THE SPANISH SERIES
SCULPTURE IN SPAIN
THE SPANISH SERIES
_EDITED BY ALBERT F. CALVERT_
TOLEDO
MADRID
SEVILLE
MURILLO
CORDOVA
EL GRECO
VELAZQUEZ
THE PRADO
THE ESCORIAL
SCULPTURE IN SPAIN
VALENCIA AND MURCIA
ROYAL PALACES OF SPAIN
SPANISH ARMS AND ARMOUR
LEON, BURGOS AND SALAMANCA
CATALONIA AND BALEARIC ISLANDS
VALLADOLID, OVIEDO, SEGOVIA,
ZAMORA, AVILA AND ZARAGOZA
SCULPTURE
IN SPAIN
:: BY ALBERT F. CALVERT ::
:: WITH 162 ILLUSTRATIONS ::
LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD
NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY. MCMXII
Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO.
At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION 1
EARLY SCULPTURE BELONGING TO THE NATIVE
IBERIAN, LATIN, BYZANTINE, AND VISIGOTHIC
PERIODS 14
THE CHURCHES OF THE ROMANESQUE AND
EARLY GOTHIC PERIODS 25
THE SCULPTURED PIECES AND TOMBS OF THE
ROMANESQUE AND EARLY GOTHIC PERIODS 37
THE ALTAR-SCREENS OR RETABLOS OF THE
ROMANESQUE AND GOTHIC PERIODS 50
THE RENAISSANCE, AND THE INFLUENCE OF
MICHAEL ANGELO ON THE SPANISH
SCULPTORS 70
THE RENAISSANCE, AND THE INFLUENCE OF
MICHAEL ANGELO (_continued_)--THE SCHOOLS
OF VALLADOLID AND MADRID 97
THE SCHOOL OF ANDALUSIA--JUAN MARTINEZ
MONTAÑÉS--SEVILLE AND ITS SCULPTORS 117
THE DISCIPLES OF MONTAÑÉS IN SEVILLE 142
THE SCHOOL OF GRANADA AND ALONSO CANO--THE
DECLINE OF SCULPTURE--FRANCISCO
ZARCELLO 151
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
TITLE PLATE
Visigoth Crowns found near Toledo 1
Byzantine Crucifix and the Virgin in the Gothic Style.
Provincial Museum of San Marcos, Leon 2
Wooden Crucifix with which the Troops of the Cid
were harangued. The smaller Crucifix the Cid
carried beneath his Armour. Salamanca Cathedral 3
Byzantine Chest. Toledo Cathedral 4
Roman Statue found in the Ruins of Salonica. Provincial
Museum, Burgos 5
El Santo Cristo, Burgos Cathedral 6
Façade of the Cathedral, Santiago de Compostella 7
Portico of La Gloria, Santiago de Compostella
Cathedral 8
Detail of Carvings of the Portico of La Gloria, Santiago
de Compostella 9
Colegiata de San Isidoro, Leon 10
Spandril of Gate of Pardon in the College of San
Isidoro, Leon 11
Two Statues in the Archæological Museum, Leon 12
San Vicente, Avila 13
Basilica of San Vicente, Avila, Principal West
Entrance 14
Zamora Cathedral 15
Cloisters of San Pablo del Campo, Barcelona 16
Cloisters of the Monastery of Las Huelgas, Burgos 17
Tarragona Cathedral 18
Portal, Tarragona Cathedral 19
Burgos Cathedral 20
Toledo Cathedral 21
Leon Cathedral 22
Detail of the Choir Stalls, Leon Cathedral 23
Detail of the Choir Stalls, Leon Cathedral 24
St. Mary Magdalene and Santo Domingo (Choir
Stalls), Leon Cathedral 25
San Celedonio and San Esteban (Choir Stalls), Leon
Cathedral 26
Noah, and Adam and Eve (Choir Stalls), Leon
Cathedral 27
Samson (Choir Stalls), Leon Cathedral 28
Esau (Choir Stalls), Leon Cathedral 29
Detail of Portico, Santiago de Compostella 30
San Francisco. San Marcos Museum, Leon 31
Various Statues from the Cross Aisle, Leon Cathedral 32
Our Lady del Foro and the Offerings of the Kings,
Cloisters, Leon Cathedral 33
A Sepulchre in the Convent of Las Huelgas, Burgos 34
Sepulchres in the Old Cathedral, Salamanca 35
Statues of the Portico, Tarragona Cathedral 36
Puerta Alta de la Coroneria, Burgos Cathedral 37
The Cloister Gate, Burgos Cathedral 38
The Cloisters, Burgos Cathedral 39
Detail of the Cloisters, Burgos Cathedral 40
Detail of the Cloisters, Burgos Cathedral 41
A Sepulchre, Las Huelgas, Burgos 42
Sepulchre of Archbishop Maurice, the Founder of the
Cathedral, Burgos 43
Sepulchre of Archbishop Maurice, the Founder of the
Cathedral, Burgos 44
Sepulchre of the Infanta Doña Berenguela, Daughter
of San Fernando, Monastery of Las Huelgas,
Burgos 45
Tomb of Jaime de Aragon, Tarragona Cathedral 46
Sepulchre of Martin, First Bishop of Leon, Leon
Cathedral 47
Sepulchre of Don Ordoño II., Leon Cathedral 48
Sepulchre of the Martyrs, Basilica de San Vicente,
Avila 49
Sepulchre of Archbishop Lopez de Luna, in the
Church of La Seo, Zaragoza 50
Our Lady la Mayor, Statue of Silver, Burgos Cathedral 51
Statue of Our Lady de la Vega, Salamanca 52
Statue of Our Lady de la Blanca, in the Principal
Porch, Leon Cathedral 53
St. Michael Slaying the Devil. Silver Statue by Juan
de Arfé. Provincial Museum, Salamanca 54
Diptych in the Camarin of Santa Teresa, Escorial 55
Detail of the Altar-screen of the Capilla de Santiago,
Toledo Cathedral 56
Altar-screen in the Capilla de Santiago, Toledo
Cathedral 57
Chapel of Santiago, containing the Sepulchres of Don
Alvaro de Luna and that of his Wife, Doña
Juana, Toledo Cathedral 58
Detail of the Altar-piece in the Capilla de la Trinidad,
Toledo 59
Altar-piece Carved in Wood, end of Fifteenth Century.
Valladolid Museum 60
Centre of a Wooden Altar-piece, end of Fifteenth
Century. Valladolid Museum 61
Chapel of St. Anne, Burgos Cathedral 62
Details of the Altar-Piece in the Chapel of St. Anne,
Burgos Cathedral 63
Sepulchre of Don Juan II. and Doña Isabel, La
Cartuja, Burgos 64
Sepulchre of Don Juan II. and Doña Isabel, La
Cartuja, Burgos 65
Detail of the Sepulchre of Don Juan II. and Doña
Isabel, La Cartuja, Burgos 66
Sepulchre of Infante Don Alonso, son of Isabella I.,
La Cartuja, Burgos 67
Sepulchre of Don Juan de Padella. Provincial
Museum, Burgos 68
High Altar, La Cartuja, Burgos 69
Detail of the High Altar, La Cartuja, Burgos 70
Detail of the High Altar, La Cartuja, Burgos 71
Choir Stalls, La Cartuja, Burgos 72
High Altar, Santa Gadea del Cid, Burgos 73
High Altar of the Church of Our Lady del Pilar,
Zaragoza 74
Bas-relief in the Altar-piece, Chapel Royal, Granada 75
Detail of the Sepulchre of the Catholic Sovereigns,
Royal Chapel, Granada 76
Sepulchre of the Infante Juan, only Son of Ferdinand
and Isabella, Church of Santo Tomás, Avila 77
Carvings of the Principal Chapel, by Borgoña, Burgos
Cathedral 78
Back Part of the High Altar, Burgos Cathedral 79
Tras-Sagrario, by Felipe de Borgoña, Burgos
Cathedral 80
Tras-Sagrario, by Felipe de Borgoña, Burgos
Cathedral 81
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, Carved by Berruguete
and Borgoña, Toledo Cathedral 82
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, Carved by Berruguete
and Borgoña, Toledo Cathedral 83
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, Carved by Berruguete
and Borgoña, Toledo Cathedral 84
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, Carved by Berruguete
and Borgoña, Toledo Cathedral 85
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, Carved by Berruguete
and Borgoña, Toledo Cathedral 86
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, Carved by Berruguete
and Borgoña, Toledo Cathedral 87
Upper Part of the Choir Stalls, Carved by Berruguete
and Borgoña, Toledo Cathedral 88
Details of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 89
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 90
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 91
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 92
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 93
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 94
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 95
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 96
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 97
Detail of the Choir Stalls: Reconquest of Granada by
Ferdinand and Isabella, Toledo Cathedral 98
Detail of the High Altar, Chapel of the “Condestable,”
Burgos Cathedral 99
Altar-piece, by F. de Borgoña, in the Royal Chapel,
Granada 100
Detail of Altar-screen, Granada: King Ferdinand the
Catholic 101
Detail of Altar-screen, Granada: Queen Isabel the
Catholic 102
Boabdil giving up the Keys of Granada to the Catholic
Sovereigns. Fragment of the Altar-piece in the
Royal Chapel, Granada 103
Choir Stalls of San Benito, Valladolid 104
Back of a Choir Stall. Valladolid Museum 105
Fragments of Choir Stalls. Valladolid Museum 106
Several Fragments of Choir Stalls. Valladolid Museum 107
Fragments of Choir Stalls, by Andrés de Najera.
Valladolid Museum 108
Stalls of San Benito, by Andrés de Najera, Valladolid 109
Stalls of San Benito, by Andrés de Najera, Valladolid 110
Stalls of San Benito, by Andrés de Najera, Valladolid 111
Wooden Panels, Murcia Cathedral 112
Abraham’s Sacrifice and St. Sebastian, by Berruguete.
Valladolid Museum 113
Sepulchre of Archbishop Tavera, by Alonso Berruguete,
Hospital de Afuera, Toledo 114
Sepulchre, by Berruguete, San Jeronimo, Granada 115
Statue of St. Secundus, by Berruguete, Church of San
Secundo, Avila 116
San Benito. Valladolid Museum 117
The Transept, Cathedral of La Seo, Zaragoza 118
Sepulchre of the Marques de Villena and Retablo in
the Monastery del Parral, Segovia 119
Custodia, by Juan Arfé, Avila Cathedral 120
Statue of Don Cristobal de Rojas y Sandoval, Church
of San Pedro de Lerma, Burgos 121
Detail of the Statue 122
St. Jerome, by Caspar de Becerra, Burgos Cathedral 123
Altar-screen, by Juan de Juni, Segovia Cathedral 124
Christ in the Tomb, by Juan de Juni. Valladolid
Museum 125
Pietà, by Hernandez. Valladolid Museum 126
The Baptism of Our Lord, by Hernandez. Valladolid
Museum 127
St. Francis, by Hernandez. Valladolid Museum 128
The Crucifixion, by Gregorio Hernandez, Chapel of
the ex-monastic Church of “Conjo,” Santiago 129
Our Lady of Sorrows, Church of “Conjo,” Santiago 130
La Dolorosa, by Salvador Carmona, Salamanca
Cathedral 131
Flagellation of Christ, by Salvador Carmona, Salamanca
Cathedral 132
Head of St. Paul. Valladolid Museum 133
High Altar, Seville Cathedral 134
Oratory and Screen of Isabella la Catolica, Seville 135
Puerta del Perdon, Seville Cathedral 136
Virgin and Child, by P. Torrigiano. Seville Museum 137
St. Jerome, by Torrigiano. Seville Museum 138
Statue of Faith, Top of Giralda Tower, Seville 139
St. Ignatius Loyola, by Montañés. University Chapel,
Seville 140
St. Francis Xavier, by Montañés. University Chapel,
Seville 141
Our Lord Crucified, by Montañés. The Sacristy,
Seville Cathedral 142
The Immaculate Conception, by Montañés. University
Chapel, Seville 143
The Immaculate Conception, by Montañés, Seville
Cathedral 144
St. Bruno, by J. Montañés. Seville Museum 145
Our Lady de las Cuevas and Child, by Montañés.
Seville Museum 146
St. Bruno, by Montañés, Cadiz Cathedral 147
Justice, by Solis. Seville Museum 148
The Conception of the Virgin, by Martinez, Seville
Cathedral 149
The Crucifixion, at Triana, Seville 150
Our Lord, Sculpture in Wood, Hospital de la Caridad,
Seville 151
High Altar in the Chapel, Hospital de la Caridad,
Seville 152
Our Lady of Sorrows, by Luisa Roldan, Cadiz
Cathedral 153
Head of John the Baptist, Granada 154
Head of John the Baptist, Granada 155
Head of John the Baptist 156
Statue of St. Bruno, in the Chartreuse de Miraflores,
Burgos 157
St. Bruno, by Alonso Cano, in the Cartuja, Granada 158
Statue of the Magdalene, formerly in the Cartuja,
Granada 159
St. Francis, by Pedro de Mena, Toledo Cathedral 160
The Last Supper, by Zarcello, Ermita de Jesus,
Murcia 161
St. Veronica, by Salcillo, Ermita de Jesus, Murcia 162
SCULPTURE IN SPAIN
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The Spanish character has expressed itself in sculpture more forcibly
than in painting. In no other country, perhaps, do we find a people
whose native taste for carving in wood and stone is so deep-rooted, so
essentially an outgrowth of the strong life of the race. To understand
the art of Spain you must know her sculpture.
As far back as the prehistoric Iberian period we find traces of a
vigorous school of sculpture in Spain, which, though based on Greek and
Asiatic sources, yet attained a striking individuality of its own.
Professor Pierre Paris of Bordeaux says of these prehistoric carvings
that “the figures are simple and virile, while the women are
distinguished by dignity of attitude and nobility of face, expressive of
deep religious gravity.” The finest example--a supreme type of
primitive Iberian sculpture, very fascinating in its curious
originality--is the Lady of Elche, the bust in the Louvre, which Pierre
Paris, in agreement with Reinach, dates about 440 B.C. Of this wonderful
work Pierre Paris writes: “In her enigmatic face, ideal and yet real, in
her living eyes, on her voluptuous lips, on her passive and severe
forehead, are summed up all the nobility and austerity, the promises and
the reticences, the charm and the mystery of woman.... She is above all
Spanish, not only by the mitre and the great wheels that frame her
delicate face, but by the disturbing strangeness of her beauty. She is
indeed more than Spanish: she is Spain itself, Iberia arising still
radiant with youth from the tomb in which she has been buried for more
than twenty centuries.”[A]
This is true.
Sculpture has always been the most genuinely Spanish of the arts. The
Visigoths were attracted to sculpture; and though many of the credited
examples they were supposed to have left cannot be accepted, there are a
few Visigothic carvings, which bear witness to this predominant
expression of character.
Belonging to a later date we find a surprising wealth of carving in wood
and stone scattered throughout Spain in the cathedrals, churches,
cloisters, and palaces. There is no town in Spain which does not possess
some sculptured works.
Spain has given to the world few great sculptors; none of her carvers
stand on quite the high level of her most famous painters. Yet, if we
except the great names of El Greco, Ribera, Velazquez, and Goya, her
sculptors are at least equal in merit with her painters. Damian Forment,
Berruguete, Gregorio Hernandez, Juan de Juni, Pedro Millan, Montañés,
Alonso Cano, Roldan, Mena, as well as others, are worthy to take a high
place in the temple of Spanish art. And a fact of even greater
importance: they have impressed upon their work the national character
in a far stronger degree than any of the contemporary painters. It is
interesting to note that many of these sculptors were also painters;
and, in all cases, their carvings are more distinctly Spanish than their
paintings. Almost entirely sculpture escaped from the slough of
neo-Italian imitation, which did so much to ruin painting in the late
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Spanish sculpture is finely realistic
and imaginative. Sometimes fantastic to extravagance in its
naturalness, it is always vigorous, romantic, and religious in the
highest degree.
How is it, then, that sculpture is the branch of the national art least
known beyond the bounds of the country? Rare indeed are the writers who
have made a study of Spanish sculpture. A few good articles on the
subject have appeared in France and in Germany; in England none. Even in
Spain a quite inadequate attention has been given to this most important
branch of the national art. There are, it is true, several excellent
monographs, such as the works of D. José Gestoso y Perez on Pedro
Millan, and that of D. Manuel Serrano y Ortega on Montañés. Then there
is the very interesting study by D. José Marti y Monso on the artists of
Valladolid. But these writings were limited to one artist, or to the
works of one province. Until recently there was no work treating of
Spanish sculpture as a whole, except the _Diccionario_ of Cean Bermudez,
a book very excellent, but not free from error, and for the most part
unimportant in its critical estimates. Like most Spanish writers,
Bermudez praises work because it belongs to his own country, rather than
because of its true artistic worth. It is well that this indifference is
at an end. A critical study of Spanish carvings, entitled _La Statuaire
Polychrome en Espagne_, finely illustrated with beautiful examples of
the best carvings in the Peninsula, has now been written by M. Marcel
Dieulafoy. The book was published in Paris in 1908. We would take this
opportunity of gratefully acknowledging the help we have gained from
this excellent work.
But the question remains unanswered why the carvings of Spain have been
treated with such a want of interest. To find the answer it will be
necessary to consider briefly the circumstances which determined the
special character of Spanish sculpture.
Almost without exception statuary was executed for the religious uses of
the Catholic Church. Images were needed to increase the pious fervour of
the populace; they were used as altar decorations in the churches; often
they were carried in the religious processions; and many of them were
credited with miracle-working powers. The one thing necessary for a
Spanish statue was that it should be an exact imitation of life; the
more realistic the illusion the greater was the power of the statue to
fulfil the requirements of the Church.
It will readily be seen that marble--the substance most fitting for the
artistic rendering of form--would not comply with these demands. Thus
in Spain the classic marble was discarded, while wood and plaster were
employed in its place. These substances could be readily coloured, or
even covered with canvas resembling stone, and then painted to
counterfeit life. Thus out of the religious requirements--which in
Spain, so much more than in any other country, decided the expression of
art--was developed a natural employment of multi-colouring, whose
principle was the diversity of the various materials and the use of the
two arts of painting and sculpture in the same work.
This almost universal use of colour--a relic of very ancient art--has
really decided the fate of Spanish sculpture. For some centuries public
taste was firmly decided in condemning statue colourisation as “an
offence against good taste.” It is held that the true purpose of
sculpture is to depict form, and that painting an image in relief is
barbarous and shows a want of culture, because the sculptor, attentive
alone to the beauties of form, should observe the limits set by the
material in which he has to work, and should resist the seductions of
colour which belong to the painter. Coloured statues have even been
compared with the wax figures displayed in shows.
There is much to be said on both sides of the question. We shall not
here try to answer it, for to do so would be to anticipate all that we
hope to establish of the beauty of the polychrome statuary of Spain.
Rather we would ask the reader to look now at the illustrations at the
end of this volume. Great works are the only answer that can silence
criticism.
Those who have condemned polychrome sculpture have, almost without
exception, instanced its worst examples. This is absurd; it is like
giving a judgment of painting by the pictures exhibited each year in the
Royal Academy of London.
It must be remembered that polychrome statuary is a very ancient art;
moreover, it is a perfectly natural and spontaneous development, growing
out of the need for intensified expression. It was not an arbitrary
practice adopted as “a trick of the trade.” This is important. Those who
deny the use of colour to the sculptor have tried to prove that among
the Greeks sculpture was anterior to painting, and that in the case of
certain statues which we find coloured the painting was an injury added
at a later date. This is entirely erroneous, as M. Marcel Dieulafoy
proves by referring to the recent excavations made in Greece and Italy.
The most ancient of the statues carved by the Greeks were those on
which pigments were used. Carved out of wood, which lent itself readily
to encrustations of bronze, ivory, and precious stones, as well as of
colour, the figures were enriched in this way to give them a closer
relation to life. Such was the bas-relief at Olympia in the Treasury of
the Megarians, which represents a combat between Herakles and Acheloss,
where the figures are carved out of cedar-wood richly embellished with
gold; or the group of the Dioscuri, attributed by Pausanias to Dépoinos
and Skyllis, where again the figures were enriched with films of ebony
and of ivory placed upon the wood.
When wood gave way to marble and bronze, sculptors still continued the
use of encrustation; especially a paste of glass was used to form the
eyes of the figures. Often we find a gilded or silver necklace added.
Bronzers tinted their statues, and in this way bronze had the aspect of
colour. Silver was largely used. A very interesting example is furnished
by Silamin of Athens, who, wishing to represent Jocasta in her last
hour, silvered the face so skilfully as to give it the pallor of death.
Of even greater interest is a small bas-relief in the St. Angelo
Collection in the Museum of Naples. It represents a maiden dressed in a
double robe, the under one pale green, the outer one rose-coloured. She
wears besides an upper garment of a darker colour and a white fichu
bordered with red.
We find this custom of multi-colouring in the work of the greatest
masters. We know that Phidias made use of gems and gold to heighten the
beauty of his statues. Strabo wrote of his incomparable work in the
Temple of Zeus at Olympia: “What adds greatly to its success is that his
cousin the painter Panæus lent his talent in covering certain parts of
the statue with brilliant colours, notably the draperies.” How
significant is this statement to those who condemn the colouring of
statuary!
It is purely arbitrary to maintain that relief and colour may not be
united in art. Rather we may agree with M. Homobles when he declares
that “the Greeks harmonised colour and form so perfectly that for them
in the sixth century painting was a flattened bas-relief, and bas-relief
a painting with the paste laid on very thick.” It is the opinion of M.
Marcel Dieulafoy, founded, as he tells us, on researches pursued during
more than half a century, that “no matter what the material--wood,
stone, bronze, marble, terra-cotta--nor the epoch of production, the
Hellenes accentuated with coatings and sometimes with coloured enamels
the figures in bas-reliefs and alto-reliefs, unless in the case of
juxtaposition with other materials of different colour.” Thus we are
brought to the conclusion that those who condemn as barbarous the use of
colour in statuary must condemn also the statuary of Greece.
Nor was multi-colourisation confined to the Greek sculptors. It was a
natural development in the art of carving in every country, arising, as
we have seen, out of the desire of the artist to bring his work into a
closer relation with life. The Egyptians and the Chaldeans never limited
themselves to the use of form in their statues and in their
architecture, but sought for ways of rendering colour. The great Asiatic
races used enamel as the basis of their decoration. Here we find the
origin of the multi-coloured sculpture of Babylon, Assyria, and Susa,
and, at a later date, that of Medea and Persia. This art reached
Byzantium--a country which gained the highest skill in glass mosaic--and
also Rome. Persian artists, following in the train of the conquering
Arabs, brought the secrets and methods of their art to many European
countries, and among them to Spain and Portugal. The influence spread
also from Byzantium, and, in a lesser degree, from Rome, and soon
multi-colourisation was universally adopted, and all statues, whether of
wood, stone, or copper, were covered with colour.
Centuries passed before a reaction set in. It became a creed of artistic
faith that the use of colour to accentuate works in relief was
barbarous. The reason of the change is very simple. Many of the ancient
coloured statues had lost their colour by lapse of time, and those who
saw them were deceived, believing that as they were then, so they had
been created. Then pictures came to be painted more frequently, and
colour was allowed to them, while form alone was accorded to statuary.
But the tradition of polychrome statuary yet persisted, and at the
opening of the Renaissance still fought for life. Italy possessed some
great statue colourists in the fifteenth century. We know of coloured
statues and bas-reliefs by Donatello, by Mino of Fiesole, by Pisáno of
Luca, by della Robbia, and others. Even much later we find examples of
the continued use of colour. Such, for instance, are the equestrian
statues of the ducal family of Sabbroneta and the groups in the chapels
of the Sacromonte at Varullo. It is important to remember that the great
masters deplored the abandonment of statue colouring, and, among
others, Michael Angelo wrote an instructive and precious letter upon the
subject.
Coloured statuary was more persistent in the south than in the north.
Flanders, Germany, and afterwards France were converted from the custom.
Yet Jan van Eyck collaborated with the sculptor, as did also André
Beaunevau. The life-size statues which decorate the Château of Madrid
built for Francis I., and those in the Toulouse Museum, taken from the
Basilica of St. Sermin, prove that coloured statuary still persisted in
the sixteenth century. These last figures are of special interest from
their analogy with Spanish polychrome statuary.
It was in Spain that the art of polychrome lived and developed. The
finest of her coloured statues were wrought in the sixteenth,
seventeenth, and also in the beginning of the eighteenth centuries, a
period when the practice was dead in almost all other countries. For
this reason, even if for no other, Spanish carvings claim the attention
of the student of art. They are the crown of what has been achieved by
earlier civilisations.
What was it that kept Spain alone faithful to the old method of using
colour as well as form to give life to her statues? First, a respect
for tradition which has marked all things in this strong and stubborn
race. Then the Spanish carvers were in very close connection with
Mudéjar architecture, which was closely allied with the art of Persia,
in which colour ruled with such supreme insistence, and whose whole
strength lay in ornamentation. But deeper even than these outer reasons
was the Spanish character, which expressed itself in their altar
carvings and in their statues. The one thing the Spanish artist sought
for first was the reality of life; and this life was religious life, for
in Spain the divine life was not separate--a thing detached--but a real
living part of the human daily life of the people. The painted statues
were at once more life-like and spoke a more real language to the
people, than figures chiselled in white stone. The statuary of Spain was
not wrought, in the first place, to fulfil claims of art, but to satisfy
the needs of the people. It is still in the convents and churches of
Spain--not in the museums, if we except the museums of Valladolid and
Seville--that the masterpieces of polychrome statuary remain. It is
there that we must seek them.[B]