ to examine the Cathedral, but endeavoured to
excuse himself on the ground that he had the Royal Hospital at
_Santiago_ in hand. In 1529 he appears to have gone again to _Salamanca_
to see whether the work at the Cathedral was being done perfectly by J.
G. de Hontañon. He went to _Malaga_ on another occasion with the same
object. In a Royal writ issued in his favour, in A.D. 1552, he is called
“Maestro de Canteria”--Master of Masonry.
ESCOBEDO [FR. JUAN DE]. A monk of the Convent of El Parral, Segovia. He
repaired the Roman Aqueduct at _Segovia_ in A.D. 1481.
ESTACIO. Native of Alexandria, Engineer, constructed the Mole at
_Barcelona_, 1477.
FABRE, OR FABRA [JAYME]. Was Architect of the Dominican Convent at
_Palma, Mallorca_, in A.D. 1317. This seems to have had a single nave of
enormous width. He was ordered in 1307 to go to _Barcelona_ to act as
Architect at the Cathedral. In 1339 he assisted at the translation of
the remains of Sta. Eulalia to the crypt under the high altar. He is
said to have died circa 1388. He seems to have been the architect from
whose work most of the later Catalan buildings were derived.
FAVARIIS [JACOBO DE]. A native of Narbonne, and Architect of the Chevet
of _Gerona_ Cathedral in A.D. 1320.
FONT [CARLOS]. Of Montearagon. Was consulted with others as to the
rebuilding of the Cimborio of _Zaragoza_ Cathedral in A.D. 1500.
FONT [JUAN]. Architect engaged on Steeple at _Manresa_ in A.D. 1572-90.
FORMENT [DAMIAN]. Executed the alabaster Reredos of _Huesca_ Cathedral
in 1520-1533.
FRANCES [PEDRO]. Painter on Glass. Executed some of the windows of
_Toledo_ Cathedral, circa 1459, in company with two Germans, Pablo and
Cristóbal.
FRANCK [JUAN]. One of the Architects employed on the Tower of _Valencia_
Cathedral, between A.D. 1381 and 1418. He was employed in 1389 at the
Monastery of _Guadalupe_.
GALLEGO [JUAN]. Master of the Works at _El Parral, Segovia_, in A.D.
1459-1472.
GALLEGO [PEDRO]. “Gobernador de los Torres” at _Leon_ Cathedral in A.D.
1175.
GARCIA [ALVAR]. Architect of _Avila_ Cathedral in A.D. 1091, a native of
Navarre.
GOMAR [FRANCISCO]. Executed the Porch in front of the South doorway of
_Lérida_ Cathedral, in A.D. 1490.
GOMEZ [ALVAR]. Maestro Mayor of _Toledo_ Cathedral; in A.D. 1418 he
designed the West Front and Tower of the Cathedral. The papers in the
archives of the Cathedral speak of him as “aparejador de las canteras,”
which seems to imply that he was a superintendent of masons. He was
appointed to this office in A.D. 1425, and is the first recorded to have
held it; from his time the names of the architects of Toledo Cathedral
are all known.
GUADALUPE [PEDRO DE]. Made additional Stalls for _Palencia_ Cathedral,
and moved the old stalls from the choir into the nave, in A.D. 1518.
GUAL [BARTOLOMÉ]. One of the Architects summoned to the Junta at
_Gerona_ in A.D. 1416. At this date he was Maestro Mayor of _Barcelona_
Cathedral, and calls himself “lapicida et magister operis.”
GUAS [JUAN]. Architect of the Convent of San Juan de los Reyes,
_Toledo_, commenced in A.D. 1476. His portrait (together with those of
his wife and children) is preserved in a mural painting in the Convent.
GUINGUAMPS [JOANNES DE]. “Lapicida” of the town of _Narbonne_, and one
of the Junta of Architects at _Gerona_ in A.D. 1416.
GUMIEL [PEDRO]. Architect of SS. Just y Pastor, at _Alcalá de Henares_,
in A.D. 1497-1509. He was “Regidor” of the city in 1492, and Architect
to Cardinal Ximenes, and both their names were inscribed on the first
stone of the College of _San Ildefonso_ at _Alcalá_, which was laid in
1497. He died circa 1516.
GUTIERREZ [ANTONIO]. Executed the Entrance to the Summer Chapter-house,
_Toledo_ Cathedral, in A.D. 1504.
HENRICUS. “Magister operis” of _Leon_ Cathedral; he deceased in A.D.
1277.
HOLANDA [ALBERTO DE]. Painter on Glass, of Burgos. Executed several
windows in A.D. 1520 for _Avila_ Cathedral at a charge of 82 maravedis
the foot.
HONTAÑON [JUAN GIL DE]. Was Maestro Mayor of _Salamanca_ Cathedral when
it was resolved to rebuild it. He made plans, which are still (it is
said) preserved, with the signatures of four Architects who were called
in to advise upon them. He seems, however, to have followed some plans
prepared in A.D. 1510 by Alonso Rodriguez and Anton Egas, and to have
been appointed Architect in 1513, after having given a joint report with
nine other Architects on the mode of construction of the Cathedral.
Subsequently other Architects, Martin de Palencia, Francisco de Colonia,
Juan de Badajoz, and others, were summoned to _Salamanca_ by the Chapter
to certify that he was adhering to the plan originally agreed to. In one
of their reports they speak of a plan made by Juan Gil, of which they
approve. In 1513, after the fall of the Cimborio at _Seville_, he was
summoned (after a Junta of four Architects had reported) to superintend
the work, and before 1522 he made plans for the new Cathedral at
_Segovia_, which was commenced in that year. He deceased in 1531.
HONTAÑON [JUAN GIL DE]. Son of Juan Gil. Assisted his father in his work
at _Salamanca_.
HONTAÑON [RODRIGO GIL DE]. Second son of Juan Gil. Continued his
father’s works at _Salamanca_ (with a salary of 30,000 maravedis and a
house) and _Segovia_; he erected the Pagan façade of the College at
_Alcalá de Henares_, and churches in various towns. In the paper
appointing him “Maestro Mayor” of _Salamanca_ Cathedral, he is called
“Master of Masonry.” His will proves that he contracted for as well as
designed some buildings, as he complains bitterly of the losses he has
sustained in this way, especially in the Church of _San Julian_ at
_Toro_, for which he could not get paid. This will is dated May 27,
1577.
JUAN [PEDRO]. Sculptor. Executed the Reredos of _Tarragona_ Cathedral in
1426-36.
LAPI [GERI]. Embroiderer, of Florence. He made an Altar-cloth for the
Collegiate Church at _Manresa_, which still exists, and is inscribed
with his name.
LLENA [JUAN FERNANDEZ DE]. “Aparejador” or assistant to Anequin de Egas,
Architect of _Toledo_ Cathedral in A.D. 1459.
LLOBET [MARTIN]. Completed the Micalete at _Valencia_ in A.D. 1424. He
seems to have been a mason, and contracted for the execution of the
work.
LOQUER [MIGUEL]. Made the Canopies of the Upper Stalls in the Coro of
_Barcelona_ Cathedral in A.D. 1483.
LUNA [HURTADO DE]. Maestro Mayor of the Church at _Irun_ in A.D. 1508.
MAEDA [JUAN DE]. Assistant to Diego de Siloe, who by his will, in A.D.
1563, left him all his plans and designs.
MANSO [PEDRO]. Enlarged the Reredos in _Palencia_ in A.D. 1518.
MATHEUS. Master of the Works of _Santiago_ Cathedral, from A.D. 1168 to
1188.
MATIENZO [G. FERNANDEZ DE]. Architect of Church at _Miraflores_, from
A.D. 1466 to 1488, after the death of Juan de Colonia.
MOTA [GUILLERMUS DE LA]. “Socius magistri” of _Tarragona_ Cathedral, and
one of the Junta of Architects at _Gerona_ in A.D. 1416. He completed
the Retablo of _Tarragona_ Cathedral (commenced by Pedro Juan in 1426).
NARBONNE [ENRIQUE OF]. Architect of Chevet of _Gerona_ Cathedral in A.D.
1316.
NAVARRO [MIGUEL]. Contracted for the erection of the Cloisters of _San
Francesco el Grande, Valencia_, in A.D. 1421.
NIETO [ALONSO]. Appointed “Obrero Mayor” of the Works at the Castle “de
la Mota,” _Medina del Campo_, in A.D. 1479.
OLOTZAGA [JUAN DE]. Designed and commenced the Cathedral at _Huesca_ in
A.D. 1400. He is said to have carved the statues for the façade.
OROZCO [JUAN DE]. One of the Junta of Architects assembled at
_Salamanca_ in A.D. 1512.
ORTIZ [PABLO]. Executed the Monuments of the Constable Alvaro de Luna
and his wife, in the _Chapel of Santiago_ in _Toledo_ Cathedral. He
obtained this work in a competition, and contracted for its execution in
A.D. 1489.
PARADISO [MATEO]. Architect of the Tower on the Bridge of Alcantara,
_Toledo_, in A.D. 1217.
PEÑAFREYTA [PEDRO DE]. Master of the Works of _Lérida_ Cathedral,
deceased in A.D. 1286.
PEREZ [PEDRO] or “PETRUS PETRI.” Master of the Works of _Toledo_
Cathedral. He deceased in A.D. 1290.
PITUENGA [FLORIN DE]. Superintendent of Works in building the Walls of
_Avila_ in A.D. 1090. He is said to have been a Frenchman.
PLANA [FRANCISCO DE]. A Catalan, Maestro Mayor of _Gerona_ Cathedral
circa A.D. 1346-1368.
RAYMUNDO. Master of the Works of _Lugo_ Cathedral, which was commenced
in A.D. 1129. The agreement for his payment is given at p. 131. He was
evidently the Architect, and not the builder, of the Cathedral.
RIO [FRANCISCO DEL]. Built the Steeple of La Magdalena, _Valladolid_,
under contract, and according to the plans of Rodrigo Gil de Hontañon,
in 1570.
ROAN [GUILLEN DE]. Maestro Mayor of _Leon_ Cathedral; he deceased in
A.D. 1431, and on his monument he is called “Maestro” of Leon and
“aparejador” of a chapel at _Tordesillas_, in which he was buried.
RODRIGO. Sculptor of the lower range of Stalls in the Coro of _Toledo_
Cathedral in A.D. 1495.
RODRIGUEZ [ALONSO]. Maestro Mayor of _Seville_ Cathedral in A.D. 1503.
In 1510, at the command of the King, he went to _Salamanca_ with Anton
Egas, and prepared a plan for rebuilding the Cathedral, and afterwards
went to the island of _San Domingo_ to build a Church at _Sanlucar_.
RODRIGUEZ [GASPAR.] Made the Iron Screen across the Coro of _Palencia_
Cathedral in A.D. 1555.
RODRIGUEZ [JUAN]. Built the Church of _San Pablo, Burgos_, between A.D.
1415 and 1435.
ROMANO [CASANDRO]. Superintendent of Works in building the Walls of
_Avila_ in A.D. 1090.
ROQUE [EL MAESTRO]. Built the Cloister of _Barcelona_ Cathedral, which
was completed in A.D. 1448. He was appointed Master of the Works in A.D.
1388.
RUAN [CARLOS GALTES DE]. Master of the Works at _Lérida_ Cathedral A.D.
1397 to 1416. He was employed on the Campanile.
RUESGA [JUAN DE]. An inhabitant of _Segovia_. Was employed by the monks
of _El Parral_ to reconstruct the Gallery for the Coro in their Church
in A.D. 1494; he also completed _Palencia_ Cathedral A.D. 1506-1510, and
seems to have been a builder rather than an architect.
SAGRERA [GUILLERMO]. Master of the Works of _S. John, Perpiñan_, in A.D.
1416. In the same year he served on the Junta of Architects at _Gerona_.
In 1426 commenced the Lonja or Exchange at _Palma_ in _Mallorca_, for
which he was both Architect and Contractor, and carried it on until A.D.
1448 or 1450, when he quarrelled and went to law with his employers. He
then went to _Naples_, and commenced the _Castel Nuovo_ there in 1450,
of which he is described as “Protomagister” in a Royal writ of that
year.
SALÓRZANO [MARTIN DE]. Contracted to complete _Palencia_ Cathedral in
A.D. 1504, and deceased in 1506.
SANCHEZ [BONIFACIO]. Was Maestro Mayor of _Toledo_ Cathedral in A.D.
1481-94, and designed the Entrance to the old Sacristy.
SANCHEZ [MARTIN]. Executed the Stalls in the Coro of the Church at
_Miraflores_, near _Burgos_, in A.D. 1480.
SANCHEZ [PEDRO]. “Mayordomo” of the Castle at _Burgos_ during its
construction in A.D. 1295.
SAN JUAN [PEDRO DE]. A native of Picardy, and Maestro Mayor of _Gerona_
Cathedral in A.D. 1397.
SANTA CELAY [MIGUEL DE]. Architect of the Church of _San Vicente, San
Sebastian_, in A.D. 1507.
SANTILLANA [JUAN DE]. Executed the painted glass at _Miraflores,
Burgos_, circa 1480.
SARAVIA [RODRIGO DE]. One of the Junta of Architects assembled at
_Salamanca_ in A.D. 1512.
SILOE [DIEGO DE]. Son of Gil de Siloe the Sculptor. One of the revivers
of Pagan art in Spain. He executed various works in _Granada_,
_Seville_, and _Malaga_, and deceased in A.D. 1563.
SILOE [GIL DE]. Sculptor of the Monuments of Juan and Isabel, and of
Alfonso their son, in the Church at _Miraflores, Burgos_, and of the
Retablo in the same Church, between A.D. 1486 and 1499.
TORNERO [JUAN]. One of the Junta of Architects at _Salamanca_ in A.D.
1512.
TUDELILLA. Of _Tarazona_. Architect of the Cloister of _Sta. Engracia,
Zaragoza_, in A.D. 1536.
URRUTIA [JUAN DE]. Architect of the Church of _San Vicente, San
Sebastian_, A.D. 1507.
VALDEVIESO [JUAN DE]. Executed Stained-glass in the Church at
_Miraflores_ in A.D. 1480.
VALDOMAR. Architect of West end of Nave of _Valencia_ Cathedral in A.D.
1459.
VALLEJO [JUAN DE]. One of the Architects of _Burgos_ Cathedral. He was
consulted as to the rebuilding of _Salamanca_ Cathedral in 1512, and
wrought under Felipe de Borgoña in rebuilding the Cimborio of _Burgos_
Cathedral, between A.D. 1539 and 1567. He built the Renaissance Gateway
on the East side of the South Transept between 1514 and 1524.
VALL-LLEBRERA [PEDRO DE]. Architect of the Steeple of _Sta. Maria
Cervera_, A.D. 1431.
VALLERAS [ARNALDUS DE]. “Lapicida” and “Magister operis” of the
Collegiata at _Manresa_. One of the Junta of Architects consulted at
_Gerona_ in A.D. 1416.
VALLFOGONA [BERNARDO DE]. Maestro Mayor of _Tarragona_ Cathedral in A.D.
1375.
VALLFOGONA [PEDRO DE]. Executed Reredos of High Altar, _Tarragona_, and
was one of the Junta of Architects at _Gerona_ in A.D. 1416.
VALMESEDA [JUAN DE]. Executed the Statues in the Reredos, _Palencia_
Cathedral, in A.D. 1518.
VANTIER [ROLLINUS]. Maestro Mayor of _Gerona_ Cathedral in A.D. 1427.
XULBE [JOHANNES DE]. One of the Junta of Architects assembled at
_Gerona_ in A.D. 1416. He describes himself as son of Paschasius de
Xulbe and “Lapicida.”
XULBE [PASCHASIUS DE]. Master of the Works of Church at _Tortosa_, and
one of the Junta of Architects at _Gerona_ in A.D. 1416.
ZACOMA [PEDRO]. Architect of the Tower of _San Feliu, Gerona_, in A.D.
1368.
(C.)
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW CATHEDRAL AT
SALAMANCA.
_Royal Order of Ferdinand the Catholic, requiring Alfonso Rodriguez
to go to Salamanca to choose the site and to make a design for the
Construction of the Cathedral._
The KING to the MASTER MAJOR of the Works of the Church of Seville.
Since it has now to be decided how the Church of Salamanca may be made,
in order that the building and its design may be made as it ought, I
agree that you may be present there. I charge and command you that,
instantly leaving all other things, you may come to the said city of
Salamanca, and, jointly with the other persons who are there, you may
see the site where the said church has to be built, and may make a
drawing for it, and in all things may give your judgment how it may be
the most suited to the Divine worship and to the ornature of the said
church; which, having come to pass, then your salary shall be paid;
which I shall receive return for in this service.
Done in Valladolid, the 23rd day of the month of November, 1509,
&c.[456]
_Order of the Queen Doña Juana to the same._
Recites that the King, her Lord and Father, had given an order, which
she repeats, quoting the document above given, and then proceeds:--“And
now, on the part of the Church of the said city of Salamanca, relation
has been made me, that, although the said order was notified to you,
until now you have not come to do anything in the business of which
mention is made therein, making various excuses and delays; and it has
been demanded of me, as for this cause of your not having come there is
much delay in the work of the said church, to order you at once to come
to the said city of Salamanca to make yourself acquainted with the
affairs contained in the said order, as was by it commanded, or as my
will might be; which, being seen by those of my council, it was agreed
that I should order this my letter to be given for the said reason; and
I find it good, as I command you, that immediately that this my letter
shall be made known to you, without making any excuse or delay, you
shall go to the said city of Salamanca, according and as by the said
order was commanded, in order that, conjointly with the other persons
who have to make themselves acquainted with the before-said matter, thou
mayest give a plan how the said church may be made, which done, the
salary will be paid you for the said church, which you are entitled to
have for the coming, and staying, and returning to your house; and thou
mayest not fail in this, under pain of my displeasure, and of 50,000
maravedis for my treasury.
“Given in the most noble city of Valladolid, 26th day of the month of
January, from the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ 1510 years.”[457]
_Writ of Ferdinand the Catholic to Anton Egas, ordering him to go
to Salamanca to choose the site and make the plan for the
Cathedral, November 23rd, 1509._
Anton Egas is ordered to go at once, and, jointly with the other
architects there assembled, make a plan, &c.; which done, his salary,
which he receives on service, shall be paid him there. This writ is
endorsed as having been served on his two maids, Maria and Catalina, he
and his wife being both away.
_Declaration or Information which Alonso Rodriguez and Anton Egas
made before the Chapter of Salamanca on the mode of constructing
the Cathedral._
In Salamanca, the second day of the month of May, 1510, Señor Gonzalo de
San Vicente, representative of S. A., being with the Chapter, present
the Reverend Señors D. Alfonso Pereira, Dean of Salamanca, and other
persons, dignitaries and beneficiaries, who were in Chapter, in order to
acquaint themselves touching the order and plan of their church, oath
being taken in the due form by the Señors Alonso Rodriguez, Maestro of
Seville, and Anton Egas, Maestro of Toledo, persons deputed by his
Highness for the ordering and planning of the said church, that all
affection and passion, partiality and interest, or any other cause,
being well and faithfully postponed, they determine and declare,
according to God and their conscience, the most commodious plan and site
that may be fitting for the adornment of the said church, and for the
utility of it and of this city, without prejudice and wrong to the
Schools of this University of Salamanca; both of whom made the said
oath, and replied to its confession, and said, “So I swear, and Amen.”
And under the said oath they presented a plan and outline of the said
church, drawn on parchment to the heights and widths of the naves, and
thicknesses of the walls, and projections of the buttresses, the whole
taken in writing by me the said notary; the which they affirmed by their
names in my presence, and said that the site marked out by them for
where the said church--our Lord permitting--ought to be, would not do
any wrong or prejudice to the said Schools, rather they would be
benefited and adorned, because the site of the said church commences ten
feet further from the gate “del Apeadero” of the Schools, being set
back from the street by the said Schools fifty feet, in front of the
said church, from the line of the church as it now is. And because there
was a diversity in the opinion of these Masters as to the proportion of
length to breadth in the Capilla mayor, they agreed to meet in Toledo in
ten days, and to select an umpire between them if it were necessary, so
that the decision should be arrived at with more circumspection, and
sent within fifteen days to the said Señor San Vicente, or to this
Chapter.[458]
_Declaration or Judgment which was pronounced in Salamanca in a
Junta which was held Sept. 3rd, 1512, by the Masters of
Architecture Anton Egas, Juan Gil de Hontañon, Juan de Badajos,
Juan de Alava, Juan de Orozco, Alonzo de Covarrubias, Juan Tornero,
Rodrigo de Saravia, and Juan Campero, as to the mode of
constructing the Cathedral._
That which appears to the Masters who were called and assembled by the
most reverend and most magnificent in Christ, Father and Lord Don
Francisco de Bobadilla, by the grace of God, and of the Holy Church of
Rome, Bishop of Salamanca, and of the Council of the Queen our Lady, and
by the Reverend the Dean and Chapter of the Church of Salamanca, to give
the plan of the site and building of this holy church and temple, which
it has been unanimously decided by the said Lord Bishop and Chapter--our
Lord helping--to make and begin, is as follows:--
Firstly, the said Masters decided that the site of the church should be
in length as far as the church of San Cebrian, and in width as far as
the Schools.
_Item._--That the three clear naves should begin from the line of the
tower unto the place of the Schools, so that all the three doors of the
front may show themselves and be clear of the tower.
_Item._--They determine that the church should be directed and turned as
much as possible to the east; and it appears to them that it can turn
directly to the said east.
_Item._--They determine that the principal nave may have fifty feet in
width in the clear, and a hundred and ten in height.
_Item._--That the side naves shall have thirty-seven feet in clear
width, and seventy feet in height, or seventy-five, not being of the
height of the other.
_Item._--They determine that the chapels opened in the side walls may
have twenty-seven feet in clear width, and forty-three or forty-five in
height.
_Item._--That the three gable walls of the west front may have all three
seven feet of thickness, and the side walls throughout the church six
feet; but to some of the said Masters it appeared that the end walls
should be eight feet in thickness.
_Item._--That the buttresses of the end walls may project beyond the
wall twelve feet, and in thickness may have seven feet in front.
_Item._--That the buttresses of all the side walls of the church may be
five feet thick in front, and project six feet beyond the wall outside.
_Item._--That the divisions of the chapels in the walls may be seven
feet thick.
_Item._--That the four principal columns of the Cimborio may be
eleven-and-a-half feet thick.
_Item._--They determine that the head of the Trascoro may be
octagonal.[459]
_Item._--They determine that the Capilla mayor may have in length and
breadth two chapels of the sides.
_Item._--That the chapels in the walls of the Trascoro may be
twenty-seven feet in depth from wall to wall, and that in the spaces of
the walls and buttresses in the angles of the octagons, which are formed
between the chapels on the outside, sacristies for each chapel may be
made.
_Item._--They declare that the feet of which in this their declaration
and determination mention is made, are to be taken as the third of a
yard; and (marking out the form of the said church) the said Masters
declare that from the mark towards the door of the Schools to the first
step there may be seven yards and a third, which is twenty-two feet.
_Item._--They declare that the wall of the west front within the tower
has to be begun forty-nine feet from the corner of the said tower on the
inside, and should be in thickness from there forward so much as to
leave forty-nine feet of the tower visible.
_Item._--They declare that the wall of the side nave, from towards the
old church, has to come with the side of the tower, and has to contract
itself the thickness of the said wall in the said tower.
And inasmuch as some persons, as well members of the Chapter as out of
it, have held certain opinions in regard to the site of the said
building, and where it ought to stand, the said Lord Bishop and Chapter,
desiring to avoid and escape such opinions as at present and in future
may impede the order and form of the said building, command the said
Masters to give the reasons and motives that may have moved them to
direct and propose the site and position determined on by them, and not
the other places, lines, or sites suggested; and that they should say
specifically for their satisfaction why, with all quietness and
willingness, the order, form, and site laid down by them may be
followed. The which said Masters, in order to satisfy the persons who
either held or might hold opinions contrary to their own, gave the
following reasons:--
Firstly. That making or putting the church in another part or site than
that determined on by them, it and its cloister would be separated from
the view of the city, and would be concealed; that it could not be seen
round about, only the end wall by itself, and the Chevet by itself, and
there would be no entire view.
The second reason is, that the said church would be put behind the
schools from the Crossing almost to the end, where the best view and the
most frequented part of the church ought to be, because there the doors
have to be placed.
The third reason is, that of the cloister--which already exists--the two
parts are so placed that it would leave a narrow passage between the
church and the Archbishop’s chapel, and the library and Chapter-house,
and the said chapels would remain separated, and one would enter them
from the narrow passage, and in a roundabout way; for though it might be
desired to make a door from the Chevet, it could not be done, because
the sacristy would prevent it.
The fourth reason which they give is, that if the said church has to be
moved to another site opposed to that declared and determined on by
them, the tower would have to be destroyed, which is a good and singular
work, and could not be rebuilt without a great sum of maravedis, and the
church could not be without a tower.
The fifth reason is, that if the said church has to be moved to another
site, it will be necessary to take down the house of the said Lord
Bishop, and to restore it opposite the front of the church; and in order
to restore it, besides the great sum of maravedis it would cost, it
would be necessary to destroy fourteen houses, the rent of which is of
much value, and this would be costly to the church, and involve loss to
the treasury of the Chapter.
The sixth reason is, that in order to make the cloister on another site
contrary to their determination, many houses must be taken; and in order
to make it on the south, it would be necessary to go into it by what is
called the River-door, and afterwards to be more away from the city, and
out of view; and it would be very costly to make the foundations of such
great depth, and to raise the walls to the level of the church.
The seventh reason which they give is, that the Chevet of the church
would cover the door of the chapel of the Archbishop and the library in
order to join them.
The eighth reason which they give is, that the Crossing would not come
in the line of any street, and there would be no way out by way of the
cloister, because the new and old cloister would stop it; and supposing
a remedy to be sought, by separating the new cloister, it would be so
high when they had to go out, that it would have at least more than
fifteen steps, and the entrance would be by a narrow passage; because on
one part would be the new cloister, and on the other part of the old
cloister the chapel of the Archbishop.
The ninth reason which they give is, that the church would encroach upon
the principal street of the schools, which comes before the house of his
Lordship, and the other street, “_del Desafiadero_;” so that if there
was none at the apse of the church there would be no way out; and the
height of the church, putting it so much between the sun and the schools
on the south, would take away much of their light, and darken them much.
The which reasons they give against the opinions of them who say or
desire to say that the site of the said church should be towards the
house of the Lord Bishop, and towards the street “_del Desafiadero_;”
and in order to answer the other opinion of some who argue that the site
of the said church could go through the cloister, which is already built
to the River bridge, because this would not be a convenient site for the
church; and in order to oppose the opinion for it, they give the
following reasons:--
Firstly. That it would be more separated from the city, and would not go
well with the schools, and would lack the appearance which it would have
going, as is agreed, towards the schools.
The second reason which they give is, that it would stand at an angle
with the schools, and would be an ugly thing, and the façades of the
church and the schools would not be harmonized together by the said
arrangement of the plan.
The third reason which they give is, that the Plaza of the Lord Bishop’s
house would be narrowed in great part, so that the Plaza would be a
street; and the height of the church would shut out the sun from the
said house of his Lordship, and would stifle it very much; and the doors
of the church would be behind the tower in the view as one comes from
the city through the Street of the Schools.
The fourth reason which they give is, that the west front of the church
would have to join the wall of the Archbishop’s chapel, and through its
inequality and depth it would be necessary to have many steps through
that part, and towards the town not any, and this would be a defective
and ugly thing.
The fifth reason which they give is, that, making the cloister towards
the Schools, all the view of the church would be shut out, and the
cloister would be gloomy, and it would be without the harmony and order
of good churches, and without grace.
The sixth reason which they give is, that the church standing close to
the chapel of the Archbishop and the library, its height would shut out
the light from the small chapels in the walls, and there would be no
exit for the water from the roof of the middle of the church at that
part.
The seventh reason which they give is, that in order to make the new
church it would be necessary to clear out immediately all the church and
the cloister, and the chapel of the Doctor of Talavera, and of Sta.
Barbara, and the Chapter-house; and in their opinion it would be a grand
inconvenience to be so many years without having where to celebrate the
Divine offices.
The eighth reason which they give is, that if the church is separated
from above, and put as in a corner, part in the shade through the one
part of the tower and the cloister, and through the other of the library
and the chapel of the Archbishop, it could not have as much of its walls
in light as is convenient.
The ninth reason which they give is, that the door of the transept would
come out so high from the street, in their opinion, as more than ten or
twelve steps, and would cut across the street “_del Chantre_” and would
be bad in its arrangement, and a place where nuisance would be caused.
This opinion having been given, it is then pronounced by the deputies
appointed by the Chapter to confer with the architects, that as they
were all agreed both as to the site and as to the general form of the
church, and as they are such learned and skilful men, and experienced in
their art, their opinion ought certainly to be acted on. But for the
more certainty it was thought well to make every one of the architects
take an oath, “by God and St. Mary, under whose invocation the church
is, and upon the sign of the cross, upon which they and each of them put
their right hands bodily,” that they had spoken the entire truth, which
each of them did, saying “So I swear, and amen.”[460]
The report of the architects having been received, the Chapter then say
that the many singular and great Masters of the Art of Masonry
(canteria) who had been consulted had agreed on a plan, but that it will
be necessary to choose and elect a Master (Maestro) and an overseer
(aparejador).[461] On the same day, Sept. 3rd, 1512, Juan Gil de
Hontañon, “Master of Masonry,” was appointed principal master of the
works (Maestro principal), and Juan Campero, mason, overseer, with a
salary to the former of 40,000 maravedis a year, and 100 maravedis more
for each day that he assisted at the works; and to the latter of 20,000
maravedis a year, and 2½ reals per day.[462] And on the 10th May, 1538,
Roderigo Gil de Hontañon was appointed principal master of the works,
with the salary of 30,000 maravedis a year. Alonso de Covarrubias seems
to have been joined with Rodrigo Gil de Hontañon as master.[463] By R.
G. de Hontañon’s will it seems that he also had a house rent free from
the Chapter.[464]
(D.)
SANTIAGO CATHEDRAL.
_Warrant of King Ferdinand II., issued in 1168, in favour of
Mattheus, Master of the Works of Santiago Cathedral, copied from
the Archives._
In nomine Domini nostri Jesu Christi. Amen. Majestati regiæ convenit eis
melius providere, qui sibi noscuntur fidele obsequium exhibere, et illis
præcipue, qui Dei sanctuariis et locis indesinenter obsequium probantur
impendere. Ea propter ego Fernandas Dei gratia Hispaniarum Rex ex amore
Omnipotentis Dei, per quem regnant reges, et ob reverentiam sanctissimi
Jacobi patroni nostri piissimi, pro munere dono, et concedo tibi
magistro Matheo, qui operis præfati Apostoli primatum obtines et
magisterium, in unoquoque anno in medietate mea de moneta Sancti Jacobi
refectionem duarum marcharum singulis hebdomadibus, et quod defuerit in
una hebdomada suppleatur in alia, ita quod hæc refectio valeat tibi
centum maravotinos per unumquemque annum. Hoc munus, hoc donum do tibi
omni tempore vitæ tuæ semper habendum quatenus et operi Sancti Jacobi,
et tuæ inde personae melius sit, et qui viderint præfato operi
studiosius invigilent et insistant.
Si quis vero contra hoc meum spontaneum donativum venerit, aut illud
quoque modo tentaverit infringere, iram incurrat decunti pertinentis, et
iram regiam, et mille aureos parti tuæ tamquam excomunicatus cogatur
exolvere. Facta carta apud Sanctum Jacobum, viii. kalendas Marti, Era M.
CC. VI. Regnante rege Dño Fernando Legione, Extremadura, Gallecia in
Asturiis.
Ego Dñs F. Dei gratia Hispaniarum Rex hoc scriptum quod fieri jussi
proprio robore confirmo.
[Signed also by various Bishops and Grandees.]
(E.)
SEGOVIA CATHEDRAL.
_Memoir of the Canon of Segovia Juan Rodriguez, in which is related
all that happened as to the Construction of the Cathedral from the
year 1522, in which he began to exercise the government and
administration of the fabric, until the year 1562, in which,
through infirmity, he gave it up._--From the Archives of the
Cathedral.
After reciting his pious reasons for his undertaking, he continues his
Memoir as follows; entering first of all into various particulars in
reference to the subscriptions for the work and so forth, he then goes
on:--
“We commence, in the name of God, to give an account of the form and
order which prevailed in the work of the said church and cloister,
Chapter-house, libraries, tower, sacristy, and place for relics,[465]
and all the other necessary offices, which until this time have been
paid for, and now belong to the said holy church, free from all interest
or tax.
“Commencing at the beginning, which was in the said year of 1520, when
the Chapter was driven out of the other church by reason of the
alterations already mentioned, they had the divine offices in the Church
of Sta. Clara, which the monks of the order of Sta. Clara had left, who
at present reside in the monastery of San Antonio el Real; and beginning
by having the divine office on the floor of the church on some benches
or logs of wood, which were placed for it from the door of the church as
far as the rooms of the keepers of the wardrobe of the convent which
were there, afterwards they made a tribune on some pieces of timber or
posts for the Coro, in order to have the holy office; and afterwards
they put the altars right with Retablos and images, which they brought
from the old church; and they put right the old cloister, which had some
high battlements; and they overcame difficulties and put everything in
order to be able to make use of it, and set right the chapel where the
Crucifix and Sacrament were, and where the chaplains said their office.
Then, likewise, was made a hall of the old corridors, in which the
Chapter was held, where it was for some years, until that one was made
below close to the chapel of the Crucifix. And then the tower was
raised, and there they placed some of the bells of the other old church,
and others they made new in the town of Olmedo; and they got a new clock
from Medina del Campo, and put the whole in the old tower.
“Then, in consequence of the narrowness of the church, they took some
houses in which lived the wardrobe-keepers, and pulled them down, and
made a wall of lime and stone in front, and placed there the Coro of the
old church, and repaired it in the said place where the divine office
was said, and placed the iron screens of the two Coros; the whole of
which was done between the said year of 1520 and June 8th, 1522, when,
by the consent and resolution of the Lord Bishop D. Diego de Rivera, and
of the Dean and Chapter of the said church, it was agreed to commence
the new work of the said church, to the glory of God, and in honour of
the Virgin Mary and the glorious San Frutos and All Saints, taking for
master of the said work Juan Gil de Hontañon, and for his clerk of the
works (aparejador) Garcia de Cubillas.
“Thursday, the 8th of June, 1522, the Bishop ordered a general
procession with the Dean and Chapter, and clergy, and all the religious
orders. Solemn mass was said in the Plaza of San Miguel, before the
doors of the said Church of Sta. Clara, and there was a sermon, and
absolution, and general pardon to all who had erred; and they demolished
the other church, and gave absolution for all the faults and sacrileges
which might be committed in it, as is the case in all general pardon of
sins. From there the Bishop, Dean and Chapter, clergy and religious,
went in procession to the part where was the foundation of the principal
wall of the foot of the holy church, and in that place where the
principal door was to be, which is now called ‘del Pardon;’ and the
Master of the works and the officials being there with stone and mortar,
the Lord Bishop placed the foundation in the middle where the said door
had to come, which is called ‘del Pardon.’ Giving first his benediction
on the commencement of the work, he put a piece of silver with his face
on it, and others of metal with certain letters, and upon them placed
the stone and mortar. The workmen then raised the building.
“All this solemnity, as I have told, began to the glory of God our Lord,
the Virgin Mary, and All Saints, for the promotion of the said work.
This was settled and arranged between the Lord Bishop, the Dean and
Chapter, to be executed in masonry of a rough description, by reason of
the great poverty of the said church. And I then, feeling this,
conferred on this matter with the said Juan Gil de Hontañon and Garcia
de Cubillas, and it seemed to them to be a great pity to execute the
work in such a way in so celebrated a city. And the Lord Bishop, the
Dean and Chapter, having considered this, thought it well to give leave,
confiding in the providence of our Lord, that it should be done as I had
petitioned, for which many thanks be given to our Lord.”
“The building being commenced, as I have said, on Thursday, July 8th,
1522, was carried on according to the plan first of all given, beginning
from the principal door at the foot of the church, which is called ‘del
Pardon,’ corresponding to the principal nave, and going on in order,
taking the chapel and the chapels in the walls, of which there are five
on either side, ten in all, where at present the private masses and
endowments which the said church has are said.
“After the same manner the principal pillars in the said church were
built, which divide, and on which is raised the principal nave, and on
either side one, in all five collateral naves; the principal, of 115 to
120 feet in height, and 54 in width, from line to line; the collaterals,
80 feet in height each one of them, and 38 in width, and the chapels
between the buttresses, of which there are ten, 50 feet of height, and
26 in width, as, thanks to God, they have all been made and finished to
perfection, as may be seen.
“The building, so far erected, reached only to the two principal pillars
of the Crossing, which are twelve feet in width, because they are the
two upon which the Cimborio will have to be built, and the other two
pillars will embellish the work which has to be done presently, when the
Capilla mayor and the Crossing are erected. The other round pillars of
the body of the said church are ten feet in thickness, and are ten in
all, and upon them were built the main nave and its collaterals.
“Likewise I may mention that these principal pillars, for fear there
should be any misfortune or bursting in the work, were all compacted
throughout their body, with shaped stones, in pieces of the same
thickness as those which are in the face of the work; so that there is
not the least thing omitted which could give strength.
“Likewise the walls were made, three extending past the said three
principal pillars, which were made for the Cimborio and Crossing, where
the high altar was placed, and the Blessed Sacrament kept, and the
conventual masses said; and on one side, towards the Alumzára, a little
sacristy was made, or a vestry for the ministers of the high altar,
where they kept their boxes for the things necessary for the altar and
choir.
“Likewise the walls were built, where the stalls of the Coro are placed
for the divine offices, ornamented and made up with such additional
seats as were required, in order that they might occupy the width of the
principal nave; and at the sides they made offices with their furniture
for holding the singing and reading books for the divine offices of the
said church, with doors at the sides for going out by at the
sermon-time.
“Likewise they made high galleries on either side of the Coro, in which
they placed the organs, finished and adorned, as, at present appears,
for the service of our Lord.
“Likewise the cloister was founded, which was that which stood in the
old church, which Juan Campero, master of masonry, undertook by
contract for the sum of 4000 ducats, according to the contract with
which he took it; and in the said buildings it was impossible to
foresee, at the first, every necessary thing, because time and the work
itself showed many things which at first were not known; and so,
beginning to feel the said cloister would be low, by agreement with the
said John Campero, they gave him 400 ducats, in order that he should
raise it a yard, which gave him grace enough; and 70,000 maravedis, in
order that he should do the door of the said cloister, which was not in
his contract; and likewise he made a condition that he should not be
obliged to go more than five feet below the ground.
“In the same manner they made many other adornments in the said cloister
beyond what was in the contract with the said Juan Campero, such as
making many things of granite, and others of carpentry, which were to
have been of common masonry; which was all of much cost, so that the
expenses mounted beyond the contract of the said Juan Campero another
4000 ducats, which was in all 8000, a little more or less, as appears by
the account-book which the said Juan Campero kept.
“_Item._--To the glory of God and the honour of His Blessed Mother the
building of the tower was commenced, which is at the lower end of the
said church, and which is a very solemn edifice. Its bulk without the
walls is thirty-three feet, and it is square. The walls are four from
base to summit, and each one ten feet thick; and one of them which goes
from the church is fifteen feet at the bottom.
“_Item._--This tower is more lofty than that of the cathedral at
Seville, measured by a line, more than once brought from thence. It is
wider than that of Toledo by one third part, as will be seen by those
who like to measure it. This measures, as I say, 33 feet inside, and
that of Toledo 22 feet. I say this in order that the goodness of this
tower may be known. Outside the chapel and above it is another very good
chapel for the service of the church, in which necessary things can be
kept; and over this chapel, and in the said tower, is another chamber,
where is placed the man who attends to the bells, with all his family,
and with all the offices necessary for his living; and above this, in
the said tower, is another chamber, which is where the bells are hung in
their frames in their order. And above this chamber, at the four sides
or corners of the said tower, there are four pillars, from which rise
four flying buttresses, which support another building, after the
fashion of a censer with its windows. The clock is here, &c.” “I hold
this building of the tower to be noble and important, just as I hold it
to be certain that it would be difficult to build it now for 50,000
ducats.”
“Likewise there are three principal chambers which abut against one wall
of the tower, and go as far as the Calle Mayor of Barrionuevo, which
measure 80 feet or more. One of them below is all made with a vault of
good mason’s work for the workmen’s tools, timber, scaffolding, ropes,
and other instruments required for the prosecution of the works; and
when the said church is finished it will be kept for precious things of
various kinds of which the church has need, for _autos_, &c., which take
place in such churches, so as not to have to make them anew each time.
This chamber has a very good door for entrance, and sufficient lights to
enable them to keep everything that is required to be put there.
“Over this room, on the level of the cloister, is the cloister
Chapter-room, which is 53 feet long, a little more or less, and 33 wide,
with very good windows, and glazing, and wooden ceiling made with
fretwork, admirably executed by the hands of good workmen; quite an
important room. It is of the height proper for a good room. There is no
other painting in it than an inscription all round. The pavement is of
white and black stone, the black from Aillon, and the white Otero de
Herreros. The seats are temporary; but a large quantity of walnut has
been bought for them. The doors of the Chapter-room are all of walnut,
made by very good workmen, and with frames of black elm.
“Before entering into the Chapter-house there is a staircase which has
three landings for going to the library, with its steps of hard stone,
and its breast-wall with the four Evangelists placed against the
columns; and in the four windows which light the staircase are the four
principal doctors of the Church; and below the said staircase is a room
in a vacant space, whose windows look into the Calle de Barrionuevo,
which is for the Secretary of the church to keep all the writings, and
books, and bills of the said church, and is placed close to the
Chapter-house, of which the said Secretary keeps the keys. This room is
of the width of the staircase, and its size from the wall of the
Chapter-house is 27 feet, which are what remain of the 80 over and above
the 53 which the Chapter-house measures. The third part, and last in
order of the abovementioned rooms, which is called the library, is the
same width and length. It has four windows, two towards the street, and
two towards the cloister, and in them medallions of SS. Peter and Paul,
John Baptist, and John the Evangelist.
“And in order to answer satisfactorily any complaints of the Señores of
the city, we may make a comparison with the Church of Salamanca, which
is the same kind as this church, and commenced by the same Master,
though this church is 100 feet broader than Salamanca, which was begun
by the same Master a long time before that of Segovia was commenced
anew. The said work at Salamanca had all the ground on which it was
built, so that the site cost nothing, whereas at Segovia the whole site
required was bought, and redeemed of rents which were heavy,” &c. &c.
(F.)
LIST OF SUBJECTS CARVED ON THE SCREENS ROUND THE CORO OF TOLEDO
CATHEDRAL.
These screens extend across the west end of the Coro and along its
northern and southern sides. The central subject over the western
doorway, and two subjects on either side of it, have been destroyed in
order to make space for a more modern sculpture. The side screens appear
to have been cut off abruptly at the eastern end, so that possibly some
subjects may have been removed from this part. The subjects are arranged
as follows: Nos. 1 to 9, counting from the north-west angle of the
screen to the western doorway; Nos. 12 to 19, from the central doorway
to the south-west angle of the screen; Nos. 20 to 40 along the southern
screen, going from west to east; and Nos. 41 to 61 along the northern
screen, going from east to west. Some of the subjects are doubtful, and
some unintelligible to me; and I have marked all such in this list with
a note of interrogation. The whole of the subjects illustrate the
earlier passages in the Old Testament in chronological order.
1. Chaos.
GOD looking at a broken ark, and fragments of rock on the ground.
2. Creation of the firmament.
GOD standing with sea behind, and supporting an arc over His head.
3. Creation of fowls and fishes.
Central figure of GOD, birds flying above, fishes and birds
swimming below.
4. The creation of sun, moon, and stars.
GOD with His hands extended. In the two upper corners (dexter side)
the sun and four stars; (sinister side) the moon and four other
stars. There are clouds round the feet of GOD.
5. GOD reverenced by angels.
A standing figure of much majesty, with four angels on either side,
some kneeling, some standing.[466]
6. Fall of Lucifer.[467]
In the centre GOD, and on either side, above, angels; and below,
figures falling headlong.
7. The Creation of Adam.
GOD moulding a figure into the shape of a man.
Nos. 8 and 9, the central subject over the doorway into the Coro,
and 10 and 11 are destroyed.
Nos. 12 and 13 are transposed.
13. GOD meeting Adam and Eve, and showing them the tree in the
garden.
12. GOD meeting Adam and Eve in the garden after the Fall.
They hold leaves in their hands.
14. The expulsion of Adam and Eve.
On the left a tree, in front of it a battlemented tower or gate,
before which is an angel. Adam and Eve going away.
15. Adam tilling the ground, Eve with a child in her arms looking
at him.
16. Cain killing Abel (?), or Adam finding the dead body of Abel.
(?)
A man half supporting a dead body of a younger man.
17. Adam digging a grave for Abel.
A man digging in the ground.
18. GOD meeting Cain.
19. Two figures in a niche at the angle of the western and southern
screens, both looking up as if in prayer.
“Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.”
_South side._
20. (?)
A figure speaking to a boy; behind, and half-concealed among trees,
another figure of a man naked.
21. (?)
A man with an axe which he has let fall. He has been cutting
branches from a tree, and lifts up his hands in prayer: behind him
stands a woman.
22. (?)
A man with a long axe resting from his labour; a woman stands
behind him, and they both look towards a young man who speaks to
them.
23. (?)
The end of a building. On the left of it an angel and a young man
who looks out from it to the right, where are trees, and below them
the mouth of a whale swallowing a man.
24. The burial of Methuselah. (?)
Five figures surrounding a tomb in which they bury a sixth.
25. Noah finds grace in the sight of the Lord. (?)
Two figures in supplication, apparently, before the third.
26. Noah and one of his sons before the ark.
Noah turns his head towards GOD, who speaks from a cloud and
desires him to go into the ark.
27. The ark on the waters.
On one side of the roof a dove, and on the other one with a twig of
a tree. The ark has three tiers of openings: beasts look out of the
lowest, men and women from the next, and birds from the highest.
28. The ark resting on the land, and the drunkenness of Noah.
Above, Noah prays by a tree. Below, Ham lifts up the garment of
Noah, who is lying on the ground, and Shem and Japheth, kneeling,
cover their faces with their hands.
29. Probably the promise to Abraham that he should be the father of
many nations. (?)
On the left, two figures conversing; on the right, three tiers of
figures. Dead bodies below, two seated figures above them, and one
seated figure above again.
30. Lot and the Angels.
Lot kneels before two angels.
31. Abraham’s sacrifice.
Isaac bound and lying on the ground. Abraham behind him looks back
to an angel, who speaks and points to the ram in a thicket.
32. Abraham and Isaac.
Abraham binding the ram, Isaac standing looking on, with his hands
in prayer.
33. Rebekah and Jacob.
Rebekah speaking to Jacob, who shows her that his arms have no hair
on them.
34. Isaac blessing Jacob.
Isaac sits up in bed, turns his face away from Jacob, and feels his
arms. The expression of blindness is extremely well conveyed.
35. Esau’s distress.
Isaac supports himself on one arm on his couch; with the other he
gesticulates to Esau, who stands before him with his hand before
his face, and evidently in grief.
36. Jacob’s dream. (?)
A man seated before a tree with his hand up to his face.
37. Jacob wrestling with the Angel.
38. Joseph sold to the Ishmaelites.
39. Joseph’s brethren return to Jacob with his coat.
40. Joseph’s brethren bowing down before him.
This is the last subject on the south side of the Coro. It is
possible that it may have been returned on the eastern side of the
columns at this point, so as to allow of two more subjects being
introduced on either side; but if so, these subjects have been
destroyed. The first six subjects on the screen on the north side,
Nos. 41 to 46, are all very similar--a king seated, with generally
many persons in various attitudes around him; possibly these
subjects, with the four which may have been destroyed, represented
the ten plagues of Egypt. I cannot discover any other explanation
for them.
47. The institution of the Passover.
Figures marking the lintels and side posts of a house.
48. The institution of the Passover.
The sacrifice of the lamb, several figures standing round an altar.
49. The smiting of the first-born of the Egyptians. (?)
Two subjects, one above the other; in each a dead body laid out,
and people looking on.
50. The passage of the Red Sea.
The people are walking on the water.
51. The drowning of the Egyptians.
52. Moses stretching his hand out over the water.
Moses stoops down and touches the water with his hand.
53. Exodus xvi. 10-12. “The glory of the Lord in the cloud.”
GOD speaking to a crowd of kneeling figures.
54. Exodus xvii. 45-6. Moses at the rock in Horeb. (?)
GOD (with a cruciform nimbus) speaking out of the clouds to Moses,
who speaks to a group seated before him (probably the elders of
Israel, v. 6).
55. Jethro, Zipporah, Gershom, and Eliezer coming to Moses. (?)
Exodus xviii.
Moses kneeling on the right, three figures seated on the left, and
another speaking from out of foliage above. I can think of no other
subject which this sculpture can represent.
56. (?) The people giving their ear-rings to Aaron to make the
molten calf. Exodus xxxii. 24.
Three figures on either side of one who stands in the centre. They
seem to be throwing things into the flames, in the midst of which
is a serpent.
57. Moses’ hands stayed up. Exodus xvii. 12. (?)
Three figures, two holding a book (apparently) under the hands of
the fourth, who appears to be much fatigued. There are flames in
the foreground, in the midst of which is a small head.
58. Exodus xix. 10. (?) The people washing their clothes at Moses’
order.
A central figure pointing to a sort of well in the centre.
59. Massacre of the worshippers of the molten calf.
60. Exodus xxiv. 29.
Moses holds the two tables of the Law, and is surrounded by other
figures all touching the tables.
61. Exodus xxiv. 32, 33.
The two tables held by two figures above a draped altar; four
figures kneeling before them.
With this subject the series concludes.
I have thought it quite worth while to give this short account of the
work because it is rather rare to find so large a number of Old
Testament subjects treated in this way. On the whole, too, I think that
this is the most important work of the age in Spain. The sculptured
works of this period (the fourteenth century) are comparatively rare.
The most important of those which I have mentioned in this book are the
north doorway of Toledo, which has a series of subjects in all of which
the Blessed Virgin appears; at Burgos the three western doors, which
have--(1) the birth of the Blessed Virgin, (2) the Assumption, and (3)
the Coronation; in the south door, our Lord with the evangelists,
saints, and prophets; and in the north door, the Last Judgment. At Leon,
the three western doors, which have--(1) subjects from our Lord’s life,
introducing the Blessed Virgin, (2) the Last Judgment, and (3) the
Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the south transept, on one door
our Lord, the evangelists and apostles, and on another the death of the
Blessed Virgin Mary; the north transept, our Lord surrounded by saints.
Avila cathedral has, over its north door, our Lord in the centre, the
Betrayal, Last Supper, and Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and
the Resurrection of the Dead in the archivolt; and there are various
other smaller works, which will be found by reference to the Catalogue
of Sculptures in the index to this volume. I know no other example of
the introduction of Old Testament subjects.
In all these examples the character of the sculpture is very similar;
the architectural framing of niches and canopies is of the best kind of
Middle Pointed; and the draperies, faces, and pose of the figures are
very much the same as one sees in work of the first half of the
fourteenth century at Bourges and elsewhere in France. The subjects
round the Coro at Toledo are superior to the others in the facility
which the regularity of the openings gave for the free treatment of the
sculptures, and in the variety of treatment which the subjects naturally
involve. But on the other hand, the artistic skill of the sculptors who
were employed at Leon cathedral seems to me to have been greater than
that of the sculptors of any other Spanish work of the same age. And
though the character, mode of design, and manner of execution are all
extremely French, I do not know why we should have any doubt about the
ability of Spaniards to execute such work, when we consider how
exceedingly skilful they were in the succeeding age, when they perhaps
excelled any other sculptors of the same period.
The French work to which this Spanish sculpture has most similarity,
appears to me to be that of the three western doors of Bourges
cathedral. In some respects, indeed, there is so much likeness between
the two that one can hardly avoid supposing that the sculptor at Leon
had himself been at Bourges. And it is interesting therefore to observe
that one of the most remarkable series of sculptures illustrating the
early portion of the Old Testament is that which is carved in the
spandrels of the arcade which is carried all round the lower part of the
jambs of the Bourges doorways. I have, in the earlier part of this
work, observed that there is evidence of the same men having wrought at
Burgos, Leon, Avila, and Toledo.
(G.)
AGREEMENT BETWEEN JAYME FABRE AND THE SUB-PRIOR AND BRETHREN OF THE
CONVENT OF SAN DOMINGO, AT PALMA IN MALLORCA.
Sit omnibus notum, quod ego magister Jacobus Fabre lapicida, civis
Majoricarum, præsenti stipulatione convenio vobis fratri Petro Alegre,
gerenti Vices-Prioris conventus fratrum Prædicatorum Majoricarum
antedicti et Notarij infra scripti stipulantis, vice et nomine dicti
conventus; quod quando Prior dictæ domus fratrum Prædicatorum
Majoricarum, vel ejus locum tenens, voluerit, et requisiverit me, quod
redeam ad hanc civitatem Majoricarum ex Barchinona, quo iturus sum in
præsenti, causa faciendi illuc aliqua opera, vel ea dirigendi cum
licencia vestra, et fratrum dictæ domus, ad præces Illustrissimi Domini
Regis Aragonum, et venerabilis Domini Barchinonensis Episcopi: ego
illico recepta monitione vel requisitione vestra vel Prioris dictæ
domus, seu ejus locum tenentis, omnibus operibus et negotiis
postpositis, redeam ad hanc civitatem Majoricarum, salvo justo
impedimento et quod vobis et fratribus vestri conventus faciam, et
consumabo opera vestri monasterij, et alia opera faciam prout pactus
sum, et facere teneor, ut continetur in quodam publico instrumento,
facto inter me et venerabilem Fr. Arnaldum Burgeti, dudum Priorem dictæ
domus; quod instrumentum sit validum, et nihil pro prædictis ille
videatur innovatum, aut mutatum. Quod si per me steterit quod non
redeam, cum citatus fuero, et non compleverim prædicta cum ea complere
possim, tenear dare, et per validam, et solemnem stipulationem dare
promitto operi vestri dicti monasterij in manu et posse Notarij
infrascripti, vice et nomine dicti operis stipulantis, pro pena, et
nomine penæ, quinquaginta libras regalium Majoricensium monetæ perpetæ
minutorum, quæ pro damnis, et interesse computtantur, qua pena soluta,
vel non, nihilominus rata maneant hæc prædicta, et cetera contenta in
instrumento inter me et dictum fratrem Arnaldum Burgeti facto, et pro
prædictis attendendis, et non contraveniendis, obligo vobis, et vestro
conventui supradicto, et nomine infrascripti stipulantis, vice et nomine
ejusdem monasterij me, et omnia bona mea, ubique habita, et habenda. Ad
hæc ego Maymonus Peris civis Majoricarum,” &c. &c. “Actum est hoc
Majoricis octavo idus Junii, anno Domini millessimo trecentessimo
septimo decimo sig✠num Magistri Jacobi Fabre,” &c. &c.
(H.)
REPORTS OF ARCHITECTS ON THE PLAN FOR THE COMPLETION OF THE CATHEDRAL AT
GERONA--A.D. 1417.
_Junta of Twelve Architects, upon the mode which ought to be
followed in the construction of the Cathedral of Gerona, with the
Reports of each of them, as they appear in the archives of the said
Church._
I.
In nomine Sanctæ ac individuæ Trinitatis, Patris, et Filii, et
Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Etsi mansiunculas et domos profanas mundanorum usibus dicatas fideles
Domini erigunt et fabricant opere polimento, quanto magis ipsi fideles
verique zelatores fidei orthodoxæ circa templi Domini fabricam
construendam devotius accelerare deberent? Numquid prisci patres pro
archa Domini tabernaculum opere deaurato mirifice fabricaverunt? Hodie
namque archa illa verissima, et sanctissimum illud Mamuá in templo
Domini a catholicis præseservantur. Dignum quin imo et congruum potest
et debet a quolibet reputari ut domus illa quam orationis veritas
nominavit, in qua etiam illud sacrum Christi fidelibus pignus datum
reconditur et tenetur, artificioso ex politis lapidibus opere
construatur. Hæc enim domus rite noscitur pastori verissime dedicata, in
illa nempe populus Domini et oves ejus Paschuæ cibum dulzoris assumunt.
Sane in domo ista latices sacrosancti noxas perimunt, culpas diluunt et
veternas cuilibet occurrenti. Heu igitur, quam dolendum sacrum Domini
templum ecclesiam Sedis clarissimæ Gerundensis imperfectum opere
minorari! Idcirco cunctis pateat, quod reverendus in Christo Pater et
dominus dominus Dalmacius, Dei gratia episcopus Gerundensis, ipsius
ecclesiæ tunc electus, et honorabile capitulum ecclesiæ Gerundensis
prædictæ præmissa omnia pio sidere aspectantes, considerantesque a
quantis citra temporibus fabrica dictæ Sedis cessavit ex diversorum
controversia juxta opiniones varias artificum subsequentes, nonnulli
enim asserebant opus dictæ fabricæ sub navi una debere congruentius
consummari, affirmantes illud fore nobilius, quam si sub tribus navibus
opus hujusmodi subsequatur. Alii autem a contrario asserebant dictum
opus sub prosecutione trium navium continuari debere, dicentesque, quod
firmius et proportionabilius esset capiti jamque cœpto, quam si cum
navi una ipsa fabrica prosequatur, quoniam opus navis unius multum
reddunt debile distantia parietum, ac etiam testudinis altitudo; et quod
terræmotus, tonitrua, ventosque vagantes timebit apetentes etiam circa
directionem operis dictæ fabricæ consummandæ solertius vacare, ac de
opinione prædictorum veridica informari: et adeo ut controversia et
opiniones hujusmodi clarius tollerentur, convocaverunt artifices
peritissimos, lapiscidas de diversis partibus regni hujus, et etiam
aliunde ad hanc civitatem Gerundæ, quorum nomina inferius annotantur,
indeque habitis collationibus plurimis, tam coram dictis reverendo
domino Episcopo, tunc electo, et honorabili capitulo dictæ ecclesiæ
Gerundensis, quam alias inter ipsos artifices opere præmisso subjecto
primitus oculis cujuslibet eorundem cernentium opus, quod cœptum
fuerat, et qualiter hucusque fuerat; prosecutum in illo, et formatis
super hujusmodi opere prosequendo articulis infrascriptis.
II.
_Inquiry._[468]
In the name of God Our Lord, and the Virgin our Lady Saint Mary, the
“Maestros” Superintendents and masons summoned for the direction of the
works of the cathedral of Gerona, must be asked the following
questions:--
1. If the work of one nave of the said cathedral church, commenced of
old, could be continued, with the certainty of remaining secure and
without risk.