We can judge of the enormous quantities of objects which were made by those still to be seen in Spanish cathedrals and churches, having survived the French invasion of the present century. For full details of the barbarous treatment of these works of art during the French invasion, see Ford's "Handbook of Spain." The expropriations of the Spanish government during the civil wars of 1833 to 1840, and the injudicious law of expropriations of 1869 for the purpose of collecting artistic objects, have brought about the destruction and disappearance of numberless works of art in order not to give them up to the government.
The same splendour and abundance of silver objects of every kind existed in the royal palaces and houses of the grandees. Madame d'Aunoy in her "Voyage en Espagne, Lyon, 1643," p. 109, says: "L'on ne se sert point de vaisselle d'étain, celle d'argent ou de terre sont les seules qui soient en usage. Le duc d'Alburquerque est mort, il y a déjà quelque tems; l'on m'a dit que l'on avoit employé six semaines à écrire sa vaisselle d'or et d'argent. Il y avoit 1400 douzaines d'assiettes, 500 grands plats, et 700 petits, tout le reste à proportion, et 40 échelles d'argent pour monter au haut de son buffet, qui étoit par gradins comme un autel placé dans une grande salle." The splendid silver table belonging to the Marquis of Villaseca at Madrid gives a good idea of the furniture of this time. In the Inventories, a great number of which exist, we find numerous details of silver objects of every kind. In one which was drawn up in 1574, of the effects of Princess Da Juana (MS. folio, Acad. de la Historia), the sister of Philip II., we find mention, without counting the jewels, of a silver balustrade, weighing 121 pounds, to be placed round the bed. The greater part of the kitchen utensils were also made of silver.
Among the most important objects of Spanish silversmith work are undoubtedly, as I have said before, the custodias.
The name of custodia is given in Spain, not only to the monstrance or ostensoir where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, but also to a sort of temple or tabernacle, of large size, made also of silver, inside which is placed the monstrance, which is carried in procession on Corpus Christi day. In order to distinguish these objects one from another, the name of viril is given to the object which holds the consecrated host; it is generally made of rock crystal, with a gold stem and mount ornamented with precious stones. The small tabernacles are generally objects of the greatest importance both from their artistic and intrinsic value. The description of one of them will be sufficient to give an idea of their construction.
Although a fine custodia existed formerly at Toledo, which we know weighed 164 pounds, Cardinal Ximenez de Cisneros wished a finer one to be made, and caused the plan to be furnished by competition. Diego Copin, Juan de Borgoña, and Enrique de Arphe presented designs; the one by Enrique de Arphe was selected. Arphe began his work in 1517, and continued exclusively employed in this, and without the help of other master silversmiths, until April, 1524, when he gave up the monstrance to the authorities of the cathedral. The silversmith, Lainez, finished in 1523 the gold and jewelled cross which is on the top. It represents a Gothic hexagonal temple, 8 feet high, of three orders, with all the variety and number of necessary architectural details such as pilasters, arches, columns, pyramids, canopies, crest-work, &c., to the closing of the vaulted roof; the whole is percé à jour, and so delicate that it looks like lace. From the roof hang bells and incense-holders of filigree work; in the key-stone are studded precious gems. Carvings in relief, representing passages of the life of Our Saviour, appear on the base of the six pedestals; they are admirably carved. In the centre of the second order is a figure representing the Resurrection of Our Lord. On the pilasters and brackets which appear in the temple there are more than 260 statues of different sizes, all of which are executed with the same skill. This monstrance was mounted on iron wires; and Archbishop Fonseca, wishing that the whole of it should be made of silver, gave orders that Arphe himself should alter it, which he did in 1525, when the total weight was found to be 388 pounds. The viril was then placed inside it, this was made of the first gold brought from America. It is completely covered with precious stones, and was bought by Cisneros from Queen Isabel (the Catholic); it weighs 29 pounds of gold. The tabernacle was ordered to be gilt in 1595 by Archbishop Quiroga; this was done by the Masters Diego de Valdivieso and Francisco Merino. This splendid work of art remains in this state, and may be seen at the cathedral of Toledo; it was most fortunately saved from the rapacity of the French, by being sent to Cadiz during the war. In 1513 the monstrance at the cathedral of Cordova was also made by Arphe, it is similar in style and importance to that of Toledo. Before this, he had also finished the splendid one formerly at Leon, which was destroyed by the French, as was likewise a similar smaller one, also by Arphe, formerly at the Monastery of St. Benito, at Sahagun.
The custodia made by Juan de Arphe in 1587, a Leonese artist, and grandson of Enrique, for the cathedral of Seville, competes with that of Toledo. It is formed in the same manner as a temple, but in the Græco-Roman style, covered with an immense number of statuettes, some of which are upwards of a foot high, and reliefs of all kinds, and delicate ornamentation, worked with the utmost skill. The chapter of the cathedral commissioned the theologian, Francisco Pacheco, to direct the subjects which were to be represented, and when it was finished Arphe published a full description of the monstrance, which he does not hesitate to call "the largest and finest work in silver known of its kind." This opinion is hardly an exaggerated one if we look at this splendid work of art. Its plan is circular, and measures 3½ yards high, and weighs 1082 pounds of silver. For details consult Cean Bermudez' "Diccionario," Descripcion de la Catedral de Sevilla, Museo Español de Antiguedades, vol. viii., p. I.
Besides these two celebrated silversmiths there was another of the same family, the son of Enrique, and father of Juan, Antonio Arphe, an artist also of great merit, who made in 1554 the custodia which still exists at the cathedral of Santiago.
Cean Bermudez says in his "Diccionario," "that in the same manner as the city of Leon gave Spain three illustrious silversmiths, Cuenca gave them other three in the Becerrils," these were Alonso and Francisco Becerril brothers, and Christoval, the son of Francisco. They all worked at the famous and splendid custodia of Cuenca, and between them they produced a most important series of works from 1528 to 1584.
It is extremely difficult to give in so small a space the description of the works and names of the numerous artists on silver and gold work, who worked in Spain during the 16th century. At the present time, notwithstanding the innumerable objects lost, a long list would remain of the specimens which have reached us, and their different forms and applications, still visible in the churches of Toledo, Seville, Zaragoza, Palencia, Santiago, and others of the Spanish peninsula. Some idea may be gathered of the importance this art attained in Spain by looking through the following list of artists who worked in silver and gold, upwards of 450 of whom I have added to the 95 given by Cean in his dictionary. It must be borne in mind that the objects on a large scale which reproduce an architectural model, adopt three styles during the century, all three of them admirable as regards beauty of form. The first is Gothic, a reminiscence of the former time, improved by the change which had already taken place, in drawing and modelling. The second style is known by the name of plateresque, when applied to architecture, and consists in copying the general structure of buildings in the classical style, and applying the orders and pointed arch, while keeping to the profusion of decoration of the earlier period, and modifying the general plan with the object of introducing the greatest quantity of ornamentation. The third style is the Greco-Roman; it is more sober in decoration, and has a greater tendency to keep to the imitation of the classical school.
Besides the objects described, which may be considered as original works and the most important examples of Spanish silversmiths' work, I must mention those which came from South America, chiefly from Mexico, which possess a certain aspect; they consist of carved and repoussé work ornamented with flora of the country adapted in an oriental style; others consist of filigree work, double-headed crowned eagles are frequently met with in the same style as those made at Cordova and Salamanca.