THE SCULPTURED PIECES AND TOMBS OF THE ROMANESQUE AND EARLY GOTHIC
PERIODS
During the Romanesque and, even more, in the early Gothic periods the
creative forces of art in Spain found its expression, after building, in
carving in stone and wood. A wealth of ornament meets us in every
building, for it must be remembered that the churches are the real
museums of Spain. We have in the last chapter spoken incidentally of
some of these carvings in connection with the churches for which they
were executed. It is now necessary to examine in detail the most
representative of these works. Among them we shall find many beautiful
examples of polychrome statuary.
All the statues of this time were coloured, for Spain, always tenacious
in her habits, never wavered from the custom of colouring her carvings
to resemble life. However, few pieces retain manifest traces of such
colourisation, the tints having been lost through the action of the
atmosphere, as well as through frequent washings. The statues in the
Gloria of Santiago de Compostella (Plate 30) are among the earliest
works that are clearly painted, and even in these, as we have seen, it
is very doubtful if the present tints represent the original colours
used.
For this reason a very special interest attaches to the fine font in
enamelled bronze, now in the Museum of Burgos, which came from the
monastery of Santo Domingo at Silos. This remarkable and fine work is
coloured and richly encrusted with gold and jewels, but of these
unfortunately many have disappeared. Seated on a throne, the figure of
God the Father occupies the centre, and ranged on either side are the
twelve Apostles. The figures are set in a kind of frame formed by
columns placed on a base of metal crossed by horizontal bars. Two winged
monsters are in the triangles on either side, and a dove is placed above
the figure of God. Small rectangular enamelled medallions are encrusted
in the frame. Colour is used for the robes of the figures, for the
winged monsters, the dove, and the medallions, the predominant tints
being dark blue or vivid green. The heads, the hands, and the feet, as
well as the architectural motives, are all in gold. Polished stones in
bezel settings alternate in the decoration of the frame with the
coloured medallions, and though many of the stones have disappeared this
rich setting helps the effect of the whole bas-relief, which is one of
great splendour.
Besides the altar font the old monastery of Silos possessed a rich
collection of religious furniture. Among those which have been saved are
a chalice, used under the Mozarabic ritual for celebrating the
communion, a very beautiful specimen of the _mudéjar_ goldsmith’s work;
an altar-screen of engraved copper with figures of the Apostles; and
several small cofferets or caskets. One of these, composed of an
elephant’s tusk, belonged to Rahman III., Khalif of Cordova, at the
beginning of the tenth century; another, made at Cuenca in 1026, is of
ivory, and represents a Mussulman: it was mounted in enamel at a later
date (about 1150).
The ancient Convent of San Marcos at Leon is another church which has
retained its ancient treasures; among them are several polychromes.
These do not seem to have been repainted. Unfortunately half of the
precious collection has been stolen: those that remain are now in the
Museum at Leon. The figures are carved in wood, and the head, hands, and
nude parts are coloured. The vestments, made of cloth, hardened by
means of a glaze, are also coloured, the tints used being very
harmonious. There is also a carved triptych in wood of the same date,
but the carving of the figures is not so good and the colours used are
cruder. The statue of San Francisco (Plate 31) belongs to a later date.
It is a most interesting polychrome, with splendid character in the
rendering of the head. In the Cathedral of Leon are various statues
which belong to the same period, while in the cloisters is an
interesting bas-relief, Our Lady del Foro and the Offering of the Kings
(Plate 33).
Some fine carvings, in the French style, come from the Portenda de San
Miguel, Estella. This style of carving spread over the whole of Spain,
and additional examples may be seen in the Cathedral of Sangüesa, in two
interesting and little-known churches at Olete, in the Cathedral of
Basque Vittoria, and in the old churches of Leon and Valencia.
Statues on tombs are very numerous, and we find them in almost every
church. At first the figures are rudely carved, the skill of the artist
being expended on the frames, and the cast of the features being largely
a convention. Indeed these early monumental figures cannot be regarded
as portraits. Among the first examples are the figures on the royal
monument at Najera, erected by Sancho III. 1157. Here the figures are
mere puppets. Another early tomb is that in the Convent of Las Huelgas,
Burgos (Plate 34). Even the sarcophagus of St. Eulalia, at Barcelona, of
as late a date as 1327, with its Pisan reminiscences, shows how easily
art was sometimes satisfied at this period.
But there are some really fine tombs belonging to the Romanesque period.
The Church of the Magdalena--formerly of the Templars--at Zamora
contains two knights’ tombs, one of which M. Marcel Dieulafoy considers
the finest Romanesque tomb in Spain. The figure, just expired and
resting on the death-bed, is placed beneath a portico of twin
balustrades which crown the structure. Fantastic animals are carved on
the spandrils, and the columns and capitals are richly decorated. The
couch stands against a wall, on which are sculptured seraphs, while two
angels bear away to Paradise the materialised soul of the dead man
wrapped in a winding-sheet. This device is common in Spain, where there
are many tombs of the same character, but, writes M. Marcel Dieulafoy,
“I do not know of one where the decorative sculpture is rendered more
boldly or with greater talent.”
The statues, once funeral monuments, but now set into the wall of the
old Cathedral of Salamanca, are important as being among the most
complete examples of the twelfth-century polychrome (Plate 35). The
sarcophagus, the reclining figures, and the niches containing them are
all painted--red, blue-black, and white being the predominating tints.
There are some traces of yellow, probably due, as M. Marcel Dieulafoy
suggests, to the sizing used in fixing the gilding; there are also some
green tints in the foliage which decorates the arch in one of the tombs.
Fortunately these statues have suffered very little from the hand of the
restorer. The statue of Diego de Anaya on the tomb in the Capilla de San
Bartolomé, to the south of the cloisters, is another work of importance
in the same cathedral. It is quite ideal in its treatment.
The Cathedral of Tarragona represents the same diversity in its statuary
as we have noted in its architectural styles. Thus the statuary of the
west façade may be divided into three distinct groups. The first, date
about 1278, consists of the beautiful sculptured figures of nine
Apostles, placed on the main portal, which were carved by the Catalan
artist Maestro Bartolomé (Plate 36). The Apostles and Prophets on the
buttresses were executed a century later by Jaime Castayls, another
native Catalan carver. They are clumsy and of ordinary character
compared with the delicate work of Maestro Bartolomé. The group of the
Virgin and Child which is placed above the pillars of the great door is
not native work, but comes certainly from France. The author is unknown.
The cloisters and portals of the Cathedral of Burgos offer another
example of an admirable museum of sculpture. The earlier carvings--such,
for instance, as the figures on the Apostles’ door (Plate 37), belonging
to the opening years of the thirteenth century--are somewhat stiff and
constrained in style and contrast with the graceful ease of the later
works of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries (Plate 38). The special
interest of the cloisters is that its carvings are coloured, and
fortunately up to the present they have not suffered from restoration
(Plates 39-41). The colours are faded, but we can see that the vivid
reds and blues, so much loved by the Moorish artists employed by the
Christians of this period, were used, as well as a preponderance of
gilding. Here, as at Salamanca, the general tone of the colourisation is
in the _mudèjar_ style.
The cloisters of Pampeluna are in the same style and little inferior to
those of Burgos. The statues and bas-reliefs are in stone; the most
beautiful, and one of the finest examples left to us from the fourteenth
century, is that which represents the Death of the Virgin. Unfortunately
the colouring of this piece and of all the statues at Pampeluna has been
ruined by restoration.
The Cathedral of Burgos is rich in Gothic tombs. The statues of St.
Ferdinand and Beatrice of Swabia, on the north wall of the cloisters,
are among the finest specimens of portrait sculpture. In the same place
is the late Gothic tomb of Don Gonzalo de Burgos. The monument of
Archbishop Maurice (died 1238), which is in the centre of the choir, is
also a work of special importance, showing, as it does, the skill of the
Spanish artists in enamelled copper (Plate 43). Of the same style is the
tomb of Jaime of Aragon (Plate 46), who died in 1334, in Tarragona
Cathedral, and two monuments in the Cathedral of Leon, that of Martin,
the first bishop of the city (Plate 47), the other of Don Ordoño II.,
who died 923 (Plate 48). All three monuments are of excellent
workmanship, and important as fine specimens of portrait sculpture. We
may mention also the sarcophagus of St. Vincent and his sisters, SS.
Sabina and Criseta, in the Church of San Vicente at Avila (Plate 49),
with notable reliefs of the thirteenth century, and surmounted by a
Gothic canopy of a later date--about 1465--resting upon coupled columns.
But indeed it is difficult to make a selection among the numerous
monuments that claim attention. One work stands out as a masterpiece.
The magnificent tomb of Archbishop Lopez de Luna, in the Seo of
Zaragoza, is the most splendid example of the French-Gothic style in
Spain (Plate 50). Even so calm a critic as Professor Carl Justi
pronounces this work “a masterpiece.” Mitre on his head, a cross in his
hand, and dressed in rich pontifical robes, the figure reclines on the
sarcophagus. The face, set in the calm of death, is modelled by a master
hand. Behind, placed in a niche which is cut in the thickness of the
wall, stand a company of monks and nuns, who weep for their benefactor.
Other figures are grouped along the inner face of the tomb; each is
marked with character, and is carved with fine skill. But it is not
possible to convey in words the effect of this splendid and simple work.
In its style it may be compared with the mausoleum of Philippe the Bold,
the masterpiece of Burgundian art. It is of the same date, and M. Marcel
Dieulafoy believes that the Spanish monument must have been executed in
Spain by Aragonese artists who had learnt the art of carving in France.
This opinion of French influence directing the native artists is
supported by the fact that the Tarragona monument is not a solitary
example. This French style of carving spread over the Peninsula; the
cathedrals of Burgos, Leon, and Toledo--to name a few out of many
churches--are rich in similar monuments. It is necessary to remember
this close connection between the arts of France and Spain. The great
ecclesiastical orders of France, and especially that of Cluny, gave
inspiration to the Romanesque and Gothic periods. It was not until the
last third of the fifteenth century, when a new art method came from the
Netherlands, that the French influence weakened. Spanish art was almost
invariably stimulated from without. But it was these imported
art-styles, naturally awakening imitation, which called into existence
the native schools of carving, and showed anew those distinct traits
which can be called Spanish.
There were at this time, in Castile and Aragon, a number of really
capable native artists; without doubt they learnt their art from the
French sculptors who had settled in Spain. The most skilful native
worker was Juan de la Huarte, of whose exquisite Virgin we shall speak
directly. But besides Juan de la Huarte, we know of Pedro de
Vallfongona, called Father Johan, who has left many fine carvings; and
Jordi Johan, doubtless his brother, commonly known as Maestro Jordi,
maker of images, the author, among other works, of the Sepulchre of
Juana, Countess of Asturias (1386), and of the Archangel Raphael, which
crowns the beautiful doorway of Barcelona Town Hall. Then there was
Pedro Oller, who carved, in 1450, the screen of the grand altar of Vich,
and, in 1442, the tomb of Ferdinand I. of Aragon. There were also
skilled goldsmiths such as Marcos Canzes and Francisco Vilardell; nor
must we forget the unknown author of the incomparable Custodia of Vich
Cathedral, a splendid example of the silver-work of the period.
Before closing this chapter it is left to notice a few isolated works
that are treasured in the different cities of the Peninsula. And first
must come the perfect statues and statuettes of the Virgin, which, as we
might expect in religious Spain, are to be found in almost all the great
churches. That known as the Virgin of Huarte, which was carved by Juan
de la Huarte, was brought to Pampeluna in 1349. The statue is of white
marble, and the face and vestments still bear traces of colour. Of a
noble simplicity, it is one of the most exquisite productions of art in
the fourteenth century. Of less ideal beauty, but more Spanish in its
sentiment, being without the French influence, is St. Ferdinand’s small
ivory statuette of the Virgen de las Batallas in the Capilla Real of
Seville Cathedral. This is one of the earliest works of the kind in
Spain. The Cathedral of Plasencia has several images of the Virgin. Good
examples--one in silver and richly jewelled--are found at Burgos and
Salamanca (Plates 51 and 52), besides figures carved in wood and
coloured, and also at Toledo, Sigüenza, Gandía, Segunto, and the
churches in many other cities. The Santo Cristo of Burgos Cathedral may
also be mentioned. Madonnas are to be seen over the altars of chapels,
in gateways, or in the great retablos, as for instance at Leon (Plate
53), or again at Tortosa and Palma, where, in the last church, a really
beautiful statue is hidden by a modern altar. Among these Madonnas are
works full of dignity and sweetness, of genuine beauty, and carved
without stiffness or looseness. They give a convincing defiance to those
who decry ancient polychrome.
Very different in character, but of equal merit, is the small statue,
silver painted, of St. George in the Audiencia Chapel at Barcelona. M.
Marcel Dieulafoy believes that we owe this fine work to a native
artist. The figure, standing fully armed, is carved with youthful
energy; the face, seen under the gilt visor, has lost none of its
freshness, and the original tints of colouring remain. The armour is of
oxidised silver, while the hinges, nails, belt, dragon, and pedestal are
of burnished gilt. Of this statue M. Marcel Dieulafoy writes: “Had
Meissonier painted the figure he could not have done it otherwise.”
Again we have a triumph of polychrome.
Other statues worthy of special mention are the busts, executed in
enamelled silver, of S. Valerius, S. Vincent, and S. Laurent, in the
Treasury of Zaragoza Cathedral; the figures of Don Gutierre de Cardenas,
Duke of Magueda, and of his wife, Doña Teresa Enriquez, each offering
respectively their son and daughter to the Virgin, and the finer praying
figure of Juan II. of Castile, who ruled from 1406 to 1454, and was the
father of Isabella the Catholic. These statues are in Burgos Cathedral.
Gems among smaller works of art are the plates in silver, showing scenes
in the life of the Virgin, which cover the high altar in the Cathedral
of Gerona. Their date is 1348.