The Industrial Arts in Spain

by Juan F. Riaño

On the lower shelf are the following words in Spanish in Gothic characters: + Dios: te: salve: estrella: de: la: mannana: medicina: de: los: peccadores: reina + "Hail! morning star; medicine of sinners; queen."

This "Alhacena," or cupboard, existed formerly in the court of an old house at Toledo, known by the name of "Casa de la Parra," and is constantly called "Botica de los Templarios," the Templars' dispensary, probably because the Templars occupied the parish of St. Michael, in which the house stands, and because the word "medicine" is mentioned in the inscription.

In order to increase the list of these objects, which are unfortunately so rare, it is necessary to mention the organ case, decorated with fine Moorish tracery, in the chapel founded by Diego de Anaya, Archbishop of Seville in 1374, in the cloister of the cathedral of Salamanca.

Another specimen of furniture of interest of the 14th century is the shrine or casket containing the remains of San Isidoro, existing in the parish church of San Andres at Madrid. This casket is 7 feet 5 inches long; the cover is formed of two plain surfaces, forming a roof, which leaves a triangular pediment at each end. The shrine is made of wood, covered outside with a coat of painting in distemper, and is decorated with a series of painted compartments simulating pointed tricuspid arches let into others which are mitre-shaped; in the interior spaces are painted a series of representations of the life of the saint. This object is extremely interesting: it is evidently of Spanish workmanship, although it has great resemblance with the Italian cassoni of the same period. See vol. iv. "Mus. Esp." p. 593, and "Monumentos Arquitectonicos"—livraison 67.

The most important period of artistic furniture in Spain must be looked for in the 15th and 16th centuries: we find in this time works decorated with sculptured figures and most delicate and exquisite ornamentation. Nothing gives a better idea of this than the choir seats of Spanish cathedrals. The cathedrals in Spain are different to those of France and the north of Europe owing to the circumstance that the choir, or coro, is placed in the middle of the central nave, in the traditional form of the primitive basilicas, such as San Clemente at Rome, with the difference however, that towards the last centuries of the Middle Ages the pluteus or walls that surround it, which are elevated about one yard from the floor, were turned into an enclosure or wall four or five yards in height. A space is therefore set apart in the middle of the church, which, although spoiling the general effect of the nave, becomes, as is the case in most Spanish cathedrals, a museum of artistic objects of all kinds. The side facing the presbytery or high altar is enclosed by a reja. [See Iron and Bronze work.] In the three remaining sides stalls are placed against the wall, forming two rows, one near the floor, and the other raised about a yard from the lower ones. The general system adopted is a row of stalls separated from each other by the arms; the backs of the lower ones serving as stands for the books which are used by those who sit in the upper range. The subsellæ are prolonged and form canopies, pinnacles, crest-work, and other varied ornamentation resting on columns. They are usually made of walnut wood, and there is not a single vacant space which is left uncovered with figures or ornamentation in relief: the effect produced by the whole is admirable. The number of seats varies according to the size of the choir, or importance of the church.

It is probable that the earliest wood carvers who worked in Spain came from Flanders or Holland, if we judge by the decided Germanic character of the figures and ornamentation, and frequent mention made of foreign masters; but this industry very soon took root in Spain, and Spanish artists soon equalled or excelled their masters. The most important choir stalls carved in the Gothic style in Spain belong only to the last years of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century; those in the Renaissance style come immediately afterwards, and include the whole 16th century.

One of the finest is that of Leon, it is in the purest German-Gothic style, and may be considered as a masterpiece in its way: the large figures are as delicately carved as the small ones. The representations of the "Last Judgment" and "Tree of Jesse" are as beautiful as can be imagined. The choir at Zamora is also in the German style; the large figures which ornament it are splendid in effect. These stalls are fully described in "The Ecclesiologist," in the following manner: "The stalls, though not remarkably early, are very fine. The bishops, as usual, at the centre of the west nave; then three dignitaries on each side; then at each extremity of the west end a door into the nave; then on the north and south sides respectively twenty stalls with subsellæ, which also are returned. All the panelling is very fine: but that at the back of the subsellæ I will give at full, because the types of, and legends concerning Our Lord are so remarkably well chosen, that they may be useful as giving ideas to our own church builders, and might be introduced with great advantage in stained glass." "Ecclesiologist," vol. xiv., p. 363.

The stalls at the cathedral and church of Sto. Tomas of Avila, and cathedral of Burgos are also very fine. The coro at Barcelona is extremely picturesque; at the backs of the stalls are placed the coats of arms of the knights of the Golden Fleece, in a similar manner to those of St. George's Chapel at Windsor; among these we find the arms of Henry the VIIIth. In 1519 the Emperor Charles V. held at Barcelona a chapter of this Order, the only one which has ever been held in Spain.