These few statues, then, are all that we have of Latin-Byzantine art in Spain. Rude as the figures undoubtedly are, falling far below the works of the native Iberian art which preceded them, it will not do to neglect them. Christian Spain was convulsed with ceaseless warfares, which gave little time for the development of the arts. Native talent slept. Christian monarchs employed Moorish sculptors, architects, decorators, and goldsmiths. So it happened that there was developed in Spain a sort of pseudo-Mozarabic style in which, for a time, the characteristic Spanish work seemed lost.
CHAPTER III
THE CHURCHES OF THE ROMANESQUE AND EARLY GOTHIC PERIODS
At the close of the eleventh century a new and more vigorous life sprang up in the art of Spain. The fresh impulse came from France; it expended itself chiefly in building.
It is necessary to remember that the geographical barrier of the Pyrenees forms no real ethnological separation between that country and Spain; one and the same Iberian race dwells in Gascony, Navarre, and the Basque provinces. Hence it is easy to understand that natural relations, intimate and frequent, grew up between the two countries. Marriage alliances united the two royal families, and the princes of France crossed the frontier to fight against the Moors in Spain. With them came priests and monks, more learned than their neighbours, many of whom settled in the Peninsula. In this way the influence of the great orders of Cluny and Citeaux spread and grew powerful. Then followed architects and sculptors from Aquitaine, Languedoc, Toulouse, Burgundy, and Normandy, to find work, and impress their separate influences on the numerous churches that at this time were being built. The Romanesque cathedrals are indeed the direct outcome of French mediævalism; and the figure-statues of the numerous tombs and altars are full of reminiscences, so that it is difficult to distinguish the native art. Yet in the midst of these imported styles we shall find, do we seek them, those distinct traits which belong to Spain.
It is in the province of Asturias that we find the greatest number of Romanesque churches. These churches were of moderate size. Their style was that of the basilica, with nave and aisles, a well-marked transept, a trans-apsidal termination, and a lantern or dome over the crossing. The roof was at first flat, but afterwards the nave was covered with barrel vaulting, and the aisles with quadrant or semi-barrel vaulting.
The most important of the early Romanesque churches is Santiago de Compostella (Plate 7), which was commenced and finished building during the twelfth century. It is a somewhat simplified copy of St. Sernin at Toulouse, and shows in its structure, as well as in its ornaments and sculptures, very clearly marked, the influences of Cluny. This explains the great excellence of the carvings (Plates 8 and 9); works that are surprising at this period when so many figures are still barbaric. The admirable Puerta de las Gloria, which was completed by the carver Maestre Mateo in 1188, after twenty years’ work, is held by Mr. Street to be “one of the greatest glories of Christian art.” It is a vestibule or porch, divided into three sections, which extend across the entire width of the nave. The quadri-partite vaulting of the roof is adorned with elaborate carvings. Still more sumptuous are the carvings of the doorways; one, the double doorway which opens on the nave, has exquisitely delicate carvings. On the shaft dividing the doorway into two is a seated figure of St. James, holding the burdon or pilgrim’s staff; while the shaft itself has carvings of the Tree of Jesse. The shafts in the jambs have figures of the Apostles and Major-Prophets. The main capital above represents the Temptation in the Garden and Angels ministering to Christ. At the back of the middle pillar is a kneeling figure, supposed to be the portrait of Maestre Mateo. Then in the tympanum is a seated figure of Our Lord, with upraised hands; and round Him are the Evangelists and eight angels with the symbols of the Passion, while above are a company of the worshipping elect. The archivolt shows figures of the twenty-four elders of the Apocalypse. The general idea of the subject of the whole doorway is the Appearance of Christ at the Last Judgment, but each of the series of small pictures is in itself an independent work of art. The side doorways which lead into the aisles are equally ornate. The shafts are adorned with figures of the Apostles; above are representations of Purgatory and Hell. All the figures are clearly painted. M. Marcel Dieulafoy does not think, however, that the tones which now show are the original colours, but that during the restoration in the seventeenth century some innovations occurred.
The Colegiata de San Isidoro at Leon (Plate 10), an early Romanesque edifice, resembles in many respects Santiago de Compostella. The actual date of the building is difficult to establish. It was founded by Ferdinand I. of Castile in 1065 as a royal mausoleum; and the building is said to contain the tombs of eleven kings and twelve queens. It was altered and rebuilt by Maestro Pedro Vitambeu, and was not consecrated until 1149, while even then much of its decoration was probably incomplete. Some subjects of sculpture and ornamentation are very analogous to St. Sernin, Toulouse. The main façade is decorated with quaint old reliefs in stone; above the right portal are the Descent from the Cross (Plate 11) and the Deposition in the Tomb, with St. Paul on the right hand and St. Peter on the left. Then in the tympanum of the left portal is a very interesting Sacrifice of Abraham, placed under a zodiacal frieze. But perhaps the most interesting parts of the building are the chapel and cloisters of the eastern aisle, where the groined vaults are covered with fresco paintings of admirable effect and preservation. The paintings show strongly the influence of France, curiously interpreted by the native art. C. Gasquoine Hartley writes, in “A Record of Spanish Painting”: “In colour and certain peculiarities of outline they are strongly French, but they are executed with a rugged and original force which is entirely Spanish.... The Bible narratives are executed with a direct and almost brutal baldness that at once marks the frescoes as the work of a Spaniard.” We are, however, chiefly interested with their colourisation, which is very important where so much of the colourisation of statuary has disappeared. As M. Marcel Dieulafoy points out, these frescoes give the range of tones usual to this epoch in France and in Spain. We find red-brown, indigo, yellow-ochre, and white; the black seems to have been obtained by a mixture of three of these colours. It is interesting to note that these are the colours, and of about the same shade, that we find used by the Persian artists in their decorations.
San Vicente of Avila (Plate 13) is another admirable example of the Romanesque churches. The nave, with its triforium and clerestory, is in a pure Romanesque style; while the transept, choir, and three semicircular apses are in the Transition style. Though the building was begun in the twelfth century it was not finished until three hundred years later, and for this reason it shows a more advanced art. M. Marcel Dieulafoy holds it to be “the most beautiful specimen and the purest example of Burgundian architecture in Spain.” The west portal (Plate 14) is decorated with admirable statuettes in terra-cotta, unfortunately much mutilated, whose style recalls that of St. Landre of Avallon. Very curious are the heads of bulls, decorating the base of the pilaster by which the tympanum is sustained. Here the analogy with the bicephalous capitals of the Achemenide is very marked.
Romanesque churches are found in other provinces of Spain. One of the most ancient is San Pedro of Huesca, which was begun in the eleventh century and consecrated in 1241. The church is roofed with barrel vaulting, and terminates in three semicircular apses. It contains many sculptures characteristic of this period.
The cloisters of the Cathedral of Gerona, and those of the Monastery of Santo Domingo at Silos, and of San Pedro, and the churches of Santa Maria and Santiago at Corunna, are additional examples of the same style.