IRON MASTERS.
Year in which
they worked.		Name.Locality of
their Residence.
1520.Avila, Fr. Juan deGuadalupe.
1527.Andino, PedroSeville.
1540.Andino, ChristovalToledo.
1557.Arenas, HernandoCuenca.
1523.Bartolmé, El MaestroJaen and Seville.
1555.Barco, AlonsoPalencia.
1559.Brabo, HernandoToledo.
1579.Cela, Juan TomasZaragoza.
1541.Cespédes, Domingo deBurgos.
1561.Corral, Ruy Diaz delToledo.
1604.Celma, Juan BautistaAragon y Galicia.
1692.Conde, SebastianSeville.
1797.Cordero, Fr. JosefSeville.
1537.Delgado, JuanSeville.
1540.Domingo, MaestroToledo.
1518.Elias, Joan dePalencia.
1519.Esteban, MaestroSeville.
1494.Frances, JuanToledo.
1555.Herreros, LlorentePalencia.
1522.Idrobo, DiegoSeville.
1524.Juan, FraySeville.
1518.Lopez, Juan do UrisarriPalencia.
1531.LemosinCuenca.
1518.Muñoz, SanchoCuenca.
1389.Morey, BartolomoPalma de Mallorca.
1555.Moreno, BenegnoPalencia.
1565.Pedro, MaestrePalencia.
1533.Palencia, Antonis deSeville.
1607.Peñafiel, Luis deToledo.
1510.Prieto, FernandoSeville.
1512.Prelojero, JuanPalencia.
1555.Rodriguez, GasparPalencia.
1607.Rodriguez, BartoloméToledo.
1607.Silva, Francisco deToledo.
1533.Salamanca, Francisco de Seville.
1518.Urisarri, LopezPalencia.
1561.VillalpandoToledo.
1518.Yepes, Juan deSeville.

BRONZES.

OBJECTS of bronze of native origin are less frequently met with in Spain than those of silver and iron. Many foreign artists worked at this industry, the history of which only begins in the 16th century. The specimens of bronze work made by the Moors will be described in their proper place. It is true that examples of bronze made by the Iberians and Romans are frequently met with in excavations; they consist chiefly of hatchets and other arms, bracelets, fibulas, etc., but they are similar in every respect to objects of the same kind found in other European countries. During the Middle Ages, objects of enamelled gilt bronze were used on a very large scale in churches; specimens of a very high order may be seen in Spain, such as the splendid altar at San Miguel de Excelsis in Navarre; that at Santo Domingo de Silos, and the statuette of the Virgin de la Vega at San Esteban, Salamanca. These objects were, however, probably made at Limoges, or in some other locality out of Spain. We hardly can trace any bronze of this period but cathedral bells. One was made at Puig-Valencia as early as A.D. 622, melted in 1550, the only trace of the early work being the inscription and date, which are given by contemporary authors.

Another bell, about half a foot high, of A.D. 875, exists at the Local Museum of Cordova, with the inscription: "Offert hoc munus Samson abbatis in domum Sancti Sebastiani martyris Christi, Era DCCCCXIII." We find the name of "Joannes Calcena me fecit Anno Domini 1306," on a bell at the cathedral of Valencia, and on one of Lerida was to be read: "Fecit factum per magistrum Joannem Adam Anno Dei 1418 in mense Aprili;" the author appears to have been, by reference to the documents of the church, "de burgo Sanctæ Mariæ Turlensis diocesis regni Franciæ," for details see Villanueva, vol. ii., p. 147-152, xvi. 88.

Before entering into the renaissance period, I must mention some remarkable specimens which have reached us, the work of the Spanish Arabs. Probably the most ancient and interesting is a sculpture representing a stag, now at the Provincial Museum of Cordova, which evidently belonged to a fountain. It was found in the ruins of the palace of Medina Az Zahra, the construction of which corresponds to the time of Abd er Rahman III., (961); it is undoubtedly work of this period, and probably belonged to this palace, so celebrated by Oriental writers. The fragments of a bronze fountain and several lamps, at the Museum of Granada, are of a later date; they were found in the excavations of the early city of Illiberis, which was abandoned in the 11th century, when its inhabitants chose the present site of Granada. The fragments, which are supposed to have belonged originally to a fountain, consist of a small temple 22 inches high, of an hexagonal base, with twelve small columns supporting bands of open work, frescoes, cupola, and turrets: in the angles are birds. There are six lamps, all of which are mutilated and incomplete; their form and object is indicated by the remains of chains which suspended them. Some of them are half melted, giving testimony to the conflagration which the mosque suffered in the time of the Arabs. Other bronze fragments have been found in the same locality. All these objects are artistic in their general lines, but the workmanship is indifferent, and the ornamentation heavy and coarse.

A bronze lion and a mortar, found some years since in the province of Palencia, are more artistic in form and general details. The mortar was found near Monzon, and the lion not far from it. Remains still exist of a castle, which was founded by the Arabs, in the locality, and which at the beginning of the 11th century was in the hands of the Christians; it is highly probable that these objects belonged to its Moorish inhabitants. If we take into account how frequently we find Oriental remains in this locality, both these objects may be safely classified as belonging to the 10th century, although there are details in their ornamentation which appear rather to be of a later period. The lion is 12½ inches high by 14½ inches long; an aperture in the lower part which communicates with the mouth of the animal, appears to suggest that it belonged to a fountain, the water of which issued, or not, owing to the movement of the tail, which rotates and acts as a key. The shape of this lion recalls those at the Alhambra; its forms are stiff and angular, in the conventional Oriental manner of reproducing animated beings. The surface is covered with ornamentation, the mane is arranged in mannered and symmetrical curls, like those so common in Assyrian sculptures. On the back and two sides is the following inscription in Cufic characters:

This object is similar in detail and the inscription to a bronze griffin at the cemetery of Pisa; it belonged to the collection of the painter Fortuny, and at the sale in 1875 it was bought by Mr. E. Piot.

The mortar is circular in form, and is surrounded by twelve prismatic sections. Two lions' heads serve to support the hanging rings or handles. The whole of the outside is most delicately carved with arabesques, among which are to be met frequently figures of birds and quadrupeds. See "El arte en Esp.," vol. iii., Madrid, 1864. The following inscription in elegant Cufic characters runs round the upper part: it is repeated twice. "Complete blessing, and ever-increasing happiness and prosperity of every kind, and an elevated and happy social position for its owner." From the richness of the ornamentation of this object, it is probable that it was used to pound aromatic drugs.